Lab Weekly - 03/29/2024
IAB PlayFront Event Recap, Plus, the latest news about drone delivery, Hulu on Disney+, AI chatbots for publishers, and more
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2024 IAB PlayFronts Recap: Optimism Abounds
IAB hosted the third edition of their annual gaming advertising event this week, and our Partnerships team attended in person to bring you back the latest insights on the brand opportunities in gaming. Optimism abounds when it comes to activating in gaming in 2024 –esports, influencers, custom editorial with publishers — but two channels have prevailed as most popular with brands advertisers in the last year — mobile and immersive digital environments.
In case you missed it…
The Rising Ozempic Economy & Its Wide-Ranging Impact
In an era where pharmaceutical innovations may dramatically alter economic landscapes, the emergence of the so-called "Ozempic economy" has captured quite a lot of eyeballs and mindshare lately. In this week’s original article, we take a close look at the behavioral changes that could be potentially unleashed by the new class of weight loss medications.
Dining as Therapy: The Rise of Wellness-Oriented Restaurants
Like many things in our wellness-obsessed society today, dining out is increasingly being positioned as a therapeutic experience that aims to enhance the wellness of diners through empathic and inclusive design. Moreover, it is also a part of the so-called “joyconomy,” boosting customers’ serotonin by bringing local communities together.
The AI Hype Cycle: Are We on the Precipice of Disillusionment?
As market research firm Gartner puts it in its 2023 AI Hype Cycle published last summer, generative AI was already reaching the “peak of inflated expectations” and close to tumbling into the infamous “trough of disillusionment.” Taking a deeper look at the AI market as it stands reveals at least two major issues that could trigger a reevaluation of the AI gold rush: the profitability issue and the regulatory issue.
DoorDash and Wing Announce Drone Delivery Pilot in the US [Axios]
Drone delivery is rapidly expanding in the U.S., as retailers and now, food delivery platforms, aim to satisfy consumers’ insatiable demand for instant gratification while circumventing road traffic. This new announcement is notable because, even though DoorDash has been testing drone delivery with Alphabet's Wing since late 2022 in Australia, this is the first time the delivery service is extending its drone program to the States. In particular, this pilot program will fly delivery orders from a Wendy’s located in Christiansburg, Virginia to its customers.
Obviously, we are still in the early stages of deploying drone delivery for food and other goods. But, companies like Amazon, Walmart, and major food delivery apps are ramping up their experimentation with the technology in select markets. Drone delivery has the potential to be more cost-effective in the long run due to lower labor costs compared to traditional delivery methods.
At the moment, drones provide unique marketing opportunities for restaurants and food delivery services. They not only showcase a brand's forward-thinking and tech-friendly image by visibly incorporating drones, but also differentiate companies in a competitive market. The unique visual and experiential aspect of drone deliveries can encourage customers to share their experiences on social media, providing free and organic marketing content. But given the growing anti-tech sentiments in certain audience segments, brands should be mindful about the messaging and who they are targeting.
Related: Walmart, 7-11, Chick-fil-A pilot new drone delivery tech with Virginia startup DroneUp [Axios]; Walmart is bringing drone deliveries powered by Wing and Zipline to 1.8 million more Texas households [The Verge]; Amazon Expands Same-Day Pharmacy Delivery to New York, Los Angeles [WSJ]
Financial Times Tests an AI Chatbot Trained on its Own Articles [The Verge]
The Financial Times has launched a new AI chatbot called Ask FT that answers subscribers' questions using the outlet's published content. Unlike general AI chatbots, Ask FT's responses are derived from FT's archives rather than the open internet. Available to a limited beta group of 500 subscribers, this chatbot aims to provide reliable, sourced information by parsing FT's decades of reporting. It is currently powered by Anthropic's Claude model, but FT says it may switch models.
The media industry has come a long way from the initial backlash towards online publishers like CNET and Buzzfeed publishing AI-generated articles in late 2022 / early 2023. Realizing the importance of using AI responsibly while also acknowledging that “there is no putting the AI genie back in the bottle,” online publishers are now actively trying to figure out how to incorporate AI-powered tools into their arsenal. In this case, Ask FT represents a way for publishers to monetize their extensive archives of content by making it more discoverable and digestible through an AI interface.
Tools like Ask FT could help media partners drive brand loyalty and perceived value among subscribers who gain efficient access to a publication's knowledge base tailored to their interests. If such a chatbot could be leveraged to generate new pages with customized content the way that Arc Search works, they could even serve ads on the said pages too.
Related: The New York Times is building a team to explore AI in the newsroom [The Verge]; Google’s AI-powered search results links to malware and scam websites [LifeHacker]
Hulu Launches on Disney+ Out of Beta With Marketing Push to Grow Subscribers [THR]
While the integration itself has been a long time in the making, this public launch indicates a further step towards consolidation in the OTT streaming sector. By combining Hulu's diverse content library with the primarily family-oriented and franchise-driven content on Disney+, Disney is poised to offer a more compelling and comprehensive streaming service, so as to better compete against Netflix, which has a wide range of content. While the current plan offers the combined service for a small additional cost, there's a possibility of future price hikes as Disney strengthens its market position.
With a more extensive content library and potentially larger audience base, Disney could offer advertisers improved targeting options and analytics. In return, advertisers might be able to fine-tune their campaigns to reach specific audiences more effectively, based on viewing habits, interests, and demographics across a wider array of content.
Related: Spotify adds video learning courses in latest experiment [The Verge]; NBCUniversal’s Peacock will let you watch 4 livestreams at once for 2024 Paris Olympics [TechCrunch]
Situational Awareness:
Cosm to provide Shared Reality experiences for sports fans under new agreement with ESPN [Blooloop]
ESPN’s extensive live premium sports programming package will enable Cosm to produce and broadcast major events at both professional and college levels. As we mentioned in the Outlook, the experience economy is rapidly expanding, thanks in large part to the hybrid experience providers like Cosm.
LinkedIn is experimenting with a TikTok-like video feed in its app [TechCrunch]
The TikTok-fication of social media continues, as LinkedIn jumped on the trend to give all the “corporate influencers” a new channel to grow their audiences. Of course, if this move ends up helping LinkedIn grow its video ad impressions, then all the better!
Gemini in Google Messages beta rolling out for some [9to5 Google]
Allowing people to text Gemini is going to open up a user-friendly channel for more people to interact with Google’s AI assistant. The question remains whether that’d be enough to scale Gemini’s use based against competitors like ChatGPT and Claude.
OpenAI files trademark for Voice Engine [Voicebot.ai]
It’s obvious too early to say that OpenAI will be able to challenge Siri or Alexa any time soon, but this is definitely worth keeping an eye out for. If I were to bet on hardware integration for this “VoiceGPT” voice assistant to launch, I’d bet on either a Surface laptop or a smart speaker.
Adobe’s new GenStudio platform is an AI factory for advertisers [The Verge]
It’s good that Adobe is placing an emphasis on ensuring content remains on-brand through this GenStudio platform; It’s crucial for brands to strike a balance between leveraging AI tools for efficiency and maintaining ethical standards in regard to brand integrity.
Americans’ use of ChatGPT is ticking up, per a new survey by Pew Research Center, which found that 43% of those aged 18-29 used ChatGPT in February 2024, up from 33% in July 2023, compared to 27% of 30-49 and 23% of all U.S. adults.
Film and TV professionals are split in evaluating AI’s impact on their industry. In a new NRG poll shared exclusively with IndieWire, 42% of film and television production professionals say AI “will harm people” in their field. Still, nearly a third (32%) say it will “benefit” them, and the remaining one-quarter either believe it will have no impact or say they do not yet know the impact.
Gen Z prefers gaming over traditional entertainment formats, a recent Deloitte survey confirms. The survey found that almost half of Gen Z and a large share of millennials say they prefer social-media video and live streaming (think Twitch) to traditional film and TV or services like Netflix and Max.
If you find our insights valuable and would like to have a deeper conversation on technology and media innovations, or need to sound smarter in a client meeting or a pitch, please feel free to reach out to Chelsea Freitas, our VP of Strategy, at chelsea@ipglab.com.
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