Lab Weekly - 06/23/2023
EMEA POV on Outlook 2023; plus, the latest news about Meta, Uber, and Nike, along with some must-know stats on digital marketing and innovation
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Outlook 2023: EMEA POV
Our network of EMEA team, led by Kate Walkom and Deb Cho, dissects how the four Outlook trends — from the end of the digital media duopoly to the rise of generative AI — are developing in Europe and the Middle-East, and shaping the future of media and technology across the EMEA region.
In case you missed it…
WWDC 2023 Recap: Apple Sets Its Vision for the Future of Computing
What brand marketers need to know about Apple’s new “spatial computing” device, as well as other announcements from WWDC
Outlook 2023: Southeast Asia POV
Southeast Asians are moving away from the legacy of global influences and are carving a more definitive path for themselves in response to significant shifts in digital adoption behaviors
Gen Z’s Impact on the Future of Sports
Thomas Trudeau from our partnerships team dives deep into Gen Z’s viewing behaviors and preferences on sports content, the impact it has on sports broadcast rights, and how brands can best leverage emerging sports to reach younger audiences.
Meta Unveils Voicebox AI For Text-To-Speech Creations [Engadget]
Last Friday, Meta unveiled a new generative text-to-speech model named Voicebox, which is being described as “ChatGPT for spoken words.” Essentially, with Voicebox, users can generate short audio clips of answers to their prompts instead of written texts. Meta says this model was trained on more than 50,000 hours of unfiltered audio, specifically, of recorded speech and transcripts from a bunch of public domain audiobooks written in English, French, and other languages.
Citing the “potential for misuse,” Meta says it has no plan to release an app for it nor share the source code of the model. Instead, Meta’s research team says it’d make its way into use cases such as prosthetics for patients with vocal cord damage, in-game NPCs, and digital assistants.
Still, given that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly stated that generative AI is coming to "every single one of (Meta’s) products,” it seems fair-game to consider what a talking version of ChatGPT could fit into Meta’s existing products and services, especially for the more brand-friendly use cases. For one, it could be used to power an automated customer service tool for conversational Q&As on the likes of Facebook Marketplace or WhatsApp. For another, it could also be used to generate more natural-sounding speech to accompany Instagram Reels. Regardless of what the application turns out to be, Meta will need to be careful about how this VoiceBox AI is rolled out to users. Perhaps limiting it to business profiles as a creator tool wouldn’t be a bad idea to begin with.
Related: Vimeo adds a suite of AI tools to make video creation significantly easier [ZDNet]; Supergreat taps into ChatGPT for AI beauty recommendations [Glossy]
Nike Builds Its Own Branded Universe Within Fortnite [AdWeek]
Although the hype around the "metaverse" concept has died down since generative AI became popular, not all companies have abandoned their metaverse initiatives. Nike is one such company that has remained dedicated to establishing a brand presence in Fortnite, one of the most popular MMO games with the ambition to become a metaverse platform.
Nike has created a custom island within Fortnite called Airphoria, where players can visit to pick up sneakers for their character. The island features a variety of Nike products, including Air Jordans, and players can also participate in challenges and earn rewards. In addition to the in-game experience, Nike will also be releasing a limited-edition Airphoria T-shirt in the real world to promote its virtual world.
By creating an in-game experience for Fortnite players, Nike is able to reach a younger audience in a way that traditional advertising cannot. In addition, the Unreal Editor for Fortnite is a powerful tool made for designing, developing, and publishing games and experiences directly into Fortnite. Nike is one of the first brands to tap into this tool, and its Airphoria island is a great example of what is possible in creating immersive experiences for fans.
Related: J. Crew opens virtual store in collaboration with experiential ecommerce company Obsess [Retail Dive]; Epic’s latest tool can animate hyperrealistic MetaHumans with an iPhone [The Verge]
Uber Adds Video Ads to Its App [WSJ]
Uber is taking a more aggressive approach to advertising, and it seems that video ads will be a key part of its strategy going forward. The company announced it is planning to introduce video ads to its family of apps, including its flagship ride-hailing app and UberEats. The company clearly sees ad sales as a key growth area, and video ads tend to command a higher CPM rate than images or text.
Uber's decision to introduce video ads comes as the company faces increasing competition from rivals. Lyft, DoorDash, and other companies are all expanding their ad offerings in an effort to attract more users and generate more revenue. While the introduction of video ads to Uber's apps is a significant development. It will be interesting to see how users react to the ads and how they impact Uber's business. If not careful, pop-up video ads could also negatively impact the user experience and lead to reduced app usage. After all, when people are already paying to use a service, presumably their threshold for ad tolerance might be lower than when using a free service.
Related: Pinterest doubles down on vertical video for seasonal ad strategy [Marketing Dive]; Google unveils AI tools aimed at maximizing video campaigns [Google Blog]
A new study by MAGNA Global in collaboration with Vox Media found that podcasters are more persuasive than traditional influencers. The mixed-method study found that podcasts engender trust and openness to new ideas thanks to audiences’ strong connections with podcast hosts. 68% of listeners—and 81% of millennial listeners—say they have a deep connection with their favorite podcasters, and 88% of all listeners consider the time they spend listening to their favorite podcasters as meaningful.
Microsoft disclosed Xbox’s market share as part of a court document for the company’s ongoing legal battle with the FTC over the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, IGN reports. In the proposing findings of fact submitted to court, Microsoft says Xbox “lost the console wars”, with a 16% share of console sales in 2021, behind Nintendo and PlayStation, and a 21% installed base share.
More than 150 million people — about 20% of Snapchat’s monthly users — have sent 10 billion messages to the chatbot, called My AI, since it was introduced at the end of February, Bloomberg reports. Snap says it now intends to use the data to better personalize ads.
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 our Group Director Josh Mallalieu!
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