Laundry Service CEO Says Trump Ran Better Marketing Campaign Than Most Brands
December 07 2016 - 12:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Steven Perlberg
Donald Trump's presidential campaign was criticized throughout
the election season for eschewing television ads -- long the
bedrock of political advertising -- for a social media and live
rally-heavy marketing strategy.
Now, in the wake of Mr. Trump's victory, Jason Stein, the CEO of
social media agency Laundry Service, says brands can learn a thing
or two.
"I would say that Donald Trump ran a more modern marketing
campaign than 99% of brands do today," Mr. Stein said on the latest
episode of the WSJ Media Mix podcast.
"He heavily invested in Facebook, and also used Facebook data to
not just inform the ads and the content they were making, but
actually to inform the messaging of his speeches on the campaign
trail. That's something brands really don't do enough, use their
data to inform their actual product-making decisions," Mr. Stein
said.
Mr. Stein says that this year, particularly given the fall in
NFL ratings and subscriber losses at ESPN, has proved the
traditional TV business is eroding.
"I do think it's a long-term trend. It's happening in way too
many places and there are way too many young people who are not
watching TV at all," he said.
Mr. Stein's firm works with brands to shape content geared for
social media platforms, buys media on their behalf and helps to
link companies up with digital "influencers" like athletes.
When it comes to digital advertising, Mr. Stein called the
reaction to Facebook's acknowledgment that it had been miscounting
video and content metrics "a bit overblown," and that the fervor in
the ad world was really about sticking it to Facebook.
"The big media agencies want any leverage they can against
Facebook," he said.
Like many in the ad world, Mr. Stein is closely watching the
rise of Snapchat. He said the company reminds him of when Twitter
and Facebook first introduced advertising, in that their operation
is more "startupy" and "fly by the seat of their pants." He added
that Snapchat could pose a threat to Facebook (and Facebook-owned
Instagram).
"That's why Instagram has made so many changes this year. At the
risk of advocating for copying, it's actually a stroke of
brilliance," he said.
For more with Mr. Stein, check out the episode and subscribe to
the WSJ Media Mix podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify or
Stitcher.
Write to Steven Perlberg at steven.perlberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 11:57 ET (16:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024