CMO Today: Google Reports Strong Growth Despite YouTube Headaches
April 28 2017 - 8:18AM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Shields
GOOGLE MACHINE: Alphabet Inc. delivered another gangbuster
quarter, as the Google owner recorded a 29% jump in net profit and
19% growth in Google's ad revenue to $21.4 billion, reports The
Wall Street Journal. And if you were wondering if the company's
executives would sound flummoxed over the recent string of
marketers pulling spending from YouTube following some very
unfortunate ad placements, you've got the wrong company. There was
no sign of a financial impact so far, and they touted YouTube's
revenue growth as a strength. (To be sure, the ad pullback could
still be felt in the second quarter.) Google CEO Sundar Pichai said
the company had done "thousands and thousands of calls" with
advertisers to address the issue and point to new safeguards. In
the meantime, the company talked up the growth of mobile search and
mobile shopping, as well as the budding impact of machine learning
for both consumer products and better, smarter ads, CMO Today
reports.
APPLETUBE: Can a product with 20 million subscribers be seen as
an underdog? Especially if it comes from Apple? It doesn't make
sense, but Apple Music often feels like an afterthought in the
streaming world in light of Spotify's ascent (50 million
subscribers) as well Pandora and even Tidal. For its part, Apple is
thinking much bigger than being a digital jukebox. It wants to turn
Apple Music into a music-oriented video hub, reports Bloomberg. "A
music service needs to be more than a bunch of songs and a few
playlists," says Apple Music chief Jimmy Iovine. "I'm trying to
help Apple Music be an overall movement in popular culture." Sounds
like the wannabe heir to MTV. But it's not easy to turn a
background listening medium that people consume during commutes and
workouts into a lean-forward entertainment vehicle. Just ask
Spotify, which made a splashy push into video content last year and
seems to have little to show for it. Regardless, Apple Music may
release up to 10 original series by the end of the year. If there's
anything the world needs, it's more TV shows.
NEW WORLD SERIES: We've heard of mergers in the cable business,
but not many like this. Starting next month, ESPN 2 will start
airing a show from the MLB Network, "Intentional Talk," for an hour
each afternoon during the baseball season, and a half hour each day
during the off-season, reports Variety. If you were wondering what
a leaner ESPN might look like in an increasingly anti-cable-bundle
world, apparently it includes renting shows from other networks.
Don't expect a wave of such outsourcing. The sports network is
still going to air all of its high-profile shows like "Monday Night
Football," but the MLB/ESPN pact could represent an interesting
sign of things to come. Why spend money programming afternoons,
even with reruns, when it's hard enough to get people to watch
shows live in primetime? Of course, the danger is if and when
viewers (and then cable distributors who really pay the bills)
start to notice.
GOODFUL MOVE: BuzzFeed has continued to roll out new video
brands, often on Facebook, that may or may not carry the BuzzFeed
brand. The textbook example is Tasty, known for its short clips of
eye-catching pastries and brunch dishes being prepared at high
speed--which has become a monster hit. Another food-oriented video
franchise focused on healthy dishes, Goodful, has also proven quite
popular among the Facebook crowd. But in this case, it was
conceived and launched as a joint venture between BuzzFeed and the
consumer snack giant Mondelez International, reports CMO Today.
This origin was hardly evident to consumers, as the only Mondelez
branding was the occasional close-up on products like a box of the
healthy snack Good Thins. This collaboration would seem to prove
that brands can produce content that works, with the right help.
Alas, Mondelez is now handing Goodful over to BuzzFeed. In this
case, the two companies are sticking with what they are best at,
and Mondelez will revert back to being just another BuzzFeed
advertiser.
Elsewhere
A federal probe focused on Fox News is looking beyond settlement
payments paid to women who made sexual harassment claims, to the
overall environment at the cable network. [ CNN]
NBC News President Noah Oppenheim talks about his plans for
Megyn Kelly and his reaction to the recent turmoil at Fox News. [
Hollywood Reporter]
Cheddar sat down with WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell, who
talked about how ad agencies are grappling with the power of
Facebook and Google and his hopes for Snapchat. [ Cheddar]
Facebook will now let video creators make money from ads when
people pirate their videos, via a product called "Rights Manager."
[ Recode]
Only a handful of former Yahoo executives are set to play a
leading role once Verizon Communications fully completes its
acquisition of the web portal in the coming weeks. [ Recode]
Following Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly's recent departures, Fox
News host Sean Hannity's star continues to rise at the network and
in the talk radio industry. [ Bloomberg]
The ad holding company MDC Partners Inc. reported a first
quarter loss and fell short of Wall Street's expectations. [ Yahoo
Finance]
If you want to hang out at swanky hotel bars in Cannes during
the upcoming advertising festival, you'd better pay for a pass to
the official event. Festival organizers are considering restricting
bar access during the day to badge-holders (i.e. people who shell
out a few thousand dollars for passes). [ CampaignUS]
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2017 08:03 ET (12:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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