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1. Twitter To Shut Down Vine
Twitter recently announced in a blog post that it will be shutting down Vine in the upcoming months. Vine is a six-second video sharing app and was the first mobile video sharing app when it was launched in 2013. Since then Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube began to grow and lured many users, specifically Vine stars like Lele Pons and KingBach, to those platforms. The rising number of users from Vine’s competitors has led Twitter to cut off Vine.
2. Reddit Launches Interest-Based Ad Targeting
Earlier in the week, Steve Huffman, Reddit’s CEO, announced that Reddit will be broadening into interest marketing. Huffman described interest marketing as targeting “audiences based on a handful of predefined interests which will be informed by the communities they frequent.” These ads could be about sports, music, gaming, etc., depending on the person’s interests based on the sites they visit the most. This gives users the comfort of avoiding ads that are not as interesting or not as ideal. Responses to Reddit’s efforts have been positive, but it will be interesting to see the success in the coming years.
3. Brand Messaging in GM Vehicles
General Motors and IBM are rolling out a new system in GM vehicles that allows brands to deliver personalized messages to drivers and passengers. The system will personalize these messages using location and vehicle data like fuel level, number of passengers, and weather. GM is targeting brands mainly in retail, fuel, hospitality, entertainment/media, restaurants, and travel, and has a few brands already on board. This is important because there is a one-way mass channel for ads targeting drivers like radio and billboards. The new system changes that mass communication to individualized experiences.
4. Instagram’s New Shopping Post for Retailers
Earlier this week, Instagram launched a new way for retailers to use their posts to look more like a catalog for their followers. Retailers can now put price tags on items in the posts for followers to click and buy them from the retailer’s website. It’s a low-risk tool for retailers because it is free for them to use this option. This is in the early stages and has potential for much more depth in the future.
5. Improve Mobile Map Visualizations
There are three distinct ways to improve map visualizations on mobile devices: show and tell; design for fingers, not cursors; and be selective, impose restrictions. Show areas of interest and tell the audience information to take away in with minimal effort for the user. Design the maps so that they are easily selectable by the stubbiest of digits. Remember the KISS Principle, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” Strive for simplicity and avoid complexity.
Sources:
• http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-just-shut-down-vine-4-years-after-buying-it-30-million-174301
• http://marketingland.com/reddit-launches-ad-targeting-196537
• http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/questions-gm-ibm-s-car-marketing-system/306497/
• http://adage.com/article/digital/a-instagram-s-shopping-posts/306569/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1478625042?utm_visit=1176494
• https://www.distilled.net/resources/Mobile-Data-Vis-Maps/