TLDR Marketing 2024-05-07

According to a new study by Material and TikTok, TikTok plays an increasingly powerful role in the product discovery process for consumers. 61% of the app's users discover new brands and products on the platform, which is 1.5X more than other platforms' users. 29% of users use TikTok specifically to search for a brand or retail account on the platform.

Airbnb's latest initiative, “Icons”, features a series of unique experiences curated in collaboration with notable figures from music, film, art, and sports. For example, guests could enjoy an evening at a secret speakeasy designed by comedian Kevin Hart. The program launches with 11 such experiences, each accessible through a digital lottery system. Most of these experiences are offered for free or at a nominal cost of less than $100. In 2024, over 4,000 digital golden tickets will be used. Airbnb is potentially setting a new trend in how tech platforms can bridge the gap between digital interaction and real-world experiences.

Good formatting makes your writing easier to read, skim, and share. Start every section with a single sentence opener, which keeps readers interested and encourages them to continue. Wherever possible, convert long paragraphs into bulleted lists. Use bolded subheads to break up the page and help the reader identify where they're going. Use the 1/3/1 writing rhythm, which entails intentionally alternating the length of sentences.

This article delves into the pitfalls of relying on a 14-day free trial period, highlighting the discrepancy between customer onboarding time and the trial duration. Keygen, a software licensing and distribution API, adopted an unlimited trial to better align with its median time-to-convert of 41 days, resulting in increased overall sign-ups and improved conversion rates.

Most people don't know Oatly started in the 90's. With flat growth, the board shook things up by hiring a CEO outside of the food industry. The marketing department was replaced with a creative team that was involved in every business division and decision. Instead of using paid media to drive the brand's quirky messaging, the company made every square inch of the product packaging work harder. It lived and breathed the phrase “be human and not a logo”. The company gave a voice to the real people behind the brand.

Creatify is an AI-powered app that generates high-quality marketing videos from a simple product link or a description. The tool analyzes your product listing, then generates a script and video preview. You can customize the voice, avatar, and other elements, then render the final video for marketing use. Creatify offers a free plan that includes credits for 2 video ads.

Aria can now summarize text-based web pages on Android. The AI-powered web page summarizing tool quickly condenses news articles, blog posts, or research papers into a short summary that typically fits on one screen. To use it, visit any text-based web page and tap the 3 dots in the top right corner of the Opera Android browser. Then, select the “Summarize” option next to the Aria icon.

This piece includes a summary of the Department of Justice's closing deck, which argues that Google manipulated ad auctions and inflated costs to increase revenue. The DOJ uses direct quotes from Google employees to argue that format pricing, squashing, and Randomized Generalized Second-Price have been used by the company to harm advertisers.

Nike's recent struggles illuminates critical lapses in adhering to core brand principles, such as innovation stagnation, neglect of brand heritage, and misjudgment of competition. The brand's failure to renovate, coupled with a disregard for its provenance, has eroded its competitive edge and alienated core customers.

Newsletters are experiencing a renaissance, evidenced by substantial investments in platforms like Beehiiv.

A case study of Kaspr's simple yet powerful ads, which include memes, screenshots, and pictures of outside environments.

Budweiser's "UninterruptAds" initiative converts over 500 songs mentioning the brand into targeted Spotify ads, aiming to seamlessly integrate brand recognition into users' music streaming experience.

A nitpicky complaint about copywriting, matzo product positioning, and an amazing pricing page.