Happy's marketing news - 11.08.17
It’s time to delve into the marketing news for the past seven days with Happy’s bite-size chunks!
July was a good month for Game of Thrones spin-offs (of the chicken variety), VW and bingeing on data with a cute sloth. Confused? Well, according to YouTube the above featured in their top 10 marketing videos of the month. Viewed by literally millions of people, the ads feature heavily in some of the biggest marketing spend from the big-budget, big-hitting customers. Check them out here.
The Government has announced a £15m Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund to promote creative, tech and cultural industries in the region. Towns and cities will be able to bid for a share of the cash, which can be used for projects such as tech start-up centres, or renovating live music venues. “This £15 million fund is a fantastic chance for towns and cities to develop inspirational projects that could have a transformative local effect – particularly in communities that have seen less cultural or creative investment in the past,” explained Culture Secretary Karen Bradley. “We want as many people as possible to benefit from the Great Exhibition of the North, and this fund will boost the Northern Powerhouse and help build a lasting legacy across the whole region. Grants of up to £4m will be available for each project, which should “encourage sustainable cultural and creative regeneration” and benefit areas that have historically had “low levels of cultural and creative investment.
Facebook has made a move into dedicated video, pitting it against YouTube and TV networks. Users will soon see a new Watch tab that will offer a range of shows, some of which have been funded by the social network. Watch will be personalised so that users can discover new shows, based on what their friends are watching. Viewers will also be able to see comments and connect with friends and dedicated groups for shows. Video has been available on Facebook for some time, but until now, it has mostly been dominated by amateur clips or short segments from news organisations. The world’s largest social network added a video tab last year, and has hinted for some time that it might make the move to producing original content.
Britons could obtain more control over what happens to personal information under proposals outlined by the government. Citizens will be able to ask for personal data, or information posted when they were children, to be deleted. The proposals are part of an overhaul of UK data protection laws drafted under Digital Minister, Matt Hancock. Firms that flout the law will face bigger fines, levied by the UK’s data protection watchdog. The bill will transfer the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) into UK law.
Proposals included in the bill will:
make it simpler for people to withdraw consent for their personal data to be used
let people ask for data to be deleted
require firms to obtain “explicit” consent when they process sensitive personal data
expand personal data to include IP addresses, DNA and small text files known as cookies
let people get hold of the information organisations hold on them much more freely
make re-identifying people from anonymised or pseudonymised data a criminal offence
This places a strong burden on firms to protect data and allows for significant fines if they fail to protect information or suffer a breach.
Snap shares plunged 14% on Thursday after the social media firm reported more than $400m (£310m) in quarterly losses and fewer than expected users. The share price fall extended a decline that started almost immediately after Snapchat started trading on the stock market this spring. The firm reported 173 million daily users, up 4% on the prior quarter. But the company is struggling with fierce competition from Facebook, which offers similar features.
