The advertising and marketing world had a chaotic start to the new year. From Snapchat giving a check to big-name users, beer companies suing for advertisements, and another proposed idea to shorten baseball games, March’s creative industries weren’t silent.
Snapchat Becomes a New Source of Income
Among Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, Snapchat has become one of the leading social media platforms for Generation Z’ers and Millennials. With over 170 million users, verified accounts for creators and businesses, and fun ways to interact with each other, Snapchat decided online creators could earn money from the app just as they do on YouTube.
The first Snapchat creator to be paid was Cyrene Quicamco, a media influencer, sponsored by McDonald’s to promote the fast food chain’s new donut sticks. A quick seven second video and a few photos of the donut sticks earned her money in a quick, interactive way.
Some Snap users don’t seem to like this idea, but I don’t think Snapchat is worried about losing users. In fact, I think it’s going to gain more revenue and buzz for the business and might get other platforms talking.
As 2019 continues, I’ll be keeping an eye out for business Snapchat stories to see how many creators are being offered and taking advantage of this new pay opportunity.
Battle of the Brews
It’s no secret that Anheuser-Busch (AB) reinvented the average beer commercial. Their 2018 debut mid-evil Super Bowl commercial ads aired and the term “Dilly! Dilly!” begun chanting at football games and bars across the nation. This year, AB might not be shouting as loudly. Their 2019 Super Bowl commercials targeted their competitors, Miller Lite and Coors Light, by stating their competitor’s beer is brewed with corn syrup, while AB’s Bud Light is sweetened with rice. Because of this, Miller/Coors is suing AB for giving misleading information about their product and “plotting an extensive and persuasive advertising scheme”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkHvj_KEHBk
The corn-syrup controversy has made its way onto social media. Miller/Coors has been tweeting to defend their beers, reiterating that they in fact, do not use high-fructose corn syrup in the ingredients. But this hasn’t stopped Bud Light’s official Twitter account from replying and creating even more buzz to the issue. What started as fun and games has turned into a media frenzy.
Is all this drama necessary? I don’t think so, and honestly, I’d rather drink a Yuengling.
MLB Wants to Strike Out Commercial Times
The Major League Baseball association (MLB) announced they are looking to increase the pace of baseball games by decreasing the time of middle inning and between inning commercial breaks. In summary, this would decrease commercial breaks from 2:25 to 2:00. This idea comes from the help of MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, who believes decreasing commercial breaks will create shorter baseball games and make them more enticing to watch. Though the MLB is pushing the idea, it must get approval from Fox and ESPN networks, as it will take a financial toll on each with a loss of ad revenue.
It’s no secret that baseball’s slower pace is causing a decline in engagement from some younger audiences. Baseball viewing has decreased within the past five years, specifically by younger ages. The average age of baseball viewers is 53, NFL is 47, and NBA is 37. It’s safe to say that younger people need to be more heavily involved with baseball again, or sports overall, but I don’t think cutting down television commercials is what will bring them back.
Shortening the length of baseball games was introduced before the 2018 season, and if unapproved this year, it makes me question whether MLB will continue to push for shorter commercial breaks for the 2020 season or investigate more ways of shortening games.
Sources: Ad Age, The Verge, CNN