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At last week's Modern Retail Summit, professionals came together and spoke about how they're thinking about some of the industry's most pertinent problems, like how to stand out on Amazon and preparing for a post-cookie landscape. Leaders from top brands described the trials and tribulations they faced over fireside chats, and attendees shared persistent thorns in their sides at break out working groups.
OnlyFans is increasingly becoming an appealing platform for brands looking to stand out. Unlike Facebook, Instagram and other marketing channels, the subscription-based app lends itself to more boundary-pushing content. It's why some brands are adding OnlyFans accounts to their roster in hopes of growing their digital presence.
The chain has hiked its TV investment by 275% year-over-year and has plans to advertise on TV for the rest of 2021 across network and cable in the 22 markets where it has a footprint.
While Reddit has 52 million daily active users whose passions span anything from stocks to skincare, brands and marketers alike have been scared to use it. But more companies are testing it out and seeing promising results.
Over half a dozen ad platforms -- including Bidstack, Frameplay, AdInMo and InMobi -- offer some version of an in-game ad service, and they are increasingly attracting the attention of major companies. In the past few months, Postmates, Burberry, Axe, Burger King, Asda and 7 Eleven have all run ads within video games like Off the Rails 3D and Gravity Zero -- suggesting that in-game advertising, while still very niche, is becoming a real consideration in retail marketing.
Williams-Sonoma-owned homewares brand West Elm announced a program called the West Elm Collective. The company described it as an ambassador program that lets West Elm work with both bigger and smaller online celebrities, giving them their own storefronts to feature select items.
The messages app is starting to replace the email inbox as the most sought-after piece of digital real estate among brands and retailers. Using text messages to promote sales or new product launches are the most popular tactics, but marketers are still trying to figure out what kinds of text messages people would actually want to receive from them.
Major brick-and-mortar players have begun investing in live-stream shopping -- with Walmart testing out TikTok livestreams and Nordstrom beginning to roll out their own livestream platforms. But the phenomenon is not new in the U.S. -- small businesses have been building sizable livestream audiences for years, especially on Facebook. Yet the reaction from businesses has been mixed -- and some remain leery of selling directly on the platform, opting instead to let third-party apps handle their sales.
The days of the Facebook whiz who can type out a few keystrokes and acquire thousands of customers thanks to an algorithmically-provided lookalike may be numbered. And brands that have relied solely on quick and easy digital customer acquisition tricks to grow their businesses face a tough road ahead.
As retail brands look for new ways to collect consumer information outside of social feeds, rewards programs are becoming an appealing method to do so. In recent months, several brands have launched or announced loyalty programs meant to reward repeat customers in exchange for feedback and data.
Right now retail media is defined by an arms race between Amazon and Walmart. However, challengers like Target and CVS are looking to compete with their own offerings.
Google’s new commerce features, including the company’s recent video-shopping platform Shoploop and its checkout option Buy On Google, have by most accounts attracted the interest of very few brands. Yet a new feature that serves products in YouTube videos, if it is rolled out more widely, is already exciting agencies -- and, in the eyes of brands, it might help boost the value of YouTube as a shopping platform.
After a year of adapting to online sales and delivery, the alcohol space is planning long-term digital strategies to cater to customers' new tastes. The latest move by Bacardi is a recipe-focused app called Mix Lab, featuring bartender-led tutorials and ingredient recommendations. In the longterm, the company's brand of portfolios can use it to market and sell their products.
After a year in which many subway and airport ad placements sat idle, some startups are beginning to dust the cobwebs off of their out-of-home strategies. This week, Glossier launched an ad campaign with an out-of-home component that's betting on people returning to the movies. Other startups are waiting to see whether an uptick they say they are waiting to see a larger uptick in people taking the subway or flying on a plane before committing to any out-of-home campaigns
Over the last 12 months, the game We're Not Really Strangers has amassed nearly 3 million followers on TikTok. What’s most impressive is that it has created a successful brand account largely through its own content, rather than relying heavily on a network of paid influencers to boost its numbers -- and in doing so, WNRS is trailblazing a way for smaller brands to become not just savvy partners for influencers but also successful content creators in their own right.
Every interaction a customer has with a brand is an opportunity to nurture the customer-brand relationship. This report highlights tactics that top brands are using to improve the customer experience.
While other states have had conflicting rulings over Amazon's liability risk -- a court in Texas last month said Amazon wasn’t on the hook for a battery sold by a third party, for instance -- the growing number of legal authorities who are holding Amazon accountable is a concerning sign for the company. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission lawsuit is only the latest.
Read MoreAt Modern Retail’s Livestream Commerce Trends, we’ll explore how the growth of livestream and video shopping trends are transforming how retailers, brands and marketing teams are engaging with consumers in-stream and live across social and owned-and-operated websites.
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