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First-Party Data, WarnerMedia and Discovery Merger, & More | Weekly Marketing News

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First-Party Data, WarnerMedia and Discovery Merger, & More | Weekly Marketing News

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Every week there is a lot of marketing news making headlines—and this week was no exception. 

In digital marketing news, new privacy regulations are expected to rewrite the rules of the digital landscape. With browsers like Safari, Mozilla, and Chrome putting choices about data use into the hands of consumers, brands will have to turn to first-party data to find audiences and understand their interests. Luckily, Adweek has some recommendations for brands looking to do just that. In a recent article in partnership with Permutive, the news source breaks down where to find first-part data, testing and learning with publishers, and then scaling your strategies. 

And in Connected TV news, The WarnerMedia and Discovery merger is on track to close early in Q2, according to a new article from Adweek. Last Friday, Discovery shareholders voted to approve the merger with WarnerMedia. This vote was one of the last hurdles facing the union, and now “Warner Bros. Discovery,” as the company will be called, is in the clear. This merger is expected to create a new streaming-centric media company that will dramatically reshape the media landscape. Also part of the merger will be the upcoming CNN+, which will debut on March 29th. Early subscribers to this service will be able to pay half off the monthly plan for life, as long as they remain subscribers.

To see the rest of the headlines that caught our eye this week, check out the roundup below. 

DIGITAL

The Drive to First-Party Data – Yes, it’s true—the world may seem like it just got a little bit more complicated. You know you need to make the shift to using first-party data to find the right audiences, understand their interests and deliver relevant advertising. 

Digital Marketing Market to be Valued at $460 Billion by 2022, Says Beroe Inc – The pandemic-induced curbs on traditional marketing avenues have fueled rapid growth in the digital marketing sector. The market size has reached $300-400 billion in 2021 and is slated to touch $460 billion by 2022. 

3 Ways CMOs Can Use Customer Voice to Build Their Brands – There are many ways to capture customer voice, such as interviews and surveys, monitoring reviews, social media analytics, recorded calls and measuring your brand’s net promoter score.

The Future of Marketing is Customer Obsession – Few marketers would disagree that the customer should be satisfied. After all, the idea isn’t new. But customer obsession exceeds time-worn principles and slogans. 

Modeling Turns the Risky Unknown Into the Hopeful Potential – The rapidly changing world doesn’t wait for certainty. It is better to try something based on assumptions and predictions, fail fast if inevitable, and promptly move on.

CONNECTED TV & STREAMING 

NBCU Will Stream Several MSNBC Shows on Peacock – For the first time, Peacock Premium subscribers will be able to stream several of the cable network’s shows the day after they air on linear, without a cable subscription.

What the New Disney+ Ad Tier Means for Disney, Advertisers, and Viewers – Disney+ is rolling out an ad-supported subscription tier. Part of the reasoning for this move is cultivating a scalable and accessible self-serve advertising platform that aims to expand CTV usage into a larger, more diverse group of advertisers. 

How CTV Advertising Can Bypass Digital Media’s Awkward Teenage Years – Not too long ago, advertisers were tasked with moving ads from the pages of print newspapers and magazines to digital publisher pages. The initial instinct was to do a one-to-one translation, assuming that the internet functioned just like the real world.

Streaming Video Ads Have Key Role in Midterm Elections – Campaigns are grappling with a seismic shift in television viewing habits during the pandemic, which kept many people at home during a time when major media companies either expanded or launched streaming video services.

Discovery Shareholders Approve WarnerMedia Merger – The merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery into what will be called Warner Bros. Discovery is on track to close as early as next month, after the last major hurdle standing in the way of the union was cleared this morning. 

MOBILE

Twitter Unveils Creator Dashboard for Monetization Features Super Follows, Ticketed Spaces – Twitter unveiled a new hub where creators can analyze how they are monetizing their content on its platform. The new tool helps them further understand how to make money on the social network and how much they are earning from monetization features.

What Apple’s Latest Letter to Congress Means to Mobile Advertising – Another chapter has begun in the big-tech antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Late last week, it came out that Apple is making new moves to protect its App Store from legislation that would require iPhone and iPad users to install apps outside of the App Store.

What You Need to Know About Mobile Game Advertising – Last year Apple and Google decided to make identifiers for advertisers (IDFA) an opt-in choice for users and that changed everything for marketers. The result has been a resurgence in more traditional types of ads, like banners, videos and pop-ups.

Instagram Begins Testing Ads at the Top of Feed With a ‘Small Number’ of People – Instagram said Tuesday that it will begin testing ads at the top of the feed with a “small number” of people, who will only be served those ads after they have already spent “some time” in the application. 

WE’LL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE

That’s it for the roundup this week, next week we’ll be back with another list of what’s making news in marketing.