NFR #43 - Shopify, Tik Tok & Trending Podcasts

Shopify, Tik Tok & Trending Podcasts

🐦 Inspirational Tweet 🐦

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🤖 eCommerce News:

“Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) and Deliverr are combining to remove supply chain complexity for merchants of all sizes, on and off Shopify, democratizing access to end-to-end logistics for independent brands for the first time. Deliverr’s technology strengthens SFN’s ability to manage merchant inventory from port to porch as it travels to the warehouse network, gets distributed across sales channels, and ultimately arrives at the consumer’s doorstep. SFN and Deliverr will power Shop Promise, a new service that offers consumers two-day and next-day delivery options with the merchants they love.”

“In 2021, U.S. podcast advertising revenues rose to $1.4 billion, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time, a revenue increase of 72% year over year, according to the study. IAB also forecasts that the market will exceed $2 billion in 2022 and will be over $4 billion by 2024. Eric John, vice president, IAB Media Center, said, “The report indicates significant growth ahead, with advertisers buying podcast impressions at scale while tracking delivery, effectiveness, recall, and results. Buyers will expect advanced brand safety solutions, audience targeting, and measurement, and we look forward to working across the ecosystem to create standards that serve creators, listeners, publishers, and brands.”

“Atul Bhardwaj, Lego’s chief digital officer, said that one new capability the company had was “to start building our own games — that could be a possibility”. Lego outsourced its video game development shortly after 2003 and has enjoyed some hits with individual titles but not with some of its bigger projects. People close to the toymaker say there was long-held frustration at Lego that it had not developed Minecraft, the hugely popular digital building game created by a Swedish start-up and now owned by Microsoft.”

“Software as a service has become the default for how organizations adopt and use apps these days, thanks to advances in cloud computing and networking, and the flexibility of pay-as-you-use models that adapt to the evolving needs of a business. Today, a company called Paddle, which has built a large business out of providing the billing backend for those SaaS products, is announcing a large funding round of $200 million as it gears up for its own next stage of growth.”

“While some of Amazon’s fulfillment network hires during the quarter covered employee absences amid the omicron variant surge, the company “quickly transitioned from being understaffed to being overstaffed, resulting in lower productivity,” according to Olsavsky. With demand cooling off from pandemic-driven highs, Amazon is now focused on improving operational productivity and cost efficiencies rather than growing its staffing and network capacity, Olsavsky said. The company had a peak of 1.7 million employees in Q1 but “were able to work that down” to 1.6 million by the quarter’s end.”

“TikTok is rolling out a new advertising program that lets brands put ads next to the top 4% of videos on the platform — and for once, creators get a cut, too. The short-form video app launched TikTok Pulse on Wednesday. The feature also allows creators with at least 100,000 followers to participate in a revenue-share program, the first ad product of its kind to do so, though it's unclear how many creators it will approve for the program in its initial stages, TechCrunch reported. To start, only advertisers that have been invited to the program will have access to it, according to TechCrunch, though TikTok plans to roll it out to more brands after launch.”

“Arianee has raised a $21 million Series A round (€20 million) in a round led by Tiger Global. The company issues digital ownership and authenticity certificates on behalf of partner brands. For instance, a luxury and fashion brand can replace the authenticity card that you get with your new watch or handbag with a digital certificate. As those certificates are non-fungible tokens, you can know for sure that there’s only one NFT for this specific good with this serial number and activation date.”

“The brand is launching a refillable body wash. It’s a gel cleanser that comes as a powder. The first time you order, you can get a Forever Bottle, along with a sachet of powder. Add it to water and shake, leave it for an hour or so to “activate” and it’s ready to go — all while eliminating plastic waste and without having to spend the extra resources shipping water from the manufacturer to your door. The company says its product is “formulated for people and the planet, using only natural and safe ingredients like Oat, Vitamin E, Vitamin B, Kaolin Clay and Coconut Acid.” Further bolstering its environmental cred, it is sulfate-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, aluminum and silicone-free, and doesn’t include dyes or petroleum-based ingredients.”

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🎶 Tik Tok Ad Of The Week

“Earnr is the finance and tax companion for creators, small businesses and side incomes. Keep track of your incomings and outgoings, get valuable business insights and automate your tax return in just a few simple taps.”

Why was this ad good? ✅

  • Simple easy to understand problem statement that many people experience

  • Great use of a viral sound, meaning that if you recognised the sound, you knew a dance transition was coming up in a matters of seconds

  • Before & after reactions. A the start of the video the person is looking sad in the beginning, quickly changes to them doing a “happy” dance once they found Earnr

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📈 Trends Of The Week:

This is a snippet from Ben Jeffries (CEO @ Influencer) April Influencer Marketing update (Link here)

  • Influencer marketing has grown from $1.7 billion in 2016 to an expected $16.4 billion this year;

  • Instagram verifies 35 virtual influencers;

  • TikTok tests a ‘Watch History’ feature;

  • Snapchat reports 92% of Gen Z want to use AR for shopping;

  • 51% of marketers say they plan to review their digital or experience agencies in the year ahead;

  • TikTok’s ad revenue is expected to triple this year to $11.64 billion;

  • 55% of marketers believe the metaverse will have a positive impact on marketing

Google for Audio

podcast growth

The world of podcasts is growing faster than the entire internet did back in the early 2000s. Spotify alone now hosts 3m+ shows (that’s ~43x the number of titles on Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+, combined).

But the tools that help listeners discover new content haven’t kept up.

Sixty-five percent of people who’ve never listened to a podcast say the reason is that they don’t know where to start. Meanwhile, great new shows struggle to get recognition, and audiences tire of seeing the same old suggestions.

Audio search is due for an overhaul.”

“The share of small retail businesses that couldn’t make rent rose to 34% in April, up six percentage points from February, according to survey data from Alignable. Those surveyed cited inflation, including gas price spikes, supply chain issues, labor shortages, reduced revenues and increasing rent. Of those small businesses surveyed by Alginable, 46% said their rent was higher than six months ago.”

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✍️ Poem Of The Week

Have You Earned Your Tomorrow

Is anybody happier because you passed his way? Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through; Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?Or a churlish sort of "Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that's slipping fast, That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said; Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent? Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say, You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?

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Happy Existing 👋