Today in Digital Marketing - Zeroing In: The New App Targeting Untapped Marketing Data

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Wednesday, March 22nd. Today, meet the app trying to crack the code of elusive zero-party data. Hipstamatic's retro revival has the Instagram killer arrived. TikTok on the tightrope as brands make backup plans for their ad spend. And all your brand mission work is for naught. Most consumers can't name a single company making a difference. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. Interesting new app launched this week in Apple's App Store. It's called Kaden, and its entire reason for being is to let consumers sell their personal data to brands. The app has been in the work for several months with a wait list of around 15,000 people

Starting point is 00:00:45 waiting to cough up their personal data. Despite the hype, Digiday has an interesting piece up today that questions whether the app can gain traction when other similar apps have failed. Kaden is partnering with several major brands that will let users connect their accounts to the platform like Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, Amazon, and various banking and credit card providers. The amount users can earn by sharing their personal information will depend on the type of data shared and how it's used. Its initial aim is for users to earn 15 to 20 bucks a month. But the company said that could soon grow to $600 a year and possibly thousands. The app has a few expansion features in mind. The first tier involves aggregating user data

Starting point is 00:01:26 and then selling it to financial services firms as alternative data. The second tier will expand into the ad tech space and allow users to consent to having their data anonymized for targeted ads. Finally, the third tier will give users access to know your customer data, which includes opt-in options

Starting point is 00:01:44 for direct messages from brands. Although the concept of Kden is not entirely novel, the company says it's different from its competitors because it makes it easier for users to connect their data and be as active or passive as they desire. But the piece notes that Kden's level of transparency is limited as it will not provide users with a full list of companies with access to their data.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Ultimately, of course, the success of Kaden will depend on consumer downloads and the types of personal data they're willing to provide. While the days of organic reach seem extinct, a platform that has lain dormant over the last few years is making a comeback to answer some of our prayers. In response to complaints with Instagram's push to video and algorithmic changes, Hipstamatic relaunched its social network on the App Store today with a refreshed app designed specifically to address Instagram users' concerns.

Starting point is 00:02:43 Tired of being bombarded with ads? They don't exist on Hipstamatic. Fed up with algorithmic feeds? Enjoy a chronological feed instead. Done with the constant stream of influencers? The app has a follower limit of 99 users, with only nine designated as close friends for private posts. And if you're over reels, you don't have to worry

Starting point is 00:03:03 because the platform doesn't even offer video. Rather, Hipstamatic will provide a community focused on sharing and engaging with photos and connections. The app will also include Hipstamatic's retro photo filters, which could be a way for your brand to appeal to younger users. Despite the Biden administration's recent national security concerns and the threat of a TikTok ban, the app's ad sales staff have been busy reassuring advertisers that, you know, everything's under control. Nothing to see here. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok has told its advertisers that the app is unlikely to be banned.

Starting point is 00:03:42 That said, some companies are preparing contingency plans for their ad spend. U.S. government is concerned that ByteDance could collect data on American users potentially influencing the content of the app and have demanded that the Chinese owners sell their stakes or risk being banned. But ad buyers say ad sales staff

Starting point is 00:04:01 have played down the threat of a ban. The company's even sent emails to ad agencies outlining its efforts to secure user data and has also produced an animated video highlighting data safeguards. In a statement, a spokesperson for TikTok said it has been engaging with marketers and agencies in a, quote, open, fact-based and ongoing dialogue, unquote, about building a trusted platform. The company also noted that divestment doesn't solve the problem of protecting national security and a change in ownership wouldn't impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. But despite those reassurances, several ad buyers say some brands have begun to prepare

Starting point is 00:04:39 for a possible ban by coming up with alternate plans for their ad dollars, including moving money to other platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Connected TV. Stop patting yourself on the back. Turns out consumers don't care that your brand is, quote, making a difference. For nearly a decade, many companies have developed

Starting point is 00:05:02 purpose-driven marketing campaigns that promote diversity, sustainability, and other lofty well-meaning goals. But according to a new study published yesterday, purpose-driven messages are failing to reach consumers. A survey found that the majority of consumers are unable to recall any brand that is taking care of the environment. More than half of respondents were unable to name any brand that promotes diversity and inclusion, while the majority of consumers also couldn't name a brand that is giving back to the community. Surprisingly, Gen Z, often regarded as the generation that prioritizes businesses based on their social and environmental commitments, was the least likely to be able to name any cause-driven brands.

Starting point is 00:05:47 According to the report, Amazon and Walmart received the overwhelming majority of mentions among those who could recall a brand, with Tesla being the only other brand to receive more than 100 unaided mentions. The data comes from GFK's survey of more than 2,000 consumers. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Another Twitter feature bites the musk. The company's efforts to attract creators to its

Starting point is 00:06:37 platform have been thrown into disarray after several of its monetization features stopped working. The Information reported yesterday that the tipping feature, which of course lets creators receive tips from their followers, has disappeared from their accounts on the site, though it's still available on mobile. Creators who haven't enabled tipping are also unable to do so, while the coins feature is also not working for some people. Twitter, which no longer has a communications department,

Starting point is 00:07:04 has not provided any details on what is causing the feature to stop working or whether it will be reinstated. The only option for creators to monetize their content now is to turn on paid subscriptions. That said, these developments follow recent layoffs that included product leaders who were working on creator tools.

Starting point is 00:07:22 The remaining team members reportedly are focused on paid subscriptions, previously called super follows. WhatsApp is adding some new group chat controls. First, it has developed a new tool that lets admins have more control over who can join a group. The new feature will let administrators approve and reject group chat applicants, while it will also show users that have been previously approved or rejected. WhatsApp will also be adding a new Groups in Common feature, which lets users get more context about other members.

Starting point is 00:07:56 Users will be able to search a contact's name and see which groups they have in common. The new features start rolling out over the coming weeks. And finally, in a game of AI telephone, Microsoft and Google's chatbots have started a misinformation shitshow, where they're unable to gauge reliable news sources, misread stories about themselves, and even misreport their own abilities. The Verge reported today that asking Microsoft's Bing chatbot about the status of Google's BARD chatbot resulted in confirmation of its shutdown, based on a news article that references a tweet wherein BARD falsely claimed that it had already been shut down.

Starting point is 00:08:41 But the tweet itself cites a comment from Hacker News in which a user made a joke about the shutdown, and ChatGPT was used to create fabricated news coverage. The report points out Big Tech's decision to prioritize market share over safety has resulted in a laughable but potentially damaging situation where AI language models can't distinguish fact from fiction. You know, I've been plugging my Twitch and YouTube streaming channel. I'm not going to be a real game streamer. I just think it's kind of fun. So an unfortunate thing happened yesterday, and I need to apologize to the podcast listener whose username on Twitch is Talonius. They did something called a raid.

Starting point is 00:09:30 And on Twitch, what a raid means is that when they end their stream, they send all of the viewers that are with them that are watching their stream over to someone else's stream. And so typically what happens is that you hear the person you know go through the list of people that they follow streamers that are playing games at that moment and decide on who they're going to raid with all their viewers and that indeed happened yesterday while i was streaming i've been listening to this guy's podcast and it's been really interesting so let's give him a raid because i think he'll appreciate it. I did.

Starting point is 00:10:05 Raids are really good because they bring new followers, except there was one problem last night. Wait till he notices. I didn't notice. And usually gamers will notice this when they go into another round. So between rounds,

Starting point is 00:10:16 they'll notice the raid. He's going back in. And I didn't. So I'm going to keep him pulled up. But I'm going to get out of here, guys. Thank you so much. My apologies, Talonius. Thank you so much for the raid. I'm so to keep him pulled up but I'm going to get out of here guys my apologies Talonius thank you so much for the raid

Starting point is 00:10:27 I'm so sorry I didn't notice until I was done streaming but if you want to follow Talonius we'll do a podcast raid over on a Twitch channel Talonius' channel is Talonius T-A-L-O-N-I-O-U-S and then an underscore on Twitch and you can find my Twitch and YouTube streaming channels

Starting point is 00:10:43 in the show notes thanks for listening. Thanks for rating. I'm Todd Maffin. See you tomorrow. I need a hero. I need a hero. I need a hero.

Today in Digital Marketing - Zeroing In: The New App Targeting Untapped Marketing Data

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