Digiday Sunday

Digiday: In the wake of the dramatic conclusion of the U.S. Presidential election in favor of former President Donald Trump last Tuesday, we spent the back half of the week reporting on how his second administration will impact the digital media and marketing economy. We published a next day round up outlining the implications of the election results ranging from what the future holds for CMOs and platforms to the news media and sector M&A activity. We also took a hard look at the rise of the “manosphere” creator force that helped propel Trump’s win and what it signals for brand marketers in terms of how they balance their traditional marketing investments with creators and influencers – who seem to be driving much more efficient and effective engagement. And we also reported on the potential “Trump Bump” for news publishers over the course of his second term. On our more regular knitting, our most-read stories reported on Google’s dabble with ad curation, DE&I roll backs and multicultural agencies and the redefining of creators vs. influencers. – James Cooper

Story highlights

Digiday editors pulled together the day after the election and reported out a comprehensive look at what the second Trump administration will mean for the digital media and marketing economy. As they reported, ‘As they look to the future, CMOs will need to tread even more carefully. Whether you call it “woke-washing” or a genuine commitment to raising important issues, this trend isn’t going anywhere. It’s only going to grow. After all, capitalism has a knack for adapting as younger generations increasingly feel alienated by the economic, social and political systems that uphold society, bit businesses tapping into their ideals remains a shrewd strategy.’

Our other post-election coverage included: 

Trump, the manosphere and the marketer’s creator dilemma

Will news publishers see another ‘Trump bump’ in Trump’s second term?

Quote of the post-election week

“In a world where their sound bites travel faster than fact, content creators have become the new arbiters of what is fact,” said Matt Wurst, CMO at vertical video platform Genuin. “It’s reflective of this seismic shift in public trust where creators and influencers are now seen as more authentic and relatable than traditional journalists and probably brands as well.”

Seb Joseph and Ronan Shields teamed up on the week’s most-read piece that broke down how Google is starting to tinker with the latest hot topic in media/ad tech: Curation. As they reported, ‘Yesterday, Google Ad Manager unveiled a series of new curation services involving a raft of partnerships, tacitly acknowledging the strategic significance posed by the latest buzzword in ad tech… To do this, Google has struck a series of tie-ups with several parties (see the list below), and for some, it signifies the further entrenchment of fissures between buy-side and sell-side ad tech providers. Google has been working on this for a year, and, according to two ad executives familiar with the discussions, it is already bringing its spin on curation to the agency holding groups.’

Kimeko McCoy had a smart news analysis what the recent abandonment of DE&I programs and initiatives on the part of brand marketers like Ford and Molson Coors means for multicultural agencies. As she reported, ‘That reversal has left multicultural and diverse-owned agencies dealing with the about-face from the boom seen at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequent DE&I commitments…the pendulum of brands’ commitment to diversity [is] now swinging toward divestment out of fear of the so-called culture wars. At BGD Media, a multicultural and independently owned marketing agency, potential clients have recently put conversations around working together on hold until 2025, said Latoya Bond, CMO of BGD Media.’

Antoinette S. continued to lean into her new reporting focus on the business of the creator economy with a well-read piece that broke down the ad biz’s present definition of what it means to be a creator vs. and influencer: As she reported, ‘As the industry evolves and takes up a bigger slice of the marketing pie, there are now more ways to differentiate between the two types of talent — one term seen as a more premium way of marketing, and the other focusing more broadly on creating content across different platforms. There’s perhaps a need for more clarification and updating too, as the types of content grow across channels, from artificial intelligence to virtual avatars.’

Tim Peterson's edition of the Digiday Podcast featured an interview with Ingrid Verschuren, evp of data and AI and gm of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Dow Jones which keyed on AI governance. During their conversation Verschuren told Tim that: “We want to be absolutely sure that we get fairly compensated for the content. We want also to be sure that it’s very transparent both to use [in] how our content is being used and similarly to the users [so] that they know where the content is coming from.” Give a listen here

 Here are the Digiday + Briefings for the week

—Media Buying Briefing: Debating the pros and cons of principal media

—Marketing Briefing: What recent earnings for P&G, Unilever and Cole say about where the industry is headed

—Future of TV Briefing: How the European creator economy compares to the U.S.

—Media Briefing: European publishers speak out on advertisers’ punishing brand safety practices

—Digiday + Research: A look at brands’ 2024 holiday marketing plans

Digiday Sunday will be on hiatus on 11/17. See you on 11/24!