ShortTake is your weekly FYP from The Shorty Awards for quick, new and thought-challenging takes on culture, creativity and TLDR. Things that need a closer look and things that need a completely different perspective. By Jeff Barrett, Chief Evangelist, Shorty Awards.
An ad-supported car payment plan?
Yikes. I bet you weren’t expecting to see pop up ads in your car this year. For any of us lucky/unlucky enough to live through the U2 album being forced on Apple devices – this probably feels similar. The first and maybe even second instinct is to see this as a similar blunder. You get in your Jeep and there’s a popup ad in the infotainment center.
But is there a tipping point? Similar to a streaming service we are willing to pay less and be served ads. There is precedent. Stellantis sees $20 billion in annual growth potential. I might pump the brakes on that but I am curious at what cost savings would someone be willing to sit through an ad before they started their car. A week ago this wasn’t in my line of sight. Now I can see the road ahead, however bumpy it may be. Yeah, it’s a multiple car pun kind of newsletter. Buckle up.
Not Every Podcaster Is Ready For Video
There is a great breakdown on this topic by Kaya Yurieff (full article here). As one of the millions of people who host a podcast for our very own Shorty Awards, I get it. The viewership and discovery metrics tell you to embrace YouTube, Spotify and other solutions.
But for many it’s not about the obvious cost increase of investing in a better studio, lighting or even staff. It’s about changing the very format and function of the podcast. This becomes increasingly difficult for narrative/researched podcasts that are expertly edited but not optimized for a video format and would be nearly impossible to retrofit for it. I can think back to the first season of Serial and it would feel completely different if it was optimized for video.
That said – every industry will adapt. We go where the attention is and we adjust accordingly. Expect the experience to be bumpy for a bit but we’ll eventually settle in the right place. Or – maybe someone will come up with better discovery features for audio only podcasts and we’ll revert back. Maybe there’s a demand for that or maybe an audio only podcast will feel like owning a VHS copy of The Mighty Ducks. We’ll keep watching and listening to this space.
How to identify more opportunities for the creator middle class
Negative unintended consequences for the creator middle class are not new. But Keith Bendes’ update to the take and this article from October are still very present. Sometimes things are better reheated.
And you can understand this from all angles. The brand lead is probably under organizational pressure to find someone with a large presence, proven name, experience driving ROI in this exact vertical, isn’t too budget restrictive, aligns with brand voice – OMG this is exhausting but necessary. In a culture where everything can be measured, it’s hard to justify risks or going out on a limb. This is our industry paralysis of analysis.
The counter argument would be to make micro investments in long-term relationships with multiple creators from this middle class (we need a better term) and grow with them. As they grow, invest more. There is exponential growth in this strategy. But realistically this isn’t the main strategy because big moves and product launches will require something with more immediate results. We’ll be talking about this much more in this newsletter. But this isn’t a question of how to create better content – although there will be opportunities on the margins to make content more brand deal friendly. This starts with communicating cost/benefit to the c-suite and recalibrating where and how we distribute resources by making it make sense via ROI.
Is Pete Davidson the Perfect Boyfriend?
To be fair I don’t know if Reformation sold more products after this ad. That’s probably important. But it may be a good example of a greater trend on the horizon. Pete Davidson may be just as known, if not more, for his famous relationships as his comedy. You have seen the memes.
There’s a level of coordination that I want to take note of with this ad.
It soft launched Pete Davidson’s new look without tattoos which had an audience curious to see the new look. He talked about it on The Tonight Show. He appeared multiple times in the SNL 50 special at this time. And then the ad itself draws you in further by being understated, relaxed. The takeaway, like always, won’t be to duplicate but take note of how to leverage something that elicits curiosity in the culture. This is similar to multiple things Maximum Effort has done in the past with Peloton and more.
Something doesn’t stay part of discussion for long in the attention economy, so when you see something like intrigue into Pete Davidson’s love life have some staying power that’s a rare opportunity. There will be more of these opportunities emerging, especially in the creator economy going forward, to unveil or uncover something new and quickly. And for anyone with a fear of commitment – try Inkbox.
