SOCIAL MEDIA

The Big Sleep (On TikTok) No More

Although TikTok was among the most overhyped adland trends last year, I've heard whispers that many of you still think it’s slept on.

Or at least, that’s probably what the marketing team at study app Quizlet would say.

• On Wednesday, Quizlet announced an integration with TikTok that allows creators in the education space to link Quizlet flash card study sets directly to their videos for interactive learning on the platform, per a press release shared with Marketing Brew.  

More than the Renegade 

Obviously, this is a dream partnership for the marketing team at Quizlet, for a few reasons. As of June, 32.5% of US TikTok users were between the ages of 10 and 19—also known as flash card-aged. 

Plus, there’s the whole remote learning thing. 

• “We were impressed by the work TikTok has been doing to support online learning communities as students around the world navigate the difficult transition necessitated by COVID-19,” Quizlet CMO Brad Ramsey told Marketing Brew. 

But still, the partnership never would have happened if Quizlet’s marketing experts slept on TikTok. For instance, Quizlet's team spent time exploring the platform and realized educators were already using it, presenting a clear opportunity.

• “TikTok’s vast user base includes a supportive community of educators already using the platform to share content, so we are confident and excited that the partnership will engage even more students with fun and educational learning tools,” said Ramsey. 

: If you’re already an avid TikToker and feel like a partnership would be just as dreamy for your own brand, click here for Marketing Brew’s full conversation with Ramsey on how Quizlet structured and set goals for the partnership. 

AD TECH

Who’s Afraid of The Third Party Wolf? Walmart, Apparently

As the cookie crumbles, Walmart is salivating at the opportunity to leverage its first party shopper data.

• Yesterday, the discount store announced it’s rebranding the Walmart Media Group internal media network to Walmart Connect.
• The rebrand is in service of Walmart’s big plan to become a top 10 US ad business in the next five years, per Ad Age.

Big picture: Essentially, Walmart Connect will… 

• Leverage owned properties like “Walmart.com, Walmart+, and the Walmart app to create holistic campaigns for advertisers,” per Marketing Dive. Amazon rode a similar approach to the top of the ad market. 
• Build out “in-store experiences through assets like TV walls and self-checkout screens.”
• And partner with The Trade Desk to develop a shiny new programmatic buying platform that uses Walmart’s first party data to place ads outside Walmart properties. 

Big trend: Walmart isn’t the only retailer focusing on an internal media network before major ad tech changes rock the industry—Walgreens did the same with its Walgreens Advertising Group network in December, following similar moves from CVS and Home Depot. 

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D&I

Cheers to Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

Patrón’s new partnership with the Marcus Graham Project (MGP), a nonprofit dedicated to making the ad industry’s talent pool more diverse, represents the latest in post-Black Lives Matter-reckoning D&I initiatives. 

• The tequila brand is working with MGP’s iCR8 Boot Camp, recruiting 12 rookie creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to gain hands-on experience developing campaigns (and more) alongside Patrón’s core marketing team.
• iCR8 has “a top-notch track record, with 96% of program graduates landing jobs upon completion,” per Ad Age. 

Zoom out: When I heard about Patrón’s partnership, I couldn’t help but wonder about progress from the agency networks that made vocal D&I commitments last summer. Click here for more details, but here’s the TL;DR: 

• WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, IPG, Dentsu, and Havas have all taken at least some of the concrete diversity improvement actions proposed in their 2020 commitments to change—from Havas’s diversity education programs for staff to Omnicom’s doubling its roster of D&I leaders. 

Final thoughts: As Dentsu's Americas CEO Jacki Kelley said in June, marketers shouldn’t “mistake activity for progress” if we want our industry to evolve—no matter if we’re agency or in-house. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Apple announced its IDFA changes will go into effect early this spring. 
• Kia will follow in Budweiser’s hoofprints, sitting out Super Bowl LV and breaking an 11-year streak. 
• Facebook reported a record quarter for ad spending as it anticipates Apple’s IDFA changes.
• Omnicom’s OMD won Home Depot’s $450 million media account, which Dentsu’s Carat had held since 2011. 

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FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

Case studies: If you’ve been looking for one of those “How White Claw stood out from the crowd” case studies—but one you’ll actually learn something from instead of one that just makes you wish you worked on the White Claw brand team—look no further. 

E-commerce: Are you on Shopify? Do you like growth? Great, then read these 100 marketing secrets for growing your Shopify store in 2021. 

Twitter: Twitter and Sprinklr, the customer experience management platform, joined forces to launch a 2021 Customer Care report—read the most important takeaways here. 

Creators: In honor of Black History Month starting on Monday (and just because we like celebrating Black talent here), follow these 18 Black creators on social media for some serious creative inspiration. 

METRICS & MEDIA

Stat: “Nearly one-third of US and UK internet users had looked at a meme the day they took a March 2020 survey by GlobalWebIndex, with that figure rising to 54% among those ages 16 to 23,” per eMarketer. 

Quote: “I believe brands are going to be all over Clubhouse in a few months…The platform definitely has its pitfalls, but there is a very real opportunity to provide value to your community that brands will salivate over...What director of social media out there doesn’t want that?”—Adam Kleinberg for Adweek

Read: This quick update from MediaPost on how taxi media is making a comeback in 2021. 

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• What NBCUniversal’s recent updates mean for advertisers
• New spot from Refinery29 and Girl Up centers kids’ reactions to Kamala Harris’s inauguration 
• Vimeo added new integrations with HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact