Mike's Industry View - Issue #99
Creativity
How New Balance plans to exploit the 'gaps' left by Adidas and Nike at its first World Cup — www.thedrum.com
Leading sports brands like Nike and Adidas are "overspending" when it comes to the World Cup, according to New Balance's head of football. Yet despite the big budgets, they are leaving gaps which are being exploited by the challenger brand through a partnership with publisher Goal.
Business/Marketing/Adv
How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness — www.economist.com
Survey respondents stated the platforms exacerbated anxiety and depression, deprived them of sleep, exposed them to bullying and created worries about their body image and “FOMO”.
The podcast business is still small. Which is great news for podcasts — www.recode.net
Advertisers put $314 million into podcast ads in the U.S. last year but this is tiny compared to TV, search and social.
Interestingness
Vice Media Was Built on a Bluff — nymag.com For almost 25 years, Shane Smith’s plan for Vice Media was that, by the time the suckers caught on, he’d never be stuck owning the company he co-founded.
The Art Fair Where $20 Million Impulse Buys Are the New Normal — www.bloomberg.com At this year’s Art Basel in Switzerland, prices are aimed squarely at the world’s wealthiest.
Why Kind bars are suddenly everywhere — fortune.com The upstart snack maker has unusual promotions -- and aspirations
Platform News
Twitter stock is at a three-year high. What is going on? — www.recode.net
The company turned its first-ever profit in the fourth quarter of last year and was also profitable in Q1. Its path to profitability was centered around cutting costs.
Instagram will now let you shop products through Stories — www.theverge.com
Instagram is now expanding its shopping features to Instagram Stories, after already offering a way for users to shop looks through its feed. It will now add stickers with a shopping bag icon to Stories. Users can tap the sticker to see more details about a product.