📓 The Creativ Brief: Fragmentation and Viewership
NFL private equity. Tech export controls. More Google antitrust. Startup failures. Video Brunch!
I attended a brunch this week on media fragmentation, hosted by ThinkLA and Comcast Advertising.
Executives discussed the difficulties of reaching consumers in a landscape which has dispersed eye-balls across various channels, platforms, networks, and forums. Few talked about the pros.
Media fragmentation began in the early 2000s as social platforms like Twitter and Facebook and video streaming services like YouTube and Netflix entered the scene, stealing attention from traditional media like TV, publisher, and radio.
Media fragmentation meant that large corporate advertisers could no longer reach a majority of US audiences through mass media buys of a handful of networks to reach 90+% of the population. The simple trifecta of TV, radio, and print no longer sufficed.
Media planning now required new digital-led products like social media buys, search, website takeovers, and programmatic placements. These hurt large advertisers that now had to spend more money on media planning, cobbling together various channels, to acquire a sufficient audience.
Meanwhile, upstart brands benefit from media fragmentation. Mass media buys are cost prohibitive for local and nascent brands that do not have the capital, revenue, or inventory to serve a national market. Bespoke buys on social, YouTube, and programmatic allow for precise targeting, smaller budgets allocations, and better ROI tracking for nascent brands.
Additionally, agencies benefit as media fragmentation increases complexity, leading to a need for expertise. Small publishers also benefit from their ability to compete by acquiring subscribers through digital channels and receiving more advertising dollars through programmatic buys.
In a fragmented media world, it pays to be small.
3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines
The NFL has decided to allow private equity firms to own up to 10% of teams, but plans to take a percentage of profits from any future sales of ownership stakes. This marks the first time the NFL is allowing private equity investment, unlike other major sports leagues, and the league’s intent to take a portion of profits is a unique move in the industry.
Why it matters: NFL ownership is an exclusive club of the wealthiest men in America. This decision could impact future private equity interest in NFL teams. The league remains focused on maintaining control and ensuring community-focused ownership in an increasingly profitable sports industry.
Google is facing a second antitrust trial, with the U.S. Department of Justice challenging how the company monetizes digital advertising, alleging harm to news publishers. The trial will focus on Google’s dominance in the ad tech space, where it controls a large share of the markets for ad servers, ad networks, and ad exchanges, which prosecutors argue stifles competition and has contributed to the decline of journalism. The case stems from Google’s acquisition of Doubleclick, allowing them to control both the demand platform and the online supply of ad inventory.
Why it matters: This case matters because it could reshape the digital advertising landscape, potentially leading to the breakup of Google and impacting the future of online media and news publishing.
The U.S. has introduced new export controls on advanced technologies, including quantum computers. These controls impact semiconductor production, additive manufacturing, and quantum computing, with novel reporting requirements for foreign employees working in the U.S., which may complicate hiring decisions for companies, particularly small ones.
Why it matters: The move could influence how companies source and manage specialized talent, component parts, and the final customers of technology products. The decision also highlights growing global-political tensions between the USA and rising powers such as China.
Creativ Spotlight - Ammolite Machine’s Emil Nava featured in Complex for Eminem Music Vid
Eminem’s music video for “Somebody Save Me” ft. Jelly Roll was directed by Emil Nava of 1stAveMachine/Ammolite Machine. The video features dramatic scenes of Eminem looking back on his past along with clips of his daughter, Hailie Jade, and other family members.
Checkout the coverage HERE!!
Stat of the Week - Startup Shutdowns Increase 60% in 2024
Startup failures in the US have surged by 60% over the past year as many companies, unable to secure new funding, exhaust the cash they raised during the tech boom of 2021-22.
Cheap money, driven by low interest rates, caused many VCs to encourage their startup companies to take on massive fundraising rounds to inflate valuations and increase their own VC portfolio valuations.
As money costs increased, a wave of startups have failed.
The rise in bankruptcies feels like a wake-up call for the startup world, as tighter capital markets and the end of easy money begin to reshape the playing field, potentially sending shockwaves through the broader economy and casting a shadow over the future of innovation in tech.
One Fun Thing - ThinkLA Video Brunch Recap Pictures
The Creativ Strategies team ventured over to the Skirball Cultural Center in LA for a series of amazing panels and new conversations at ThinkLA’s Video Brunch.
