Tuesday Tune-Up #271
Qantas and Tourism Australia take safety videos to new heights
Following the success of the Qantas flight safety video in 2016 that gained over 90 million views, Qantas and Tourism Australia partnered to create a new video that doubles as a tourism advertisement by showcasing unique destinations across every state and territory in Australia. Aside from social, the video will be shown on all domestic and international flights. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the partnership is a smart way to reach new audiences by making safety videos more engaging as well as informative.
KFC Launches its first buckethead Snapchat lens to celebrate their end of summer campaign
To celebrate the end of their summer campaign, KFC launched their first Snapchat lens during the Cricket BBL finals. Tapping into the tradition of cricket fans wearing KFC buckets on their heads during games, the lens allows fans to wear virtual buckets wherever they are. With an “open your mouth trigger,” flying chicken and fireworks appear once fans start engaging. In 2016, KFC gave out a quarter of a million buckets in stores for fans to wear, but with Snapchat, users are united behind the brand both at the stadium and across Australia.
Brands might now appear in your conversations as Facebook has chosen Australia to trial its new ad format
With more than a billion messages sent daily, it’s no surprise that platforms are exploring new ways for brands to enter the chats. Facebook has selected Australia (along with Thailand) to trial a new service that will give “businesses the opportunity to place ads on the Messenger home screen.” The service claims the ads will not be intrusive or interruptive – appearing underneath users’ list of “favourites” and above the list of “active contacts.” The initial group will test the new ad format and have the ability to hide/report the ads.
Gen X more addicted to social media than millennials
In your face Gen X (35-49-year-olds)! A new report from Nielsen found that it’s not us lazy, unmotivated and vain millennials spending the most time glued to our phones, it’s actually you. Generation X-ers spend an average of 6 hours and 58 minutes a week on social media networks, compared with the 6 hours and 19 minutes of the younger group.
Facebook launches new Snapchat-alike Stories feature in Ireland
Facebook has gotten in on the ephemeral action with a new Stories feature on top of its Newsfeed for users in Ireland. What’s more, small circles will now appear in its main app above the Newsfeed, where you can select to watch your friends’ Stories. Other countries will get the new service in the coming months. With Facebook users able to access almost all of Snapchat’s cool features, could this be the end of growth for Snapchat?
Facebook scraps personalised trending topics
Facebook’s trending topics hasn’t experienced much love since it was introduced, with allegations of it pushing ‘fake news’ among other things. To curb the backlash, Facebook recently decided to scrap personalised topics, instead citing official news sources for trending stories. What’s more, everyone in the same region will see the same stories. Now how do we turn off the Trump trends feature?
Longer videos “may see a slight increase in distribution on Facebook”
On its neverending journey to greatness, Facebook has announced that the metric “percent completion” will be its new focus when it comes to video. Facebook says that if someone watches most or all of a video, it shows that they like the content – particularly if it’s longer. What does this mean? If you’re a regular user, you may start seeing longer videos in your feed. If you have a Facebook page, you may find longer videos getting an increase in distribution and shorter ones seeing a dip.
Nielsen partnership gives brands guaranteed Snapchat audiences
Snap Inc. has revealed a partnership with Nielsen’s mobile Digital Ad Ratings (mDAR) unit, giving brands the ability to target guaranteed audiences by age group and gender. This is a big move for Snapchat, as it is similar to what marketers are accustomed to with Nielsen’s TV offerings. The platform had previously discussed wanting to “take over TV,” and based on the numbers it boasts around millennial viewership, this may just be the boost they need to get it done!
Twitter launches new-(ish) Explore tab
Twitter has made it easier to find the best, best, BEST content on the platform with its new Explore tab, which houses the top tweets, hashtags and moments in one place ?. It has a hint of the old Moments tab, which turned out to be a bit of a flop, but you can’t argue with the trendingest of the trending content, can you?!
Tumblr launches Snapchat-like mobile features
It’s not just Facebook copying Snapchat – Tumblr has launched more than 100 stickers including dogs, rainbows and sunglasses—to posts in its flagship app and GIF-making iMessage app. However, stickers and filters are only available for users’ posts and are not included in Tumblr ads. What’s more, if you’re short of ideas for wooing your lover on Valentine’s Day, there will be themed sticker packs available. Romantic.
This post courtesy of @michele_danno