From last days at Instagram to first dates on Youtube, Epsilon takes a look at the industry’s highs and lows in this week’s Round-Up.
Tesco reckons supermarket competition doesn’t mean Jack
Source: REUTERS - Jack's Tesco's Newest Market Chain
Not satisfied with holding the largest grocery market share in Britain – a whopping 27.4% (Kantar WorldPanel, 2018) – Tesco is rolling out plans for their next big venture, the launch of Jack’s, a no-frills supermarket chain, which will be put in place to rival German competitors, Lidl and Aldi. The new market brand, according to Tesco Chief Executive, Dave Lewis, will provide U.K consumers with “great-tasting food at the lowest possible prices, with eight out of 10 products grown, reared or made in Britain”. The first two outlets will open next week, with plans to open 13 more over the next six months. Competition from Germany aside, a spokesperson for Tesco said motivations for opening the chain also came from the “consumer demand for low prices, driven by food price inflation in the wake of the Brexit referendum, as well as real wage stagnation.”
Founders say later to the ‘Gram
Source: Instagram - Instagram Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger resign
In a shock twist this week, Instagram founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, officially announced their departure from the photo sharing platform. The reason behind their leaving, both on the record and on the ‘Gram, is down to a desire to further explore their curiosity again. However, away from social platforms, other theories have emerged as to why the two tech moguls have chosen to go. The most popular of which is the intense micromanagement of Instagram by its parent-company, Facebook.
Facebook acquired Instagram two years after its conception for $715 million and took its two founders on board with the deal. Initially, Instagram was left to its own devices, however, once Facebook reached saturation point, it began to take a more invested look into the business it acquired. This began an almost four year battle of autonomy, creativity, and freedom, which apparently, eventually lead Systrom and Krieger to leave.
The platform will continue to run under the guidance of Zuckerberg and co. but with this departure of founders, changes are definitely afoot.
Me Too’s Next Move
Source: Cnet - #metoo movement
It’s been almost a year since Me Too, a movement working to speak out and fight against sexual harassment and sexual assault, came to fruition. In its wake, change has been triggered in society and, while the movement still has its work cut out, day by day progress is being made.
An example of such progress is JDoe, an app created to encourage victims to report sexual assault and misconduct. In the U.S, almost 70% of sexual assaults go unreported (Rainn), JDoe is hoping to help with this figure. The free app, which is available on Apple and Android, follows three foundational ideas
- Identify – JDoe aims to identify repeat offenders through its anonymous reporting platform. They believe that cases with multiple complainants are more likely to be successful in court.
- Provide – JDoe provides users with access to civil lawyers and prosecutors, and authoritative groups.
- Ensure – JDoe works to ensure that users have complete control over their data. Their encryption algorithms guarantee privacy.
Back to basics
Source: The Outdoor Advertising Association of America - #getoutofhome
Get Out Of Home! That’s the message coming from The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), who launched the campaign with Publicis New York. The campaign is aimed at getting advertisers excited about OOH again and to prove to them its unflinching value. Naturally, GOOH features a host of OOH ads, 50,000 to be exact, across 30 markets in the US, but it’s also digitally integrated. During Advertising Week NY, a real-time digital OOH campaign will run and will invite advertisers to engage in the conversation using the hashtag #GetOutOfHome.
With the millennial generation seeping into more and more planning jobs, OOH has taken a dip over the last few years. Stephen Freitas, OAAA’s chief marketing officer, wants to show these advertisers that, while digital is great, “some ideas are too big to stay trapped online. Bold ideas need a bold platform.”
Data disaster?
Source: Three Ireland - First Data
Mobile Network, Three Ireland, along with creative agency, Boys + Girls, took an innovative step into the unknown this week, launching the country’s first ever digital dating series – First Data. The premise, which involved two strangers having their first date via video, is both a nod to society’s move towards cyber-dating and a reminder to consumers of the network’s all-you-can-eat data bundle offers. While, on paper, this could seem like a match made in heaven for today’s mobile-obsessed audiences, the web series opened to less than flattering reviews.
In response to the episode, which bears the description ‘Will West Cork's Susan develop a real connection with cheeky Dubliner Barry?’, viewers took to social media to leave less than favourable reviews. Among them were profanities, negative comments about the network’s services, and accusations of misogyny against dater and cheeky Dubliner, Barry.
Despite the backlash however a teaser for the second episode has been released and is already racking up a sizeable viewership, so perhaps what they say is true, no press is bad press.
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