_Agency_ work highlights

• Our Canadian Publicity and Promotions teams worked with Warner Bros. to bring Dwayne Johnson to Canada for #BlackAdamRocksCanada. Dwayne Johnson appeared in Toronto to celebrate the release of his new DC action movie, Black Adam. Event attendees experienced exclusive photo opportunities, prizes and a March to the Movie where they became among the first in Canada to see the film before its theatrical release.

  

• Check out this recent Knowledge Post by Jessie Liu, Director AAPI Publicity, who discusses how to engage with APPI audiences and deliver innovative, impactful and robust marketing campaigns that speak to the diversity of this group authentically.

• To celebrate Halloween, we've created Allied Tomatoes - our own version of Rotten Tomatoes ratings. To participate, please rate the movies here by October 26th and follow our social pages to see the final scores.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

Ad Vendors / Platforms / Data

• Google will now label ads as sponsored in mobile search results. It’s also adding site names and favicons to all results. (The Verge)

• US TV viewers exposed to both TV and digital ads are 40% more likely to recall a brand than if they see an ad twice on mobile. (Fierce Video)

  

• DoorDash is expanding its self-serve advertising platform, bringing in marketing tech partners Pacvue and Flywheel to better compete with rivals like Instacart. (AdAge)

• TikTok introduced a new ad unit that will charge advertisers only when an ad is watched for at least six seconds or are interacted with within the first six seconds. (Media Post)

• Google introduced a tool called My Ads Center where users can manage the ads they see in its apps and the information that they share. (Social Media Today)

Awards / Festivals

• Marie Kreutzer's Corsage won the top prize at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival. The film is now Austria’s entry to the Academy Awards. (THR)

• After winning the audience award at the 2022 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Winners was selected as the UK’s submission for the international feature award at next year's Oscars. (THR)

• The San Diego Film Festival showcased 155 films last week, many of them full-length features and documentaries. (Del Mar Times)

Cinemas / Theatrical

• Halloween Ends debuted at the top of the US box office with $41.3M in ticket sales, while Smile fell to second place, earning $12.4M. (AP)

• After grossing $17.5M in 61 markets last weekend, Smile has earned $89.9M globally to date. (Deadline)

• Paramount has pushed up the release of Babylon by two weeks. The film will now open in the US on December 23rd. (THR)

Gambling / Casinos

• FuboTV shut down its sports betting service that synced with on-screen action. (The Verge)

• 888 Holdings posted £449M in revenue for Q3, a 7% decrease YoY. (Gambling News)

• Star’s Sydney had its casino license suspended and was hit with a A$100M fine for failing to prevent money laundering and criminal activity. (Sydney Morning Herald)

• Twitch is banning gambling streams days after Drake posted a stream of himself playing roulette that drew 22K viewers. (Insider)

• 46% of consumers globally think online gambling should not be allowed while 37% think it should be. (YouGov)

  

• New York’s Times Square may get a casino. Caesars Entertainment is putting together a pro-casino coalition to pitch for one of NYC's three casino licenses. (CDC Gaming)

Live Events / Attractions

• This year's Global Gaming Expo attracted 25K gaming industry professionals. That’s down about 2K from 2019 but nearly double the attendance from 2021. (Casino.org)

• Disney's Florida theme parks have lost attendance to Universal Orlando. While Magic Kingdom saw 12.7M visitors in 2021, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios saw a combined 18M. (WDWMagic)

• Barry Manilow extended his Las Vegas residency for one more year. Manilow: Las Vegas — The Hits Come Home! will run through 2023. (KTNV)

• Australia's live events are increasingly threatened by weather conditions due to climate change. Music festivals including Strawberry Fields, This That and Jungle Love were postponed or canceled this year due to weather. (SMH)

Music / Audio / Podcasts

• YouTube will expand its audio advertising globally to let brands market to people who use YouTube to listen to music or podcasts. (Reuters)

• Amazon launched a weekly livestream concert series called Amazon Music Live on Prime Video. (Tech Crunch)

• TikTok is likely preparing to launch a podcast app. Audiomeans noticed a new bot started harvesting its feeds and it has tracked TikTok as the source. (Insider)

• Pinterest will soon launch a new feature called called idea pins that will let users add popular music to their video posts. (The Verge)

Crypto / NFT / Metaverse

• Apple's mixed reality headset will offer iris scanning for payments, logging in and more. (The Information)

• After introducing a Visa debit card to US customers earlier this year, FTX will roll out crypto debit cards across 40 more countries. (Fintech Times)

• Triller launched a metaverse platform called Metaverz where users can gather to watch live music and sporting events and interact with artists. (Reuters)

• Mastercard will help banks offer crypto trading, acting as a bridge between Paxos and banks. (CNBC)

• Meta's Horizon avatars will soon get legs, a big step up from the previous floating-torso avatars. (Tech Crunch)

• Warner Bros. launched a Lord of the Rings NFT collection called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version) Web3 Movie Experience. (Variety)

OTT / Streaming

• Netflix’s share of the 100 most popular streaming titles has fallen to 28% in the US. However, Netflix still has half of the top 10 most popular titles. (Ampere Analysis)

  

• Netflix added 2.4M+ subscribers in Q3, beating its forecasted 1M adds. (CNBC)

• In 2023, Prime Video will add nine new Australian Amazon Originals to its slate of 23. (Mumbrella)

• Amazon India announced Varun Dhawan as the first “Prime Bae”, an elevated brand ambassador who will be the first (‘Before Anyone Else’) to see and share news and updates on upcoming Prime Video projects. (Social Samosa)

• While 44% have tried to cut back on spending at the grocery store amid ongoing high inflation, 18% of US consumers have cut back on streaming subscriptions. (The Hustle)

• US adults perceive Netflix as the most enjoyable and prestigious streamer. Hulu is the second most enjoyable and third most prestigious. (Morning Consult)

  

• Netflix launched a new feature called profile transfer that lets anyone on an existing account migrate their profile to a new account while preserving personalized recommendations, viewing history and lists. (Variety)

• The number of UK homes that have at least one paid-for subscription fell by 937K between January and September as consumers choose essentials over entertainment. (The Guardian)

• Netflix will start charging US subscribers an extra user fee in early 2023 to monetize account sharing. (Engadget)

• Of streamers with ad-based versions, HBO max has the most expensive ad-supported tier with Hulu and Disney+ just behind. (Axios)

  

Retail / Lifestyle / Travel

• US online holiday sales are expected to hit $209.7B, up 2.5% YoY, and Cyber Monday is expected to drive a record $11.2B. (Business Wire)

• About 71% of consumers in Argentina plan to buy on Cyber Monday, and 8 out of 10 plan to buy on Mercado Libre. (Insider LATAM)

• About 3 in 10 US holiday travelers will drive to their destination this year due to current airline issues like lost baggage and canceled flights. (NerdWallet)

• Over a third of US adults have begun their holiday shopping. Anxious shoppers are more willing to get a head start this year than unanxious shoppers. (Morning Consult)

  

Social Media

• Twitter is developing a way for users to control who can mention them to curb harassment and bullying on the platform. (Tech Crunch)

• TikTok is raising the age requirement for TikTok Live and adding adult-only livestreams. (Tech Crunch)

• TikTok has added Photo Mode for static images. Users can also post carousels of still images. (Social Media Today)

Video Games

• Two of the largest independent studios creating games for Roblox, RedManta Games and Sonar Studios, merged to form a new company called Twin Atlas. (Axios)

• Microsoft is building an Xbox mobile gaming store to better compete with Apple and Google. (The Verge)

• Netflix will expand into cloud gaming and has opened a new gaming studio in Southern California. (TechCrunch)

Live Sports

• The Clippers will launch a DTC streaming service, charging consumers $200 for 74 games this season. (AdAge)

• For the second straight year, Stephen Curry is the NBA's most liked player. He scored a net favorability rating of 67 among US NBA fans. (Morning Consult)

  

• Prime Video will have an exclusive Black Friday NFL game beginning in 2023. (Streamable)

Interesting Campaigns / Creative

• Jollibee chicken launched a cross-board OOH campaign in Times Square that features models reaching from their billboard to another billboard featuring a bucket of chicken. (LBB)

  

AND NOW THE GOOD STUFF

• The UK government published its national AI strategy, which outlines its long-term vision for the technology and its impact on society.

• Rodney Brooks, the creator of the Roomba, throws cold water on the idea that AI will surpass human intelligence in the near future.

• A unique look behind the curtain at how one VC fund increased returns.

• How Peloton uses design and gamification to keep people on the exercise platform.

• If you think gentrification is about new coffee shops and high rents, you are missing an essential aesthetic element.

• Watch out for the Trisolarians! Scientists might have found the first-known planet orbiting three stars at once.