AGENCY WORK HIGHLIGHTS

• AGM developed a multi-touchpoint campaign to celebrate the Season 2 premiere of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, targeted at the LGBTQ+ community. Campaign elements included a wide-ranging media partnership with Queer digital publication Autostraddle, custom influencer content and an exclusive premiere event in New York City. Held in a historic mansion on New York’s Upper East Side, the Dinner at Shibden Hall activation engaged a team of Queer vendors to create an evening inspired by the series’ 19th century setting. Elements included an all Queer string quartet, a premiere screening of the first episode of the second season and a four-course plated dinner by Top Chef winner Melissa King. With 59 attendees, the activation generated 304 social posts with a potential reach of 4.5M and over 26K social engagements.

  

• AGM supported and celebrated our client Illuminarium Experiences' highly anticipated grand opening of their flagship destination at AREA15 in Las Vegas. AGM was engaged across multiple services lines, from PR and influencers to creative and promotions, to draw a wide array of media attention and guest attendance to the event. There were 943 people (137 media and influencers) that attended the event. PR efforts & Influencer campaign have resulted in: 24M+ media impressions, 2M reach, 33.2K engagements (likes/comments/shares), 293K video views, 90.2K story impressions, and 1.9K link clicks to the website so far.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

Ad Vendors / Platforms / Data

• Roku is introducing a new shoppable ad experience, allowing retailers to pair their ads with Roku Pay to sell products they carry, right from the TV screen. (AdWeek)

• Twitter has introduced Tweet Replies, a new ad placement for mobile app advertisers. Ads using this placement will appear after the first reply under tweets in Android and iOS. (AdWeek)

• In 2021, Google eliminated 3.4B ads, restricted over 5.7B ads and suspended more than 5.6M advertiser accounts. Of the 3B+ ads that were removed, over 650M were pulled for abusing the ad network, while over 280M violated rules on adult content. (CNET)

Awards / Festivals

• After two years fully online, Sundance is planning to return in hybrid format for the 2023 festival. In-person screenings and events in Park City and Salt Lake City will take place from January 19th to 29th. (Yahoo)

• TNT and TBS will no longer air the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards even though this year's awards scored 1.8M viewers across TNT and TBS, an 88% increase from the previous year. (THR)

• CBS' The Young and the Restless lead the nominations at the Daytime Emmys with 18 nods, while ABC’s General Hospital with 17 and NBC’s Days of Our Lives with 11. (THR)

Cinemas / Theatrical

• Comfort with going to the movies has hit a new high, with 62% of Americans saying they feel comfortable going to see a movie. (Morning Consult)

• The pandemic isn't the only reason why Americans are still hesitant to go back to the movies. In terms of major reasons not to go to a theater, 55% of people are more interested in watching movie at home. (Morning Consult)

• Regardless of the type of film, US consumers largely prefer movies to be released in theaters and on streaming platforms at the same time. However, studios have moved away from that model as theaters reopen and coronavirus cases fall. (Morning Consult)

  

Gambling / Casinos

• FuboTV's Sportsbook, its sports betting platform, is not yet profitable. The company’s wagering business lost money, reporting negative revenue of $301K in Q1. (Casino.org)

• DraftKings' Q1 revenue is up 34% QoQ to $417M. At the end of March, Draftkings had 2M monthly customers, up 29% from a year ago. (WSJ)

• Maine is the first state to legalize sports gambling in 2022, joining the 29 states that already have legal sports gambling available. (Gambling News)

Live Events / Attractions

• Live Nation posted an adjusted operating income of $209M, which it attributes to strong demand from fans. US attendance rates are at 2019 levels, and per-fan revenue is up 30% compared to 2019's. (Variety)

• Broadway grosses dropped 15% WoW as six shows opened. Attendance was also down 10% to 241K. (Broadway News)

• An in-person Pokémon GO Fest will take place in Berlin, Germany from July 1st-3rd. Britzer Garten will host a special Pokémon GO experience complete with unique features and giveaways. (PokemonGoLive)

Music / Audio / Podcasts

• Facebook has decided to simplify its suite of audio tools by shutting down its podcast platform. Creators will be unable to upload new shows to the service as of this week, and the platform will close altogether on June 3rd. (The Verge)

• Spotify will become the first music streaming service to have an official presence within Roblox with its launch of “Spotify Island,” a place where artists and fans will gather to play interactive quests, unlock exclusive content and buy artist merch. (Tech Crunch)

• Warner Music Group is launching a podcast network, Interval Presents, which will produce a variety of series across music, pop culture and social impact. It will also feature talk shows from stars including Lupita Nyong’o and Jason Derulo. (Deadline)

• Spotify released a Brand Lift ad first-party measurement tool, aiming to provide improved metrics governing the success of advertisers' campaigns. (The Drum)

NFT / Blockchain / Crypto

• Crypto's success in the US is seemingly unaffected by consumer trust. Roughly 25% of adults say they plan to purchase cryptocurrency in the next month. Among these likely purchasers, only 21% say they trust cryptocurrency "a lot." (Morning Consult)

  

• Central African Republic (CAR) lawmakers unanimously approved Bitcoin as legal tender, making CAR just the second country to do so. (BBC News)

• Twitter creators can now get paid in cryptocurrency. Stripe is partnering with Twitter to test a way for creators to receive payments in cryptocurrency, beginning with USD Coin. (9to5mac)

• The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will nearly double the number of personnel responsible for safeguarding investors in cryptocurrency markets. The new hires will include investigative staff attorneys, trial lawyers and fraud analysts. (Coin Telegraph)

• Nearly a third of US adults are more scared of the metaverse than excited. 58% are neither scared nor excited, suggesting that the majority of Americans are relatively indifferent about the metaverse. (CNBC)

• About 75% US of consumers had heard of the metaverse at the end of March compared to just 32% at the end of July 2021. However, just 15% of respondents felt they could explain what the metaverse is to other people. (Marketing Dive)

• 66% of US consumers believe the metaverse could be life-changing. Another 68% believe it's the “next internet” and 74% stated it is representative of the future. (Marketing Dive)

OTT / Streaming

• In an effort to boost subscribers, three new movies produced by Universal Pictures will head straight to Peacock when they debut in 2023. (NY Times)

• Paramount added 6.3M global streaming subscribers in Q1, topping the 62M mark, up from about 56M as of the end of 2021. Paramount+ grew to almost 40M subscribers, up from 32.8M as of the end of December. (THR)

• Connected TV ad spend grew 57% in 2021 to $15.2B and will grow another 39% in 2022 to $21.2B. Between 2020 and 2022, Connected TV ad spend is projected to more than double, growing 118%. (Tech Crunch)

• Peacock will exclusively receive all theatrically released Lionsgate films beginning in 2024. The first Lionsgate film to hit Peacock will be The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicolas Cage. (THR)

• Amazon Freevee has secured a short-term film licensing agreement with Disney for a limited selection of titles such as Deadpool, Deadpool 2, Logan, Hidden Figures, and Murder on the Orient Express. (Amazon)

• Tubi is planning to release over 100 original film and TV titles over the next year to further boost its viewership. Tubi had 51M active users at the end of 2021 with 3.6B hours of viewing, up 40% over 2020. (Deadline)

• Roku is developing seven new culinary and lifestyle original series for its Roku Channel. The series will feature Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball. (THR)

• Peacock has released an updated user interface designed to provide a more complete, informative viewing experience. It includes a new vertical navigation panel, which mirrors what many other streaming services offer. (Streamable)

• More than a quarter of Netflix’s UK subscribers share passwords, with at least 17M households estimated to be password sharing. (The Guardian)

• In the US, YouTube makes up majority of ad-supported watch time on CTV, accounting for about 50% of ad-supported streaming watch time on CTV for people aged 18+. (Google)

• AGM client AMC Networks ended Q1 with 9.5M subscribers, up from about 9M at the end of 2021. Its quarterly US advertising revenue also rose 1% QoQ to $201M. (THR)

• T-Mobile is giving home internet and voice subscribers $50 off a streaming device and 50% off of one year of YouTube TV as part of its “Internet Freedom” promotion. (Streamable)

• Adsmovil will soon launch a new hispanic OTT platform, Nuestra.TV, which will have more than 40+ FAST channels and 15,000+ hours of VOD content. (TTVnews)

• Paramount+ will launch in the U.K. and South Korea in June, with India set for 2023. UK pricing will start at £6.99 per month or £69.90 per year after a free seven-day trial. (THR)

• Foxtel’s Australian paid subscribers grew 62% QoQ, with Kayo (sports) and Binge (entertainment) both surging in the quarter up to 1.2M subs. (AdNews)

Retail / Lifestyle / Travel

• Ebay UK will launch a new sustainable initiative that gives space to products with minor defects called Ebay Imperfects. The move comes as new data shows that UK shoppers are becoming increasingly conscious, with searches for ‘preloved clothes’ up 9X in the last year. (Fashion Network).

• Online retail is slowing for many popular retailers. Amazon saw a 3% drop in online sales in Q1 while Bed Bath & Beyond reported an 18% drop in online sales and Wayfair's active customer count dropped 23.4% from a year ago. (Morning Brew)

• The degree of supply chain disruption and shortages reported by consumers reached a new high, climbing to 41% at the end of March. (Morning Consult)

  

Social Media

• Snapchat is launching a new creator program in partnership with Cameo, allowing Snap’s advertisers to partner with Cameo’s top talent to create custom short-form video ads. (Tech Crunch)

• Twitter is testing a "Circle" feature that lets users control the reach of their tweets, limiting select tweets to a group of as many as 150 people. (Engadget)

• Instagram is working to test full-screen vertical home feeds to “bring video more front and center.” Users would immediately see vertical content upon opening the app. (The Verge)

• Meta's Reels make up more than 20% of the time that people spend on Instagram and 50% of the time that users spend on Facebook. (Tech Crunch)

• WhatsApp will soon roll out cashback rewards to gain more Indian users and is testing similar incentives for merchant payments. (Reuters)

• Amazon Prime has joined TikTok (@Prime) and plans to join Instagram later this year. Amazon hopes the new Prime channel on TikTok will “streamline the brand voice into one cohesive social feed.” (Tech Crunch)

• TikTok will soon launch its first advertising product that shares revenue with creators. The product, TikTok Pulse, enables brands to place ads next to the top 4% of all videos on the social video platform. (Tech Crunch)

• Twitter is working on new features including mixed media tweets, giving users the ability to attach photos and videos to the same tweet, as well as an award feature. (The Verge)

• Meta plans to leverage advertisement opportunities on the WhatsApp platform, including merging the platform’s messages with Meta’s new Business Suite. Under this plan, users Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger inboxes would be combined into one. (Facebook)

Video Games

• Netflix will offer close to 50 games as part of its subscription by the end of the year. It has already released 18 mobile games since November. (IGN)

• Consolidation in the gaming industry reached record highs in Q1, nearing almost $100B. Microsoft's $68.7B pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Take-Two's acquisition of Zynga for $12.7B, and Sony's $3.6B Bungie deal all fueled the record high. (Gamesindustry.biz)

• WPP and Fortnite developer Epic Games have partnered to help deliver digital experiences for brands in the metaverse. The partnership will include a new training program to upskill WPP creatives and technologists, teaching them how to create custom brand experiences in Fortnite. (Yahoo)

• Since its acquisition by the New York Times three months ago, Wordle has brought “an unprecedented tens of millions of new users" to The Times and drove the company’s best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games. (Tech Crunch)

• The US Federal Trade Commission opened an inquiry into Sonys pending $3.6B deal to buy Bungie, citing that Sony could have incentive to limit or withhold access to Bungie's games on rival devices like Microsoft's Xbox. (The Gamer)

Interesting Campaigns / Creative

• AMC Theatres will offer “mystical” popcorn buckets that imitate Doctor Strange's magic box for the premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

  

• A recent campaign by popular Aussie beer brand Furphy stuck a truck in one of Sydney’s central streets, quickly gaining the attention of the online community. (B&T)

  

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.