iWorld
Facebook’s Q1 ad spend on 4C grows by 62%
MUMBAI: Marketing technology company 4C, in its latest report, reveals that spend across major social and mobile platforms in the first quarter of 2018 increased significantly year-on-year (YoY) with the greatest revenue growth on 4C witnessed by Snapchat (234 per cent) and Instagram (136 per cent).
The report suggests that advertisers use digital platforms to engage with audiences around large tentpole events and capture second-screen attention.
To assess the state of the media, 4C analysed nearly $250 million in ad spend from a representative sample of more than 1,000 individual brands using its software platform. To gauge TV advertising trends, 4C’s Teletrax technology monitors 2,100 plus TV global channels, keeping track of the biggest advertisers in the UK and around the world.
Interestingly, despite the Cambridge Analytica headlines, data shows that Facebook ad spend through 4C increased by 62 per cent YoY and specifically week-over-week during the weeks of 17 March (7 per cent) and 24 March (15 per cent) after the news broke out. This is matched in both weeks by 9 per cent increases in Instagram spending.
4C Insights CMO Aaron Goldman said, “We’re seeing continued strength for Facebook advertising despite the negative headlines. For some time now, marketers in the UK have been actively preparing for GDPR so they are comfortable dealing with issues pertaining to data collection. In this case the main issue is not related to advertising and the repercussions such as removal of Facebook Partner Categories have not had a material impact.”
The report further suggests that more and more media is being consumed simultaneously and TV audiences are commonly using second or even third screens. In response, brands are making their own shift to capitalise on this behaviour and adopting an audiences-first strategy.
The consumer products sector powered ad spend across Snapchat and Twitter for the first quarter of 2018. Brands from this vertical increased quarterly spend by 78 per cent on Twitter and 31 per cent on Snapchat to reach their desired audience segments.
Mbuy media strategy manager Carlee Benson mentions, “Gen-Z is expected to account for about 40 per cent of all consumers by 2020. Trends such as ephemeral marketing, influencer, and short-form video are favourites amongst this generation and need to be considered with a social media strategy.”
Q1 saw seasonally relevant campaigns from the likes of travel brands Kayak and TUI, which invested in 3,310 minutes of ad time and 2,666 minutes respectively. While ongoing campaigns throughout the quarter enabled brands to dominate the airwaves, the greatest social lift was driven by brands that successfully jumped on the Superbowl, led by T-Mobile with a 46,000 per cent increase in social engagement during the 2 minutes following its commercials.
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iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
