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This week’s most important Marketing News

 NETFLIX NAMES MICROSOFT AS A PARTNER

In April, Netflix announced the introduction of ads in their streaming services. Now, with the help of Microsoft, marketers will have access to the Netflix audience and premium connected TV inventory.

​FOLLOW ON LINKEDIN ​

LinkedIn is creating a new feature for creators called “Follow on LinkedIn.” This new feature will create a personalized link where people can automatically follow you.

​INSTAGRAM ADDED 3 NEW FEATURES FOR CREATORS​

3 new features are now available to creators that will give them the ability to provide exclusive content to paid subscribers.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Subscriber chats, powered by messenger and disappear after 24 hours
• Exclusive posts or reels
• A separate subscriber-only tab on their profile where subscribers can access exclusive content

​TWITTER NOW LETS YOU REMOVE UNWANTED MENTIONS ​

This new feature is called “Unmentioning.” It allows you to remove any links to your account from the original tweet and all replies. It prevents any other mention from other people in the same thread again and will also stop any notifications.
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To try it out, tap the three-dot menu on a tweet and hit “Leave this conversation.”
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​TIKTOK LAUNCHES FREE MARKETING EDUCATION SERIES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES​

TikTok is launching a new initiative to help small businesses learn tips and tricks to maximize their success on the platform. It’s a 6-week program running from July 11th to August 19th.

​GOOGLE’S “ADS CREATIVE STUDIO” TOOL IS AVAILABLE TO ALL BUSINESSES​

Creative Studio tool helps advertisers create multiple versions of a single display or video ad, last year, it was introduced as a beta mode, but now it’s in full swing.

USEFUL LINKS

​10 reasons your Google Reviews don’t show up and what you can do about it.

​This page gives the 6 best plugins for WordPress.

​How marketers should prep for rough waters (aka a recession)

​This guide gives you the 50 most popular hashtags on Instagram right now.

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FOIL CHARACTERS FOR YOUR BRAND

Remember that early moment of Harry Potter when Draco is sneering at Ron and says, “Some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.” And Harry in that quick wit of his that’s much more obvious in the books than in the movies says, “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks.”

And boom. The Harry-Draco rivalry is born. And throughout the entire series, we often learn about who Harry is as we learn about who Draco is not.

A foil character’s purpose

Maybe in one of your English classes you learned the term for characters like Draco. They’re called foils. A foil character often mirrors another character in certain ways. Like how Harry and Draco are in the same year at school and they both play quidditch. But ultimately, the foil character contrasts the other.

Their key characteristics act to make the other person’s traits even more apparent. Draco’s pride in his monetary wealth makes Harry’s humility more pronounced. Draco’s cowardice makes Harry seem even more courageous.

Branding through contrast

Brands can have foils too. Think of Walmart and Target or Etsy and Amazon. Most organizations don’t have such an obvious, contrasting brand. But identifying contrasting organizations or opinions can be a great way to clarify your values. It can also create more connection between you and your audience.

Scratch: How to Build a Potent Modern Brand from the Inside Out talks about this idea. The authors say, “Sometimes, it helps a brand to have a foe. This can be another brand, cultural ideas or beliefs, in general. What are you against? What other brands are your “philosophical” enemies?”

Here are some things to keep in mind as you leverage this idea.

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Some examples of brand foes

Target vs Walmart

Walmart largely focuses on the bottom dollar, which results in nice prices but also gives their stores a kind of wilted-flower vibe. Target embraces the 🛍 joy of shopping 🛍 instead. At Target, you’re much more likely to buy something for fun—to indulge—whereas at Walmart you’re grateful that what you need is coming to you at a low price.
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Patagonia vs Irresponsible Consumerism

Patagonia focuses on building products that last long. They’ve done things like cancel Black Friday to give employees a day in nature. They’re a great example of increasing their connection with their customers by having a clear foe.
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Highrise vs The Marketing Brew

I’m declaring our brand’s foil The Marketing Brew because the info in those newsletters is not easy for marketers to apply to their day-to-day marketing and in general I find myself finishing their newsletter wondering, why did they talk about what they talked about, how am I suppose to use that, am I stupid for not understanding their articles, and why were the resources they gave useless? I don’t like to assume the worst of other people’s hard work, so instead of assuming that newsletter is total garbage, I’ll hope that there is just another group of marketing professionals that get something out of their content and I’m writing to a different group. One that likes clarity and obvious helpful stuff.

The natural order of disseminating brand values

As you identify brand foes and work to use that to tighten/define your brand, remember this pyramid.

Internally know your brand foe → Customers know your brand foe → Sales qualified leads know your brand foe → Marketing qualified leads know → the world knows.
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INTERESTING STUFF

💻 The Open Secret of Google Search—- The Atlantic

😵‍💫 Suffering From Anxiety? Try Visiting a Museum—Hyperallergic

🏠 Thirty-five percent of job holders can work from home full-time, and 23 percent can do so part-time— Mckinsey & Company

🥸11 conspiracy theories about search, Google and Big Tech— Search Engine Land

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