The latest numbers on Applebee’s viral ‘Fancy Like’ campaign: Datacenter Weekly

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Facebook’s data struggle “For Facebook advertisers, the new world under Apple’s strict data regime is making it more difficult to do even the most basic analysis, like detecting whether a consumer who saw an ad was the same person who made a purchase,” Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports. “And this fuzziness in the system comes from more than just one glitch that Facebook reported last week, according to advertisers.” Sloane offers insights from digital marketing pros who have been grappling with Facebook’s new blind spots, and reports that the social network’s work-arounds involve, in part, “using statistical modeling, which is meant to restore confidence and show brands that the ads are still performing.” Essential context: “What’s happening is that Apple updated iOS, its iPhone software, which forced apps to receive permission from users to track their activity on devices,” Sloane notes. “If a consumer withholds their permission, then when an ad leads to a website outside of the platform, Facebook loses sight of the conversion.” Keep reading here. Data movers Ray Edwards, most recently VP-data at BBDO Atlanta, is joining Tombras as its first senior VP-analytics for its recently opened Atlanta office, Ad Age’s Brian Bonilla reports. No. 1 The No. 1 post on AdAge.com, as of this writing, is “Walker Hayes explains his viral Applebee’s ad, ‘Fancy Like,’” by Moyo Adeolu. So we thought we’d serve you up a side of data to go with it: • According to video analytics platform Tubular Labs, Applebee’s has racked up 8.4 million views in August and September so far on its official YouTube channel across five different videos (three posted on Aug. 23 and two on Aug. 30) that are all variations on its “Fancy Like” campaign. • By contrast, Applebee’s had just a little over 12,000 total views on its YouTube channel in June and July—and those views were across its back catalog of older videos because the channel had been pretty dormant, new-content-wise, for much of 2021, until “Fancy Like.” • Applebee’s has also been giving a major TV push to the “Fancy Like” campaign, according to TV advertising analytics company iSpot.tv. So far, the fast-casual dining chain has racked up just over 1 billion TV ad impressions for the 30-second commercial version of “Fancy Like” that debuted on national TV on Aug. 23—with about 10% of those impressions delivered by Fox News and another 10% by CNN. Beyond cable news shows, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and NFL games are among the specific programming delivering lots of eyeballs for the campaign. • As Adeolu notes in her story, “One version of the ad peaked with 223 national airings on Aug. 29 and in the last several days is still running more than 100 times a day,” per iSpot. Keep reading here. Nielsen’s CEO on restoring MRC accreditation “Nielsen TV ratings lost industry accreditation last week and have come under all kinds of fire from TV networks and their trade group, the Video Advertising Bureau,” as Ad Age’s Jack Neff reports. “But accreditation will be back sooner than many people think, according to Nielsen CEO David Kenny, who says it’s more of a side issue, anyway.” In an interview with Neff, Kenny says he expects the restoration of MRC (Media Rating Council) accreditations within “months” and “also says he’s committed to improving panel size and big-data analytics to better measure viewing by ethnic minorities, even as his primary focus remains getting the next-generation Nielsen One cross-platform measurement system up and running by next year.” Keep reading here. Tickets to the 2021 Ad Age Leading Women Conference & Awards are available at AdAge.com/LeadingWomen. Meanwhile ... The VAB “is assembling players in the industry to form a task force dedicated to championing the evolution of video measurement,” Ad Age’s Ethan Jakob Craft reports. “The Measurement Innovation Task Force will include leaders from existing industry initiatives, including the consortium OpenAP, NBCUniversal’s new Measurement Innovation Forum and the Association of National Advertisers’ Cross-Media Measurement initiative.” Essential context: “The ultimate goal is to create a unified approach and standards to TV measurement, which has been lacking amid the shift in viewing to streaming platforms,” Craft notes. Keep reading here. $7,500 That’s what a pre-owned designer blazer—specifically, a Saint Laurent Paris Spring/Summer 2015 “Psych Rock” Crystal Embellished Starburst Blazer—sold for on Grailed, the platform/app for collectible fashion, in August, making it the month’s highest-priced item. To see the rest of the top 10, click here. Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands. The latest ad industry employment data “Employment in advertising, public relations and related services rose by 1,700 jobs in August, a modest gain as overall U.S. employment showed its weakest growth since January,” Ad Age Datacenter’s Bradley Johnson reports. Keep reading here for Johnson’s drill-downs (complete with charts) on ad industry employment by various U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics subcategories. Previously: “U.S. advertising employment rose by (only) 1,200 jobs in July,” from Ad Age on Aug. 6. See also: “Weekly jobless claims post sharp drop to 310,000, another new pandemic low,” per CNBC. ICYMI: P&G dominates in worldwide marketing “Procter & Gamble Co. is set to reclaim the top spot among the world’s biggest advertisers, displacing Amazon,” Ad Age Datacenter’s Bradley Johnson reports. “Ad Age Datacenter estimates the packaged goods powerhouse spent $11.5 billion on worldwide marketing in the fiscal year ended June 2021, putting P&G in position to be No. 1 in the next Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers ranking.” Keep reading here. Just briefly The good life: “Agency creatives prefer quality of life over good pay, survey shows,” per Ad Age, citing data from creative talent platform Working Not Working. Ceding control: “Why marketers must give consumers more control over their data,” a guest opinion column for Ad Age from Hamish Brocklebank, managing director of YouGov Signal. Fighting fire with data: “‘Moneyball’ Analytics Help Fight Wildfires. This Year’s Blazes Are Testing Their Limits,” from The Wall Street Journal. Broadly speaking: “The FCC’s broadband map won’t be ready for a year. This data company has already built one,” from CNET. Spun: “UK dials up the spin on data reform, claiming ‘simplified’ rules will drive ‘responsible’ data sharing,” per TechCrunch. Anything you tweet can and will be used against you: “Revealed: LAPD officers told to collect social media data on every civilian they stop,” per The Guardian. See all the winners of Ad Age’s 2021 Small Agency Awards here. The newsletter is brought to you by Ad Age Datacenter, the industry’s most authoritative source of competitive intel and home to the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers, the Ad Age Agency Report: World’s Biggest Agency Companies and other exclusive data-driven reports. Access or subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter at AdAge.com/Datacenter. Ad Age Datacenter is Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Catherine Wolf. This week’s newsletter was compiled and written by Simon Dumenco. Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands.

The latest numbers on Applebee’s viral ‘Fancy Like’ campaign: Datacenter Weekly

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