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Apple tightens the data screws with release of iOS 15
“Apple’s next iPhone software, iOS 15, promises to curtail data-sharing even more than iOS 14, putting a new scare in the advertising industry about the future of digital ads in the world of Apple devices,” Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports. “Apple is instituting a number of new privacy measures that wall off its users from prying eyes, especially internet ad companies that live on-device data to target and measure ads.”
Essential context: “Apple’s new software is expected to impact the internet and mobile web, whereas iOS 14 was geared toward app privacy, says Jess Simpson, senior VP, verified tech and identity, Publicis Media,” Sloane adds.
Keep reading here.
See also: Apple’s official promotional page for iOS 15—which includes the date users can download it (Sept. 20).
TV star
Amazon has already been a major disruptor of the TV space with its streaming service Prime Video, its line of Fire TV Sticks and related accessories and Fire TV software that’s been integrated into smart TVs from brands including Insignia and Toshiba. So why is it going through the trouble of releasing its own Amazon-branded smart TVs—which it announced last week and will begin selling in October?
As Ad Age’s Garett Sloane wrote earlier this week in a story headlined “Amazon’s new TV is igniting a connected TV ad scramble,” this all boils down to a “battle for control of the living room—and connected TV advertising.” And as Ad Age’s Ethan Jakob Craft reported a few weeks ago in a post titled “Vizio snags $100 million in upfront ad commitments,” connected TV advertising is increasingly a damn good business for smart TV companies.
Now Vizio, the largest U.S.-based maker of smart TVs, is out with new data that further illuminates the lure of the smart TV market. The company recently commissioned strategy/research firm Magid to conduct a survey of more than 1,600 U.S. streaming TV users aged 18-64 to, in the words of the study’s mission statement, “understand how streaming device choices impact streaming entertainment consumption, and what that means for programmers and advertisers alike.”
Some key takeaways from the research, which Magid and Vizio shared with Datacenter Weekly first:
• Consumers just seem to prefer the simplicity of ready-out-of-the-box smart TVs vs. plug-in peripherals such as Amazon’s Fire TV stick and Google’s Chromecast. For instance, survey respondents think smart TVs as a category are more reliable than plug-in peripherals (36% vs. 17%), have better remote controls (35% vs. 24%) and have easier-to-understand inputs (34% vs. 15%).
• Looking forward, consumers appear to be interested in using their TVs not just for streaming but as sort of connected household hubs. The Magid/Vizio survey shows that “the top features of interest for future TV purchases skew in the direction of utilities and services”—including weather and traffic (52%), menus/food ordering (47%), eCommerce (45%), webcam access (44%) and even sports betting (37%).
All of that is easier to deliver to consumers if you control the hardware and software—not just the software via a plug-in streaming TV peripheral.
The Magid/Vizio research is summarized in a post on Vizio’s website rather provocatively titled “Post-Peripherals—How Smart TVs Will Take Over Streaming Consumption and Access.”
Post-peripherals? You hear that, Amazon? (Well, yeah, it appears Amazon already has.)
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Macroeconomic data in a nutshell
• “U.S. jobless claims shoot higher after Hurricane Ida, but still near pandemic low,” per MarketWatch.
• “U.S. retail sales unexpectedly jump in sign of resilient demand,” per Bloomberg News (via Ad Age).
• “Consumer prices post smaller-than-expected increase in August,” CNBC reports.
• “Census Figures Show Americans’ Incomes Fell in 2020,” per The Wall Street Journal.
Previously: “U.S. advertising employment increased by 1,700 jobs in August as nation’s job growth slowed,” from Ad Age Datacenter.
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
Data-driven marketing: “Using 2020 Census Data to Improve Marketing to Hispanics,” from Muse by Clio.
Data brokers under the microscope: “App Annie Settlement Signals Closer Scrutiny of Data Brokers,” from The Wall Street Journal.
Data breach transparency: “FTC says health apps must notify consumers about data breaches—or face fines,” per TechCrunch.
To boost or not to boost?: “FDA panel weighs COVID boosters; Israeli officials present data in favor,” from The Times of Israel.
ICYMI: “Agency creatives prefer quality of life over good pay, survey shows,” from Ad Age, citing data from creative talent platform Working Not Working.
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.
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