December 24, 2021

NFTs, Advertising and Football Collide (303)

Buzzfeed and Forbes get SPACish while the UK advertising police tries to corral Arsenal's token launch.

Buzzfeed and Forbes get SPACish while the UK advertising police tries to corral Arsenal's token launch.

A small investment group tries to pry Forbes away from a SPAC, while Buzzfeed's stock drops by 50 percent inside its shiny new SPAC.

What does this mean for media and content creators moving forward?

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says the Arsenal Football Club violated advertising rules with the launch of its $AFC token. (also, here's a great podcast overview from the BBC on tokens in the UK.)

Rants and raves include Joe's take on TikTok becoming the #1 web property on the planet, while Robert gives us this wonderful holiday poem.

 

Twas the Night Before Break by Robert Rose

 

’Twas the night before break, #TheStruggleWasReal,

No marketer rested easy, discontent did they feel.

 

Budgets and plans hung by email attachments,

In the hopes that VPs would approve their advancement.

 

Managers all sighed and climbed into their beds,

While visions of new podcasts danced in their heads.

 

She in Lululemon and I in Cowboys gear 

Had settled in for cocktails after a long, chaotic year

 

When online in my feeds, there arose such a clatter.

I sprang open my Chrome to see what was the matter.

 

Away to my tabs, I clicked on them post haste,

Tore open Google News to see just what we faced.

 

The headlines were filled with so much interruption –

A luster of clickbait o’er this holiday disruption.

 

When what to my marketer’s eyes should appear?

Nothing but omicron, crypto, stock crashes, and fear.  

 

Suddenly a noise came so lively and quick,

The voice I recognized could be only St. Nick!

 

With a whistle and a shout, he parked on my roof –

His self-driving Tesla couldn’t distinguish the route.   

 

As fast as Quibi proceeded to fail,

St. Nick jumped to his MacBook and opened email.

 

“Now budgets! Now plans! Now audits! Now tech!     

On process! On content! On calendars in check!” 

 

He flew ’cross the keyboard, dramatically smashed Send,

Gave us all our approvals, extending our content spend.  

 

He spoke not a word but held his hand to his ear

Listening for mail notifications across the world to appear.

 

Then laying his finger aside of his nose

He winked and said, “Tell it well, Robert Rose.”

 

St. Nick sprang to his Tesla, gave me a quick wave,

Then turned and confided, “Some plans even Ryan Reynolds can’t save.

 

“But for all the content marketing folk and for you,

I wish you good times in 2022.”

 

And then he flew off, with less noise than in Clubhouse

Waving off all the fear, the uncertainty, the doubts.

 

Then I heard him exclaim as he shifted into “gear,” 

“Happy Holidays to all and a Happy New Year!”

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Timestamps: 

00:00 Intro

00:41 Cleveland Browns Game Recap

04:34 COVID-19 Cases 

06:02 New Sporting Ideas

08:38 Pickleball Media; Deep Dive into Pickleball

11:10 Investment group tried to take Forbes away from SPAC; Buzzfeed stock dips inside SPAC

29:28 “When NFTs Meet Football;” Arsenal Football Club Broke Advertising Rules

45:41 Joe’s take on TikTok Becoming the Most Popular Site in 2021

48:30 Robert’s Christmas Poem  

51:34 Outro

 

Quotes:

Joe: “It’s not fair to the current people investing in [Buzzfeed stock]. It’s not fair to the company and the employees because you’re not going to see innovation.” (15:55)

Robert: “We’re only as strong as our weakest link… Get really good at one thing, and then get really good at the second thing, and then get really good at the third thing and slowly build up that way.” (20:13)

Robert: “Buzzfeed is probably doing pretty well but they are part of something they were part of before. They’re not getting judged like they were before, they’re getting judged as a collection of things." (20:57)

Joe: “If you’re in a strategic meeting you never want to start with financials. You never do. You always want to start with why are we in this business? What’s going on? Do we know what’s going on? And, then we get to the numbers.” (26:59)

Joe: “Not every NFT project is doing well. 1% or 2% are doing okay and the rest are like content programs; some are amazing and same are horrible. You’re going to get the same thing with tokens.” (35:27)