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As part of its ongoing effort to improve Stories interaction, Instagram is making a change to the way that external links are shared within Stories frames, with the current 'Swipe up' links to be removed from the process entirely, and replaced by its new 'Link'sticker option instead.

Instagram has confirmed to SMT that all users who can currently access the swipe-up link for Stories will be able to access the new link sticker, with swipe-up links to Stories going away from the end of this month.

As per the prompt (shared by social media expert Matt Navarra), those who can currently access swipe-up links will revert to the link sticker instead, which Instagram says provides a range of benefits:

The update could well be an improvement. For one, it will enable more prominent placement of links within your Stories frames, which could give you more ways to entice click-throughs, and put more focus on driving that action within your Story.

Right now,the 'Swipe-up for more' prompt is displayed right down the bottom of the screen, so maybe, by adding a Link sticker, which you can place wherever you like on top of your visual, that'll give creators more presentation options to help drive traffic, by featuring them more prominently within the frame (you can see this in the top example above).

Then again, the swipe-up prompt has become habitual, so it may take some time to change user behaviors around link sharing in Stories. Still, it seems like a potential opportunity, and initial results of Instagram's testing must have shown a positive response, at least to some degree.

The next question, then, is whether the new Stories link option will eventually be made available to all users, or if link stickers will remain limited to verified profiles and/or those with more than 10k followers, as per the current 'Swipe-up'option.

Back in June, then Instagram Head of Product Vishal Shah told The Verge that link stickers for all users was the eventual goal, enabling more functionality within the Stories process.

That's the sort of future system we would like to get to, and thats what we hope to roll out, if were able to make this work.

But it's not going that far just yet.

With this new roll-out, Instagram says that integrity and safety will be a key focus, and it'll be keeping a watchful eyeover the links that people share via the option, in order to ensure that it doesn't become another surface for spreading misinformation and spam.

Because of this,Instagram will need to introduce link stickers in stages, but it is assessing whether to expand link access to more accounts in the future.

So, a new way to share links in Stories, which, really, had been on the cards for a while. Will that help you drive more referral traffic from your Stories efforts?

It certainly opens up a lot of new doors for your Stories approach.

Time to start experimenting with optimal link sticker placement.

More here:
Instagram is Removing Swipe-Up Links for Stories, Replacing the Function with Link Stickers - Social Media Today

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Social media gives food consumers direct access to producers

Author of the article:

According to Sylvain Charlebois, one of the most important changes in the food supply network is social media.

Consumers finally have a voice and theyre using it, he said. Theyre talking a lot about food and where to buy it.

In the past, the food relationship was a push from manufacturer to grocer and then to consumer.

Now its a pull in the other direction. And this, in essence, is putting tremendous pressure on the food industry in Canada.

Charlebois says its democratizing the supply chain and its giving everyone a chance to establish direct relationships between producers and consumers. A

Big-name producers like PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Gordon Food Services, and Sysco to name but a few are now selling directly to consumers.

This shift in the relationship is also introducing food choices that didnt exist before, and thats because small or specialized producers couldnt access the market. Charlebois, who consults with food startup companies, says, You will now see more and more small specialized producers connecting online with consumers and offering them a wider range of products.

Stuart McNish invited food specialist Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University to join him for a Conversation That Matters, Food For Thought episode, about the dramatic changes underway in food production and supply thanks to consumer empowerment.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge here.

Excerpt from:
Conversations That Matter: How social media has upended food marketing - Vancouver Sun

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --TheDrop.com is the largest online streetwear marketplace in the U.S. - synchronizing 300+ brands and retail boutiques to give consumers access to exclusive access when a Brand or Boutique drops a new collab or entirecollection, it hits TheDrop.comwithin10 seconds.

The Drop focuses its marketing and merchandising on the 60-100 new apparel and sneaker drops hitting their site every day. TheDrop.com is excited to welcome its first premier athlete to their NIL Athlete Ambassador Program - Brenden Rice, the star Wide Receiver for the University of Colorado and son of NFL legendary Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice. TheDrop.com selected him for his passion for football and his entrepreneurial interest in building his own personal brand.

TheDrop.com is one of the first Fashion/Streetwear companies to complete an endorsement deal with an NCAA athlete, following the landmark June 29th US Supreme Court ruling that permits college athletes to earn income from their Names Images and Likenesses (NIL).

"Success is not inherited, it is earned. It is an exciting time for us as young athletes. I am grateful to partner with TheDrop.com as my first endorsement deal as a NCAA athlete." said Rice "My passion for streetwear combined with mentoring from the leadership team at TheDrop.com on the strategic use of social marketing and the role analytics plays to understand my fan base is invaluable. I look forward to supporting so many diverse creators and designers to strengthen their brands."

"Having Brenden Rice join us as our first NIL endorsement partnership is groundbreaking," said Matt Falcinelli, CEO and co-founder of TheDrop.com. " We are excited to welcome him to TheDrop.com Family and to be able to give him the opportunity to further build his personal brand while benefiting financially, all while rocking the hottest Streetwear brands in the market today."

TheDrop.com recognizes that ALL young athletes and parents give up a lot to compete; and the past practice of limiting athletes at any level from benefiting from their investment is an outdated way of thinking. Other young people in the entertainment field are utilizing social media to benefit financially and there is no reason to exclude athletes.

TheDrop.com - NIL Athlete Ambassador Program

The Drop's Give Back

Athlete Ambassador Program https://thedrop.com/nil-athlete-ambassador-program

Media Conatct Michael Glovaski Glo [emailprotected]- Ph - 917 -213-4473

SOURCE The Drop

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TheDrop.com Announces First NIL Endorsement Deal with Brenden Rice, a Star Wide Receiver at the University of Colorado - PRNewswire

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 7 (ANI/PNN): Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), in league with Humsafar India and Okara Fuelogics, has started providing doorstep delivery of diesel in Mumbai with their state-of-the-art app FUEL HUMSAFAR.

Humsafar is an app-based Doorstep Diesel Delivery Service Provider providing Doorstep Diesel Delivery Services to farmers, housing societies, hotels, hospitals, malls, construction sites, industries, banquets, and other bulk diesel buyers. OkaraFuelogics is a newly formed company by Okara Group a leading transport and logistics company. Together the two companies aim to launch doorstep diesel delivery services in various cities of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad, Navi Mumbai, Solapur, and many other cities of the state.

The main aim of launching this service in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Wadala, JNPT, Panvel and Bhiwandi is to ease the lives of the end consumers without the hassles of diesel procurement. The government approved the doorstep diesel delivery system and is the new age concept of effective distribution of diesel. It allows fuel start-ups to maintain quality and create the availability of fuel for the consumers. The system will hugely benefit the agricultural sector, hospitals, housing societies, heavy machinery facilities, mobile towers and much more, said Mr. Rajesh Singh, chief General Manager Maharashtra State office, Indian Oil Corporation.

Earlier, the efficient energy distribution infrastructure was lacking. The bulk consumers of the diesel had to procure it from retail outlets in barrels which used to cause a lot of spillages and dead mileage in every procurement. The introduction of doorstep diesel delivery will solve many such problems, and it will provide diesel to bulk consumers in the most legal manner, said Mr Singh.

Under the strategic partnership, Humsafar has received an order of 100 automated mobile fuel dispensing bowsers for Okara Fuelogics for Diesel Delivery. As part of their strategic alliance, Humsafar will be providing technical and digital support to the new venture. Okara Fuelogics will provide doorstep diesel delivery services to farmers, housing societies, hotels, hospitals, malls, construction sites, industries, banquets, and other bulk diesel buyers in various major cities of Maharashtra.

The Okara Group, founded by Ramandeep Singh and Meharban Singh, has a vast transportation and logistics network throughout North and West India. Under their new venture, OkaraFuelogics Pvt. Ltd, the company is all set to offer doorstep diesel delivery services starting with the state of Maharashtra.

Speaking about this, Zoravar Singh, Director and Co-founder of OkaraFuelogics, said, Okara Group has now launched OkaraFuelogics Pvt. Ltd.

With this, we have diversified and made our much-awaited entry into petroleum retailing. The newly launched company would bring the advantage of Okara Groups understanding of diesel refuelling from an entirely different perspective of a consumer.

It will immediately help tap into their large customer base using diesel for static equipment and heavy machinery. The partnership also envisions providing doorstep delivery service of diesel in major cities of Maharashtra, to begin with.

Besides fabricating automated and geofenced enabled bowsers for Okara, Humsafar will also provide its social marketing services. OkaraFuelogics will use the Fuel Humsafar app for its orders. Humsafars Tech Platform will enable access to services like capturing diesel orders, tracking bowser movements, billing, payments, delivery acknowledgements and so on.

Adding further, Ramandeep Singh, Director, Okara Group, said, The management team comes with more than two decades of experience in the field of transportation, safe storage, handling of cargo, emergencies, and SOS situations. Both Humsafar and Okara are exploring more areas of cooperation, including diversifying into the recently opened CNG Door Delivery and other innovative solutions to help bring fuel to various market segments.

Incidentally, this synergy between Humsafar and Okara group marks the first joint entry of big-ticket and well-established entities into the growing sector of diesel door delivery. It also augurs well for getting significant investments into the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP & NG), Government of India initiative. As we advance, we also plan on expanding our services to Karnataka and Gujarat.

Sanya Goel, Director, and Co-founder, Humsafar, said, Our alliance with Okara Group aims to provide doorstep diesel delivery services in Maharashtra and help entities like housing societies, industries as well as malls, with a regular supply of diesel. It saves customers the hassle of transporting large amounts of diesel from petrol stations to their desired location. This would also cut down the unsafe practices of transporting fuel and will help ensure a highly secure mode of transport by Humsafar dependable delivery dispensers.

Humsafars solution allows users to place orders on the Fuel Humsafar app and choose the desired quantity and delivery location. Once the order is placed through the app, Humsafars PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) approved bowser will carry fuel to the pre-set destination. The 3000-litre and 6000-litre capacity delivery trucks come with a mobile fuel dispenser for easy transfer of diesel.

Moreover, the truck, enabled with geofencing technology, helps keep the bowser locked until it reaches its set location. It is also equipped with fire extinguishers for additional security and safety cones to restrict the delivery area. Diesel is delivered at the days running price, including taxes applicable in the state.

Humsafar is currently serviceable in NCR, including Noida, Delhi, Haryana (Samalkha, Bapali, Israna and Madlauda, Karnal, Sonipat, Hisar, Ambala, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Rewari, and Gurugram), Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Ghaziabad.

Fuel Humsafar is a Brand of M/S Samridhi Highway Solution, a leading Delhi-based Start-up in the recently opened Diesel Door Delivery Sector with a presence in all central states in the country. The start-up has fabricated more than 300 Diesel Door Delivery bowsers, with the bulk being supplied in the year 2020-21.

It also has a well-established app Fuel Humsafar, used by all its partner vendors and has brought the state-of-the-art tech platform in the market. It is also hand-holding 85+ Fuelents and assisting new players in entering the market. The company registered a turnover of INR 16 crore in 2020-21 and is poised to expand exponentially in the current year.

Okara Roadways (Regd.) is one of the leading Transport and Logistics providers, having its extensive Transport network of 600 Trucks across the country, focusing in the Northern and Western parts of the country. For almost three decades, the group has excelled in transportation, safe storage, timely delivery, consistency, perfect handling of cargo, emergencies and SOS situations keeping HSSE (Health Safety Security and Environment) in mind.

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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Indian Oil launches app-based door step diesel service in Mumbai in league with Okara Fuelogics and Humsafar India - ThePrint

When SmileDirectClub was founded in 2014, itlike most startupswas moving quickly to get the business off the ground.

SmileDirectClub CMO John Sheldon told Marketing Brew the teeth straightening brands creative agency struggled to keep up. The business changed so often that it was frankly challenging to work with an external agency. They couldn't follow all the twists and turns.

After 15 months, Sheldon said SmileDirectClub decided to cut ties with the agency and take the majority of creative functions in-house.

The brands decision is indicative of a 21st century marketing trend that's been picking up speed over the past couple of years. A survey of 400 marketers released by Gartner last month found that 29% of work previously handled by agencies has moved in-house in the past year. And a separate survey conducted by Gartner in 2020 revealed that marketers most commonly bring social marketing, creative production, and content marketing in-house.

Marketers say internal creative teams have the benefit of being closer to the brand itself, meaning they can turn work around at a faster clip and have a better understanding of whats needed. But in-housing isnt necessarily a cheaper or more efficient option for marketers, especially ones who rely on agencies for a broader range of skill sets and expertise.

Marketers cite the speed and flexibility that come with cutting out the middleman as reasons for bringing creative capabilities in-house.

Greg Wright, VP of content marketing at the Association of National Advertisers, told us that while in-house creative agencies used to be more the norm in sectors with lots of regulations and red tapelike financial services or pharmaceuticalstheyre now becoming increasingly common across the board.

With digital marketing coming to the forefront, having somebody in-house who can quickly crop an image or do more advanced creative treatment to various assets has become very beneficial from a speed standpoint and a cost efficiency standpoint, he explained.

Marie Lamonica is client partner at We Are Rosie, a company that connects freelance marketing and advertising professionals with brands and agencies. She said the ad worlds increased need for agility is directly tied to the growth of digital marketing. The pace at which you have to constantly update those digital assetsit's another reason to have your team in-house, she told us. You're constantly posting on social, you're constantly updating your website, so it makes more sense to have that person or that team sitting in the room. With the speed it takes to constantly update those assets, you need that person there.

Sheldon said SmileDirectClub recently researched different messaging strategies and found that one message in particular popped to the top with a specific audience segment. Because of its in-house agency, the brand was able to turn those insights into a campaign within a week.

That research came in on Monday, was shared on Tuesday, we had our first test of creative with the message on Friday, and we knew by Monday it was working. With an agency, you wouldn't have that brief in a week, let alone live work, he shared. Sheldon, who worked at both Ogilvy and BBH earlier in his career, said limited staffing and resources make it difficult for external agencies to move that quickly.

Sweetgreen Chief Brand Officer Nathaniel Ru told Marketing Brew that its in-house agency understands the brand better than an agency could, and can move faster because of it. Having a team that has this level of familiarity with the brand means they can make decisions almost as if they were owners themselves. They can really act like an owner to make decisions about the brand fast and confidently, he told us.

Of course, there are downsides to in-housing. Sheldon pointed out that, while there are cost benefits to in-housing, expenses find their way in, creeping up in other places.

Lamonica explained that in-house agencies come with their own set of costs, like salaries, bonuses, raises, tool subscriptions, and benefits. But some of the costs they used to come withthink office space and parkingarent as much of an issue in pandemic-era work/

Insourcing does not necessarily mean cost savings, Gartner VP of research Jay Wilson told us, explaining that savings depend on what a client is currently paying an agency, the cost of recruiting and retaining comparable talent, the efficiencies gained, if any, and ultimately the impact on marketing effectiveness and business results.

Recruiting the right people can be a challenge, too. Ken Robinson, partner at and cofounder of agency search firm Ark Advisors, has advised clients on creative in-housing many times over. With in-house agencies, he said brands are buying talent as opposed to renting, which can be riskyespecially if a companys needs start to change.

Theres an opportunity when you have an [external] agency to kind of refresh your team, to add in new players, to have access to capabilities and talent you may not have in-house, he told us. For example, he said a brand might not have an SEO or SEM specialist at the ready; if it were to suddenly need one, an outside agency could probably help.

Wilson agreed. Marketers tell us the breadth and depth of skills and experience at agencies exceed what is available in-house, especially when it comes to expertise in emerging content formats and technologies..

Plus, Wilson said companies wanting to hire creatives might find that these employees yearn for a diversity of experience that may be limited on the client side, making retention challenging. If retention challenges result in erratic support of critical and ongoing creative needs, the business continuity risk is significant.

To combat these issues, several marketers are opting for a mix of in-house and external teams in hopes of gaining the best of both worlds. AB InBev, for instance, formed its internal shop DraftLine in 2018, but continues to work with the likes of Wieden+Kennedy and FCB.

Prudential recently selected StrawberryFrog as its creative agency despite having an in-house team. Yue Parsons, Prudentials manager of media relations and marketing, said the company regularly partners with agencies, giving it the opportunity to benefit from the fresh ideas an agency brings to the table while leveraging strong execution and brand consistency from its internal team.

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The perks and challenges of taking creative capabilities in-house - Morning Brew