Mediaboss Marketing

In early March 2020, Chinese super-app WeChat announced it was tightening privacy controls on third-party apps to restrict the collection of sensitive personal information to a smaller group of developers, citing the recent coronavirus epidemic (Covid-19) prevention and control as a reason.

Under the Tencent-owned platforms new privacy controls, developers have to explain what personal information they are collecting and how. Information can only be gathered on a need-to-know basis for mini-programs, which run within the WeChat platform.

They must also include information about the types of personal data they are collecting and how they are doing so in the apps backend data.

Experts say this move is a mixture of new government regulations, consumer privacy and WeChats bid to secure competitive advantage as these third-party apps include Tencents rival Alibabas workplace app DingTalk, which WeChat accused of violating its rules and could leak private information without the user's knowledge.

It has banned these links from opening directly within the platform, and users have to copy and paste them in their browsers to open them instead.

The Chinese government updated its security regulation in 2019, which is widely seen as a push for apps like WeChat to meet the standards in privacy and security laws, points out Richard Zhou, a senior account director for R/GA in Shanghai.

This year, there was an update on these rules that now include the absence of published service regulations, failure to clarify the purpose of data collection, and the collection of user information not related to the service provided.

On the heels of the Covid-19 outbreak within China, the government instituted an excessive amount of surveillance and public monitoring. This came after Dingtalk created a mini-program called Health Code, which help users indicate their health status during the outbreak but also accessed additional WeChat user information.

Giving competitors and third-party mini-programs access to data that could ultimately be used to abuse the system or used against WeChat was not ideal, and likely the primary reason they removed this type of access, Ting Zheng, the social account lead at digital agency PMG explains to The Drum.

WeChat is likely following Facebooks footsteps as back in September 2019, as a result of the Cambridge Analytica controversy, Facebook reviewed one million third-party apps and suspended tens of thousands that were collecting user data.

BK Wei, the director of digital innovation at Mindshare in China agrees, noting that Alibaba is keen to build an ecosystem around Alipay, their payment app, in a direct move to compete against Tencents ecosystem which is built around WeChat.

He explains Alibabas introduction of Alipay mini-programs will be a key focus of 2020, which is interesting as Alipay is primarily a mobile payment and personal financing app.

Because of this, it is already subjected to much tighter controls on user privacy and data safety not only because of the nature of their apps products and services but also because of Chinas governmental regulations, Wei explains to The Drum.

With WeChats recent launch of personal financing functions to equally compete against Alipay, it is safe to assume that these new tighter controls will enable WeChat to meet the necessary higher security levels mandated by the government to offer such services and products.

According to WeChat, since the beginning of 2020, it has intercepted 3,252 attempts to collect users personal information by 2,392 programs.

Irene Yang, managing director of Nativex says with more consumers showing concerns about the amount of and type of personal data that apps have access to and how they are using them, the move by WeChat is warranted, and in line with similar initiatives rolled out by other tech giants.

Internet service providers like Firefox have cracked down on the use of cookies, and Google is doing the same, albeit in a phased manner. Online platforms can no longer turn a blind eye to the data collection methods of their partners, and have to therefore put in place measures that protect the privacy of users, she adds.

As the new privacy controls will only allow information to be gathered on a need-to-know basis for mini-programs, it will certainly limit the efforts of mobile advertisers to collect and match consumer data from WeChat mini-program usage.

This is because mobile advertisers rely heavily on users data to create targeted, personalised ads to effectively reach out to their target audience.

The new move means they will have less access to data and cannot use this information to their advantage and create better strategies to expand or hone targeting further on WeChat or other platforms, which offer the ability to use CRM-type data to match to a specific user for advertising.

If a mini-program can no longer collect this data on the backend without the users permission, it will make it much harder for the company to match back to and their audience pools will shrink.

Ray Guo, the director of data and analytics at Omnicom Media Group in China says with the existing walled garden, advertisers will rely more on Tencent data to identify, target and activate audiences within the Tencent ecosystem.

With increasingly less data flowing back to advertisers, this will further intensify the walled garden situation in China advertising industry, he cautions.

Yang, however, believes the impacts of tighter security controls on mobile advertising, however, may not be all negative. The main issue surrounding privacy controls is that users data is obtained without their knowledge and permission. As such, with these controls in place, mobile advertisers will need to employ self-regulatory solutions and seek their consumers consent before collecting data.

She says while the amount of data collected will reduce, the value of it will increase, considering how users who give consent are those who are interested in purchasing the product or service. This effectively gives mobile advertisers access to a valuable set of data that can be used to create better marketing campaigns.

Concurring with Yang, Paul Coffey, the general manager of data and analytical services at Mindshare in China adds: In terms of spending share, Mobile dominates because its where consumers spend their time interacting with media.

A change in WeChats policies is not going to radically alter this. Instead, I expect an evolution in mobile advertising. Brands who had previously found creative ways to extract user data through mini-programs will be incentivized to come up with new means, or scale back their ambition and focus on general brand building instead.

As part of the new privacy controls, WeChat has also banned external links from Tencents own services including social media app Friends, Tencent News and WeChat Reading, which entice users to download applications while accessing user contacts.

Yang explains WeChat moved to ban external links to crack down on advertisers who redirect users from Tencents services to external pages. As WeChat has one of the largest consumer pools, in-app advertisers have been employing this method to generate more traffic to external links.

However, this method of driving user acquisition through enticing users to download applications might not be the most effective way for in-app advertisers to increase the number of users due to the low conversion rate.

In-app advertisers who still wish to use Tencents services to advertise offerings, might have to rethink continuing to spend on this ad platform to attract the attention of their large user base, as unpaid advertising solutions on the app, such as chat groups, have been rendered invalid as well. Focusing on using Tencents services also limits advertisers in finding new methods to advertise, and reaching out beyond this large but niche audience, she says.

Furthermore, advertisers face the challenge of adjusting their strategies and policies to reduce their reliance on collecting data to gather consumer sentiments. As data privacy issues in apps run rife in todays increasingly digitally connected world, there will need to be greater transparency with consumers as advertisers moderate the type of data analysed across the different platforms.

She adds: Being upfront about the data collected with customers will aid in-app advertisers in their efforts while curtailing on data collection violations.

Ray Guo points out WeChat has always affirmed that they prioritise user experience and create a safe environment for their users above everything else. By banning external links to other Tencent services as well, WeChat will now more than ever, be seen as a platform and an app that holds integrity when it comes to protecting user privacy.

He believes with tighter restrictions on external links and app download promotions, the once-popular social marketing method, social fission (mostly known for being used by Pinduoduo), is facing a crisis in WeChat, especially when sharing links and landing pages that reveal WeChat friend relationships.

Thus, when advertising in WeChat, advertisers will need to make sure they fully comply with user privacy regulation to avoid raising user concern on both data usage and WeChat policy, he adds.

While users in China have seemed relatively less concerned about sharing their data online because online anonymity does not exist, they are more concerned and inclined to look out for each other with respect to online scams.

Consumers are also no longer skimming through the privacy section of their apps, and are more focused on making sure that their personal data is well protected.

For example, search engine giant Baidu was sued by a consumer rights group for collecting user data without consent. In another instance, Chinese users challenged Alipays parent Ant Financial, Alibabas financial arm on their privacy, forcing Alibaba to apologise to them.

Ant Financial had launched Zhima (Sesame) Credit, an online credit scoring service that offers loans based on users digital activities, transaction records and social media presence. Users discovered that they had been enrolled in the credit scoring system by default and without consent.

In July 2019, notes Xiaofeng Wang, a senior analyst at Forrester, 40 Chinese apps were slapped for improper data collection. Apps involved include virtual matchmaking site Soul, Shanbay Vocabulary, P2P financial services platform Renrendai and social commerce app Yunji.

In the last six months, according to Paul Coffey, there has been widespread adoption of Chinese language cookie warning notices on websites, in response to government policy are driving a renewed focus on user privacy.

"Chinas Cybersecurity Law manages the collection, storage and usage of data by all network owners, operators and service providers, as well as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) operators in the market," explains Benjamin Wei, managing director for China at Essence.

"The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) also released a whitepaper on mobile app data security and personal information protection, to set standards and specifications to further protect users mobile app data and privacy."

Yang points out as China companies are behind some of the most popular photos and video apps around the world like TikTok, there is no doubt a need to ensure that user privacy is protected.

This is so that China can continue to be a key industry player in the app development market. In particular, government agencies and enterprises are driving personal data protection efforts and welcoming regulation on data privacy, she explains.

This can be seen from the implementation of Chinas personal data protection law which puts in place a detailed structure for individual data rights and protection that companies have to abide by.

With GDPR, California Consumer Privacy Act and the undergoing legislation of the China personal information protection law, the precision marketing and advertising industry will step into a new era determined by consumers choosing to opt-in to receive targeted ads in exchange for anonymous personal information.

Consumers who are less concerned about sharing anonymous data can still be reached with customized messaging along with a personalized channel because as Zheng aptly puts it, nothing is private in China.

However, for those who are sensitive about information sharing, maybe it is time for advertisers to give consumers the choice to receive more general ads.

Continue reading here:
WeChat's new privacy controls: what does it mean for users and advertisers? - The Drum

LifestyleShoppingFor any school pupils and students considering a career in marketing, the Pioneering Spirit Awards provide an insight to some of the most inspiring marketing campaigns from around the world.

Wednesday, 15th April 2020, 6:03 am

The Marketing Society has developed these awards to encourage marketing professionals to discuss and debate the nature and power of a big idea. Some of these campaigns also demonstrate the role of effective marketing in addressing serious social issues as well as building brands and selling more products.

With many pupils and students being denied study and examinations just now, these awards should provide some stimulation and also an opportunity for them to do the scoring and judging.

When scoring the campaigns we ask our judges to consider five key things was the idea original, bold, inspiring, well-executed and effective?

Last year The Pioneering Spirit Award was given to a Coke campaign in Brazil. It confronted a homophobic expression This Coke is a Fanta to build a campaign around a limited edition red Coke can with orange Fanta inside to celebrate international LGBT+ pride day.

The campaign had 1 billion media impressions across the world challenging prejudices, empowering people and contributing to the fight against homophobia. This year we have selected the top ten campaigns from 2019 which we invite pupils, students and anyone with an interest in marketing to judge.

A World without Borders Mexico

To encourage Americans to fly to Mexico, airline Aeromexico turned DNA tests into discounts. The more Mexican you were, the bigger the discount.

To confront Russian government attitudes to the LGBT+ community, six gay activists from Spain attended the World Cup wearing football strips which when photographed together at iconic locations represented the rainbow flag.

In line with the IKEA vision to create a better everyday life for many, their designers worked with customers with disabilities to create a range of free add-on products to make their furniture more user friendly

To promote responsible drinking during the Six Nations rugby tournament, Guinness launched a refreshing new product Guinness Clear made from 100 per cent H2O.

To reverse the fortunes of a declining mayonnaise brand, the town of Mayo in Florida was convinced to change its name to Miracle Whip, generating more than one billion social media impressions and coverage in over 400 publications.

The Last Ever Issue Poland

To promote sexual education and equality, MasterCard bought the most read adult magazine in Poland and used the last issue to change the content to reflect a more enlightened approach to gender portrayal.

To promote awareness that child marriage in Lebanon was still legal, an NGO which defends womens rights developed a campaign which included setting up booths in shopping malls to offer child brides, which ensured that the law was reviewed.

Perussian Prices Peru

Plaza Vea, a Peruvian supermarket chain, created stores across Russia at the World Cup to provide Peruvian football supporters with groceries at prices they were used to back home.

The Tampon Book Germany

To get round the law in Germany which has tampons taxed at 17 per cent as a luxury product, The Female Company packaged them as books, which are only taxed at 7 per cent.

Distracted Goalkeeper Brazil

To highlight the danger of texting whilst driving, Uber set up a PR stunt which involved a goalkeeper from one of the top teams in Brazil texting during a match.

One tip we give our judges when looking for a genuinely big idea is to consider the words of David Ogilvy, one of the most famous names in advertising as well as a proud and passionate Scot. He said a big idea should get you excited and have a physical impact for example, give you goose bumps. Indeed, he believed marketing campaigns without a big idea pass like ships in the night.

We hope judging these campaigns will also inspire you to consider a career in marketing.

Graeme Atha, director of The Marketing Society.

Read more here:
Compare the clever marketing that raises social issues Graeme Atha - The Scotsman

With the Stories format slowly gaining traction on Facebook, The Social Network looks to be experimenting with a new option that could increase Stories views -and potentially make them a more interesting proposition for the olderFacebook audience.

According to a new discovery by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, Facebook is testing a new option that would enable users to keep their Facebook Stories active for up to three days, as opposed to the current 24-hour expiry.

That's a significant jump, which also somewhat changes the core concept of the format - but as noted, maybe it will appeal to Facebook's audience, which is older, on average, than other platforms, and therefore less familiar with the Stories process.

That's really the key to Facebook seeing increased Stories use. It's been trying for years to push Facebook Stories, in the hopes that it will gain traction the way that it has on Instagram, but thus far those efforts have largely fallen short of expectation. Sure, 500 million Facebook users now engage with Stories every day, but with 1.66 billion total daily actives in the app, that's, comparatively, not that much (for measure, half of Instagram's billion users engage with Instagram Stories daily).

The Stories format in general, however, is growing, and Facebook sees it as the future of social sharing. The Social Network has repeatedly noted that Stories are on track to overtake posts in the news feed as the most common way that people share across all social apps (if they haven't already), and given this, Facebook is keen to migrate more users across to Stories to better position itself for the next shift.

That, in Facebook's case, means getting older users accustomed to, and interested in, posting Stories, which they haven't shown any significant leaning for at this stage. But maybe, if Stories lasted longer, that would be more appealing - maybe if their Stories were available at the top of the feed for longer, and therefore more of their friends engaged with them, that would inspire more older users to adopt the process.

As noted, it does seem to go against the ethos that Stories was founded upon, and gained traction around. But if it works, and if Facebook can pull a few more users in, and boost those engagement stats. It makes sense that they'd at least try it.

From a marketing perspective, it seems like a risky proposition, potentially pushing too hard by leaving your promotional messages littered atop your followers' feeds for three days at a time. But maybe it could provide more opportunity for limited time offers - maybe you could post a special deal for your followers that has to be redeemed within three days, by showing a specific Stories frame in store.

Facebook hasn't provided any info on the test, but going on Wong's past discoveries, I'd give it a month before we hear official word on this.

Read the original post:
Facebook Is Testing Longer-Lasting Stories, With an Option to Keep Stories Active for 3 Days - Social Media Today

BUSINESSES and volunteers across Northern Ireland are working hard to support vulnerable members of their local communities.

With all non-essential businesses and services either closed or being operated from peoples homes, many companies are facing tough times.

But rather than dwell on difficulties, entrepreneurs are putting their resources and skills to use to help healthcare workers.

Clara Maybin, from Omagh, has her own business, So Social Marketing, running firms social media pages. Now shes turned her organisational skills to coordinating a massive effort to sew scrubs for nurses, doctors and carers.

She has more than 4,000 volunteers across Northern Ireland, mostly people self-isolating with their home sewing machines, making the vital clothing.

Its incredible how this has snowballed. A relative who works on a Covid-19 ward said she was running out of clean scrubs, so I put out an appeal on social media. I got loads of responses from people offering to sew, she says.

"I set up a Facebook page called NI Scrubs Group and was inundated. The following day I had 2,000 volunteers and it's grown from there.

"I've put a scrubs pattern on the page for people to follow and there's a separate fundraising page which has helped us bulk-buy the polycotton needed.

"It's grown so big that we now have sub-groups across the province. As well as supporting our vital NHS staff, I think it's helped the mental wellbeing of people self-isolating by giving them something to do.

"People drop off the scrubs to my house and I sort them and coordinate the orders from frontline staff. They're washed and left in clean packages at my front door for doctors and nurses to collect."

Pilates instructor Neil Healey, from south Belfast, saw his income fall away overnight after the venues where he normally held his classes, such as the Crescent Art Centre and St Ann's Cathedral, were closed.

"I knew I had to come up with a solution fast, so I started running online classes on Zoom. I was dubious as first because pilates is quite hands-on, but actually it's been really good," he says.

"I have an average of eight to 10 people per class already and in the most popular one there's about 30. I even have a former client who now lives in Holland tuning in."

Neil's wife is a nurse at the Ulster Hospital, so he decided to open his classes up to NHS staff - and supermarket workers - for free. They can be found via his website (www.neilpilates.com) and through downloading the free app NeilPilates.

"NHS staff are just incredible people. I want to support them any way I can. I also wanted to support shop workers because they're the unsung heroes keeping our shelves stocked and the registers manned so we can still buy food," he says.

Some firms have been able to use their manufacturing capacity to produce equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers.

Magherafelt-based Bloc Blinds started making the face shields that form a vital part of personal protective equipment (PPE).

After designing a prototype, the production line was repurposed to manufacture around 22,000 face shields per day. Mid Ulster District Council supports the initiative by providing Meadowbank Sports Arena as a space to work.

Bloc Blinds managing director Cormac Diamond says: "I have been blown away by the support of the Bloc Blinds staff since repurposing our business.

"This is a not-for-profit venture. We recognise both the level of demand and critical need for PPE face shields and would love to be able to help everyone. Our aim is to support as many frontline workers as we possibly can in the fight against Covid-19."

Landlords have also been doing their bit by letting out rooms for free, or at reduced rates, to NHS staff who don't want to risk taking the infection home to their families.

Stephen Love runs Love Rooms and has several properties in south and east Belfast. He has just let two newly refurbished rooms to nurses from the Mater Hospital free of charge.

"Honestly, it's the least I can do, Frontline NHS staff deserve a medal. This is just my small way of trying to support them and saying thank you," he explains.

"It's an awful position to be in, doing such a high-risk job and not wanting to risk going home to your loved ones.

"They must be missing their families and their homes so much, so I've tried to make the rooms as cosy and welcoming as possible.

"If any other NHS workers want help finding a place to stay, they can email me at info@loverooms.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help them find something."

Belfast Telegraph

View original post here:
'NHS staff are simply incredible and we want to support them in any way we can' - Belfast Telegraph

To showcase the personalities of the people behind the media and marketing sector, The Drum speaks to individuals who are bringing something a little different to the industry and talks to them about what insights and life experience they can offer the rest of us. This week's 10 Questions are put to Guillermo Vega, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi London.

What was your first-ever job?

I was a waiter. My father owned a restaurant when I was a kid and I was considered 'cheap labour'.

Which industry buzzword annoys you most?

1+1=3. No Its logically impossible and makes no sense. Its lazy and inaccurate.

Who do you find most interesting to follow on social media?

World Surf League (WSL). Surf and waves. Always fun to watch that stuff. A ride on a wave is the perfect length for the attention span on social media.

Highlight of your career (so far?)

Rhianna told me that I have a beautiful accent.

What piece of tech can you not live without?

Internet connection. Especially nowadays.

Who or what did you have posters of on your bedroom wall as a teenager?

A lot of movie posters. I had the 2001 movie poster. Some photos of cars I liked back then.

In advertising, what needs to change soon?

Maybe the complaints about the industry. Things are always changing. Its nature.

What is (in your opinion) the greatest film/album/book of your life?

2001 from Stanley Kubrick is an amazing film and I love Orwells book, 1984.

Which industry event can you not afford to miss each year and why?

I dont seem to have that problem. I can miss all the stuff and be quite content.

What's the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

The problem is not the bill, the problem is who is paying it.

Check out more entries into the 10 Questions With... series.

More:
10 questions with... Guillermo Vega, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi London - The Drum