TikTok’s Tricky Suitors; The New Age Of Upfronts

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TikTok has a legit ads biz, cultural heft and more than 1 billion monthly active users – including 150 million in the US.

But within a year, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, must divest the app or face banishment from US app stores and devices.

The thing is, most of the companies with deep enough pockets to buy TikTok aren’t raising their hands this time around, Bloomberg reports. A takeover by a Big Tech giant would set off antitrust air sirens.

When the Trump administration tried to force a TikTok divestiture four years ago, Oracle, Walmart and Microsoft were contenders. Those deals dissipated after Trump lost his reelection bid.

New potential buyers are politically fraught and arguably poor fits. It’s hard to imagine former Trump administration Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who wants to assemble a group of investors, as TikTok’s new owner, but who knows. Eric Schmidt, co-founder and former CEO of Google (and a major Democratic supporter), was previously interested but says he’s no longer considering a bid.

Guess we’ll have to do a vibe check closer to the deadline.

The New Upfronts

That’s a wrap for TV upfronts week.

This year’s events differed from upfronts of the past for several reasons, including, of course, all the new entrants. Amazon had its upfront debut, and Netflix hosted its first in-person event (and an atypical one at that), while YouTube continues to shoulder its way into the ranks of TV programmers. These upfront newbies went head-to-head with legacy broadcasters like NBCUniversal, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery.

As the number of contenders for TV ad dollars proliferates, broadcasters and streamers alike are giving more airtime to advertising. Amazon and Disney both kicked off their respective upfront presentations by bragging about ad-supported subscriber and viewership growth before moving on to content, while Netflix spotlighted big news of a proprietary ad tech platform coming in the next year.

But, perhaps most notably, every single upfront touted livestreamed sports. Even Netflix, which originated as a pure-play streamer and is new to live programming, announced a new deal with the NFL and emphasized its partnerships with WWE and Formula One.

May the negotiations begin.

B2B Or Not To Be

B2B and B2C brands may serve two totally different cohorts. Yet, from a marketing perspective, the two aren’t all that different.

B2B advertisers limit their targeting to businesses and their employees, but that doesn’t mean they don’t also want broader reach to stand out from their competitors. Which is why we’re starting to see more B2B brands take a page from the B2C marketing playbook, Digiday reports.

Management software company Workday is one example. The brand is investing more in live TV commercials that could reach millions, from its Super Bowl debut last year to two TV commercials timed to a national golf tournament last month. It’s also reframing its marketing messaging to appeal to mainstream humor rather than just product-based calls to action.

The key is to remember that B2B customers are also people, says Brandy Alexander, principal and director of client innovation at TandemTide, a marketing agency with both B2C and B2B clients.

“If you’re creating content for a B2B brand, and it’s content that you would not consume yourself, go back to the lab,” Alexander says.