Insights from Nebo

If you’ve ever dipped your toes into paid media, you know how fast things change. Everyone is fighting to get in front of the same audience, whose attention is getting harder and harder to reach. The amount of ads thrown at consumers every day is enough to give anyone a headache. But for some reason, instead of putting our iPhones down, we would rather take an Excedrin and lose a few hours of sleep scrolling through Instagram, where we discover that an ex-boyfriend has a new girlfriend, who happens to be really cute. Then we sign-up for a FabFitFun box, because in that moment, it feels fitting. 

Advertisers are getting smarter. I mean, we don’t just sign up for a FabFitFun box after seeing one ad on Instagram in a vulnerable moment. We sign up for a FabFitFun box because it promised us happiness through the videos we saw on Facebook, the Snapchat stories of girls unveiling their boxes and the commercials we were served on TV. All of these things led to a purchase. But, how do these ads hit us at the exact moment we’re willing to pull the trigger?

Goodbye Linear TV? Not So Fast 

With the rise of streaming services, smart TVs and on-demand viewing, more TV lovers than ever are cutting the cable cord. But does that mean linear TV will soon disappear? The plummeting numbers of cable customers say yes, but cable companies might still have a few tricks up their sleeve.   

It’s hard to deny that linear TV (more commonly known as cable) has its appeal. Linear TV is familiar and comfortable. Sitting on the couch, flipping through seemingly endless channels is easy, mind-numbing fun. And linear TV is reliable. You know that if you tune in at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, you’ll catch the start of “Modern Family.” 

We love peanut butter sandwiches... who doesn’t? In an age of national days celebrating Bubble Wrap, chocolate-covered raisins and talking like a pirate, we wanted to show peanut butter sandwiches some love by creating #peanutbuttersandwichday.

Some may say, “Why create another national day when we already have National Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Day, as well as National Peanut Butter Day?” But what about all the other peanut butter sandwich creations that go beyond PB and J? What about Nutella, or bacon? Pretzels and chocolate chips. Chicken and hot honey. The possibilities are endless... and delicious!

It’s hard to remember what life was like before Instagram, but now it may be even harder to picture life without Instagram Stories. On top of needing a perfectly curated Instagram feed, it’s just as important to have beautiful stories so users can follow the lives of their friends and influencers and see behind-the-scenes of their favorite brands.

With over 500 million daily users, Instagram Stories matter just as much, and maybe more, than your main feed. In its first inception in 2016, the addition of Instagram Stories to the platform was perceived as a direct copycat of Snapchat, and Instagram’s CEO even admitted it. 

It feels like eons ago that Amazon released Alexa and Echo exclusively to Prime members in November of 2014. Today, the voice of Alexa is a cultural icon, and thousands of users across the U.S. are turning to Alexa for their daily news. In fact, 42% of smart speaker owners reported using their smart speaker at least weekly to get the news in the Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison.

Flash briefings are a great way to start the day — especially if you’re in the biz of marketing. With the industry landscape shifting, well, pretty much every day, flash briefings are my go-to source for the latest trends and news. But with over 8,000 results for “news” in the Alexa Skills Store, how do you choose which flash briefings to tune into?

I don’t mind TV commercials. There — I said it. 

Before you call me crazy, hear me out. It’s not that I love sitting through ten minutes of dancing hamsters selling hatchbacks. It’s that I don’t have to anymore. Thanks to the Internet of Things, TV ads are becoming increasingly targeted — which means they’re becoming actually relevant to viewers like me.  

A few weeks ago, I went on vacation and decided to turn on the hotel TV. Within an hour, I saw dozens of ads that I never see when I’m watching Hulu. The ads didn’t resonate with me at all. I don’t consume dairy — I haven’t for a long time. In over a year of using connected TV devices, I have not seen a single ad for milk or yogurt. In just one hour at my hotel, I saw six different milk commercials from three different companies. Now that’s bad ad spending.