We’re rounding up the news and insights you need to know this week.


Cancel Culture Primer For Marketers

Forbes

With the rise of cancel culture, the public backlash that brands and influencers face when contradicting consumers’ values, brands must adopt congruent branding, or risk getting burned.

Why it matters: According to cognitive dissonance theory, we have an innate drive for consistency. Once the mind registers an incompatibility, we automatically resolve the dissonance by sticking with our own values and thereafter change our allegiance to a brand or celebrity that has contradicted our values.


Nielsen Introduces Cookieless System To Track Online Actions

Marketing Dive

Nielsen launched a cross-platform audience measurement solution called Identity Sync that doesn’t rely on device IDs or the browser ecosystem, but instead on first-party identifiers, to track shoppers’ online activities and responses to ads.

Why it matters: When Barceló Hotel Group used Identity Sync, 96 percent of conversions were attributed to actual marketing touchpoints. The company also unlocked nine percent of potential savings in key areas like paid search by moving away from keywords not leading to conversions.


General Mills CMO Shares Outlook On Purpose, E-commerce And Data As Pandemic Boosts Sales

Marketing Dive

Last February, when China was in the thick of COVID-19, General Mills launched an Accelerate strategy to reinvent its business. It’s based on four directives—building brands with purpose, relentless innovation, unleashing scale and being a force for good at the local and global levels.

Why it matters: Ivan Pollard, chief marketing officer at General Mills, said that five years ago, the company would’ve bought pre-roll on YouTube, whereas today, in response to consumers’ demand for ease, the company adopted a click-to-buy function and infrastructure that sends consumers to the right place to purchase–be it Instacart,  Walmart.com or Amazon.


Spotify To Launch Spotify Audience Network, An Audio Ad Marketplace

TechCrunch

In an effort to monetize its podcast investments, Spotify is launching a new audio advertising marketplace, the Spotify Audience Network, which will enable marketers to reach listeners across Spotify’s original and exclusive podcasts and ad-supported music, as well as on Anchor and Megaphone (which it recently acquired).

Why it matters: In Q4, Spotify’s podcast ad revenues grew by more than 100 percent year-over-year, with a 50 percent increase in the number of advertisers compared with Q3. Its total monthly user base grew 27 percent YoY to 345 million, an increase that 

founder and chief executive Daniel Ek attributed to podcast usage.


Adweek Podcast: Challenger Brands Continue To Shake Up The Landscape

Adweek

Those tuning into Adweek’s third annual virtual Challenger Brands Summit will hear from headline speakers like Jennifer Garner, co-founder and chief brand officer of Once Upon a Farm, a line of cold-pressed organic baby foods. Upon launching in 2016, the company had to rethink its retail placement due to the lack of refrigerated baby food sections, eventually ending up in the produce aisle near juices and sliced fruit.

Why it matters: Adweek reports that the purpose-driven brand grew from less than $1 million in revenue to more than $30 million during Garner’s tenure.


Making The Hybrid Workplace Fair

Harvard Business Review

Hybridity, or working with employees who are co-located in the same physical space as well as employees working remotely, will be the future of the workplace because it offers, among other benefits, a reduced carbon footprint and stronger cultural socialization.

Why it matters: Differences in power will inevitably arise in a hybrid work environment, which could harm relationships, affect collaboration and reduce performance. For hybridity to succeed, managers must communicate with their employees and shift resource accessibility when necessary.