Creator Economy Scoop: YouTube dominance and durable cookies

Quick numbers 💯

81% of kids aged 2-12 watched YouTube recently [1]
18% of parents buy things for their kids after seeing them on YouTube[2]
27% of UK and US adults plan to start buying holiday gifts as early as October [3]
$1.37 trillion - US holiday retail and ecommerce sales will total $1.37 trillion this year [4]
3.4% higher YoY retail sales growth and 0.4% higher MoM growth (June 2024) [5]

What you should know  ☕

Google won’t be deprecating cookies after all…

• Instead, it’s introducing a new experience that lets users make an informed choice across their web browsing

Instagram researchers study mental health of teens

• Instagram is letting a group of researchers access its data to study how the platform affects the mental health of teens and young adults.

YouTube is the top media platform for kids

• 81% of kids watched YouTube recently, ahead of VOD (62%), video games (45%), TikTok (44%), broadcast TV (39%), and more
• 18% of parents buy things for their kids after seeing them on YouTube
• Kids are more than twice as likely (53%) to recall ads on YouTube compared to TikTok

LTK launches LTK DMs

• LTK launched LTK DMs, a free feature that automates shopping details on Instagram posts. Fans and followers who comment “Shop” on an LTK creator’s Instagram post will automatically trigger an LTK DM that sends them a link

YouTube takes a victory lap

• In June, YouTube captured 9.9% of total US TV time, more than any other streamer
• YouTube was the title sponsor at VidCon and boasted that its invite-only Partner Program was the place for creators to be
• Forty percent of those shorts users are not using TikTok at all, and the proportion of shorts users who use TikTok daily has declined to 25%, found in a Morgan Stanley survey to US consumers

Instagram’s focus on sends per reach

• Adam Mosseri, Instagram's head, says this aligns with Instagram’s mission to help people connect over content they discover
• It's also introducing additional features to support this behavior, including a Share Button on Reels, prompting users to share their posts via DMs, and displaying public share counts
• When reporting on campaigns, brands should incorporate metrics around shares

The echoverse: navigating a new kind of communication landscape

• Defined by a complex web created by consumers, brands, news media, investors, communities, society, and artificial intelligence (AI) agents
  • yet, marketers continue to use legacy marketing communication strategies that assume communication is a one-way or two-way interaction between brands and consumers

Social platforms 📲

Meta

• Instagram launched Notes on Reels and Feed posts
  • can spark real-time engagement between creators and brands
• Instagram launched multi-track Reels. Now creators can add multiple audio tracks to one reel

TikTok

• TikTok announced a partnership with Eventbrite. Now creators can add Eventbrite links directly to their videos to promote and sell tickets to events.
• TikTok is restricting how advertisers can reach teens in the US, removing any personalized targeting—broad options such as location, language, and device type.

YouTube

• YouTube is beta testing a new community space, where creators and their communities can connect and have conversations (similar to reddit). Check it out here

Pinterest

• Pinterest announced Ad Labs, an advertiser program to test prototypes of new creative and ad tools

Notable partnerships 📓

California Pizza Kitchen responds to TikToker’s hilarious mac & cheese dilemma

• After TikToker “Garage Gremlin” shared about her tough week, she ordered some mac & cheese that came as a container of only cheese.
• CPK responded by sending her a PR package and offering all customer 50% off mac & cheese for the rest of the month. Brilliant!

Wimbledon and Morgan Riddle

• Morgan Riddle, the girlfriend of pro tennis player Taylor Fritz, returned as the host of the series and has spent the past several days roaming the Wimbledon grounds interviewing attendees and offering a BTS look at the tournament

Reebok partners with comedy creators Brandon Cohen and Bryan baker

• Their partnership with Cohen and Baker features a series of POV videos with short quips. If it weren’t for the Reeboks on their laps, the content could easily be mistaken for their ordinary posts.

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