Reports: Social

Social platforms constitute their own market within entertainment, contributing to and competing with more traditional forms. Get unique entertainment insights on attention saturation, creator economics, the “death of the (digital) town square”, and more

Snap Inc Q1 2017
Declining User Growth Exacerbates Rising Costs

Zach Fuller

12 May 2017

Amazon Facebook viacom

Following the release of its first earnings call since the March IPO, Snapchat creator Snap Inc has seen its stock price drop by 22% to $17.95, its lowest price since going public. The price fall reflects Wall Street’s reticence in taking the long-term view when It comes to tech stocks.

Cover image for The Platform-Agnostic Artist

The Platform-Agnostic Artist
Building Audiences In A Decentralized Media Landscape

Zach Fuller

5 May 2017

post platform platform agnostic decentralised audience

It used to be much simpler. Fixed programming formats in Television, Print and Radio meant you knew where an audience was and how long they would be there for, yet creators now find themselves in an echo chamber where the tyranny of choice means their potential audience never stays in the same place for long.

Cover image for Facebook The Media Company

Facebook The Media Company
If It Looks Like A Duck

Mark Mulligan

21 Dec 2016

Paid Content Facebook Content strategy

Facebook beat financial analyst estimates with its Q3 2016 earnings but announced that ad revenues would likely slow in 2017, due to the digital ad market feeling the pinch of advertiser budgets, which are lagging behind the shift in user behaviour. Facebook’s stock fell by 7% but Plan B is already in motion: to become a media company.

Facebook Messenger User Profile
Streaming Savvy Mainstream Messaging App Users

Karol Severin

7 Dec 2016

Facebook messenger Mobile messaging Messaging apps

Facebook Messenger has caught up with WhatsApp, boasting more than 1 billion Monthly Active Users (MAUs). Along with WhatsApp and Instagram, Messenger is part of Facebook’s bet on the future of audiences as they migrate away from social networks. Facebook’s messaging apps are the company’s gateway to owning as much as possible of consumers’...

Snapchat User Profile
Valuable, Digitally Savvy Millennials

Mark Mulligan

17 Nov 2016

digital natives apps mobile apps

Snapchat represents the Millennial zeitgeist more than any other single app. It continues to engage digitally native young audiences just as much as it appeals to traditional media brands, such as Viacom and CBS, desperate to reach young audiences on their own turf.

Instagram User Profile
Edging Towards Mainstream

Zach Fuller

17 Nov 2016

Facebook Mobile messaging Instagram

Instagram was far from the first image-centric service to gain prominence, but something about its simple interface, filtering capabilities and ease of sharing saw the platform become something of a visual lingua franca for the selfie-generation. Now part of Facebook and boasting impressive growth figures, it surprised many with its longevity and c...

Cover image for The Death of the Monthly Active User

The Death of the Monthly Active User
Redefining User Metrics For The App Era

Zach Fuller

17 Nov 2016

Subscriptions Paid Content Freemium

The Monthly Active User (MAU) metric is the default measure of digital services but its usefulness is lessening. While it offered desktop-era services a better alternative to page views, its use for mobile apps is increasingly anachronistic. With the advent of smartphones, users are absorbing app-based services far more intimately into their lives,...

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Profiling The Mobile Messaging App User
Where Mainstream Mobile Users Are Heading

Karol Severin

30 May 2016

Consumer behaviour messaging platforms Mobile messaging

With mobile messaging platforms playing an ever more crucial role in the distribution of mobile experiences, it is imperative that marketers, brands, and strategy teams develop deep familiarity with the characteristics and behaviours of messaging app users.

Cover image for Decoding The Adblocking Threat

Decoding The Adblocking Threat
Key Players, End Games And Implications

Karol Severin

31 Mar 2016

adblocking mobile advertising adblockers

The desktop right now is undoubtedly where there is the most lost ad revenue due to adblocking. Adblocking on mobile may currently be smaller but this should not be an excuse for complacency and allowing the problem to acquire desktop adblocking proportions before serious notice is taken.

Cover image for Mobile Messaging Platforms

Mobile Messaging Platforms
How Facebook’s Hedge Strategy Is Changing The Face Of Messaging

Karol Severin and Mark Mulligan

30 Oct 2015

apps mobile apps mobile

In just a few short years mobile messaging apps have become home to the largest group of digital audiences on the planet, with 4.8 billion cumulative monthly active users. Following websites and social networks, messaging platforms are emerging as the third phase of how audiences congregate digitally.