Doodle Inspirations – July 10
At NDP we pride ourselves on staying on top of the industry – what’s new, what’s trending, what’s surprised us. Here are a few things from this week that caught our attention and got us talking:
Quibi released some of their initial subscription numbers and things could be better. While a reportedly 5.6 million people download the app to date, in looking specifically at their launch numbers, only 8% of free-trials converted to subscribers. We haven’t yet solidified our pass/fail opinion of this new mobile-only platform, and will continue to keep an eye on their subscription stats to see if they improve as young adults in major markets return to variations of “normal” during phased re-openings.
Cinema viewing suffered greatly during the initial shut downs, but hard times often force innovation. This article about a floating movie theater made us smile. Similar to a drive-in theater, the Seine River in Paris will feature a boat-driven, socially-distant theater experience later this month. We hope this innovative idea catches on and continue to be inspired by how businesses are evolving their offerings to stay afloat.
With TikTok and Facebook facing media criticism in recent weeks, Reddit and Linkedin could be joining their ranks. Multiple of the aforementioned apps now require critical iOS updates, since it was discovered that their platforms were copying content from iPhone clipboards. While TikTok and Linkedin have already released their update, Reddit’s will not be available until July 14. NDP continues to watch these developing stories as the conversations broach potential national bans.
As sports prepare to make a comeback, racially insensitive team name changes are center stage. Advocates have pushed for the Washington Redskins to change their name for years, and they now see momentum as FedEx has requested a name change and team owner, Dan Snyder, said they will officially review the name. Now more than a week after that initial request, the Cleveland Indians have announced they will review their name as well. New name ideas discussed so far include the Cleveland Spiders – reverting the name and mascot back to the team that played for the MLB from 1887 – 1899 in Cleveland – and the Washington Redtails – a nickname that was used by the Tuskegee Airmen who broke the color barrier during WWII.
Update: Official announcements were made Monday July 13 announcing the Redskins will officially retire their nickname and logo. Announcement of a new name is expected later this week as the team is currently in discussions regarding trademarks.
NDP is keeping a close eye on SiriusXM who has announced they are close to making a deal to acquire Stitcher. This comes roughly 2 years after SiriusXM acquired Pandora and one month after they acquired Simplecast – a podcast management and analytics platform. With the continued acquisition of ad technology by SiriusXM, it’s clear the company is working on diversification and monetization after being a platform that touted “no ads” to subscribers for years. NDP is interested to see how these acquisitions translate to pricing for participation in podcasts as well as the ability to prove ROI given implied improvements on analytics.