Doodle Inspirations – July 17

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: 

TikTok is becoming a “no go” for some organizations and companies. The app is now officially banned at Wells Fargo, the DNC and the RNC. The requirement is that if the device is used for any type of business, the app cannot be on the device. While this is a relatively limited ban at this point, NDP is waiting to see how this impacts TikTok’s overall numbers over the course of time.


In audio news, Spotify has announced a new exclusive podcast on their platform – The Michelle Obama Podcast. Set to debut on July 29, the podcast will feature candid discussions with celebrities about the relationships in their lives that made them who they are today. Slated guests include Craig Robinson, Conan O’Brien and Valerie Jarett. As Spotify continues to grow their exclusive podcast catalogue, NDP is interested to see what other exclusive content they will curate and how audiences respond.


Hulu announced the beta launch of Hulu Ad Manager. With a $500 minimum media campaign investment, the platform says it has made advertising deals with the top 200 brands in the US. While this is an interesting development, NDP is a little skeptical of the success that can be promised with that size investment and the value compared to the cost of producing a spot that would mirror the production quality found on the platform overall.


Multiple biometrics privacy lawsuit hit the courts last week with Google, Amazon, Microsoft and FaceFirst as plaintiffs. The Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act requires companies to obtain consumers’ written consent before collection or storing biometric data – this is the center of the lawsuits as it is alleged that these companies are storing facial geometry scans linked to an IBM database purchase that was acquired by IBM from Flickr and reportedly holding 100 million pictures. At a $5,000 per offense violation, NDP is interested to see how these cases continue from a data security/privacy perspective as previously brought cases with different details proceeded through the courts with varying results.