*Carlo Versano*
Brands with an insatiable appetite for marketing on social platforms have a new way to reach engaged users at scale, according to Adam Cohen-Aslatei, vice president of marketing at the Jun Group.
Mobile games and other "utility apps" like dating services are capturing users' attention more than social media , Cohen-Aslatei said, and companies would be wise to shift their advertising priorities, too.
"People report being more focused, more relaxed, and more engaged" while playing games compared with social media, Cohen-Aslatei said Tuesday on Cheddar. Games also have relatively consistent content that is safer for brands than user-generated content that can be controversial, offensive, or worse.
Studies have shown social media can be bad for your [body image](https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45006627). It's where teens are turning to try and cope with [depression](https://hopelab.org/reports/pdf/a-national-survey-by-hopelab-and-well-being-trust-2018.pdf). It's rife with [misinformation] (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611806/how-social-media-took-us-from-tahrir-square-to-donald-trump/), [conspiracy theories] (https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-congress-socialmedia/social-media-companies-defend-filtering-practices-before-congress-idUSL1N1UD10Y), and [trolling] (https://variety.com/2018/digital/global/ruby-rose-batwoman-quits-twitter-following-trolling-1202902971/).
By contrast, the gaming environment is "going to be 100 percent brand safe," Cohen-Aslatei said, adding that there are more than 800,000 mobile games for marketers to choose from.
Gaming interfaces also typically involve a full-screen experience that shows ads only when users elect ー what Cohen-Aslatei called a "value exchange" between the brand and consumer.
The rapidly growing gaming market, where more than 200 million Americans play each month, is showing itself to be a place to reach people in a "mental mindset" that's conducive to the messages advertisers want to deliver, Cohen-Aslatei said. He's advising his clients to diversify their ad dollars with an eye toward mobile games.
"You reach people who are really 100 percent interested," he said, increasing the chances they'll move down the "marketing funnel."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
