DTCs Avoid VC, YouTube OTT Growth, Return to Sender, The Points Guy. Middle Class Creator Economy
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YouTube viewing is shifting to CTV screens
YouTube is the single biggest source of supply in US connected TV (CTV) advertising. The digital video platform’s outsize role in the US CTV space is particularly striking given that advertisers can’t access CTV inventory on YouTube on non-Google platforms (e.g., Roku).
We expect YouTube’s gross US CTV ad revenues to reach $2.89 billion this year, accounting for more than one-third (35.7%) of total US CTV ad spending. By 2022, YouTube’s US CTV ad revenues will reach $5.45 billion, and its share of US CTV ad spending will increase slightly to 38.7%.
BRIEF UPS expects to break weekly returns record with nearly 9M returns
UPS expects to induct 1.75 million returns into its system every day this week, which would represent the highest weekly total of returns in the carrier's history, a spokesperson told sister publication Supply Chain Dive via email. The expected 8.75 million returns this week is a 23% increase over the highest week of returns for the 2019-2020 holiday season. The carrier's single-day record is 1.9 million returns — set Jan. 2, 2020.
The Man Who Turned Credit-Card Points Into an Empire Brian Kelly
The Points Guy, has created an empire dedicated to maximizing credit-card rewards and airline miles. What are they worth in a global pandemic — and why are they worth anything at all?
Kelly’s office was spacious and clean, appearing mostly ceremonial. In 2012, The Points Guy was purchased by Bankrate, a consumer-finance company, which in turn was acquired by Red Ventures — a portfolio of service-y sites, including Lonely Planet, CreditCards.com, Safety.com, Reviews.com and HigherEducation.com. Kelly stayed on through both acquisitions, retaining the title of chief executive and remaining the figurehead of the brand. In a typical year, he spends about four months traveling, splitting the rest of his time between two homes in the West Village and Bucks County, Pa., where he grew up. Still, when you go on vacation for a living, the line between personal and professional life can be hard to draw.
Why VC funding is falling out of favor with top D2C brands
n 2020, venture capitalists unceremoniously broke up with D2C brands and product-based businesses. Many watched as the consumer brands in their portfolios rushed to make hefty layoffs and eke out more runway and grew more concerned with their business models.
Some simply monitored the “lackluster” Casper IPO or skimmed articles about Brandless and others “imploding” and started pulling a slow fade on D2C brands — not taking pitches, not following up. Many product-based brands, as it turns out, are no longer interested in chasing venture capital.
Building the Middle Class of the Creator Economy
The American Dream exists, but what is the reality?
In 1788, George Washington predicted that America would be “the most favorable country of any in the world for persons of industry and frugality,” ideal for even those in the lowest social classes to immigrate to, given “the equal distribution of property, the great plenty of unoccupied lands, and the facility of procuring the means of subsistence.” Opportunity, he argued, was inherent in its vast lands and religious tolerance.
In 2016, 228 years later, Alex Zhu, the co-CEO of Musical.ly and later VP of product at Bytedance, echoed these sentiments in the context of starting a new social network. Launching a new platform, he said, was like starting a new country: Getting users to move from an established network that had an ossified economy and social classes to a new network requires the possibility of success—the lure of the American Dream. Furthermore, the new social network had to create upward mobility for all users, to “make sure there’s a middle class coming up.”