Welcome back.
This week, we look at how brands navigate the agency ecosystem, sharing insights from three experts working in the space on the pain points and potential course corrections — don’t miss our Agency Ecosystem Map, which aims to simplify the process.
We also look at the new AI content watermark from Anthropic following the new EU regulations and share a fair bit more research looking into consumer trust and LLMs. Plus, we’ve looped in an interesting article recently published in the Wall Street Journal on brands tapping into Reddit.
Now, let’s get into the news.
In today's newsletter:
- Pick of the day: How Do Brands Navigate a Vast Agency Ecosystem?
- Trending: Anthropic Introduces AI Content Watermark: What it Means for the Industry
- Industry Insight: Redditors Bite Back at Brands in Subreddits.
Pick of the day
How Do Brands Navigate a Vast Agency Ecosystem?
For brands, there’s a large — and sometimes overwhelming — pool of agencies to choose from.
According to data from Agency by Agency, the UK sector alone has almost doubled over the last ten years, with a diverse range of specialisms on offer.
Against this backdrop, we asked three industry experts about the biggest pain points brands can face when trying to connect with the right agencies.
According to these experts, brands are seeking strong relationships, cross-channel expertise and a human touch. The Agency Ecosystem Map aims to simplify their search.
Trending
What's hot on Hello Partner right now
AI Chatbot, Creator or a Combo of the Two. Who Do Shoppers Trust on the Path to Purchase?
Shoppers who place trust in AI are six times more likely to value and trust creators, new research suggests.
As Shoppers Cut Back on Non-essentials, Brand Competition Heats Up in Golden Quarter
While shoppers are expected to spend £17.9bn in the Golden Quarter, 71% are cutting back on non-essentials.
Top 10 Lessons for Building a Marketing Growth Engine
This talk from Danny Mahon distils 10 truths which build a foundation for growth, with real examples, sharp insights, some failures, and a reminder that marketing fundamentals still win.
Anthropic Introduces AI Content Watermark: What it Means for the Industry
With more transparency around AI-generated content incoming, is the era of AI slop coming to an end?
New Research Suggests Shoppers Trust AI More Than Social Feeds
According to RTB House, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT are beating TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook on shopper trust.
Industry Insight
Stay at the top of your game
This week, I’m delving into a recent piece by Katie Deighton in the Wall Street Journal. The piece in question shines a spotlight on brands trying to tap into Reddit’s subreddit communities and the growing discontent from those within them.
The article outlines that, as AI visibility becomes an increasing priority with brands, Reddit, one of the most-cited websites within LLMs, is emerging as a key lever for marketers.
As the piece explains, subreddits themselves — in their many weird and wonderful forms — have rules, customs, and, crucially, moderators, who manage the presence of marketing content, sometimes removing comments and banning accounts.
Deighton details that there are companies which have more artfully navigated the world of subreddits, prioritising helpful content and solutions to problems. However, since LLM visibility has come into sharp focus, some moderators who were “historically more lenient” towards promotional posts have shifted gears.
Against this backdrop, agencies have arisen aimed at guiding marketers to crack the platform, with some offering services to “reduce the visibility of negative comments,” and robust reputational management packages.
Deighton adds that Reddit “for the most part” steers brands towards its paid advertising division. Further, when Brilliant Earth — a company which came under subreddit scrutiny when users discovered its post for a “Reddit strategy manager” — said it would continue to participate in public platform discussions and “manages its own subreddit,” this was an approach it said Reddit recommended.
In a continuation of the topic in Nat Ives’ newsletter, Deighton was asked what would happen if Reddit goes ahead and cuts off Google’s access to Reddit content for AI model training.
Here, she said that if brands are just seeking AI citations, there are other platforms to focus on, including YouTube, but that Reddit is still a platform users “truly love,” even when the LLM conversation is stripped out. Deighton believes leaders should pay more attention to the platform.
“It provides free, unstructured customer feedback, a place to test ideas and a space to hone the communities that so many CMOs tell me they want to build.”
There’s an interesting conversation to be had here, especially when considering that, as one of the moderators Deighton cites in her article says, Reddit is “possibly the very last place on the internet for genuine company reviews and feedback.” I’m curious to hear what you think.
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Until next time,
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Madaline Dunn Community Editor Email me Connect with me on LinkedIn |
