Welcome back to AdNews! Every week, we bring you the top three news stories in the advertising industry. This week, we’ll explore the 2024 Morning Consult’s latest report on the most trusted brand of the year, the EU parliament’s new law banning greenwashing and misleading product information, and Uber allowing programmatic media buying on their Rides App.
1. The Most Trusted Brands in 2024
First up, morning consult’s fifth annual Most Trusted Brands report breaks who are the most trusted brands across different demographics by gender and generation. This year’s rankings are based on net trust score, measuring the share of people who trust a brand minus those who don’t.
For the third year in a row, the clear winner is BAND-AID ranking either first or second across all generations and gender. Following BAND-AID, the top five brands are UPS, Google, Lysol, and Amazon. Interestingly, nearly all of the 25 most trusted brands come from juste four industries: personal and household products, food products, retailers, and shipping and logistics.
Breaking down by generation, Gen Z is notable harder to win over, with their average net score being more than 10 points lower than any other generation. For Gen Z’ers, the most trusted brands includ BAND-AID, Google, Youtube, CVS Pharmacy, and Dove. Millennials place Google at the top, followed closely by BAND-AID, Dove, Youtube, and Paypal. For Gen X and Baby Boomers, BAND-AID remains, once again, at the top but brand like Kleenex, Campbell Soup, and The Weather Channel gain prominence.
Gender also plays a surprising role in brand trust with, for instance, women trusting significantly Pinterest more than men, while men show more trust in X (previously known as twitter). This reports underscores the importance of understanding your target audience and tailoring your product and service to meet their trust criteria.
2. EU’s New Law Banning Greenwashing and Misleading Product Information
Next, the European Parliament has passed a landmark directive aimed at banning greenwashing and ensuring consumers receive accurate information about the products they buy. This new law, adopted with overwhelming support, targets false or misleading environmental claims and aims to improve product labeling.
The EU directive bans generic environmental claims like ‘environmentally friendly,’ ‘natural,’ ‘biodegradable,’ ‘climate neutral,’ or ‘eco’ without proof. Only sustainability labels based on approved certification schemes or established by public authorities will be allowed. This directive aims to cut through the confusion caused by the proliferation of vague and unverified sustainability claims.
Another key aspect of this directive is its focus on product durability. Manufacturers will need to provide clear and visible guarantee information. A new harmonised label will also be introduced for goods with extended guarantee periods. The directive further prohibits claims about a product’s durability unless they can be substantiated under normal conditions. This includes banning claims like a washing machine lasting for 5,000 cycles without any solid evidence.
On top of that, the directive addresses the issue of premature obsolescence by banning prompts to replace consumables earlier than necessary, a common practice with items like printer ink. It also ensures that products marketed as repairable truly are.
The directive now awaits final approval from the Council and will then be published in the Official Journal after which member states (of EU) will have 24 months to transpose it into national law.
3. Uber’s Programmatic Media Buying on Rides App
Our final news piece for this week brings an exciting development from Uber. Uber’s advertising division has announced that programmatic media buyers can now access its Journey Ads solution across the Uber Rides app. This move marks a significant expansion of Uber’s advertising capabilities further anchoring the programmatic advertising in the industry.
Thanks to a partnership with Google Ad Manager, programmatic buyers in the U.S. and global markets can now use demand-side platforms (DSPs) like Google’s Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, and Yahoo DSP to purchase display and video ads on the app. This allows advertisers to target consumers during three distinct phases of their trip.
Journey Ads, which first launched in 2022, have been a key part of Uber’s strategy to enhance its advertising potential. Uber claims that its Journey Ads deliver performance well above industry standards with click-through rates of over 3% and an average global view time of more than 100 seconds. The cherry on the cake, 80% of users indicated that the ads caught their attention.
Uber’s user base skewing towards young and affluent provides advertisers with comprehensive consumer profiles and historical purchase patterns. Early campaigns have shown promising results with increased brand favorability, message recall, and purchase intent. According to Jillian Kranz, general manager of Rider Ads at Uber Advertising, the majority of these campaigns have exceeded expectations compared to other media types, including social, TV, mobile, and web display.
This expanded availability means that programmatic clients now have access to Uber’s premium inventory bundled with high-intent first-party data through some of the best DSPs on the market. Advertisers can interact with consumers in real-time, such as targeting users on their way to the airport. Uber has also developed comprehensive user targeting profiles based on behavior across both Uber and Uber Eats. For example, clients could target QSR food purchasers from Uber Eats or leverage curated personas like Beyoncé or Taylor Swift fans.
Uber began selling ads on its Rides and Eats apps in 2022 and aims to achieve $1 billion in annual ad revenue by 2024. This move puts Uber ahead of its competition, with competitors like Lyft and Instacart also enhancing their ad capabilities.
Ad Showcase: Heinz and Kappa’s Paninari Foodball Club
This week’s Ad Showcase features Heinz and Kappa’s collaboration in the ‘Paninari Foodball Club,’ brought to life by the creative minds at agency Dude. The ad kicks off with an engaging football anthem, filled with energetic percussion, immediately setting a vibrant tone. The title ‘Not all football heroes wear jerseys’ appears on screen to prepare us for a fun and unexpected twist on football heroism.
As the music pulses, we see epic shots of paninari flipping sausages , tossing onions, and working their culinary magic with the grill. Text on screen proudly announces features like ‘Stain Resistant Fabric,’ adding a playful touch. The ad continues with the message ‘Embrace Traditions,’ celebrating the rich culture and community around football. In short, the visuals are wacky, fun, and impeccably put together, capturing the spirit of both food and sport.
The stars of this ad are the paninari, Italy’s beloved sandwich makers, depicted with the same greatness and excitement typically reserved for football players. The ad humorously highlights the specially designed apron featuring a white collar reminiscent of classic football jerseys and the iconic number 57, linking to Heinz’s heritage.
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