The Bulletin Edition 5
From The Desk of
It seemed like only last week that the local neighbourhood Halloween pumpkins sitting on doorsteps started to look a bit worse for wear and now they have been swiftly replaced with Holiday wreaths hanging on doors and wooden stick-like reindeer standing precariously on front lawns. Back in London, the Christmas spirit is already in full swing, however, it’s clear that retail and hospitality sectors remain cautious and somewhat confused over what their holiday marketing message should be. Thankful? Optimistic? Family-oriented from afar or in a bubble? Glad to see the back of 2020?
On this side of the pond, my U.S. friends and colleagues are preparing for a late Thanksgiving that for many, will be a digital edition instead of cramming into planes, trains and automobiles on what is typically known as the busiest travel season in the American calendar. Zoom announced this week that they are removing the 40-minute time limit on free accounts just for the turkey weekend, so expect many family members to need first-time Zoom user technical support.
Pfizer announced this week that their vaccine candidate was more than 90% effective at preventing Covid-19 and despite further authorization and FDA approval being required, the markets reacted as hope appeared on the horizon for many sectors that have been hammered by the pandemic. Theatre chain AMC jumped 60%, Live Nation gained 20%, United Airlines and Delta Airlines increased double digits, while Expedia and other travel-related sites saw gains of up to 20%.
The realities of a potential vaccine hit hard for the “stay at home” stocks. Netflix was down 7%, Peloton, Zoom and Etsy also sank on the vaccine news. Peloton announced a partnership with Beyonce this week but also had to go into detail on how they plan to remain relevant to users once a vaccine is available, the pandemic is more under control and their customers may start changing their stay-at-home health habits.
The vaccine news also enabled me to start thinking of travel plans, as opposed to wondering if my carry-on luggage will have rusted with old age by the time it can be packed again. Business travel will certainly take off again, although I don’t believe at the same scale as pre-pandemic. All companies have seen reductions in travel expenses, although face to face meetings and events will be more important than ever, they will be scaled back to the most essential trips and the conferences and events that will drive sales.
On the personal side, I am already pondering the itinerary of my next “maiden voyage.” Of course, visiting family and friends in the UK is top of my list, however, there are many countries and cities I have travelled to in the past but never really explored. London, Copenhagen, Switzerland and The Netherlands are high on my list. Where would you go? What do you miss about travel? What will you not miss (assuming things like crammed and disorganized boarding gates will be a thing of the past)
As ever, thank you all for your support and words of encouragement and I wish you all the success for your coming week [C]
The Weekly Dispatch
Disney
Disney released its 4Q earnings report this week, clearly demonstrating the negative impact of the pandemic on its shuttered parks and in-person experiences division. Disney’s park and experiences sector saw a 61% drop in revenues and Disney Studios fell 23%.
The Q4 results came out better than predicted, however, with Q4 revenue reaching $14.7 billion versus analysts forecasts of $14.2 billion. The 1-year old Disney Plus streaming service provided a much-needed revenue boost from its 78 million global subscriber base which made a sizeable positive contribution to Disney’s precarious and uncertain future. The Streamable has a good summary piece on the first year of Disney Plus.
Disneys other streaming services also saw gains, with ESPN+ reaching 10.3 million subscribers and Hulu up 27% in paid subscribers (to 32.5 million) and Hulu + Live up 41% to 4.1 million subscribers.
Our take:
In the first year since Disney launched its Plus service, it has now grown to be available in more than 20 countries around the world, with imminent launches planned in Latin America later this month. It is fortunate that the service launched when it did considering the battering Disney’s parks and experiences division has taken. Much of the future of this traditional side of Disney is uncertain, however, the future of the new streaming division is very clear and has rescued the corporation from near financial disaster. Disney Plus is still considered to be a niche service, even though it has attracted a sizable base of millennial subscribers, it has a long way to go to catch up with Netflix’s 195 million subscriber base and only time will tell if users will start to juggle one over the other especially as Netflix is going back into animation production and trying to claw back some of Disney Plus’ younger viewers. It will be certainly interesting to see how Disney expands its attraction and subscriber sign-ups beyond the big success stories of Star Wars or Marvel.
Spotify
The streaming giant was in the news again this week with the announcement that they had acquired the ad tech company Megaphone, for $235 million. This new deal comes off the back of an acquisition and spending rally for Spotify, particularly in the podcast space, with acquisitions of The Ringer and Gimlet Media and exclusive content partnerships with Kim Kardashian, Joe Rogan, and Michelle Obama. The acquisition of Megaphone would give advertisers further growth in terms of who they are target on the Spotify service and will also let Spotify podcast show creators opt-in to have their shows monetized. For those readers who want to explore a little more in-depth at what the deal means, Nicholas Quah, writing for Hot Pod news, delves deeper into the finer details on why the acquistion makes sense for Spotify.
While the Megaphone acquisition was certainly the big Spotify headline grabber of the week, we did notice another partnership that seemed to sneak under the radar. This week it was announced that Spotify is teaming up with car manufacturer Hyundai to “inspire drivers and music fans with the My City Unlocked digital experience.”
Owners of the new 2021 Hyundai Elantra, will be able to experience a curated virtual tour of 3 initial locations using a Spotify powered combination of audio and visual storytelling. Three emerging artists have been chosen to guide these experiences in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, via a series of podcasts, playlists and videos that show the cities through the artist’s eyes, with personal stories of their hometowns.
Amber Mark (New York City) – Mark was nominated for "Best Engineered Album" at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.
Lauren Juaregui (Miami) – Jauregui has collaborated with some of the world's biggest artists and producers, sold millions of records worldwide, and has amassed millions of global streams.
Gryffin (Los Angeles) – Gryffin is most known for remixing some well-known songs such as Tove Lo's "Talking Body", Maroon 5's "Animals" and Years & Years' "Desire."
On Point
$99 - price to rent an entire cinema for yourself and up to 20 people (AMC)
30% - percentage loss of OTT sports viewing as the pandemic still affects the sector (Brightcove)
13 million - number of paying subscribers for the Curiosity Stream SVOD service (Curiosity Stream)
$2.68 - monthly subscription fee of Netflix’s mobile-only plan in India (Netflix)
85% - percentage of internet users in the U.S who watch online video on a monthly basis (Statista)
4 million - number of paid subscribers of Hulu + Live TV at the end of Q3 2020 (Disney)
18% - percentage increase of home entertainment consumer spending in Q3 2020 (DEG)
9th November 2020 - the date that the Slingbox servers will be switched off, ending the service after 17 years (Slingbox)
125,000 - number of live streaming tickets musician Nial Horan sold to his performance in an empty Royal Albert Hall in London (Variety)
80% - percentage of U.S. TV households that now have an SVOD subscription (Leichtman)
Diversion
All countries have customs and celebrations that seem slightly odd to outsiders and I will admit, that my native country of England certainly has more of a fair share of quirks and oddities. We have always been assumed as a nation that lacks in gastronomy, although I assure you that British cuisine is not all about eyebrow-raising named dishes such as “toad in the hole” or “spotted dick.
This week I was very pleased to stumble (groan..) upon this trailer for the new Netflix original series “We are the champions,” which highlights, in particular, my nations love of throwing yourself down a steep hill chase after a tumbling roll of cheese. I can only imagine the picture of the local hospital after this event.
Productivity
If there is one advertisement or article headline that has been popping up everywhere in social media, news or in our feeds is it “This is what the future of work will look like - buy the report now.” Every day it seems as though the future of work has a new role, a new trend or a new startup to cater to your “work” or “the new office” needs.
So that we can finally put this topic to rest, Forbes writers Jim Ludema and Amber Johnson claim to have read all of these reports and have put together a short summary of their findings. Hopefully this will be the last read on this topic!
One To Read
This week saw the reading window almost tightly closed before my eyes, with deadlines, work and many other commitments pushing those large hardbacks to one side. I did start a new book last weekend but by Tuesday, I had to admit defeat and realize that it would have to be pushed to one side to make way for a more snappy read.
Mark Izatt’s “101 Tips to survive and thrive at work, in the office, on the move and at home,” was just the ticket to pick up and read (in fact for me it was a re-read) in less than an hour, yet come away with what seemed like a lifetime of experience and to-the-point advice. The author has the knack of putting personal experience into all 101 tips, that only serve to make this “handy bible” a book you can keep going back to, opening pages at random to be educated and inspired. Perfect for mentors, mentees, students, accomplished entrepreneurs and anyone who values highly relevant and concise inspiration.
Visual Insight
And Finally
In Japan, like cash, the music CD is still king
You might be surprised to learn that cash is still the preferred method of payment in Japan, over credit cards or mobile payments. In fact cash transactions in Japan account for over 20% of the country’s GDP (in Sweden it is a mere 2%)
For many of us who pick up our phones to listen to music on Spotify, iTunes or the many other streaming music services, it is also surprising that for such a tech-savvy nation, the humble CD still accounts for over 70% of all music sales in Japan. Streaming services in Japan do account for 20% of music sales however that number is increasing and considering Japan is the second-largest music market in the world, after the U.S., the potential shift from CDs to streaming (and the potential drop in overall consumer music spend) is being closely watched by the music industry. The Japan Times looks into more detail at why Japanese consumers still favour the CD over streaming services.
The exhausting toll of the pandemic on Hollywood
I recently had a catchup call with a friend in London who works as a film and television consultant for various production companies and studios. He was telling me that he had suddenly gone from being a location management expert to a COVID expert. “Everything is about COVID now. Absolutely everything. We cannot make decisions or plan or really do anyone on set without it being all about COVID. And the worst thing is, is that it’s exhausting but the filming must go on.”
His comments didn’t really hit home until I read this Variety article on just how draining filming during the pandemic is and how the global industry of Hollywood has had to make large sacrifices to keep the content pipeline flowing. A definite must-read for this week.
This concludes this week’s edition of The Bulletin. If you would like further details on anything mentioned or have questions or suggestions that you would like to discuss on email or to schedule a call, please drop us a note.
Cheers and thank you for your support and we wish you all the success for your coming week.