News Bytes and Blogs _

At $16.9bn, Facebook’s revenue is on a rising trend in the second quarter of 2019 even as there are mounting worries about competition in the social media space. Its revenue was up at 28% year on year and its accounted that daily and monthly active users increased by 8% to 1.59 billion and 2.41 billion respectively. It goes to show that both consumers and advertisers are still continuing to use the social network and there is a high potential for marketing here.

From August 19, posts and ads in the mobile News Feed of Facebook will be displayed at a 4:5 aspect ratio, making it shorter than the original 2:3 aspect ratio. For advertisers, this change will mean ads with fewer lines of adtext will be shown and the maximum height for photos or videos in the ad will be reduced. It is aimed at putting less text so that it’s skimmable and imagery will get the focus. This balance forces marketers to craft their message into something instantly understandable.

With Netflix, Prime and Hulu almost running TV out of business, brands are capitalizing on streaming hits that draw young audiences. Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” found dozens of products placements and this hit series spur massive brand recognition for its sponsors. Netflix released data saying that subscribers watch an average of 2 hours of their shows per day which is enough reason for brands to take the cue.

Lays’ famous limited-run “Smiles” packaging campaign featuring photos of real people smiling is back after a successful first run of the concept last year. As part of the campaign, Lay’s will donate $1 million total toward Operation Smile that provides surgeries to children born with cleft conditions. The Facebook content of the brand as part of Operation Smile last year is said to have received a 14% engagement rate, 12 points higher than the industry average.

Video-sharing platform YouTube and video streaming giant Netflix have rocketed to the No. 2 and 3 in the world ranking as most valuable media brands with Disney leading the stats. YouTube’s brand value shifted to $37.9 billion, a 46% up, while Netflix’s value more than doubled to $21.2 billion.