How Walmart and Microsoft's bid for TikTok could take on Amazon
Hi! Welcome to the Insider Advertising daily for August 28. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Send me feedback or tips at ljohnson@businessinsider.com
Today's news: Walmart and Microsoft try teaming up to buy TikTok, meet the up-and-coming CMOs, and Beyond Meat goes direct-to-consumer with new e-commerce site.
Microsoft and Walmart acquiring TikTok would give the companies 'riches of data' to compete with top rival Amazon, analysts say
- On Wednesday, Walmart confirmed that it teamed up with Microsoft on a bid to acquire a portion of TikTok. A potential acquisition could give the companies a chance at competing with Amazon, reports Ashley Stewart.
- In 2018, Microsoft and Walmart inked a deal to move the retail giant to Microsoft Azure cloud and Microsoft 365.
- "Walmart would be clearly interested in owning TikTok for its potential e-commerce and advertising capabilities to further boost its consumer presence as it further battles Amazon (which cannot touch TikTok given antitrust issues) in the field," said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
Read the full story here.
The CMOs to watch in 2020
- Tanya Dua rounded up Business Insider's second annual ranking of the chief marketing officers to watch.
- A new crop of marketers are leading change in their companies during the coronavirus, including data-driven marketing and new creative campaigns.
- The leaders include Starbucks' executive vice president and chief marketing officer Brady Brewer and Heather Freeland, vice president of marketing at Lyft.
Read the full story here.
- Plant-based "meat" brand Beyond Meat is launching an e-commerce site to make its products more readily available to people, reports Tanya Dua.
- Beyond Meat cited trends during the pandemic like people ordering food from services like DoorDash as part of the reason why it's moving into the direct-to-consumer space.
- As plant-based meat substitutes grow, Beyond Meat reported net revenues of $113.3 million, an increase of 69% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020.
Read the full story here.
More stories we're reading:
- Bon Appétit names publishing powerhouse Dawn Davis as new editor-in-chief (Business Insider)
- TikTok launched a store selling $70 'Not Going Anywhere' hoodies hours before CEO Kevin Mayer quit (Business Insider)
- Marketing-tech startup Narrative has raised a new round of funding and is launching a tool aimed at wiping out data middlemen (Business Insider)
- Wired has its sights set on the gaming audience with planned launch of new dedicated game coverage (AdExchanger)
- WPP revenues dip 15% in Q2 as Mark Read talks up digital creds (The Drum)
Thanks for reading and see you Monday! You can reach me in the meantime at ljohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.
— Lauren