DTC Creator's Weekly Buzz: Disney Drama, AI Ad Innovations & Theatre Turmoil 🌟

Hello, 

Welcome to another edition of DTC Creator! It's a fresh start to the week, and we've got the latest scoops wrapped up just for you. Let's dive in! ☕

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• Disney heirs lend their support to their CEO: A total of 9 Disney heirs have lined up their support for the CEO Robert Iger and are opposing the activist investor Nelson Peltz. Nelson Peltz has been an Iger critic and is waging a proxy battle for board seats. (Link)

• Startups and major companies are exploring advertising within AI chatbots as a new revenue stream, with initiatives like Adzedek integrating sponsored results into chatbot responses, indicating a significant shift towards monetizing AI chatbot interactions. (Link)

• 100-year-old theatre chain is facing Bankruptcy: Metropolitan Theatres is facing bankruptcy after its 2024 ticket sales went down by 20%. The century-old company is facing challenges similar to its peers, including the shrinking North American box office. (Link)

• LVMH and Kering’s unsold inventory challenge: luxury fashion groups LVMH and Kering wrote off billions of dollars of unsold inventory last year. The value of excess inventory at the two fashion groups reached  €3.2 billion at LVMH and €1.5 billion at Kering last year. (Link)

• Pinterest expands partnership with CVS: Pinterest and CVS Media Exchange will start collaborating on clean rooms provided by identity and data firm LiveRamp. The move defines how digital platforms are updating their ad tech for post-cookie challenges. (Link)

• 78% of US consumers will pay more for brand loyalty (Survey): Relationship marketing company Marigold’s just-released 2024 United States Consumer Trends Index Report finds that 78% of US consumers will pay more for shopping with brands with whom they are loyal. (Link)

• Google’s rogue AI worries advertisers: Google’s chatbot Gemini has been acting quite rogue. While Google has taken down the AI offline for repairs, it has become a matter of worry for advertisers who deploy ad tech. (Link)

• The Body Shop to close 75 Stores: The Body Shop will close down 75 stores across the UK and lay off 489 employees across the country. The retailer employs more than 2,200 people in the UK and is undergoing restructuring. (Link) 

• Paramount, Disney, and Comcast dominate audience ratings: Social video measurement company Tubular Labs released data on audience ratings for the top three video publishers:
  

  Paramount—168.9 million unique viewers

  The Walt Disney Company—159.8 million unique viewers

  Comcast—158.9 million unique viewers (Link)

Extra Shots: more news from the DTC world

• Have you heard of Smashmallow and the story of its untimely demise?

• Why does Starbucks founder wants to go on a ‘soul searching journey?’

• Brand-Agency conflict – an inside look into Dove and Ogilvy’s open relationship

• Amazon’s building ID++, its internal ad tech team 

• Why diverse media investment slowed down in 2023 

That’s a wrap. See you on Friday!