The Shoppe - Meal Delivery Service Acquisitions, Amazon Holiday Ads & More

November 5, 2020

Welcome back to The Shoppe! This week we’re covering TikTok’s expansion into e-commerce, meal delivery service acquisitions, Amazon’s 2020 holiday ads and more. Tune in every week for the latest news.

Throughout CNN’s Key Race Alert coverage on Election Day, meditation app Calm aired an ad encouraging viewers to relax during this stressful time. Offering sleep stories, peaceful sounds and meditations, Calm app’s downloads on the U.S. App Store have skyrocketed since its election night campaign. Climbing over 20 spots to #79 overall and #1 in Health and Fitness, Calm is looking at their highest ranking yet.

A spokesperson for the app said, “Our goal during CNN’s Key Race Alerts was to provide viewers a moment of Calm, and a reminder to take a deep breath during a stressful night.” Over the last 30 days, Calm has seen 241.7 million TV ad impressions. The week before Election Day, they also partnered with NowThis to air a meditation livestream on the organization’s YouTube and Facebook. The app saw over 11M impressions on election day alone. 


Amazon Unveils ‘The Show Must Go On’ Campaign

Amazon has begun its 2020 holiday season campaign with an emotional ad spot from Lucky Generals. Starring Taïs Vinolo, the 120-second film follows a young, passionate ballerina and the challenges she faces amidst the global pandemic. The story depicts the dancer landing a lead role in her school’s production, then losing the opportunity to perform due to mass shutdowns and social restrictions. Shot by Melina Matsoukas, the film features an arrangement of Queen’s The Show Must Go On. Vice-President for Global Creative at Amazon, Simon Morris said, “Our holiday campaign is inspired by, and pays tribute to, the unbeatable human spirit and the power of community that we have witnessed so often this year.” The ad will launch in the U.S. on November 8th and can be viewed here.

In an effort to expand its advertising capabilities, TikTok has partnered with Shopify, officially making the short form video app shoppable. Advertisers can now connect with new audiences with authentic and genuine content unique to TikTok. After downloading the TikTok channel app from the Shopify App Store, advertisers can select a product they want to feature and build shoppable TikTok ads in the Shopify dashboard. Merchants can also download a TikTok Pixel, allowing them to track conversions resulting from ad campaigns on the app. Targeting across gender, age, user behavior and video category, as well as performance tracking tools will be available within the platform.

As the global pandemic continues to boost eating at home, Nestlé has taken full ownership of Freshly, a fresh-prepared meal-delivery service valued at $950M. Founded in 2015, the company delivers nutritious, chef-cooked meals directly to customers’ doors. Shipping over a million meals a week to customers in 48 states, Freshly’s 2020 forecasted sales are $430M. While there are no current plans to integrate Nestlé products into their deliverable meals, the company has mentioned possible opportunities for the future. Between Nestlé’s resources and understanding of consumer interests and behaviors, Freshly’s innovation, and the continued success of e-commerce, we can expect to see accelerated growth resulting from the acquisition.

Facebook has launched a new podcast called ‘Boost My Business,’ sharing various insights and tips for brands facing significant changes to their business models. Listeners can access a range of episodes hosted by Facebook’s Chief Revenue Officer, David Fischer, featuring interviews with successful entrepreneurs, business leaders and small business owners. Tune in for personal experiences and tips to succeed on Facebook, Instagram and more, during these unprecedented times. 

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