Dive Brief:
- L'Oreal is expanding Fiufiu, a pop-up media brand that was first piloted in Mexico, to other Spanish-speaking countries, according to a report in Ad Exchanger.
- Fiufiu focuses on content akin to native advertising but that is created in-house as opposed to with a well-known publisher partner, including social media aggregated lists, influencer columns and work by the content creation startup Cultura Colectiva. The content is hosted on a standalone Fiufiu website and shared via Facebook.
- Fiufiu has in some months generated unique visitor numbers that match those of popular beauty magazines, L'Oreal Hispanic countries CMO Andres Amezquita told Ad Exchanger. The outlet's audience is predominantly young. While the brand could drive engagement through partnerships with other publications, L'Oreal owning Fiufiu allows it to gather first-party cookies and email addresses, which are valuable to its business.
Dive Insight:
Some marketers are seeking out alternatives to traditional display advertising and other digital formats that are shown to be a turn-off to young consumers and can lead to the adoption of ad-blocking technology. Content hubs such as Fiufiu and similar offerings like native advertising, which closely mirror true publisher editorial, present an opportunity for brands to engage in deeper storytelling that might resonate more with consumers and deliver on the promise of quality marketing.
Industry research helps explain why L'Oreal's seen as much success as it has with Fiufiu. A recent study from Beautycon Media found that 73% of surveyed Gen Z and millennial consumers said they were more likely to seek style guidance from influencers rather than celebrities, pointing to a demand for perspective from these types of ambassadors. Successful digital marketing strategies also often depend on the collection of first-party cookies, which provide valuable data about internet users.
L'Oreal can leverage data drawn from Fiufiu to retarget audiences and create lookalike models scaled for programmatic, Amezquita told AdExchanger. Other big-name advertisers including Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs and American Express have also used data-driven storytelling to hone their content strategies.
Marketers are beginning to face barriers to first-party cookie collection, as AdExchanger notes: A recent Apple Safari update indiscriminately blocks or removes first-party cookies without a user's choice or control. Major advertising trade organizations last year released an open letter to Apple condemning the move.
Another issue is the adoption of ad blockers, with 26% of U.S. consumers reportedly using the technology, according to OnAudience.com. A handful of cookie consortiums have formed to standardize the use of cookies across digital media with the hope of holding off Google, Facebook and Amazon monopolizing the market.