Blockchain marketing news in August 2019
Is this the calm before another storm or just the last few weeks of summer drifting by?
Who knows what the final quarter of 2019 will bring. Before then, August has passed without a huge amount of blockchain marketing news to report.
There has been some interesting whispers of more activity on the enterprise front though. After the spring and early summer were dominated by Facebook’s major step into the blockchain arena, in August it was the turn of another tech giant that is well known to marketers.
According to reports, Amazon is seeking a senior software engineer to help its Advertising Fintech team with blockchain technology. This hardly comes as a bolt from the blue. After all, ad tech and programmatic advertising have been two of the strongest areas of growth for blockchain technology.
What might be most interesting is the fact that Facebook’s initial involvement in the space became clear because it began making blockchain-related hires. Therefore, we think it’s worth keeping an eye on Amazon’s progress over the coming months.
Elsewhere, we have our regularly featured advice and opinions on blockchain marketing, as well as news of the demise of marketing agency RYVL, which regular readers will remember acquired Blockchain Nordic earlier this year.
So, whether you’re reading this from the office or the beach, we hope you’re feeling ready and refreshed for the final quarter of the year. You’d better be because we are the pioneers! 🚀
From Us
The blockchain copywriting guide for crypto startups and founders
Good quality blockchain copywriting is an area that even the most capable founders and exciting startups can struggle with, usually because it’s too time-consuming or difficult to produce. This guide explains exactly why it matters and how you can ensure it becomes an asset rather than an issue within your strategy.
News & Reports
Amazon Is Looking to Put Advertising Data on a Blockchain
The main news this month is that Amazon seems to be the latest tech giant looking to expand its in-house blockchain team. While the details are scarce about exactly what the company is attempting to use the technology for, reports suggest that any innovation will likely related to its advertising business.
Administrators break up The Marketing Group (RYVL)
It was just a few months ago that we were reporting the €4.8 million acquisition of Blockchain Nordic by RYVL in a move that suggested the global network was seeking to dominate the blockchain marketing space. Things have obviously not gone to plan in what looks like another blockchain-related boom and bust story.
GroupM’s Gowthaman Ragothaman takes CEO role at blockchain firm Aqilliz
A former global client lead at WPP has become CEO at Aqilliz, a blockchain solutions provider, in a move that demonstrates how blockchain firms are attempting to professionalise their operations. Aqilliz was created in collaboration with Zilliqa, the blockchain designed for high throughput.
Meet the 6 startups joining the Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio
The first class has been announced for the Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio, which is operated by the investment arm of international advertising and marketing firm R/GA. While some of the startups are not related to marketing and advertising, the group does include Brave, the privacy-oriented browser that we think is worth watching.
Features & Interviews
A Growth Marketing Framework for the Emerging Industries
This opinion piece is written for more emerging industries than just crypto but we’ve included it because the premise that marketing in these new areas is different to working in established ones makes a lot of sense. Not only that, the advice of ‘hide the cables, focus on benefits’ when it comes to blockchain is one that many startups in this industry should heed.
14 companies using blockchain in advertising in 2019
This curated list might seem like clickbait and it can’t be denied that there are plenty of these articles out there. However, we believe it’s always worth staying on top of the projects and startups that are making waves in this industry. While this list is unsurprisingly dominated by ad tech, there are a range of marketing disciplines covered.
What Is Blockchain in Marketing? Strategies, Best Practices, Benefits and Examples
Blockchain marketing ‘explainer articles’ regularly appear in this newsletter and just go to show how early we are in the development of the blockchain marketing industry. This feature in MarTechAdvisor gives a good overview of the benefits, definitions and strategies in blockchain marketing that will help anyone who is new to the topic.
Industry Opinions
Why is Amazon hiring blockchain experts for its advertising division?
Following on from the main news story in August, this opinion piece in The Drum delves a little further into the news that Amazon is hiring blockchain developers. Christiana Caccipuoti, Executive Director of AdLedger, is quoted heavily and she believes that Amazon will use blockchain in “fairly non-revolutionary ways” to begin with.