Add Burberry, Macy's and Old Navy to the week's retail NFT newsmakers, each cranking out fun new offers. But there are plenty of signs that last year's hot trend continues to lose its sizzle. And it probably didn't help that billionaire Bill Gates recently denounced the non-fungible tokens as -- more or less -- a bunch of hooey.

Burberry's news is that it's partnering with Mythical Games for the second year, launching a new NFT collection in Blankos Block Party. Starring a gentle-yet-cheeky unicorn named Minny B, it's meant to "evoke a sense of limitless possibility," per the company.

The collection includes Burberry-branded in-game accessories, such as boomboxes, TB sliders, lucky horseshoe necklaces, and a seashell-inspired mobile phone accessory.

And those who already own Sharky B, the brand's first NFT character, will get a free Monogram bucket hat, due for release in the coming weeks. 

Macy's is introducing a new NFT series celebrating its 4^th of July Fireworks.

The retailer is dropping 10,000 of the NFTs for free on its new channel on Discord, the chat app.

"Macy's wanted to take the fun into the Web3 frontier, bringing the revelry to a digital landscape," said Will Coss, executive producer of Macy's 4^th of July Fireworks, in its announcement. "These free Macy's Fireworks NFTs will help attract a new set of fans with an easy-to-access implementation that democratizes this emerging space for a mass audience while also embracing a digitally native audience."

Old Navy is also getting patriotic with NFTs, basing a new digital collectibles campaign on Magic the Dog, its trusty mascot.

Old Navy's Flag Tees have been part of the 4^th of July landscape for almost 30 years. The latest campaign brings those classic tees into the metaverse, with 1,993 common NFTs priced at 94 cents.

There's also an auction, benefiting longtime partner Boys & Girls Clubs of America, that features a one-of-a-kind Magic the Dog NFT, co-designed with the organization's youth arts community.

Kelly Blumberg, head of graphics at Old Navy, noted that the company’s “customers and employees are passionate about community,” one reason to offer “another dimension of belonging in web3 with this super-fun, inclusive collection of digital collectibles that are truly accessible to all."

Interest in NFTs, although still immense, may be sputtering. A recent report from Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, says that through May 1, collectors have spent $37 billion in the NFT marketplaces in 2022. That would seem to put NFTS on track to beat the total of $40 billion spent last year. But Chainalysis says that since last summer, growth has come in spikes rather than the steady gains seen early on in the trend.

And TechCrunch, citing The Block, says weekly NFT sales fell more than 70%, from a high of nearly 1 million in the third week of 2022 to just over 250,000 in its most recent week.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, in a recent climate change talk for TechCrunch, dissed the NFT craze, saying it's "100% based on 'greater fool’ theory." That phrase refers to the concept that overpriced assets increase in value only because it’s always possible to find someone willing to pay more for them.

New self-regulatory privacy standards issued Wednesday prohibit some companies that amass and analyze precise location data from collecting, using or sharing information that could reveal consumers' visits to abortion clinics, homeless shelters, jails or a host of other “sensitive” locales.

The new standards, put out by the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative, apply to member companies the Network Advertising Initiative terms "location solutions providers" -- a category of around a dozen companies that compile and analyze location data that originated from mobile apps, according to David LeDuc, vice president for public policy at the organization.

He adds that the organization would like to see a broader array of members adopt the standards. 

"We're hopeful it will be expanded, and as it gets more attention and support, that other entities will join in," he says of the new guidance.

The Network Advertising Initiative says the new standards are voluntary, but that it will enforce promises to follow them. Members that “choose to make a public commitment to follow these enhanced standards will be assessed for compliance,” the organization states.

“For these companies, and any affiliates under common control, a material violation of these Enhanced Standards will result in enforcement, and could ultimately result in sanctions ... in addition to potential Federal Trade Commission enforcement based on participating members’ public representations of compliance,” the organization adds.

As of Wednesday, the companies Cuebiq, Foursquare, and Precisely PlaceIQ have promised to follow the new standards, according to the Network Advertising Initiative.

The new guidance also prohibits some members from sharing precise location data for law enforcement or national security purposes -- unless necessary to comply with “a valid legal obligation.”

The organization is releasing the standards at a time when practices regarding location data are under intense scrutiny.

Last week, in anticipation of a Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade, lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) introduced the “Health and Location Data Protection Act,” which would prohibit data brokers from sharing any information about people's locations or health.

In May, five Senate Democrats urged Google and Apple to prohibit apps available in the Google Play store or the App store from sharing information that could be used against abortion seekers.

That request came soon after a draft of a Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the case that established a constitutional right to abortion, was leaked to Politico.

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft, but said the opinion isn't yet final.

Even before that opinion leaked, elected officials and privacy advocates expressed concerns that data brokers were sharing information with law enforcement.

For instance, last year four lawmakers introduced federal privacy bill -- the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act -- which would have limited agencies' ability to purchase information from data brokers.

Among the Hollywood A-Listers speaking at the Cannes Lions this week is also one who has become one of Madison Avenue’s A-Listers, Ryan Reynolds, who may be known for hilarious action films and rom-coms on screen, but is increasingly known as founder and Chief Creative Officer of breakthrough agency MNTN/Maximum Effort in advertising circles.

But it happened “completely by accident,” Reynolds told Dentsu chief Wendy Clark during a keynote interview Wednesday.

“I spent ten years trying to get the film ‘Deadpool’ made and it was hell. And I couldn’t get it made. And I kept trying and trying and trying,” Reynolds recalled, adding, “We were able to shoot a little test footage. And that test footage, some absolute bastard, leaked it onto the internet [gestures with finger quotes] and that’s what got the movie made.”

Even then, Reynolds said the studio didn’t believe in the project, and consequently, gave it a relatively small budget, so Reynolds and his team resorted to “unorthodox methods” for both producing and marketing it.

Since the film could’t afford the kind of obligatory “spectacle” CGI effects, he said the team focused on bringing the stories character’s to life on the screen, which in retrospect, is what made the film so endearing and enduring.

“As we did this, I was learning lessons left, right and center,” he conceded, adding that when the film wrapped, he drove home in his car wearing his “Deadpool” character’s costume.

“I literally drove home in my car in the suit, because (a) I had spent ten years making this thing so I’m leaving with the fucking suit, (b) try to take it from me – I’ve been training for this movie for three years and I’m in pretty good shape right now, and then (c) I’m going to market with this suit.”

He and his team then used the suit to shoot him promotional footage of him in character, which helped it launch and become the blockbuster success it is today.

“I used some of that sweet “Deadpool” money to buy Aviation Gin and I needed to market that, so we sort of inadvertently became a marketing company from that,” Reynolds told Clark, adding that he went on to acquire “a big chunk” of mobile carrier Mint Mobile, “and suddenly we were a marketing firm. And we were having the time of our lives.”

From there, Reynolds said MNTN/Maximum Effort went on to pitch and win projects for brands it wanted to work with continuing to utilize the kind of authentic, tongue-in-cheek marketing techniques he learned from marketing “Deadpool,” Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile, which Clark noted literally make their brands the “hero” of the campaigns.

That part is intentional and helps differentiate his agency, Reynolds confided, citing Super Bowl ads as an example, which are very entertaining, but “Sometimes the product just disappears. You’re seeing an ad that is so funny, but afterwards, I’m talking about the actor who was in it, but I couldn’t tell you what the product was that they were talking about.

“We definitely make sure that the products we’re talking about are front and center and we are very clear that this is marketing when we are doing it. And in essence, it tends to travel a lot more, in a better way, then if we tried to hide that.”

This is one of those Mobile Insiders that's much bigger than "mobile" and has consequences for the entire media ecosystem, but I'm writing about it here, because it will definitely impact how carbon-neutral-minded marketers use the medium in the future.

The issue came up during a panel on the role advertising and media should be playing in not just offsetting, but actually reducing carbon emissions in the world, sponsored by OpenX Wednesday during this week's Cannes Lions festival.

All the speakers had good ideas, which I've reported on or written about elsewhere. But I saved some of Nestlé Media Lead Laure-Sarah Labrunie's remarks for this column, because they merit special attention.

Labrunie shared results of some important research Nestle conducted with its agency Publicis, as well as a French startup helping it to estimate the carbon impact of its advertising campaigns and media buys. Nothing new there, right? What was interesting was the way Labrunie A/B tested two variants of campaigns for the Nescafe brand: one simply adapting its conventional TV spots to digital media, and another, downgrading the quality of their bandwidth via digital compression, as well as their audio, using money instead of stereo sound.

Labrunie described these as simple "hygienic" fixes that reduced the carbon footprint of the ads by 50% without impacting campaign performance.

"We measured our media KPI. And guess what? They were exactly the same. So no difference in terms of media KPI," Labrunie shared, adding that she also conducted brand equity research vis a vis Publicis' Epsilon unit and again, found zero impact between the the traditional and the carbon-emissions-reducing versions of the campaign.

“When it is digital and when it is on your mobile, maybe you don’t need to add to have a stereo sound -- you just need to have mono sound," she remarked, likely sending shivers down the spines of some mobile marketers -- or media suppliers -- who read this column.

I won't speculate on what reducing the quality of bandwidth, sound and other hygienic elements will do to he mobile media experience, but I'm all in favor of the ad industry doing everything it can to reduce carbon emissions on this planet.

But it was Labrunie's second point that got me really thinking about a big -- and arguably long overdue -- change for advertising and media that has nothing to do with creative, per se.

It's about one of the most fundamental "KPIs" (key performance indicators) advertisers and agencies use to evaluate the success of ads and media buys: the time consumers spend with them.

Labrunie said marketers have been using time spent as a vital KPI for decades on the assumption that it builds brand equity and lifts sales -- but actually, there's no research to prove this assumption.

"In fact, we really don’t know it," she said, adding that in terms of the environmental impact, the more time consumers spend on digital media, the more carbon that gets emitted.

"The more time you spend on the internet, the less sustainable you will be," she said, adding, "So maybe we need to think about new KPIs and a way to measure what we are doing in media to transform our industry."

Needless to say, I totally agree with Labrunie's logic, but it also seems antithetical for an industry premised on owning people's attention in an increasingly fragmented and cluttered media environment. And of course the media companies that get people hooked on spending time with them, generate the greatest share of market and profits.

Of course, there's another reason why advertisers might want to develop a KPI based on less time spent.

Aside from the carbon benefit, it could very well improve consumers' overall experience with advertising and media, while giving them more time to spend doing things in the real world -- like eating chocolate.

Three Dentsu Creative offices in India (Bengaluru, Mumbai and Guragaon) won a second Grand Prix Lions Wednesday—this time in the Brand Experience & Activation category--for their work on “The Unfiltered History Tour” for client Vice Media.

The agencies created an “unofficial guide” to disputed artifacts acquired by the British Museum. Earlier in the week, the work was awarded the Radio & Audio Lions Grand Prix.

In addition to the Grand Prix, 9 gold, 20 silver and 27 bronze Lions were awarded in the Brand Experience & Activation category. 

For the Innovation Lions, honoring ground-breaking innovation, technology and problem solving, the Grand Prix went to “One House To Save Many,” for Suncorp Group, by Leo Burnett Sydney. The work promoted housing that is resilient to fire, flood and severe storms. Three additional Lions were awarded in the category: 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

In the Mobile Lions, the Grand Prix went to “Real Tone - Product Innovation & Global Campaign,” for Google, by Google, Mountain View / T Brand Studio, New York / Wieden+Kennedy, Portland / GUT, Miami. Three gold, 7 silver and 10 bronze Lions were also awarded.

The Grand Prix in the Creative Effectiveness category went to “Contract for Change,” for Michelob Ultra, by FCB Chicago / FCB New York. Five gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze statues were also awarded.

In the Creative Strategy Lions, The Grand Prix went to “The Breakaway: The First Ecycling Team For Prisoners,” for Decathlon, by BBDO Belgium, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. Three gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze Lions were also awarded.

In the Creative Business Transformation Lions, the Grand Prix went to “Piñatex,” for Dole Sunshine Company + Ananas Anam. One gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze were also awarded.

In the Creative Commerce Lions, the Grand Prix went to “Thighstop,” for restaurant chain Wingstop, by Leo Burnett Chicago. Three Gold, 5 Silver and 8 Bronze Lions were also bestowed.

Mini USA is offering users a virtual “Miniverse” racing experience in Meta Horizon Worlds, the brand announced this week at Cannes. 

A video promoting the effort has the tagline “Jump In. Buckle Up. Let’s Drive.”

Mini USA and its creative agency, Pereira O’Dell partnered with Meta Horizon Worlds creators to bring the experience to life. The Miniverse aims to give fans the virtual thrill of customizing and racing a Mini with others in a whole new way, according to the automaker. 

“We went to our friends at Meta with a literal sketch of what we envisioned as a step into the Metaverse,” said Rah Mahtani, Brand Communications Manager, Mini USA. “Our goal was to bring the thrill of driving a MINI into the virtual world. Meta loved it and paired us with two brilliant creators within Horizon Worlds to fast-track this project.”

This is the first time an automotive brand has teamed up with Meta’s Creative Shop to create a presence in Meta Horizon Worlds, and Mini is currently one of only a handful of global consumer brands to pioneer a virtual brand experience with Horizon Worlds creators, according to the brand.

“We don’t always strive to be first, but we’re very open to taking the opportunity when it aligns with consumer consumption habits and our brand DNA,” Mahtani tells Marketing Daily. “Mini is a community brand that is united by a love of driving. We saw Horizon Worlds as the perfect place to bring those two brand pillars together."

]Debuting at the 2022 Cannes Lions: International Festival of Creativity, the Miniverse experience was available in Meta Horizon Worlds as of June 21 to all Meta Quest 2 headset users in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

Upon entering the Miniverse, fans can engage with others and select their own unique Mini for competitive head-to-head racing.

Players can customize their own unique Mini for the track, including changing its colors, adding bonnet stripes, and topping it with a contrast roof – one of Mini’s signature design features. 

Players can also try on different racing suits just like the ones worn by the Mini John Cooper Works Race Team in real life, and unlock other Mini vehicles, including a special EV model as they win more races in their quest to top the leaderboard and challenge their friends.

“It’s really about building awareness and passion amongst audiences we wouldn’t regularly be able to reach from more traditional advertising,” Mahtani says. “We’re keen to understand new audiences, their behaviors, interests, and keep showing them who we are as a brand.”

Up to four drivers at a time can participate. There is also room for spectators to engage and either help or create chaos by pressing buttons to flick cars off a ramp or to block them with “whack-a-mole” style pins, or even to help friends with timely speed boosts.

People can also experience the Miniverse on their mobile phone through a new Facebook and Instagram AR effect that brings the racing experience to the palm of their hand.

Launched in 2021, Meta Horizon Worlds is a free social experience that allows people to explore, play and connect in new ways with immersive virtual reality, according to Meta. Users can discover new places with friends, compete in games and interactive experiences and design “worlds” of their own.

You may or may not have heard, but Ted Lasso is no longer the only soccer star on Apple TV+. 

Apple TV+ announced a deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) for exclusive rights to broadcast all its games starting next year.  For both MLS and Apple, this is a big deal.  Apple’s TV subscription service is good, but it needs more content to become a must-subscribe platform.  I personally love it, but I get it free because I bought a phone this past year. 

When push comes to shove, will I pay for the service?  That remains to be seen.  I love what I see on there, but it's not enough to simply pay in perpetuity.  Would MLS soccer put me over the hump?

Therein lies the most interesting question for me.  My kids love soccer, and I have adopted the Austin FC since our move to Austin in 2021, so I might be inclined to pay for Apple TV+. However, the MLS package is actually a subscription plan inside of a subscription service. 

You read that right.  To get the full MLS package, you are paying a fee inside of a fee.  You are essentially subscribing to two paid services all baked into one. 

As far as I can recall, this might be a first.  The streaming wars are in full swing, with many families subscribing to many different platforms, but not very often do you get asked to subscribe to a platform, and then get upcharged to another subscription inside of the first one for more content! 

Maybe I am being naïve.  Maybe this is just like subscribing to an entry-level package and then considering the upgraded package.  Maybe this is no different from subscribing to Direct TV, and then up-leveling to the NFL package, but somehow it feels different to me.  It feels different because the UI is clearly the same, but the access is different.  It is Apple adopting an SaaS freemium/premium model, and it just feels different.  You gotta give it to Apple to find a way to make things easy yet complicated all at the same time.

Apple has stated that some MLS games will be available through the base subscription, but if you want them all, you have to upgrade.  This model is used in software all the time to encourage trial and upgrade.  Apple knows this extremely well via the App Store and its mobile business, and maybe its strategists look at this the same way.  Some customers will see the partial access as enough of an incentive to keep paying, while others will get a taste, get excited, and want the full Monty. 

MLS is a growing sport and has certainly achieved new levels of popularity in the U.S., but it is still not quite a driver of sports packages in the same way as the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL are.  These leagues are the big four more established leagues and each of them can become the cornerstone of a subscription service all by themselves.  MLS has a rabid fanbase, but not one that will put Apple in the driver’s seat within a year. 

Maybe Apple sees the relationship as good for everyone?   Maybe it’s viewed as mutually beneficial?  Apple will give much-needed exposure to MLS on a global level, and in return the MLS will create new opportunities to entice subscribers to check out the platform.

Sports is one of the last remaining appointment-view draws in broadcast TV.  Games are on often, and people like to watch them live rather than binge-watch them later.  Sports commands a premium for advertisers these days, and streaming services are bidding against one another for the different schedules and more.  Amazon is involved.  Hulu is involved.  Now Apple is involved. 

All this begs the question of what is the remaining draw for standard linear cable anymore?  Funnily enough, simplicity is the story for those legacy folks. A single place to gain access to your favorite programs is the single biggest advantage for legacy cable.  Isn’t that ironic?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Apple next year.  Will MLS be the first pillar of live-streaming for Apple?  I never bet against them, so my money says yes.