The Creativ Brief: Sara Yazdani Expands PR Practice
This week we grew our team, appointing Sara Yazdani as Director of Media & Entertainment PR.
Sara will run overall strategic planning and day-to-day PR campaigns for the company’s roster of clients, managing a team, supporting the CEO Wes Morton, and marketing the company’s line of services.
Her decade+ career includes stints at The Walt Disney Company, Recording Academy, PMK*BNC and BIZ 3. She’s led initiatives for global brands such as Disney, Star Wars, Samsung, Google, Techstars, Grammys, and more, garnering millions of media impressions.
Sara embodies the talent I look for at Creativ Strategies — smart, curious, passionate, with a track record of success. Her expertise across video games, music, advertising, tech and media make her an ideal fit for our growing company.
I can’t wait to build the next great marketing firm with her. You can read our full-release here.
Please respond to this email to reach me or email Sara directly at sara [at] creativstrategies.com with any questions or inquiries.
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3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines
Google will face Epic Games in court on Monday regarding in-app payments, marking Google’s second antitrust trial in two months.
The trial, brought by Epic Games, focuses on Google’s revenue cuts from in-app payments and restrictions on creators’ communication with customers. The dispute began when Google and Apple removed Fortnite from their app stores after Epic allowed direct billing for in-app purchases.
Why it Matters: In the past, Google and Apple have both been accused of taking a substantial cut of revenue from in-app payments, and the outcome of this trial will set a precedent future in-app purchases.
The SAG AFTRA committee has approved a tentative deal with major studios, ending the four month strike. The strike officially ended at midnight last night.
Here is what SAG AFTRA members got it the new three-year contract that is “valued at over $1 billion”:
Increased minimum pay (largest increase in minimum wages in 40 years)
Increased residuals for shows streamed online
Better union health and pension plans
New rules for the uses of AI around name and likeness
Why it Matters: The dual strikes have caused an estimated $7 billion in economic damage. The SAG and WGA strikes bottlenecked the media industry for months. Expect an influx of new shows and movies towards the latter half of 2024, some cancellations, and ancillary industries like marketing and product placement to rev back up.
TikTok's $1billion creator fund will come to an end December 16. Creator members reported earning noticeably low payouts for millions of views. In February, the company introduced a new monetization method for users called the The Creativity Program, which rewards users for creating videos longer than one minute.
Why it Matters: Earnings are now based on views and engagement. TikTok is challenging users to generate high engagement posts (likes, comments, shares, views) whilst creating longer content. Time will tell if payouts remain low.
Client Spotlight - National Havoc Robot League Championships, November 11th
The world's best robot combat builders head to Norwalk to fight to become 2023 World Champion on November 11th.
Live stream on the link above or purchase an in-person ticket at the House of Havoc here.
Client Spotlight - Edge of AI Hosts Forum with MOCEAN, Adobe, and USC on Tech and AI
The forum will host several industry leaders including Tomasz Opasinki, Creative Technologist AI/ML of Adobe, Greg Harrison, Chief Creative Officer of MOCEAN, and Melady Lab, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Machine Learning Center at USC.
Held at MOCEAN’s Los Angeles headquarters, the gathering will host 100 of the West Coast's leading minds and executives on media, entertainment, and technology for an evening of robust discussion and intimate networking. The live event will be recorded for a corresponding podcast distributed by Edge of AI and lead off a series of forums around technologies’ impacts on the entertainment, media, and creative industries.
Stat of the Week - Social Media Revenues
Influencer marketing spend growth outpaced media spend on all major social media platforms in 2023.
TikTok saw the highest rates of growth for both influencer marketing and ad revenue, with YouTube and Instagram coming in as distant seconds.
The accelerated growth of influencer marketing spend demonstrates a significant change in how brands are approaching social media marketing. Rather than relying on inhouse created assets, more brands are relying on native platform creators to deliver their messages.
One Fun Thing - Mickey’s Favorite
Here’s something you probably didn't know about Sara…
Sara is a classically-trained singer and the first soprano of the Disney Choir during the holiday season. She also sang in the choir for Mickey's 90th Spectacular TV special that aired on ABC pictured above.