WEBVTT - The Fall of Facebook's Influence

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Well, Amber Atherton is with us.

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<v Speaker 1>She's the CEO of Zipper based on in San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 1>Here in New York City today. Welcome you very much,

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<v Speaker 1>lovely to be hit well. Great to have you. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>This is so on point about so many issues that

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<v Speaker 1>we talk about, and timely given that people are going

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<v Speaker 1>to do a lot of shopping over the next few weeks,

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<v Speaker 1>they already are. Uh. Tell us how people are being

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<v Speaker 1>influenced digitally. And I want to start with Facebook because

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<v Speaker 1>we talk so much about the outsized influence in electoral

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<v Speaker 1>politics and so many different things, but I would imagine

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<v Speaker 1>it influences consumer behavior as well. Yeah, and I think,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if you're looking at gen Z as a demographic,

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook's influence is falling dramatically. That is not the space

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<v Speaker 1>that they want to be, That's not where they're hanging out.

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<v Speaker 1>So how a brand is going to reach this new

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<v Speaker 1>generation of consumers. What we believe at Ziper's brands have

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<v Speaker 1>this opportunity to bring to recognize fans and really bring

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<v Speaker 1>them into these brand fan communities. And I think with

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<v Speaker 1>seeing a lot of success with driving kind of customer

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<v Speaker 1>acquisition through this brand way. Who does it really well?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think you can ignore like a glossier or

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<v Speaker 1>a cure ology. These DTC companies are doing it so well.

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<v Speaker 1>And why it's because it's this democratized approach to brand building.

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<v Speaker 1>It's allowing their customers in gen z want to be

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<v Speaker 1>part of brand building, they want to be in focus groups,

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<v Speaker 1>they want to create products together. So it's really that

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<v Speaker 1>democratized approach that is winning with this consumer. I've amazed, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I have a sixteen year old Jason has two teenagers

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<v Speaker 1>and then a younger one. But I mean it's interesting

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<v Speaker 1>my daughter just the things they reach out or like

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<v Speaker 1>do this survey do and like they do a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of giveaways, and it's brands I've never heard of. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's just amazing the amount of market research and just

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<v Speaker 1>reaching out to consumers directly to kind of pull them

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<v Speaker 1>into a brand. And I think this is what traditional

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<v Speaker 1>brands and retailers are coming to Zype four is they

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<v Speaker 1>want to be able to identify who their top one

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<v Speaker 1>percent of fans are and bring them into a space

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<v Speaker 1>where they can get real time insights like a because

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<v Speaker 1>group two point oh, and they can really work with

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<v Speaker 1>their customers as their advocates. And why that's important is

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<v Speaker 1>because of consumers trust their friends and family recommendations more

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<v Speaker 1>than any other form of advertising. So I think that's

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<v Speaker 1>you can't ignore about stat well. And they also it

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<v Speaker 1>feels like for the past few years have trusted broadly

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<v Speaker 1>defined influencers. We've been talking a lot about Kylie Jenner,

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<v Speaker 1>her you know, vaulting into being the youngest self made

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<v Speaker 1>female billionaire. Uh, the big deal she did with Cody.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously people have moved and made purchases based on folks

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<v Speaker 1>like her. Have we seen that peak or is that

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<v Speaker 1>going to keep going up? I think we have seen

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<v Speaker 1>this peak. However, I would class Kylie Jenner as more

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<v Speaker 1>of a celebrity, and I think that actually celebrity is

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<v Speaker 1>going to have this come back because they're still trusted.

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<v Speaker 1>But only four percent of global consumers trust what an

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<v Speaker 1>influencers recommending no kidding, no kidding, And is that because

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<v Speaker 1>they think they're sort of on the take, And so

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<v Speaker 1>I think that you're just savvy. You know that someone's

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<v Speaker 1>being paid to promote anything, So where is the trust there?

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<v Speaker 1>It's just been completely eroded by every sort of microinfluencer,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think consumers are just desperate to have a

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<v Speaker 1>genuine recommendation. So when you know that your friend is

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<v Speaker 1>recommending a Glossier product or Tom shoes, you're far more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to trust that than you are seeing an ad

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<v Speaker 1>And I think going back to Facebook gen Z, they're

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<v Speaker 1>using appookers, they're not on Facebook, they care about their privacy.

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<v Speaker 1>There needs to be a new way to reach these consumers. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's really fascinating. Um. And I do wonder about kind

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<v Speaker 1>of some of these bigger brands, especially in the retail

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<v Speaker 1>sector that are are really struggling. Um, you know, are

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<v Speaker 1>they figuring it out? Is it too late? Can they

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<v Speaker 1>kind of change the model effectively enough. I think we're

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<v Speaker 1>definitely playing an education role in this space. That community

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<v Speaker 1>software is a new category, you know, it sits between

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<v Speaker 1>loyalty and advocacy software exactly. And this is about brands

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<v Speaker 1>involving their customers, getting closer to their fans to keep

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<v Speaker 1>their brand relevant. So I think there's a huge appetite

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<v Speaker 1>for this type of authenticity with brands and their consumers now.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think our solution is sort of at the

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<v Speaker 1>right time and So when we think about sort of

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<v Speaker 1>the platforms that are most used, you know, you talked

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<v Speaker 1>about Facebook obviously, Instagram, Snap and others that the kids

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<v Speaker 1>are using. I don't use them the kids TikTok TikTok exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's around the corner or is there anything emerging

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<v Speaker 1>that you see as a platform of swords where a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of this branding is going to happen. Yeah, definitely.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that gen Z are looking for a more

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<v Speaker 1>raw kind of relatable aesthetic, which is why TikTok has

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<v Speaker 1>done so well because it's unfiltered. It's funny. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>about Instagram filters an avocado toast. It's about like raw aesthetics.

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<v Speaker 1>So don't make avocado toast. Listen. I'm going to stand too.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a fan. But I think that what we are

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<v Speaker 1>seeing as a trend across the board with this age

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<v Speaker 1>range is this desire to be in a more private

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<v Speaker 1>chat based environment. But if you look at things like

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<v Speaker 1>Discord or read It, they're really catering quite heavily to

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<v Speaker 1>mail or like gaming communities. But what zipas building is

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<v Speaker 1>kind of social networks with brands. Now you love Tom's

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<v Speaker 1>or you love Glossier, you can come in to be

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<v Speaker 1>part of this kind of social network with brand that

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<v Speaker 1>you love and meet other people are consumers that you're

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<v Speaker 1>finding that you're you know, whether it's the younger generation

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<v Speaker 1>that they're comfortable sharing their data points and if they

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<v Speaker 1>feel like that they have a role in developing a

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<v Speaker 1>brand or helping out a brand. Definitely, if they feel

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<v Speaker 1>like they're playing a role in helping out a brand,

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<v Speaker 1>they're much more willing to share that information because it's

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<v Speaker 1>a two way relationship. But I think what Facebook has

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<v Speaker 1>damaged so much is that trust in social networks. But

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<v Speaker 1>this is where brands have an opportunity because I still

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I still trust the brand. So it's an

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<v Speaker 1>interesting way to bring these consumers back into the forefront.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh just quick thirty seconds. You've worked in reality TV.

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<v Speaker 1>Is TV sort of gone the way of the dinosaur

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of branding and influencing? No, I think you know,

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<v Speaker 1>DTC brands a spell ending a ton on TV ads, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's still relevant. We still want to lean

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<v Speaker 1>into that kind of vorst reality content and Snap developing

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<v Speaker 1>even more of their own vertical shows. So I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>sure I'll be returning to reality to be anytime soon,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's still a great medium. All right. Well, you've

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<v Speaker 1>got your hands full with Ziper. Amber Atherton, CEO of Ziber,

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<v Speaker 1>based out in San Francisco. Here with us in New

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<v Speaker 1>York City today