Netflix A Christmas Prince

This week we learned: The Net Neutrality fight isn't over and Netflix sees you when you're binging

Hello again and hoo boy was it a busy week on the Internet. And no, we don't just mean that Cat Person story and the think-pieces it inspired, but yeah that too. The biggest news is of course the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to kill Net Neutrality, which would allow internet service providers to control access to content and services. Today it came out that the FCC published fraudulent comments in support of axing Net Neutrality, including posts from actress Patty Duke, who died over a year before the comments in question were posted. Now that the FCC has voted on it, the issue still needs to be passed by Congress, so there's still a chance it can be saved. What does this mean for Canadians? Our internet access is governed by an "arm's length judiciary," the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and isn't "partisan to the same extent as it is in the U.S." PHEW. 

Netflix took a page from the Spotify playbook and posted a sassy tweet leveraging user data about its new holiday movie, "A Christmas Prince."  

But it didn't quite have the same effect as the Spotify ones. Hmm. So how do we make use of consumer data to create engaging, relevant ads without coming across too Big Brother? Regardless, we're now curious to see what this movie's all about it. Is it so bad it's good? So bad it's really, really bad? Will report back on this next week. 

Speaking of Netflix and Spotify, they're among Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2017, so they must be doing something right. Amazon tops the list, followed by Google, Uber (ed. really?), Apple, Snap, Facebook, Netflix, Twilio, Chobani and Spotify. Read up on what these and the other most innovative companies did in 2017 to get them on this list and see how you might be inspired to come up with your own innovations in 2018. 

Remember when @Wendys roasted McDonald's with that Black Friday tweet? The team behind the Wendy's Twitter account did an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit yesterday and Thrillist has the highlights. This goes to show you: get a smart team, determine a tone of voice for your brand and take a few risks. 

Facebook is introducing Click-to-WhatsApp buttons in ads, despite the fact that WhatsApp said they had no plans to put ads into the app. This is a ad unit allowing marketers to have a link between the two platforms and will work much like the existing click-to-Messenger ads. 

For your weird but engrossing Christmas ad, here's Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines instant holiday classic, The Prodigal Brother:

Are you one of the 53 who's been streaming A Christmas Prince non-stop? Let us know. Maybe we can offer a few more suggestions. Reach out: @outcropcom@outcropnunavut and @outcropyukon on Twitter and Outcrop Communications on Facebook.