Platform news
Here’s to another month of WNIS – our monthly report where we update you on the latest news,
trends and tips in Social & Digital – helping to keep you constantly in the know.
January Highlights
TikTok’s Testing a New Option to Help Facilitate More Brand Deals for Top Creators in the App
TikTok continues to develop new ways to facilitate band deals, and get creators paid, this time via a new element within its Creator Marketplace that will enable talent managers to assess the brand opportunities being offered to their clients.
Meta Expands Ad Targeting Restrictions for Teens, Adds New Ad Control Center for Young Users
Meta’s upping its data privacy processes for young users, with new restrictions on how teens can be targeted by ads in its apps, and new control options that will enable teens to opt out of ad topics.
Sources:
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/Meta-Expands-Ad-Targeting-Restrictions-for-Teens/640082/
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/12/tiktok-launches-a-talent-manager-portal-so-managers-can-negotiate-brand-deals-for-clients/
Why should you care
Algorithmic angst & data
privacy concerns are on the rise
There’s a growing awareness of algorithms and the manipulation of our decisions being made for us, leading people to look at existing systems with more skepticism. Today, our online experiences are usually a combination of managing brands’ attempts to collect information about us whilst entering in our personal details multiple times a day. There’s also been a historic lack of transparency in how companies are using people’s data. This lack of trust will inevitably impact brands as consumers will not hesitate to shut down their relationships with companies who they perceive to have disappointed or betrayed them. That’s why data privacy remains a top-three societal concern for advertisers, with 39% saying it will have a significant impact on their 2023 marketing strategy.
More change is coming. This year, Google is phasing out third-party cookies, which is forcing brands to create marketing approaches that are less reliant on third-party cookies and to use more transparent, privacy-centric tactics to target customers. With this, brands will have to show consumers there’s a pay off to contributing their data, through loyalty schemes or incentives.
Therefore, there will be a rebalance of digital ad spending to include more brand-building and less over-targeting. Digital advertisers will need to be proactive in their marketing efforts, focusing on creating a positive brand identity for consumers as a whole.
Sources:
Foresite Factory, Global Trending 2023
Acenture life trends, 2023
Brandwatch, Digital Marketing Trends, 2023
https://learn.g2.com/cookieless-marketing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2022/12/18/meta-tiktok-others-being-sued-here-are-10-ways-social-media-can-hurt-kids-mental-health/?sh=5003b01656a6
Influencer marketing continues to grow
The term ‘influencer’ is changing. Usually, this is now used to describe individuals with large followings, who are typically more expensive to work with and have a pre-established platform. Content creators, on the other hand, work slightly differently. These smaller-scale micro-influencers produce high-quality, influencer-style content – without the large fee. As well as the more affordable cost, another benefit of working with content creators is that they’re relatable.
Credit: Mintel Global consumer trends 2023
In 2023, we will see brands continue to loosen up briefs, navigating between authentic and aspirational by giving more control of messaging to influencers and their subcultures. To showcase their commitment to collaboration, many brands are emphasising creative positions within their organisation that are often filled (even if symbolically) by celebrities, influencers, kids or everyday product users. While influencers still get started on the most popular social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), there’s been an increasing desire for them to join private communities on alternative platforms such as Discord or Telegram to create closer connections with their audience. In these spaces, it’s less about the influencer broadcasting content, and more about the exchange between all community members.
2023 will be the year that brands start to understand these community ecosystems, creating more organic relationships and connections.
Sources:
The Marketer Toolkit, 2023, WARC
2023 Digital Marketing Trends, Brandwatch
Brand inspiration
January Highlights
Neutrogena, Nourished use AI to craft customisable 3D printed gummies
Johnson & Johnson brand Neutrogena announced a partnership with Nourished, a maker of 3D-printed dietary supplements, to print personalised skin care gummies called Nourished x Neutrogena Skin360 SkinStacks.
Chipotle targets Gen Z with wellness Snapchat Lens, menu items
Amidst the diet, exercise and fitness advertising that traditionally arrives at the start of a new year, Chipotle is attempting to address how Gen Z and millennial consumers embrace wellness with new menu items meant to make it convenient to maintain New Year’s healthy-eating resolutions and an augmented reality experience that gamifies wellbeing.
Sources:
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/neutrogena-nourished-ai-skin360-3d-printed-gummies/639692/
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/01/03/chipotle-debut-wellness-inspired-ar-snapchat-lens-quitters-day
Why should you care
AI is here to stay and it will become mainstream in 2023
AI is breaking new ground – suddenly, anyone can create reasonable-quality language, image, and video content with seemingly little effort. This development will enable individuals to be more productive than previous generations and generates opportunities for both brands and businesses .
For Lunar New Year, McDonald’s has teamed with Karen X Cheng, a leading digital content creator whose work utilises AI and AR and often goes viral, for a campaign that spans several cutting edge technologies.
Some brands are already developing full product offerings based around it. Siemens, for example, released an AI-based web app to help users discover better system architectures. Other businesses such as Nestle and Unilever are finding applications for it in marketing and content production. In fact, AI-generated imagery, text, audio and videos are already beginning to show up in branded content and campaigns. Dove used AI in a recent campaign delving into the public photos of people who commented on its social media posts and created a video that reviewed their past hairstyles. AI will also make it quicker and easier to align content to brand style guidelines, and react to events, news, or customer complaints.
As with most emerging technology however, open questions around the legal and ethical implications remain. Just recently, Getty is suing Stability AI for unlawfully scraping images from its website. Nonetheless, with developments emerging at astonishing speed, companies need to be thinking about this now and working out how to stand out.
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/12/the-wild-future-of-artificial-intelligence/672442/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/17/23558516/ai-art-copyright-stable-diffusion-getty-images-lawsuit
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/01/13/15-creative-ways-marketers-can-use-ai-to-build-connections-with-consumers/?sh=78b373332e1a
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/mcdonalds-lunar-new-year-ai-ad-metaverse-AR/640255/
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/generative-ai-is-here-how-tools-like-chatgpt-could-change-your-business
Accenture, life trends 2023,
Warc, Marketers Toolkit 2023
Wavemaker growth trends 2023
Health and wellness will continue to be a consumer focus in 2023
People have dealt with the stress of the pandemic, rising costs, climate change and various political and social issues as of late. These issues combined with the daily stressors of life have led more people to seek out small changes in their habits and routines that may help them feel better–both in the short and long-term.
The self-care landscape has grown to encompass nutrition, meditation, sleep quality, among other things. There’s also been an increased interest in “emotional health” — focusing on being in tune with our emotions, and vulnerability.. When YPulse asked 13-39-year-olds what the most important part of wellness is, nearly half said mental health, making it their top response—far above physical health. Their definition of wellness is now centred around listening to their mind and bodies’ needs in the moment, and 90% of young people agree that wellness looks different for everyone. It’s no surprise that wellness trends like affirmations and reading self-growth books are on the rise.
Credit: Mintel Global consumer trends 2023
So what does this mean for brands? Demand for mental health and wellness-focused products will grow as consumers look to understand their blind spots and work to overcome them. Consumers will also expect brands to make small gestures and actions in their everyday lives to create genuine and empathetic connections that go beyond the moment of purchase.
Sources:
https://www.ypulse.com/article/2022/09/13/how-gen-z-and-millennials-are-redefining-wellness/
The new consumer, coefficient capital, Next Atlas,
Mintel global annual trends 2023
Trend report 2023, Trendhunter,
Mintel global connsumer trends 2023
If you like what you read and want to know what else is happening on social, check out last month’s WNOS here.
