POST-PANDEMIC
As we (maybe? hopefully? finally?) move into a post-pandemic world, what are the lasting changes? Google released research on habits accelerated by COVID that they predict will stick around (online learning, groceries, and cooking at home). COVID has lasted so long now, that even some people are nostalgic for the start of the pandemic and are sharing stories online. And if you’re fearing a return to work because you like doing Zooms in small, uncomfortable spaces from your home – don’t worry, Zoom is now offering small, uncomfortable spaces for your office.
AMAZON & HARDWARE
Amazon continues to find new ways to make it easier for you to spend your money. The company is selling more promoted spaces on its web search results, and advertisers are paying. If you found it too difficult or time-consuming to tap your credit card when checking out, Amazon is now letting you just use the palm of your hand. And if you always wanted a personal surveillance robot to follow you around your house and watch you while you sleep– it can be yours for $999.
TIKTOK & BRANDS
Lots of TikTok in the news now that it has reached 1 billion (!) monthly users. In an effort to court new advertisers, the platform just released research on its effectiveness for brand recall (quite). It also released some helpful resources for brands to plan their holiday activations – Part 1 is here. If you’re interested in how to incorporate TikTok into your marketing plans, check out this new How-To Guide from Hootsuite and this helpful article on the 7 Ways TikTok Works With Brands. That said, the most helpful way to understand how to engage with TikTok is to engage yourself – very different social rituals, creative formats, and production techniques.
VISUAL SEARCH
I’m more bullish on visual search via mobile app than any AR / smart-glasses doohickey. Anytime you see something interesting that you can’t name can be a potential use case. Snapchat recently relaunched its Scan feature that uses the camera and AR to identify clothes, dog breeds, plants, cars and more. Google is also prioritizing shopping via its visual search feature, and is providing guidance for e-commerce storefronts to update their product listings to ensure they come up via results. Here is more from Verge on how Google is making this experience more contextual for shoppers.
SOCIAL & KIDS
Facebook is in the news again about generally making the world a worse place. The company will be testifying why it held back research showing that Instagram harms the mental health of teens. In the rarefied space where meta meets irony, it was reported that Facebook was planning to use the Facebook newsfeed to improve its image (you know, like every brand that it sells advertising to). The good news is that the company is pausing its plan to build Instagram for Kids. Speaking of kids and social media, TikTok now caps screen time for users under 14 in China. I wish them more success than I'm having with my kids.
SMART ESSAYS
Why do Strategy, Anyway? Love this from Roger Martin – he explains that companies need to maximize learning in strategy – to ask questions earlier, and make adjustments quicker than competitors.
Professional Certifications, Not Universities, Are The Future Of Marketing. A convincing case made by Samuel Scott on how marketing education should be less waterfall (expensive and intensive upfront) and more ongoing throughout your career. What if you spread your investment in an MBA over an entire career in marketing?
Advertising Fast or Slow. Faris Yakob channels Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow) to explore how ads on media that people are fully engaged with (slow) perform better than not (fast). I’ll link to anything with the line: “Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats; they can do it but they’d prefer not to.”
FINALLY
If you want to freshen up your Instagram feed, follow my new favourite photographer that adds paper cut-outs to famous landmarks and locations.
