April '22 Drop

Our TL;DR monthly trendspotting and reporting on the sticky stuff for your biz, your brand, and your cultural fluency. Check back monthly for the next 5 best things.

They’re gr-r-reat!

Mascots in, minimal brand design out

For the longest time, brands have used mascots to sell products – like the Kool-Aid Man, Tony the Tiger, and some of the M&M crew who have all been around since the 1950s
In recent years, however, mascots have fallen out of fashion
According to Moving Picture Company, 41% of brands ran ad campaigns featuring characters in 1992, while only 12% used them in 2021
Internet-first brands are starting to realize that it’s hard to develop emotional connections with consumers via minimal, branding
O, they’re moving back to mascots

Sources: Thingtesting

Brand Opp:

If your brand could use some help connecting more intimately with its consumers, consider developing a mascot, or two to help. It’s much easier for consumer to align themselves with characters who share similar goals, feelings, and emotions to them rather than brand graphic design alone.

Pinterest creator fund… it’s a thing now

Pinterest is getting serious with their creators

This past month, Pinterest announced that it will be doubling it’s creator fund, investing an additional $1.2 million into cash grants, ad credits, and other resources for underrepresented groups
The plan is to invest in creators in five week long quarterly cycle
Their cycles for 2022 will focus on beauty and fashion
Pinterest also plans to expand opportunities with Creator Fund recipients to brand partnerships and access to creator-focused conferences
Keep in mind Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Snap all have creator funds in the hundreds of millions and even billions

Source: Tech Crunch

Brand Opp:

For brands in the fashion and beauty space, now could be an ideal time to start thinking of how your brand can marketed by creators on Pinterest. If Pinterest is serious about its efforts to grow their creator population, now can be a great time to get in and ride their wave of growth.

Goodbye digitally distorted influencers

Ogilvy bans digitally “retouched” influencers from their campaigns

U.K. marketing agency Ogilvy announced that they will no longer work with influencers who digitally alter their appearance
In accordance with the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), influencers working with Ogilvy can edit a photo’s contrast or brightness, but they cannot retouch their body or skin
In order to make sure influencers are following these rupees, Ogilvy has developed its own proprietary InfluencO tech stack that checks images for such alterations
The ban is set to begin in May and become fully implemented in all Ogilvy campaigns by December

Brand Opp:

The times are a’ changin. Ogilvy stands as a great reminder to reflect on the marketing of your own brand. Is it authentic and real? Are you still using editing tools for your models when you could be embracing the world in its natural form? Are the influencers your brand is partnering with doing the same?

The new hybrid work week

Harvard Business’s recommendation on the future of office work

A new study from Harvard Business School finds that the ideal setup for hybrid work includes only 1-2 days in the office
Researchers find that this balance gives employees the flexibility they desire while maintaining team social connections
Tested against groups who spent less than one day a week in the office or more than two, groups who spent 1-2 days a week in the office produced work of higher quality and originality
Furthermore, workers who worked 1-2 day/week in the office reported greater work-life balance and greater satisfaction working from home

Sources: Fortune

Brand Opp:

If your company is considering how to go about the hybrid work week, this could be a helpful study to frame your decision making. Of course it comes down to the needs and wants of your team, but a little scientific research couldn’t hurt.

Meta The Mobster

Meta to charge hefty fees to its creators

Meta is creating the App Store of the 3D world, called Horizon Worlds
Anyone with an Oculus VR headset will be able to access it
Users will be able to bounce between ‘worlds’, similar to the way they bounce between apps on their smartphones
For programmers planning to create their own ‘worlds’, Meta will charge a 47.5% fee on any sales of digital goods and experiences sold
And to think Apple’s 30% ‘App Tax’ was bad
To put this into perspective,Meta competitors like Decentraland, Sandbox, and OpenSeas take a 2%-5% fee on creator sales

Brand Opp:

For brands looking to test out immersive experiences in the virtual world for their customers, keep in mind the costs you may incur and where it may be best to invest your time and resources. While it’s still early to tell who will dominate the virtual market, it’s a good idea to start strategizing for the new wave.

The Wax reported by:
Yasmeena Faycurry & Kate Sanner
2022 Platform Listeners

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