Ashley Otah, Ayzenberg’s resident trendspotter, digs into what’s trending on our timelines this week.
Gymshark
Gym. Sets. Shower. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. With the launch of its first physical store, an 18,000-square foot space in London, online athleisure and fitness brand Gymshark aims to become the go-to place for the fitness novice and expert looking for clothing, exercising and community. A standout element of the experience: in-store mannequins that reflect real brand ambassadors and highlight body types and varying abilities.
That, in itself, should not be applauded, however, as inclusivity and accessibility should never be an afterthought. Gymshark’s mission to provide comprehensive content and experiences to people all over the globe continues as they meet fans where they are, as they are.
#GucciVault
Gucci’s newest creative endeavor is Gucci Vault, a collaborative partnership with The Sandbox, a virtual world where players can build, own and sell their gaming experiences and elements. For a short time, players will be able to explore the past, present and future in quests to capture Gucci Vault Boxes, unlocking raffle entries and digital collectibles. In addition to the event, Gucci is launching its first voxel digital collectibles. These unexpected partnerships and drops will continue to grow as the line between industries become more entangled.
Call of Duty
Known for massive and creative out-of-home (OOH) ads, Piccadilly Circus is a scene to behold. Most recently, however, Call of Duty took it over with its latest campaign like never before. As OOH makes a massive comeback into our everyday lives, it’s a continued reminder that outdoor advertising is not a medium to be ignored. With OOH expected to expand, this is a continued trend to watch and enjoy.
Social and economic shifts are inspiring brand creatives to reimagine old ideas about audience, inclusion, leadership and the role of marketing in the world. Here are some of the best quotes from one of our favorite sessions.
Brand Experience is the New World Order explored the intersection of brand identity, user experience and social media. Speakers included Kyle Luke, group director, strategy at VMLY&R; Kelley Myers, director of social media at Microsoft; Paige Raiczyk, strategist at Berlin Cameron; and Jonathan Kratz, director, head of industry – technology, mobile and connectivity at Meta.
The role of social media channels and how audiences relate to them has fundamentally changed, and marketers should understand how that impacts their work.
“Social media is more than social media if you think about it. TikTok is now an entertainment platform. Facebook recently rebranded its entire organization around the metaverse. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. What we’re finding in our experiences is that the more closely connected audiences become to brands and the more closely connected brands become to audiences, the more social media is turning into a real-time brand experience. And it’s absolutely not just something that you add on, but it has become critical to any sort of successful brand campaign or strategy.” — Kyle Luke
Forward-thinking brand marketers look at creator and influencer relationships as essential to brand-building.
“Social media [is not] this monolith that we’re going to check a box on. … [So] how do we go about future-proofing our investments and brand [and] do that in places where we know the next audience is going to show up? I think when we talk about audiences … and where people are going, creators offer us another venue into that space. They have high authenticity; they have great passion points. And they definitely have a reach that we can’t get to sometimes.” — Kelley Myers
Marketers are looking at social media platforms and the technology that connects to them as an aggregate “experience channel,” a way to drive impact at multiple touchpoints for their brands.
“… I think we all serve our interest in our business best by taking a step back and looking at the impact a tool or a platform can drive. For me, regardless of what bucket someone may have put them in years ago, [working with creators] is an area of major investment on our part in terms of facilitating the way brands can identify, interact with and leverage creators [to] drive their business on the platform. … Working with creators is a powerful way for you to kind of build brand love and do it in a really authentic and scalable way, as Kelley said.” – Jonathan Kratz
Social media, commerce and culture often work together as an ecosystem. When consumers feel empowered and seen through one-to-one engagement, brands can build loyalty and boost conversions organically.
“I think one of the best platforms, in order to facilitate that one-to-one engagement from a brand-to-audience perspective, is Discord. We’ve actually built the biggest basketball community on Discord (for Stephen Curry in partnership with Under Armour). And we did that by identifying the end consumer through Twitter and listening to what they’re looking for in the community. So, I see one-to-one engagement, also, as a research platform to really get that firsthand kind of focus group knowledge from the consumer. I think the big takeaway is that platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and anything content-related like that are really democratizing entertainment, and looking out at this beautiful audience, all of us are creators, all of us can be purveyors of entertainment just because we have phones in our hands. And so [seeing] how brands can leverage this is really exciting because we’re talking about community.” — Paige Raiczyk
Social media can help brands connect to their consumers organically when online experiences are focused on community interests, not just brand messaging.
“I think social allows you to really speak to your audience from a community perspective, from a culture perspective and from a commerce perspective and do it all on the same platform and do it really organically. You earn attention by contributing and building community on these platforms, you earn attention by participating and building on culture on these platforms. And you can connect it to commerce in an elegant way that consumers are increasingly expecting you to do. And I think that is unique in terms of opportunity for brands … [but] most platforms don’t allow you to do all three in one place. And I think that’s a really important element of it.” – Jonathan Kratz.
In our next post, we’ll review our other favorite sessions from last week.
The fifth annual IAB Brand Disruption Summit held in New York City in October showcased the evolving marketing strategies embraced by some of the world’s most successful brands. The biggest takeaway? Leading brands are rethinking marketing from top to bottom and marketers should take heed.
Takeaway 1: The New Age Of Hybrid Commerce Centers On User Experience
Consumers’ expectations for how they interact with retailers in-store and online have been transformed by the way technology has made convenience and effortless purchasing a priority. From “tap-to-pay” to instant inventory checks, the in-store user experience has evolved to a level once considered ‘luxury’ as consumers want seamless, intuitive experiences wherever they shop. Enter “H-Commerce,” which, according to the IAB, is defined as “the fusion of online and offline shopping.” While the majority of consumers still prefer to shop in person, consumers want simple, modern shopping experiences, as well as fast and easy payments and the ability to save time and money on demand.
What that means for marketers is that the analog emphasis on brand affinity and brand recognition is no match for today’s value-focused and experience-savvy consumers. Modern shoppers are researching products, calling “BS” on failed brand promises and demanding not just better deals but better brand interactions and customer service. Marketers who want to reach these consumers must highlight not just their brand’s general value proposition, but the way their brand delivers on customer experience in-store and online.
According to the IAB’s Brand Disruption Report 2023, consumers are also leveraging technology in new ways to improve their shopping experiences. The proof? Nine in 10 Americans currently use or consider using augmented reality for shopping—a significant increase from the 43 percent of consumers who showed interest in using AR for shopping in 2021.
77 percent of consumers research products online, then purchase them offline (ROPO).
Fifty-eight percent of consumers now make purchases on their phones while in a store from another retailer’s website versus 42 percent in 2019.
More than half of consumers now make purchases on their phones while in a store from that retailer’s website versus 38 percent in 2019.
Four in 10 consumers leverage buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) or curbside pickup.
Takeaway 2: The Explosion Of The Creator Economy Is Transforming Brand Marketing
Brands are taking influencers and their role in the creator economy seriously, not simply as potential spokespeople for their products and services, but as bellwethers of a shift in the way consumers discover and interact with them.
According to the report, brand investment in creator content is growing fasterthan investment in TV and streaming content and consumers are now spending more time-consuming creator content on platforms like TikTok, as opposed to Hollywood-produced (professionally produced) content from conventional entertainment services. That makes influencers in the creator economy part of a shift in how consumers encounter ads and, by extension, new brands. For example, users spent 22.6 trillion minutes watching TikToks, but 9.6 trillion minutes watching Netflix. Those statistics represent an opportunity for marketers seeking to shift their efforts to where consumers are spending the most time.
Per the report:
Eight in 10 brands now use creator advertising up from around 50 percent pre-COVID.
YouTube now represents over 50 percent of ad-supported streaming watch time on CTVs among people 18 and over.
With the launch of a TV app, TikTok is taking its 1.2 billion monthly users to CTVs.
Takeaway 3: Marketers Should Take The Metaverse Shopping Opportunity Seriously
The frequently misunderstood metaverse is well-understood by some of the world’s biggest brands. According to the IAB report, approximately 30 percent of global companies will have products and services ready for sale in the metaverseby 2026. Their investment is less speculative than it might appear. The report also states that nearly six billion virtual items, both free and paid, were transacted in Roblox last year and that 60 percent of Gen Z consumers believe brands should sell products in the metaverse. While many brands have yet to venture into the metaverse, many recognizable names have laid the groundwork to do so.
Marketers seeking to create a metaverse marketing strategy are not limited to promoting their brand’s non-virtual products. According to the report, new ways of monetizing brand identities are emerging alongside new metaverse-connected technologies.
The study reads: “Selling digital fashion, skins, and other goods and experiences directly to consumers’ avatars ——“direct to avatar” (DTA) is a key driver of metaverse commerce and is expected to generate $50 billion in sales from skins alone in 2022 and potentially top $1 trillion by the end of the decade.”
Brands are reimagining disruption as a tool to fuel better customer engagement, and, unlike the early days of the internet, the biggest brands are leading the innovation charge.
The state of diversity, equity, and inclusion has changed rapidly since the pandemic. Thankfully, Celeste Warren is here to help us understand how to navigate it. No matter if you’re a C-Suite executive, a middle manager, or an individual employee she takes us through the important steps you can take to become a D&I ambassador and how it impacts the bottom line.
In this episode, Celeste and I discuss how recent events have changed the way we think about D&I, as well as why having a good grasp on it is vital to connecting with your customers and retaining top talent.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How social and cultural factors shifted the importance and implementation of D&I practices
Ways leaders and employees at every level can enact change
Why understanding D&I is vital to successful marketing campaigns
Key Highlights
[04:10] Celeste’s path to D&I at Merck
[10:00] What inspired Celest to write her new book
[13:40] The current state of D&I in corporate America
[18:15] The importance of C-Suite leaders taking accountability
[20:30] The role of middle management
[25:25] How can individuals be D&I ambassadors
[29:15] Three easy steps to become an ambassador
[33:35] Why understanding D&I is vital to successful marketing
[38:10] How can organizations do social activism the right way
Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies but is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.
Ashley Otah, Ayzenberg’s resident trendspotter, explores the use of technology in art and for social good in this roundup of what’s trending on our timelines this week.
Brooklyn Nets
Young Brooklynites share what makes their borough so special in a new mini doc commemorating the Nets’ 10th year in Brooklyn. The powerful yet punchy video featuring 10-year-old locals, the team’s first generation of born-and-bred fans, feels more like a love letter to the borough than an ad and is nothing less than an ode to a city of dreams. Home is a lot of things, but most importantly, home is Brooklyn.
Gas
Nice guys finish first with Gas, a new app that aims to spread kindness and help teens say nice things about each other in a “superlative-like” way, as individuals are given the opportunity to “gas” each other up anonymously. Although limited to a handful of states, the app is a refreshing use of social media that is making a splash. The desire for interpersonal relationships, especially community, continues as generations navigate life. This time, using apps to fill voids.
Modem x Moncler
Past, present and future intertwine in “The Extraordinary Expedition,” a multisensory journey celebrating Moncler’s legacy developed by Modem Works that transports users into a world like no other. The exhibit features sculptures, immersive sound and narrative design, as well as a series of kinetic installations highlighting defining looks from the luxury fashion house.
Previously at odds, fashion and technology have had a rocky relationship. In recent years, the two industries have been seen more as fellows than rivals, using their knowledge and expertise to craft new a new future for augmented and virtual reality and beyond.
Hell is Others, a new online multiplayer release by A List Games and Italy-based game studios Strelka Games and Yonder, represents a shift in brand storytelling focusing on the mechanics of user engagement through the eyes of the consumer.
Hell Is Others Is A 2D PvP Multiplayer Game For The Bingeable Content Era
Released on Oct. 20 on Steam™,Hell is Others offers players 60 hours of storytelling—that’s longer thanThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the notoriously challenging Dark Souls. The game, which is a player-versus-player (PvP) shooter adventure, seems tailor-made for the “Stranger Things” and “Severance” era, as the most fantastical elements of the story are somehow relatable not simply because of character development, but because the themes—centering on an uncertain yet all-consuming work experience that seems to never end—are all too familiar. Despite its length, the storytelling is taut, engaging and addictive, with a balance between horror and character development that makes it feel less like lore and more like a string of can’t-miss episodes.
Like The Legend of Zelda, Hell is Others presents a story with a traditional hero’s journey at its core, but that journey has been translated into a multi-layered allegory of modernity à la Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times.” There is a main character bearing a name suspiciously similar to that of Adam Smith, considered the founding father of modern capitalism, and of course, the title Hell is Others appears to be a sly nod to existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit,” about hell as an existence trapped in an endless cycle of repetition, forced into a cramped space with others unable to exit.
In the game, users play as Adam Smithson, a character isolated in a cramped apartment who must descend into the city to scavenge for resources to feed his sole charge, a plant that lives on blood and produces an unusual fruit—bullets that fit more than 50 weapons. In Century City, where Adam Smithson lives, blood is currency, fuel and sustenance, and in the fight for blood, Smithson engages with other players and fights monsters who seek to destroy him or steal the blood and weapons that he and his plant need to survive.
“Hell is Others is a passion project for many of us,” said Strelka Games CEO Pietro De Grandi. “Each monster was handcrafted, each moment of the story was written to create a deep and intense emotional reaction, and each pixel was lovingly placed to create the world for our audience.”
The game is unique for other reasons beyond its dystopian semiotics; its marketing campaign focused on user experience from the consumer’s point of view with a strategy focused on TikTok.
A Brand Storytelling Shift: From The “Voice Of The Customer” To The “Eye Of The Consumer”
Brands often say they incorporate the “voice of the customer” (VoC) in developing new products and directing long-term marketing strategies. In the world of gaming, a subtle shift has occurred toward marketing games not just as continuing or nascent franchises but as experiences. That means translating VoC into the language of experience—what fans want to see and feel when they play a game. Hell is Others took this a step further and used TikTok as a vehicle to promote ‘Let’s Plays’ that focused on the mechanics of user engagement—what the game felt like and why those experiences were unique and binge-worthy.
“We managed to exploit many small game mechanics that are interesting and attention-grabbing, such as watering plants with blood and displaying the heartbeat of other players, said De Grandi. “We really leaned in hard on the surreal nature of Hell is Others. The juxtaposition of a crazy monster and upbeat music tends to do well with our audience. Further, the game is littered with pop-culture references, which we try to highlight in many of our videos.”
The Hell is Others TikTok page, which currently has over 1.8 million likes, has gameplay videos with as many as 3.2 million views.
According to De Grandi, TikTok was a perfect channel to showcase the game’s storytelling and the physics of gameplay.
“Unlike other, more curated campaigns and channels, TikTok is very organic,” De Grandi said. “More strongly branded content that may work on YouTube fails on TikTok. So, we really have to speak with the voice of our consumer.” The game, produced by Strelka Games and Yonder, was released by A List Games, a live-service game publisher.
James Whitemore joins me with an update on the work and results he’s been driving at NetApp since our last conversation on Episode 234. By leveraging data and training his team on how to use their diverse viewpoints in analyzing it, James is reinvigorating a 35-year-old company with a little more swagger.
In this episode, James and I discuss how the ideas outlined in our last interview on B2B marketing and sales have come to fruition and the importance of being dynamic in today’s marketing landscape.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How to be intentional with transformative marketing
Why swagger and confidence matter in decision making
The importance of having synergy with your sales and IT departments
Key Highlights
[04:30] The relationship between sales and marketing
[05:45] Update from James’ last interview with us (ep. 234)
[07:40] Changing brand perceptions
[09:10] How brand growth is tied to market growth
[11:10] The importance of knowing how to use mar-tech
[11:50] Why synergy with your IT team is critical to marketing efforts
[12:45] Measuring impact and re-educating on which metrics matter
[15:40] The work needed to measure the revenue impact
[17:20] How to parse out and use the success metrics
[19:40] Shaping investment models with data
[21:15] How to drive transformation
[24:00] The importance of marketing in D&I and vice versa
Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies but is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.
This week in social media news, we’re looking at the launch of TikTok World, Kanye West’s new social platform purchase aspirations as well as a new brand activation in Roblox from Invisalign.
Welcome To TikTok World
TikTok launched TikTok World, its global product summit, on October 13th by presenting a slew of user engagement features and ad performance monitoring tools designed to make the platform more appealing and user-friendly to brand marketers.
The Details:
TikTok announced a new performance monitoring tool called ‘Focused View’, which will charge advertisers based on user attention and engagement rates. Advertisers only pay when users interact with an ad or watch an ad for six seconds. This may help advertisers get better insights into their ad spend and craft their campaigns around unique user behaviors (like rapid swiping past ads) that can make it harder to judge true engagement. The company also added new customization capabilities to its lead generation forms, a ‘Showtimes’ ad unit for movies that allows users to see showtimes and buy tickets in-stream, and new search options its creator marketplace that may help brands find the right influencer more easily.
Why It Matters:
Boasting more than 1 billion monthly users, with an average 80 minutes per day of viewing by the average American viewer, TikTok earned more ad revenue than Twitter and Snapchat combined in 2022. But the platform has recently experienced controversy over the possible influence of its ownership by China-based ByteDance and even a high-profile misfire—such as the ultimately reversed effort to expand TikTok Shop, the company’s live e-commerce featurein July after lackluster customer engagement. Many brand marketers see an immense opportunity in TikTok, but many remain hesitant: About half of the world’s biggest brands have no TikTok presence. TikTok may hope to change that by enhancing its ad tech tools.
Kanye West Wants To Purchase Parler
After Kanye West was pilloried for recent anti-semitic comments and a denial that George Floyd was murdered and banned from Twitter and Instagram, the performer announced that he is following Elon Musk and intends on purchasing a major social media platform.
The Details:
Parler, which billed itself as a home for social conservatives, was briefly shut down by Amazon Web Services after the Jan. 6 attack on the capital for doing too little to monitor and report messages and posts promoting violence. The company, once valued at $1 billion, has struggled to regain followers after its shut down by Amazon web services.
Why It Matters:
Parler’s downloads increased ten-fold in the aftermath of January 6th before the website was shut down. Whether those users were simply joining out of curiosity or seeking like minds, a divided country appears to be developing an equally divided social media universe. The increased attention social media companies are devoting to influencers making inflammatory statements post-Jan. 6 means that more unpredictable influencers may be creating their own echo chambers in the near future.
Smart Shopping App Karma Offers Single Checkout, Multi-Brand Shopping
Smart shopping app Karma has launched a single-swipe checkout option for shoppers. Once consumers enter their payment details, they can shop at multiple stores and websites and choose their payment options, ranging from credit and debit to installment plans.
The Details:
Pay With Karma allows consumers to pay the lowest price and choose from a range of payment methods without paying separately at each store.
Why it Matters:
Simplified payment options make it easier for brands to lead consumers from engaging with deals-focused content to a purchase. This also means that price-conscious consumers will have more options to comparison shop, making the “other” motivations for conversion, like customer service and brand affinity, important components of a successful campaign.
Social Campaign Spotlight: Invisalign In Roblox’s LiveTopia
This August, Invisalign created an “interactive dentist office” in Roblox’s Livetopia.
The Details:
The campaign, created by Publicis Groupe, Starcom and IF7, makes a dentist’s office an explorable open world with examination rooms and two mini-games. The games allow users to play through the challenges of traditional braces and explore the benefits of the Invisalign product by chewing gum, eating popcorn and corn on the cob, and then joining a football game. Since its launch, 2.1 million users have interacted with the “Invisalign Confidence” experience.
Why it Matters:
Brands are becoming more creative in the way they leverage the unique features of virtual space. Instead of simply relying on banner-like branded content, the most successful campaigns are making metaverse experiences that feel native to their environment because they enhance or add features to the experience consumers want.
After surviving her battle with cancer, Brittany Driscoll puts a lot of consideration into what really matters to her. That care translates into the customer experience she is creating at Squeeze. She embraces who she is and utilizes the strengths of the team she surrounds herself with to revolutionize what it means to win customer loyalty.
In this episode, Alan and Brittany discuss how being your authentic self, investing in relationships and people, and reflecting on how customers feel after they encounter your brand leads to long-lasting success.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The importance of curating the customer experience
Tactics to Increase memberships without the hard sell
How embracing vulnerability and individualism benefits your business
Key Highlights
[04:30] Brittany’s path to entrepreneurship
[11:35] How Squeeze came to be
[17:00] The importance of starting with your goals in mind
[21:20] What to consider in scaling a business
[23:25] Membership experience sales based businesses models
[25:20] What roles does marketing play in the customer journey
[28:30] How to foster the right culture by embracing vulnerability
[33:50] How switching sports in high school prepared Brittany to be a CEO
[36:50] Brittany’s advice to her younger self
[39:00] Why you need to understand people’s personal motivations
[40:20] Thinking about what your company is doing beyond what you’re selling
[44:20] The biggest opportunity for marketers today
Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies but is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.
Rob Willey started his career working with big brands in the advertising industry and quickly understood that path was not for him. He wanted to work on the company side and build brands. So Rob went to business school and then dove into the startup world. He put in the work and made his way to the C-Suite before landing, where he is now an Operating Partner at Emil Capital and CMO for Cheribundi.
In this episode, Rob and I discuss high-growth marketing and producing content rooted in paying attention to your audience rather than simply trying to get their attention. Listen in to also learn more about the role culture plays in marketing.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Once you identify what makes your product remarkable, you’ve found the root of all your marketing initiatives
Establish who you are as an organization before bringing on another person’s influence and brand
No one wants to watch an ad; weave your brand into stories
Key Highlights
[04:43] Rob’s path to CMO
[09:30] What are tart cherries and their benefits
[21:20] Understanding your competitive differentiation
[26:01] Cheribundi’s influencer program
[29:54] Establishing your true, best self as a brand
[34:41] content over advertising
[39:04] What role culture plays in marketing
[45:33] Working at challenger brands
[47:49] The past experience that defines Rob
[49:24] Advice Rob would give his younger self
[50:54] What marketers should be learning more about
[52:19] Brands and companies to take notice of
[56:15] The biggest opportunity or threat for marketers today
Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.
