Call it the Greggs test: you know a food trend has momentum when it hits the menu of the high street bakery chain. So it was with the vegan sausage roll in 2019, so it shall be with the iced matcha addition of 2026?
Scroll down to read about kombucha, the Arctic Circle, and the golden ratio of gift-giving.
Stats to power your week
🤱Influencers have now been around so long that they’re starting families, and pivoting to more parent-and-family content. We’re accordingly seeing growth in relevant audiences for following them, with the share of full-time parents who follow influencers almost doubling since 2020. GWI Core (UK)
⚽What does sports sponsorship actually achieve? It can accomplish a number of goals, but the main benefit consumers talk about is thinking about a brand more positively, which 3 in 10 do. More sales are a bonus, but for the average sports fan, image transfer is likely to be the main KPI. GWI Sports
🐻❄️Norway is in the spotlight for topping the Winter Olympics table, but it’s also home to a curious football insight: it’s the only country the UEFA Europa and Conference League combined are watched by more people than the Champions League. But given the way Bodø/Glimt are humbling some European giants in their Arctic Circle fortress, this might change in the future. GWI Core
🕵️Since the UK government introduced online age verification laws last year, the impact has been surprisingly muted in our research. But that may be changing, with a 23% year-on-year increase in concern about how the government tracks online behavior. GWI Core
Meet the audience: kombucha drinkers
Without GWI data
With GWI data
To get a measure of how kombucha is seen in popular culture, just look at the episode of “Portlandia” where an ant exterminator uses a kombucha blend to encourage them to a new home. You get the gist: alternative, hipsterish, hippie-types.
But allow an AI image generator to ferment a little bit longer with some GWI insights, and you’ll see a more rounded picture. These are alternative types, for sure, overlapping with yoga, meditation and tai chi. But they’re more corporate - being active on LinkedIn - and ad-receptive than you might think.
You might think they’re obsessed with buying organic produce at the local farmer’s market, but they’re more than happy to shop at mainstream retailers, and more likely to buy alcohol than their puritanical stereotype might have you believe.
Chart of the week
We’re now ramping up into a busy season of holidays, with international Mother’s Day and St Patrick’s Day coming up, and then both Eid and Easter in quick succession. Given the next month might be punishing on the old gifting budget, we wanted to see just what holidays and festivals had the highest rates of gift giving in the first place.
It’s no surprise to see Eid and Christmas at the top of the list, but it’s striking that so many holidays approach the same gift-giving ratio - regardless of cultural background, the instinct to exchange presents is strong.
