15 February 2023

Hi folks,

If you’re reading this you’ve survived Valentine’s Day, and if you’re in Kansas City, you’ve just about recovered from your hangover (we hope).  

Read on for more about work-life balance, talking virtual dogs, and the 1990s.

Stats to power your week

😓 Please read this stat during working hours only. Work-life balance is the holy grail for many workers, and for good reason too. 21% of office workers work past their normal working hours daily, and 48% admit to checking emails/messages outside of work hours every day. (GWI Zeitgeist)

📲 Some trends are staring right back at you. Mobile phone usage in America has increased year-on-year, with consumers now averaging 3 hours and 23 minutes a day on their phone. Daily usage of mobile payment services like Venmo is also up 16% over the past year. If you liked this stat, be sure to Venmo, CashApp, or Zelle us. (GWI USA)

🏥 Doctor Google is in session. Taken as a collective, non-medical websites (including social media, search engines, and retail sites) have now overtaken medical professionals as the #1 way consumers find new medical treatments in the US. Even with doctor’s offices and telehealth back in full swing, Americans are looking for the cheapest and most convenient options. (GWI USA)

📺 With the success of "The Last of Us", we might see more streaming services try their hand at the joystick-to-screen adaption. If they want to properly cash in with gamers’ sense of nostalgia, they should aim for the 1990s – the decade gamers are most likely to yearn for. (GWI Zeitgeist)

🤖 While we put together some more research on ChatGPT, we’ve been digging through our archives to find anything that helps us get a handle on the brave new AI-driven world we’re heading into. In a December 2018 survey we found 21% of UK/US consumers were concerned about AI as a technology, and 30% were excited but also concerned. Even long before ChatGPT, consumers were much more ambivalent about AI than other technologies. (GWI Custom)

What’s on our radar

How do you ride the Super Bowl wave without spending millions on a TV slot? If you’re Blockbuster, clever use of social media and…VHS.

Some of our other fave activations from the Super Bowl: Cardi B and Offset announced a McDonald's couples meal, Rihanna plugged Fenty Beauty (and announced her pregnancy) in a soon-to-be iconic performance, and Bradley Cooper teamed up with his mom for a T-Mobile ad.   

American budget airline Frontier announced an All-You-Can-Fly pass for the summer or full year. Do check the long list of caveats, however.  

On the subject of eccentric travel, Carnival announced a 31-day, 3-continent voyage. Pack your swim trunks and motion sickness meds. 

New York Fashion Week officially ends today, which begs an essential question: are bedazzled jeans back? 

The VALORANT Challengers League is cleaning up in Japan, racking up 5.5 million viewing hours so far, a vast difference from the 1.08 million views in the North American league. 

Apple has expanded testing of its Buy Now, Pay Later service to retail staff, an indication that it should be available to the public soon. 

Pets in the metaverse can now talk, thanks to AI technology. That reminds me to check in on my Nintendogs.

Botox, hair transplants, Korean skincare, meet nutricosmetics. Taking pills to boost hair, nail, and skin health is a booming business. 

Does a brush with death give you a spring in your step? The horror/morbidity genre (podcasts included) is becoming a coping mechanism for many. 

Major League Baseball is about to start up in the States, and it’s now become the 4th major US league to introduce shirt sponsorships. The 162-game season makes it lucrative for ad exposure - could ad logos enter the NFL soon?

Quoth the app: Quora has released a new AI-driven chatbot, Poe. Meanwhile, the striking stage artwork at the Grammys was AI-generated.

"The Last of Us" has been renewed for a second season, marking a success for the video game-to-screen adaptation. Another game acclaimed for its story, Red Dead Redemption 2, is already getting the fan treatment on YouTube.

Chart of the week

Did AI get popular because of ChatGPT? Or did ChatGPT take off because AI became popular? You don’t hear people talk about the second theory as much, but during the pandemic years we’ve seen Americans’ interest in tech topics grow steadily, having spent so much time with it under lockdown. The role of timing in the explosion of AI chatbots can’t be overlooked.

Get more from GWI

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