And just like that, summer’s over. Will this mean the reign of iced matcha is over, making way for the tried and true pumpkin-spiced latte? Or is something completely different on the horizon this autumn?
Scroll down to read about TikTok voice notes, ad representation, and whether the Metaverse is in crisis.
Stats to power your week
🐵 Gorillaz foray into Fortnite is the most recent in a long line of in-game tie ins for movies, brands, and artists. Gamers keep coming back for more: the number buying these kinds of in-game items has increased 26% since last year. GWI Gaming
🃏Sports collectables are on the rise, as the number of sports fans who purchased sports trading cards (e.g. Topps, Panini) has increased 15% year-on-year. GWI Sports
🗣️ TikTok has added voice note functionality to user DMs, as demand for this functionality is growing. Over on Instagram, the number of users who send voice messages has increased 10% over the last 2 years. GWI Core
🥽 Those who say they aren’t aware of the Metaverse has increased 24% year-on-year, but the number playing Roblox has increased 15% over the same period. Is the Metaverse in crisis, or was it already here? GWI Gaming
🎧 Spotify is adding direct messaging functionality to its platform - good news for the 45% of its users who listen to music to share with friends and family. Users of the platform are 14% more likely than the average consumer to listen to music for this reason. GWI Core
🥵 We crunched the numbers on fans of the trendiest sports and zeroed in on their quirks - here’s one. Ironically, the film franchise hot yoga enthusiasts stand out most for liking is… Frozen, and their most distinctive holiday pick is winter sports. We imagine they’d be the first in line for “snowga”. GWI Zeitgeist
What’s on our radar
A study has found that entry level work employment has fallen significantly in fields most exposed to generative AI. Mark Cuban believes that a lack of understanding of the technology presents an opportunity for young workers, while some are expected to take up trades instead. There are, of course, stumbling blocks. Taco Bell has recently been forced to rethink AI-powered drive-throughs.
Brands and artists are trying to integrate AI into their marketing material. Those with eagle eyes have noticed AI crowd members in Will Smith’s tour video, and AI imagery in a new J Crew campaign.
Luxury Canadian retailer SSENSE has filed for bankruptcy, citing tariff concerns.
As controversies on the amount of water being used for datacentres and AI reign on, Japan has just launched Asia’s first osmotic power plant, running on nothing but water. In Finland, the world’s largest sand battery just went live, with the aim of making the country’s grid more energy efficient.
Chart of the week
A lot has been made of “Make America Healthy Again”, US health secretary RFK Jr’s initiative to make American food cleaner by eliminating unnatural and harmful ingredients. But what does “healthy” mean to Americans?
Americans are generally aligned with RFK, with a lack of artificial colours/ingredients coming out on top with what they consider to be healthy, compared to the rest of the world. Last week, we mentioned that Mars-Wrigley removing artificial colors is a generally well-supported policy. But it’s not like just washing the color off of Skittles will immediately make them good for you.
At the start of the year, Steak ‘n’ Shake announced it was committing to eliminating seed oils as part of a movement which is seeing the market for beef tallow grow. Americans are 15% more likely than the rest of the world to say that seed oils are a concern for them. But as much as tallow is arguably tastier than a neutral vegetable oil, fat is fat, and low fat ingredients are far less of a concern for Americans compared to the rest of the world. If many operate under the assumption that a McDonald’s cooked in “healthy” fat is good for you, will anything really change?
🔥 Hot take
Punchy perspectives, with data that nudges the narrative
“Some ethnic minorities feel more represented in advertising than others”
Headlines about missteps make it easy to assume that ethnic minorities are largely overlooked by the ad industry. In reality, Black consumers are concentrated in cities, where most of the sector’s workforce is based. In fact, marketers are 28% more likely to be African American than the wider US population. The result? African Americans are 26% more likely to feel represented in ads.
To be clear: there are still instances where representation of the Black community has a long way to go - with sunscreen launches drawing attention to this time and time again. It’s even been argued that their overrepresentation in alcohol and fast food ads is an issue in itself.
But while there’s been a lot of discourse around representation of Black audiences in recent years, relatively little attention has been paid to ethnic groups like East Asian Americans - even though our data indicates that current campaigns aren’t hitting the mark.
