Is everyone ok? Sesame Street’s very own Elmo reached out to check in on us, and got a mixed response to say the least. That’s what you get for asking at the end of the longest month ever.
Scroll down to read more about the real Super Bowl struggle, Vision Pro sightings, and the cow milk comeback.
Stats to power your week
🎙️ Universal Music Group, the biggest music company in the world, has pulled its library from TikTok, citing low payouts and the threat of AI-generated songs, among other factors. For Gen Z, this is like switching off radio altogether, with more young people discovering the latest tunes on TikTok than the airwaves. GWI Zeitgeist
🎾 Even as consumers weigh up the cost of streaming services, Amazon continues to make ground with European sports fans, with a 21% increase in the number tuning into Prime Video since 2021. And with Champions League coverage coming to the UK this year, it’s no surprise to see a similar increase in the number planning to sign up. GWI Sports
đź‘ź From ultra runners to investment bankers, Americans have been lacing up their new Hokas. Ownership of the brand has increased 117% since 2020, with particularly impressive growth among baby boomers (+244%) and women (+214%). GWI USA
🌬️ You may start to see less colorful plastic littering the streets of the UK, as the Government makes its first moves to ban disposable vapes. The biggest users are – perhaps predictably – young men interested in gaming and technology. But the data shows some surprises too; you’re more likely to find a construction worker enjoying a Lost Mary or an ElfBar than someone in any other line of work. GWI Core Plus
🤖 With the Super Bowl just around the corner, we’re already getting a taste of what to expect from the much-anticipated ad breaks. Whether it's the Beckhams recreating their 2023 meme, or the cast of Suits reuniting, 41% of viewers enjoy watching Super Bowl ads more than the actual game. GWI Zeitgeist
What’s on our radar
Now that the Vision Pro is officially out (and already hitting 6 digit sales figures), we’re seeing the first signs of how they’ll be used in the wild, from riding the subway, eating dinner, or driving your Cybertruck on autopilot (please don’t do that last one, it’s not big or clever). They’re polarizing, but the normalization of wearing Airpods in public should teach us how sentiments can shift over time.
As TikTok continues to level up live shopping, they’re investing in studio setups to help influencers showcase and sell products, as well as testing a new feature that makes all videos on the app shoppable.
Despite hailing from different ends of the gaming spectrum, both Death Stranding and Among Us are in line for film and TV adaptations.
OpenAI has broadened the scope of AI chatbots even further by enabling users to invoke custom GPTs within any conversation, with Hugging Face unveiling something similar. Meanwhile, Alibaba’s updated large language model is challenging OpenAI and Google in some significant metrics.
If New York baristas are any judge, then dairy milk might be on the verge of a comeback – perhaps that’s why actress Drea Valls’ skit of a jealous cow’s milk has taken off (though in the interests of impartiality, we should say Oatly has exercised its right to reply).
Following a successful late-stage trial, we may see a new non-opioid painkiller hit the market this year. While not necessarily the answer for every type of pain, anything that offers an alternative to opioids has got to be good.
One of the more under-the-radar trends in our research has been the growth of energy drinks and other functional beverages. And with Rockstar unveiling a new “Focus” line, the category may grow even further.
Chart of the week
The battle for eyeballs in news has been a tug-of-war between TV and social media for some time. But while much of the focus has been on social channels ahead of November’s US election, no-one should ignore TV's undoubted reach.
In fact, national or local broadcasters are still the go-to source of information for every generation except Gen Z. That’s also the case beyond news, with Americans more likely to find out about new brands and products through TV ads than through search engines, ads on websites, or ads on social media. Although paradoxically, as we described in our recent Connecting the Dots report, fewer and fewer people trust the news they’re receiving.
Local lowdown
The Indian mother paradox
India has been part of our GWI Core survey since we launched it way back in 2009. And over the last decade and a half, it’s been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
But something slightly strange is going on. As the Indian economy has grown, increasing numbers of women have dropped out of the workforce to become stay-at-home parents. In 2009, just 3% of Indian women were full-time parents; in 2023, it’s 17%.
It’s a conundrum that leaves economists scratching their heads. Proposed reasons include a lack of appropriate jobs, the influence of social norms, or that they just don’t need to work. Whatever the reason, it stands out against the expectation of more female participation in growing economies, not less.
All of which shows that while different countries might appear to be on similar trajectories, the specifics of demography and culture can vary massively. And having the latest consumer insights at your fingertips is essential to understand this sort of fine-grained local difference.
