channel feature roundup: Twitter
Elon Musk continues his pursuit of Twitter, leading to ongoing questions about what this means for free speech on the platform.
the home trend update no. 03
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke
Welcome, Spring: a time of awakening and growth. As the season shifts, we witness
firsthand the transformative beauty that can come from change.
In this 3rd edition of The Home Trend Update, we’re inspired by the constant that is change and the ever-growing (and imperative) mindfulness of both brands and consumers toward sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Elon Musk continues his pursuit of Twitter, leading to ongoing questions about what this means for free speech on the platform.
A recent Nielsen report confirms the importance of sustainability as a major purchase driver and core value for many consumers.
As pandemic shifts to endemic, brands will need to respond to new expectations regarding sustainability.
What’s old is new again, and RH is picking up the tune with plans to introduce a curated collection of antiques and artifacts.
Brands utilizing waste and recycled materials create an unexpected palette that challenges the idea of “green.”
A Pinterest ad comparison test solidifies the unique merits for both video and static pins, and proves the need for a mix of formats.
Choose your video strategy based on the audience you are trying to reach and the way that the user interacts with the channel.
Gen Z shoppers have a new checklist that determines who they buy from, reinforcing that clear brand values have never been so important.
How can we make branding more measurable? How can we develop a measurable process to identify what consumers think about brands? Meet the Brand Affinity Index.
Twitter Board Edits Musk Takeover
There’s no secret that one of the richest men alive is both a successful entrepreneur and an internet troll. Love him or hate him, Elon Musk is trying to stir things up by acquiring Twitter, but it appears both the board and the SEC might not align.
The interesting part of this conversation is around free speech. And although there is no factual evidence that Twitter is censoring any particular political group, or failing to adhere to its own terms of service, or even required to be governed by the First Amendment (Twitter is not a government entity and thus not subject to the same laws as public institutions), this conversation will continue to fuel the feed in the coming days.
For brands? This is a push marketing and community management channel that has a lot of toxic baggage associated with it. What does the future hold, now that Musk is at the steering wheel? Self-driving, solar-powered tweets? We’ll wait and see
Sustainability: Major Purchase Driver and Core Value for Many Consumers
A recent study by NielsenIQ confirms the importance of sustainable business (as a value and purchase driver) with over 64% of consumers willing to pay more for products that support communities and vulnerable groups.
Furthermore, 72% of surveyed respondents around the world say they would be willing to pay a premium for products that claim to be sustainable—whereas 52% would be willing to pay a little bit more, and 20% of global consumers would be willing to pay a lot more for
sustainable products.
Sources: NielsenIQ research report
Post-Pandemic Consumer Shifts and Behavior: Sustainable Practices
What can consumers expect and what do they demand from brands and businesses post-pandemic when it comes to sustainable products and business practices? Here are four steps that brands can take to respond to this shift in consumer mindset and behavior.
1. Recognize eco-anxiety
2. Increase education
3. Facilitate mass systems change
4. Illustrate how affordable sustainable living can be
Source: WGSN
What’s Old Is New Again for RH
Between ongoing supply chain struggles (supply) and the rising popularity of secondhand and resale pieces (meet demand), national retailers have ramped up their own vintage and one-of-a-kind offerings.
Joining brands like Ralph Lauren and CB2, RH recently announced their latest expansion program, “RH Antiques & Artifacts,” in direct competition to antique e-commerce marketplace 1stDibs. RH CEO Gary Friedman expressed how their offerings will differ from other online vintage treasure hunts, “like finding a needle in a haystack … you won’t have to dig through the haystack to find the needle.”
The Colors of Sustainability
If sustainability had a color palette, would it be green? A (blessedly) ever-increasing number of innovative brands harness ocean plastics and raw waste materials, and the
colorful resulting palettes are anything but expected.
Imperfect and unplanned, the colors of sustainability are dictated by the waste that is given new life. Plastic bags live on as vibrant portable speakers, rug industry scraps assemble into a confetti-like showstopper, plastic toys come full circle as a vivid chair for children. With the global eco-friendly furniture market projected to reach $50.1 billion by 2027, designers and brands should embrace these serendipitous
palettes for seasons to come.
Sources: Arch Digest, Research & Markets
A comparison test sought to determine the best ad format to use on Pinterest: video or static image ads.
The campaign tests were set up identically using the same budget, geographic delivery areas, audience targeting, 30-day duration, and content messaging. The only variable was the delivery format, with the goal of comparing the number of conversions driven
by each ad type to a trial sign-up form.
Takeaway: Video ads are great for awareness and brand expression, but static ads can give more clarity and context. We recommend always testing at least three different formats in your placement strategy.
Sources: Creatopy
Gen Z & Values
Consumers are becoming much less brand loyal, as they’re more likely to be swayed if a company can meet the values system and price point they’re after.
Guided by a combination of price, quality, and what an item stands for, Gen Z shoppers
have a new checklist that determines who they buy from. How is your brand expressing values to this emerging power consumer? Transparency and authenticity, or being “raw and real,” is how you craft brand expression that resonates.
Source: WGSN
How can we make branding more measurable?
How can we use a qualifiable and quantifiable process to identify what consumers think about brands?
In the current consumer landscape of decreasing brand loyalty, we wanted to create a lasting process and program to help brands understand, through research and data, what consumers actually think about their brands, through the lens of:
customer service, brand trust, brand esteem, perceived quality, perceived value, net promoter score, values-driven brand expression, brand equity, and brand loyalty.
Never before have all these different brand facets been integrated into one program … until now. We’ve codified a flexible process that allows brands to identify how real-time
consumers perceive their brands.
And we’re just getting started. In the coming weeks we will begin to roll out some of our findings and rankings in the inaugural Brand Affinity Index (BAI).
Source: BMDG
The answers to these questions are what separate brands that merely sell products from the brands that create lasting emotional connections with their audiences.
This is the difference between Apple and Sony. Between Starbucks and Folgers. Between brand relevance and commoditization.
Welcome to 2023, and our first edition of The Home Trend Update. Our team is always on the lookout for new developments across different audience segments, and we distill those trends into actionable insights that our client partners can utilize.
The metaverse is here and we’re spotlighting a few of the brands, trends, and tools that are already dancing the increasingly fine line between our digital and physical realities.
In the 3rd edition of The Home Trend Update, we’re inspired by the constant that is change and the ever-growing (and imperative) mindfulness of both brands and consumers toward sustainability and environmental stewardship.
social media trends: Video
What does your video strategy look like?
We’ve said it before. In fact, we’ve ALL said it for years. With gumption and vigor. And we continue to say it: “We need more branded video content.”
And one of the things we marketers have to be more adept at is understanding when to incorporate a lo-fi and hi-fi video strategy. The success of YouTube allowed consumers to be re-trained for lower-production video consumption, and slowly the main attribute of video went from hi-fi, or high production value, to accessibility.
Consumers want video and they want it to be authentic, engaging, unstaged, and they want it now: lo-fi. But, for brands, we also know the importance of hi-fi, branded, aspirational storytelling.
Our suggestion? Choose your path based on the audience you are trying
to reach and the channel function.
Sources: eMarketer