LOLA RED News + Digital Trends 20 VOL. 21 PRESENTED WEEK OF AUGUST 24, 2020 CHART OF THE WEEK 2020 Holiday Insights In partnership with YouGov, Facebook IQ unveiled their 2020 online ‘Holiday Facebook Package’ packed with insights, solutions + inspo within 31 different markets. Top Takeaways: NEWS + DIGITAL ● An average of 74% of people surveyed globally want to see brand activity on Facebook and TRENDS Instagram during holiday season or shopping season. ● 47% of internet users worldwide say they’ve switched to a different product or service because a company violated their personal values. ● 70% of people want to continue to hear from brands and companies on what they have to offer and what they stand for. View the marketing guide HERE. Source | Facebook Business 2 Ann Handley Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs NEWS + DIGITAL TRENDS “Even when you are marketing to your entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time.” QUOTE OF THE WEEK 3 CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK Olay extends it’s STEM-focused mission In a new campaign launched on Wednesday, Olay introduced an initiative to advance its mission to introduce more women to the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The new creative that debuted on Women's Equality Day features four real NEWS + women who work in STEM fields, each delivering a message coded within scientific formulas or computer programming languages. DIGITAL TRENDS Olay also announced three initiatives for 2030 centered around achieving gender equality in STEM education, aiming to double the number of women working in the industry and triple the number of multicultural women in the industry to improve diversity and inclusion. The campaign theme, #FaceTheSTEMGap, extends that messaging around women in science introduced by Olay during the Super Bowl. By pledging a financial commitment to help make a change in a typically male-dominated industry, the beauty brand is taking steps that align with its brand mission to promote female empowerment through creative messaging. 4 Source // MARKETING DIVE Pinterest: Travel is Slowing Emerging In somewhat positive news on the travel front, Pinterest announced this week that more than 850,000 travelers passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on August 16—nearly 10x more than in early April when shelter-in-place mandates began. While it still is just one-third of the volume compared to this time last year, it’s still positive to see signs of a slow recovery. Some of the top search trends that Pinterest has seen include: ● “lake weekend” up 41% ● “national parks” up 60% NEWS + ● “RV camping tips” up 1,257% ● “airplane essentials” up 173% DIGITAL TRENDS Some of the top brand wins Pinterest featured include: ● When Disney was forced to close down its theme parks due to the pandemic, Disney brought magic into people’s homes by sharing recipes Pinners could make at home, as well as rides that Pinners could take in a virtual way ● Mindful that people need to ease back into travel, Hilton featured inspirational travel ideas closer to home including Staycations, Getaways, and day trips. ● In our favorite brand win, Southwest recognized that searches for “national parks” were up by 60%, so they built customized creative to help travelers visualize their trips. They included a Pinterest trend badge on their Pin series, CONSUMER TREND: lending further credibility to the moment as it was unfolding. 5 IS TICKING UPWARDS TRAVEL Source // Pinterest THE TIKTOK BATTLE MARCHES ON So, what’s the latest drama? After joining from Disney less than 3 months ago, TikTok CEO, Kevin Mayer, has resigned amid ongoing disputes with the Trump administration and sale talks. “In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” Mayer said in his letter. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.” How is TikTok challenging President Trump? Earlier this week, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for banning transactions with ByteDance. “The [Trump] administration ignored our extensive efforts to address its concerns, which we conducted fully and in good NEWS + faith,” TikTok wrote in a press release. “We do not take suing the government lightly, however we feel we have no DIGITAL choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees.” TRENDS Who is going to save our beloved TikTok? After some messy talks with Microsoft, Oracle has emerged as the leader of the pack to acquire TikTok in a reported $20 billion deal. In a matter of surprising convenience, Oracle co founder, Larry Ellison, is also an active Trump supporter who hosted a fundraiser for the President at his home earlier this year. To add more complication, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, may also invest in the platform in a smaller capacity. Now, just announced today, Walmart has thrown their hat in the ring, confirming to Adweek that it is partnering with Microsoft on the company’s bid to acquire TikTok. What now? Don’t jump ship just yet. As the weeks progress, more and more companies are coming out of the woodworks to show interest in potentially acquiring TikTok. So at Lola Red we’re remaining positive that our favorite video app will be saved Additionally, growth on TikTok isn’t showing any signs of stopping. Though it might seem like everyone has TikTok at this point, the app added nearly 10M active users between June and August, a sign that the platform still has significant room for growth. TikTok now boasts over 100M U.S. users, with over 50M being daily active users, and the app’s official 6 user numbers are an easy reminder that people are hungry for short-form video content. No matter which platform takes over in the near future, it’s time to focus your marketing strategy on video -- no matter the social channel. INFLUENCER MARKETING SEES A SURGE According to Shareablee, influencer marketing was up 21% in July compared to March across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Even better? The recent surge of branded influencer content has been well received by audiences, too. Engagement with branded influencer NEWS + posts more than doubled to 57.2 million total actions in July compared with March, rising five times faster than the posts themselves. That may DIGITAL either signal that increased social-media usage is driving increased TRENDS engagement, or that people are just bored, says Shareablee CEO Tania Yuki. The rise in sponsored influencer posts comes even as overall influencer posts declined 12% from March to July, when brands slashed marketing budgets amidst the pandemic. As large scale production shoots are on pause amongst COVID-19, brands continue to turn to influencers to help create fresh content for marketing purposes. A continuing emerging trend, brands are focusing more on the quality of audiences and the work influencers create rather than audience size, given the growing importance of their role as, the new buzz word, creators. 7 Source // Ad Age WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW: SOCIAL Instagram rolls out ‘Suggested Google launches career certificates Facebook app welcomes NEW Posts’ to the main feed for high-demand fields ‘Facebook Shop’ for businesses + IG intros checkout feature You can now see suggested posts from similar Google is launching a NEW degree-equivalent Facebook continues building on its shopping accounts you follow once you’ve completed certification program that offers a way for people experience for businesses and Insta expands scrolling through your main feed. to fast-track their career in the digital field (e.g., UX its LIVE shopping features. Read more here. Designer, Project Manager, etc.) More here. More here. NEWS + DIGITAL TRENDS 8 MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Rebecca Jennings, Vox Rebecca covers internet culture over at The Goods by Vox. Previously she was a video producer and host at Racked, and before that she covered fashion, New York City retail, and local goings-on at Brooklyn Magazine, The L Magazine, and Time Out New York. Follow along with her hilarious Twitter escapades (@rebexxxxa) and read some of her recent stories here: ● Pumpkin spice lattes — and the backlash, and the backlash to the backlash — explained NEWS + ● This week in TikTok: Why does Instagram DIGITAL Reels suck so bad? ● Bike shorts are the official uniform of TRENDS pandemic summer PUB SPOTLIGHT: Heavy Table Heavy Table, the popular Twin Cities dining- and cooking-focused website, returns! The website, founded by James Norton (formerly of The Growler) is coming out of a hiatus with a subscription-driven format. Twice a week, the website will offer new content that’s available THIS WEEK IN MEDIA to all; no paywall. And once a week, Norton will release one of two newsletters — the Tap, and the Churn, sharing an every-other-Friday schedule — to a $5 per month subscriber base (per newsletter). See the Star 9 Tribune feature on the website’s return here. TRENDS TO INVEST IN BEYOND THE PANDEMIC April White over at PR News put together an excellent resource on alternative PR trends that are worth investing in both now and beyond the pandemic. Amidst coronavirus, social awakening and journalist furloughs and layoffs, here are three developments you may want to consider: 1. Get Ready to Handle an Increasing Number of Bylined Article Requests NEWS + ○ With the growth of layoffs, furloughs and closures in journalism, requests for bylined articles and Q&As from a number of media DIGITAL outlets are increasing in response to PR pitches.