LOLA RED News + Digital Trends 20 VOL. 14 PRESENTED WEEK OF JUNE 29, 2020 CHART OF THE WEEK Americans Are Ready for the New Reality of Retail According to shipping insights from Shopkick, most consumers (63%), have made a majority of their purchases in-store over the last month as physical stores reopen across the states. 48% say that they are NEWS + shopping online more frequently than they were a DIGITAL month prior. Of those shopping online more frequently, 78% will continue to do so in the future. TRENDS 70% of consumers live In areas where non-essential retailers have opened. Of that percentage, 57% do not feel the need to visit and over 30% are concerned other shoppers will not take safety precautions (wearing a mask, socially distancing themselves, etc.) In brief, Americans are eager to return to in-store shopping this summer; retailers and businesses need to be aware of customers’ heightened expectations of the in-store experience and safety measures if they hope to keep running amid the pandemic. Source | Shopkick 2 Proctor + Gamble honored Pride Month by releasing “The Pause.” “The film is meant to encourage the broader community to notice, reflect NEWS + and realize how their reaction DIGITAL and acceptance can make a TRENDS difference in many lives.” The video finishes with the hashtag #LeadWithLove and the message: "When love surrounds, there is no pause." Source VIDEO OF THE WEEK 3 PERSONAL WELL-BEING With the uncertain times, consumers are spending their energy researching how to improve their mental well-being. From Google: “This trend of virtual vulnerability could impact how consumers connect online moving forward.” HOME HABITS THAT ARE HERE TO STAY NEWS + Searches that have seen a surge include: DIGITAL ● Backyard ideas: Up 200% TRENDS ● Vegetables to grow: Up 200% ● What to watch: Up 1,000% LAUGHTER AS A COPING MECHANISM Consumers are looking to stay positive with humorous content GOOGLE UNVEILS during heavy news cycles. Google noted they have continued to see a surge in “ consumers searching for jokes, sharing GIFs, and watching comedic content.” Read the full interactive report HERE. CONSUMER TRENDS LATEST 4 On Monday, The New York Times announced its intent to end its partnership with Apple News. The Times is one of the first publishers to officially pull out of Apple’s news product. The Times has made growing its subscriber base a key business goal. In Q1, NYT saw 587,000 new digital subscribers, primarily due to content involving the pandemic. Overall, the publisher has 6 million subscribers (print + digital) and is targeting to have 10 million subscribers by 2025. In comparison, Apple News has also surged during the pandemic. Monthly active users have grown 25% to 125 million since the beginning of the year. NEWS + DIGITAL In a memo to employees, Meredith Kopit Levien, chief operating TRENDS officer at the Times, said the company wants “a direct path for sending those readers back into our environments, where we control the presentation of our report, the relationships with our readers, and the nature of our business rules.” CUT TIES Why should we care? The official pull comes as news publishers are increasingly at odds with tech giants like Apple that seek to profit off their content. Expect other publications to quickly follow suit out of their own self-preservation as the media industry continues to have a digital transformation. NYT + APPLE NEWS 5 Have you heard of Parler? As major social networks take a stance, Parler’s numbers surge On Monday, Reddit banned the subreddit r/The_Donald, saying the forum had repeatedly violated its terms of service by promoting hate speech and allowing targeted harassment. The move left the 800,000 subreddit members with nowhere to congregate. Reddit CEO noted the removal of the community was part of a larger purge of over 2,000 communities of various persuasions, most of them inactive. In addition to Reddit, other companies have made public declarations against Hate Speech. ● Facebook in a major turnaround, announced it would add guidelines to label hate NEWS + speech ● Twitch banned Trump’s channel yesterday for violating its rules against hate speech. DIGITAL ● YouTube also made major moves last week, banning six channels including those TRENDS belonging to two white supremacists for violating its policies Why should we care? As supporters of the President look for a new platform to congregate, the free-speech social network, Parler, has seen its user base increase 50% in the past week to over 1.5 million users. We’re a community town square, an open town square, with no censorship,” said Parler’s CEO + Founder John Matze. “If you can say it on the street of New York, you can say it on Parler.” However, Matze doesn’t want the Parler to be just a spot for the conservative base. Interestingly, Matze noted he doesn’t align with either political party and he wants to see more healthy conversation. He’s so intent on having an equal balance that he’s offering a $20,000 “progressive bounty” for an openly liberal thought leader with 50,000 followers on Twitter or Facebook to start a Parler account. So far, no one has publicly taken him up on his offer. 6 Source // CNBC DIVERSITY In Influencer Marketing Visual storytelling platform, NYC x Clothes recently published an open letter to brands from Black Creators. The article shares what the Black creator community would like brands to know before rushing off to send them their next influencer marketing pitch, product package or partnership offer. The letter discusses the BIPOC community’s thoughts on brands adding more color to their social feeds, admitting to their historical wrongs and most importantly - breaks down what they need from companies next. NEWS + DIGITAL Promote Authentic Allyship: Make an effort to include Black Creators beyond when it is convenient. Having BIPOC perspectives is imperative and TRENDS should be involved in all campaigns and initiatives. Show a long-term commitment to the change: Perform an audit of the past and present creators you are working with to get an actual assessment of the diversity of your partners. Set mindful goals for inclusion across all campaigns and hold your brand accountable to meeting them. Be Transparent: When reaching out to the Black creator community moving forward, acknowledge the previous oversight and share next steps for what your brand is doing to encourage systemic change moving forward. Source | NYCXCLOTHES.COM 7 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: SOCIAL LinkedIn is Trending Facebook Continues to Lure TikTok: Don’t make ads. Upwards In Creators Make a new trend. Content creation on the social platform Facebook announced that it will now In a move celebrated by all digital is up 60% year-over-year. allow more creators to sign up for its marketing professionals, TikTok finally Unsurprisingly, the topic of remote monetization tools - including its Fan launched its TikTok for Business working is seeing the greatest surge in Subscriptions and live-stream 'Stars' Platform Hub. More here. NEWS + content creation. More here. payment options. More here. DIGITAL TRENDS 8 MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Ashley Carman, The Verge This week we’re looking at Ashley Carman, senior reporter at The Verge. A true gadget guru + lover of all things tech, see her stories here (and she’s always on social - peep her Twitter and Instagram). Some of her recent work: ● The hosts of The Nod want Spotify to hand over their podcast NEWS + ● Lululemon is buying exercise hardware startup Mirror for half a billion DIGITAL TRENDS COLUMN SPOTLIGHT: The Coronavirus Update by Wired Not new by any means - but our go-to resource for all things COVID-19 since this pandemic began. Sign up for the newsletter here to stay safe, stay smart and get the latest news, advice, and context on the virus from the WIRED Science team - who compiles the best of the best from around the web. This week’s topics included fake mask exemptions cards that have been circulating, the worldwide death toll THIS WEEK IN MEDIA passing 500,000, and Singapore contact-tracing device for seniors. 9 EVOLVING PR INTERNALLY During these times of uncertainty, flexibility and innovation are crucial for communicators, which has also given PR pros more say at the decision-making table. As a result of COVID-19’s impact on business, PR pros are and should be working more closely than ever with CEOs, senior leaders and other internal departments to align better on internal and external messaging. Ragan Communications surveyed 315 PR professionals to weigh in on the question: To what degree will the PR profession be permanently changed by the events of this spring? Of the 12 themes listed, here were some of our top NEWS + takeaways on how PR is evolving within organizations.. DIGITAL CEO collaboration, a crucial asset in troubled times, is the biggest change: At TRENDS least half of respondents say they are collaborating more with the C-suite. PR pros network for their clients and organizations, but during the current crisis, working with leadership is on the rise, and it will continue to do so in preparation for future crises or announcements.. PR pros should get cozy with their internal comms, marketing and HR colleagues: 60% of PR pros are working more with marketing and advertising teams as well as other internal departments, including donor relations for nonprofits and digital and IT departments. 38% of pros surveyed work more closely with HR. PR’s value has never been more important for the organization: As a result of the pandemic, respondents (77%) say they see increased value for the PR role. Source | Ragan Communications 10 CNN Business: Facebook boycott: View the list of companies pulling ads Allen Kim and Brian Fung report: We’re continuing to follow the #StopHateforProfit campaign (penned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the NAACP) we brought up last week - and in this living piece, a growing list of companies say they'll join an advertiser boycott on Facebook in protest of what they say are the site's failures to stop the spread of hate.