<p>
  2021 was supposed to be a fresh start coming off the heels of COVID-shutdowns,
  yet the end of the year was just as confusing and scary as the one prior. New
  variants forced event closures and mask-mandates were brought back in many
  cities. Companies like Google and Uber pushed back return-to-office dates, and
  nearly
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/12/08/omicrons-muted-effect-on-comfort-levels/?utm_source=OBI&utm_medium=email_cta&utm_campaign=our_best_intel&mkt_tok=ODUwLVRBQS01MTEAAAGBRY20PGh-Ud2M6MjiTfKJSV3aqAXQ3C-4mR1iM3PdflVQDX8Mt-FSy9sdHH7X8abY7XKtcbPUJYzZKZJLIPb68ubj8N_cIAEy8JijAVeX7wI"
    >70% of Americans</a
  >
  planned on having scaled back, immediate-family-only holiday celebrations.
</p>
<p>
  Collective mental health continued to decline – depression rates in 2021 were
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.futurity.org/covid-19-depression-rates-2640962/"
    >up 5%</a
  >
  from 2020, impacting 32.8% of Americans and “how to maintain mental health”
  was
  <a target="_blank" href="https://about.google/stories/year-in-search/"
    >searched more</a
  >
  in 2021 than ever before.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Brand voice is lagging.
</h2>
<p>
  It’s safe to say 2021 was not the beacon of hope and new beginnings that we’d
  hoped it would be – I spent my Christmas isolating away from my family and
  friends despite being vaccinated and boosted. So much about our
  COVID-realities has changed but brands continue to talk to us the same way
  they did in 2020.
</p>
<p>
  Comparing year-end ads from 2020 and 2021 demonstrates just how duplicitous
  the pandemic-related brand voice has become. Brands struggle to strike the
  right balance between acknowledging the strife of the year and trying to move
  on with daily life, which results in generic, feel-good messaging across the
  board.
</p>
<p>
  Google’s Year in Search for 2021 felt so duplicative from last year, with
  we’re-in-this-together rhetoric and uplifting imagery, that the two videos
  could almost be spliced together.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-1 margin-b-3">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/year-in-search-1-2020.jpg"
        width="1053"
        width="761"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/year-in-search-1-2021.jpg"
        width="1053"
        width="761"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/year-in-search-2-2020.jpg"
        width="1053"
        width="761"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/year-in-search-2-2021.jpg"
        width="1053"
        width="761"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Pantone’s 2022 Color of the Year, Very Peri, is meant to represent “[an
  emergence] from an intense period of isolation, [where] our notions and
  standards are changing” that “introduces an empowering feeling of newness”.
  For comparison, the 2021 Color of the Year “speaks to the resilience, the
  optimism and hope and positivity that we need, as we reset, renew, reimagine
  and reinvent”. Visually, the difference is stark, but the meanings behind them
  are interchangeable.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-1 margin-b-3">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/color-of-year-2022.jpg"
        width="750"
        width="500"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/color-of-year-2021.jpg"
        width="1280"
        width="800"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2020 and 2021 were both clinical and
  COVID-related.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-1 margin-b-3">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/word-of-year_2020.jpg"
        width="1764"
        width="1174"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20220112/word-of-year_2021.jpg"
        width="1764"
        width="1174"
        alt=""
      />
    </figure>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  The last two years have blended together in a mix of COVID-shutdowns, natural
  disasters, and political unrest, but that’s not to say the two years were
  exactly the same. People who have lived through three years of COVID have a
  different mindset than they did when they were two months into the pandemic –
  yet brand messaging has remained almost the same. Attitudes continue to shift
  and mental health continues to decline, but it feels like brands are stuck in
  a feel-good-messaging echochamber.
</p>
<p>
  There is no single thing that brands can cut from their rhetoric or immediate
  tone shift that will fix all the half-hearted you’ll-get-through-this
  messaging but there are some things that brands can do to get through to a
  calloused population:
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Don’t overpromise.</h2>
<p>
  In part, consumers are realizing brands are not living up the sunny ideals
  they are presenting. Brands like Amazon, who released videos about respecting
  the health and safety of their workers during the beginning of the pandemic,
  spent the last year under fire for unsafe warehouse working conditions.
  Creating reasonable expectations and living up to them can help appease
  audiences wary of disappointment.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Retire old rhetoric</h2>
<p>
  Times <i>are</i> unprecedented, but nobody ever wants to hear that phrase
  again. A poll conducted by Acquia in the UK found that
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/12/the-new-normal-these-are-the-most-hated-covid-19-phrases-13581872/"
    >80% of consumers</a
  >
  think “covid sayings” are annoying. Speaking to audiences honestly, without
  relying on fluffy broad language, can help establish a lasting rapport rather
  than blending in to every other brand communication.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Speak with purpose</h2>
<p>
  Most importantly, brands shouldn’t join in cultural conversations just for a
  participation trophy. Brands have been in hot water for years for empty
  activism – changing profile pictures to feature rainbows during Pride Month
  despite donating to anti-LGBTQ organizations – and COVID created a breeding
  ground for light, often meaningless content. Not every brand has to be a
  pandemic expert, but 2022 can be an opportunity for brands to step beyond the
  traditional conversations and say something meaningful.
</p>
<p>
  The we’re-in-this-together mentality is no longer resonating with an
  increasingly cynical audience. 2022 is an opportunity for brands to act on the
  “reset” of our country, rather than keep talking about it.
</p>


StrategyBlog talkingthesame cover image

StrategyBlog talkingthesame thumbnail image

Why are brands still talking to us the same way they did in 2020?

<p>
  In the eighth grade, we held a graduation ceremony to commence our rise from
  middle school to the god-forsaken high school era. It was tradition to dress
  up and show off your best style: snazzy dress, fresh kicks, best hairstyle.
  All we could talk about for weeks was what shoes we were going to wear. One
  day, the suggestion of pink converse with the dress came up and a debate broke
  out. Who suggested converse with the dress first? Who had started the trend?
</p>
<p>
  Everyone, not just eighth-grade girls, wants to be a trendsetter. It is valued
  to be the first to do something, and to make it cool and desirable. Not just
  in fashion, but all cultural categories. There is a seemingly unspoken wish to
  define oneself based on individualistic taste and style.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Cool is cutthroat
</h2>
<p>
  Our culture perpetuates a cycle of what’s hot and what’s not. From award shows
  to pop culture podcasts, movie reviews to Instagram influencers who are paid
  to tell us what to buy. Hot button consumerism is the nature of our culture.
  Be yourself but don’t actually be yourself because if that’s too much like
  someone else then you are just following the pack. Don’t stray too far from
  the norm because then you are classified as weird.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Defining cheugy
</h2>
<p>
  According to the
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/style/cheugy.html"
    >New York Times</a
  >,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cheugy"
    >cheugy</a
  >
  (pronounced chew-gee) can be used, broadly, to describe someone who is out of
  date or trying too hard. The term cheugy is often associated with the
  “gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss” (another nod to TikTok trending terminology)
  sect of<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleight819/video/6924357101821234438?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgowpTmpX4DU27NM5vQ4KpUrjsJtKDD5moGtHYVnyro3VXf1X7DPlax900cCR5pi6siCGgA%3D&checksum=a0870cbf04fe388bc772ce9cb87b5b42bf439cb435b2b3fee35b39061e3ed290&enable_clips=1&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAOeF-efKplBJ0S6xnIfVkjGTS_xYS2eO0Dx0l1sfjZ60M0gS1Map2pxkH5EdvoQCD&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=6924357101821234438&share_link_id=8318E73A-D471-4A11-8AD9-9CFD87BECCED&source=h5_m&timestamp=1627670721&tt_from=sms&u_code=d91571hbckkg6j&user_id=6750877013349368837&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=sms&_r=1"
  >
    Millennial women.</a
  >
  Side parts, skinny jeans, live laugh love and wine o’clock, or in simpler
  terms “the millennial girl boss aesthetic”, that’s
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.tiktok.com/@acooz31/video/6969381781673938182?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgow6z6Ht5Q4ggi85FHj9EszAglldEiALPyD%2FMoqnNMSjyxp3lXACv54Nx7Dwvyel%2BM%2FGgA%3D&checksum=9991cf66c9abef7beea45289e8d156ae260aa65818a51c7c3e9c6a279a6e1faf&enable_clips=1&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAOeF-efKplBJ0S6xnIfVkjGTS_xYS2eO0Dx0l1sfjZ60M0gS1Map2pxkH5EdvoQCD&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=6969381781673938182&share_link_id=832F4537-29B0-42DA-B18A-C3885C0C351A&source=h5_m&timestamp=1627670760&tt_from=sms&u_code=d91571hbckkg6j&user_id=6750877013349368837&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=sms&_r=1"
    >cheugy</a
  ><a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.tiktok.com/@acooz31/video/6969381781673938182?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgow6z6Ht5Q4ggi85FHj9EszAglldEiALPyD%2FMoqnNMSjyxp3lXACv54Nx7Dwvyel%2BM%2FGgA%3D&checksum=9991cf66c9abef7beea45289e8d156ae260aa65818a51c7c3e9c6a279a6e1faf&enable_clips=1&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAOeF-efKplBJ0S6xnIfVkjGTS_xYS2eO0Dx0l1sfjZ60M0gS1Map2pxkH5EdvoQCD&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=6969381781673938182&share_link_id=832F4537-29B0-42DA-B18A-C3885C0C351A&source=h5_m&timestamp=1627670760&tt_from=sms&u_code=d91571hbckkg6j&user_id=6750877013349368837&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=sms&_r=1"
    >.</a
  >
  Unfiltered, carefully curated effortless Instagram posts, wide-leg jeans and
  iced oat milk lattes or “trendy, not cheugy”, is how Gen Z defines their own
  aesthetic.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-2 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210909_cheugy/cheugy_001.png"
    width="1120"
    height="1120"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Source:
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.thecut.com/2021/05/cheugy-is-hard-to-define-but-easy-to-identify.html"
      >The Cut</a
    >
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  Each grouping is simply the latest in a long line of niche, categorial
  identifiers being used to further perpetuate separation between two ultimately
  very similar generations. This is where the term cheugy comes into relevance
  in modern vernacular. Gen Z specifically seems to fear being “basic” and/or
  out of touch with what’s trending in culture. Thanks to the hyper-speed
  popularization techniques of TikTok, cheugy has been coined as a way to group
  out-of-touch trends or styles.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  TikTok’s role in all of&nbsp;this
</h2>
<p>
  For Gen Z, most current trends concerning fashion, lifestyle, comedy and even
  language use can be credited to TikTok. The word cheugy is no different. At
  the beginning of 2020, the Millennial women vs Gen Z women face-off began on
  the platform. Cheugy was used to question the taste and style of Millennials,
  and Millennials defended their beloved taste with a fearless vengeance.
</p>
<p>
  Where does this comical yet somewhat truly vengeful face-off originate
  societally? There is often a separation between generations and debate over
  how to stay relevant and keep up with the times. The use of social media, and
  the explosion of TikTok, has only further pushed this concept into culture. It
  has continued to develop – the latest argument being over the classification
  of cheuginess.
</p>
<div
  class="columns h-pad-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1"
  style="justify-content: center"
>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@webkinzwhore143/video/6945562242259684613"
      data-video-id="6945562242259684613"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@webkinzwhore143"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@webkinzwhore143"
          >@webkinzwhore143</a
        >
        <p>
          Expand 👏 your 👏 vocabulary 👏 to 👏 include 👏 made 👏 up 👏 words
          👏<a
            title="greenscreen"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/greenscreen"
            >#greenscreen</a
          >
          <a
            title="cheugy"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cheugy"
            >#cheugy</a
          >
          <a
            title="cheug"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cheug"
            >#cheug</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ original sound - Hal"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6945562078400891653"
          >♬ original sound - Hal</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@whatspoppinshow/video/6972262118473075973"
      data-video-id="6972262118473075973"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@whatspoppinshow"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whatspoppinshow"
          >@whatspoppinshow</a
        >
        <p>
          E113: Comment cheugy things below ⬇️
          <a
            title="comedy"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedy"
            >#comedy</a
          >
          <a
            title="funny"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny"
            >#funny</a
          >
          <a
            title="cheugy"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cheugy"
            >#cheugy</a
          >
          <a
            title="improv"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/improv"
            >#improv</a
          >
          <a
            title="interview"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/interview"
            >#interview</a
          >
          <a title="nyc" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/nyc"
            >#nyc</a
          >
          <a title="wsp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wsp"
            >#wsp</a
          >
          <a
            title="newyork"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/newyork"
            >#newyork</a
          >
          <a
            title="viralposts"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/viralposts"
            >#viralposts</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ original sound - What’s Poppin? with Davis!"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6972262034700290822"
          >♬ original sound - What’s Poppin? with Davis!</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@acooz31/video/6969381781673938182"
      data-video-id="6969381781673938182"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@acooz31"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@acooz31"
          >@acooz31</a
        >
        <p>
          Tag urself I’m “I did a thing”
          <a
            title="cheugy"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cheugy"
            >#cheugy</a
          >
          <a
            title="viral"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/viral"
            >#viral</a
          >
          <a
            title="katespadenyhappydance"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/katespadenyhappydance"
            >#katespadenyhappydance</a
          >
          <a
            title="trendy"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/trendy"
            >#trendy</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ original sound - Angie Cocuzza"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6969381622756510469"
          >♬ original sound - Angie Cocuzza</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
</div>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  The heart of&nbsp;cheugy
</h2>
<p>
  Delving deeper it is likely this territorial fight stems from insecurity in
  both groups. People do not like change or being told they are phasing out of
  relevance and this is exactly what is occurring. While cheuginess and the
  debate over whether hair should be worn in a middle part or side part and if
  jeans should be baggy or straight feels insignificant, it speaks to a larger
  idea of embracing change, cohabitating with people who may not be like
  yourself and embracing the allure of human difference.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  What does this mean for&nbsp;brands?
</h2>
<p>
  Address the elephant in the room. Relatability and transparency never go
  unnoticed. Brands should do their best to speak to both generations to avoid
  either group feeling alienated and instead embraced. Depending on their target
  audience’s and age range brands should work to incorporate influencers from
  each group who have an authentic and committed following. Lastly, you can use
  trending terms, (like cheugy or girlboss) in advertising, but do it
  authentically. It never hurts to call on the insight of people from each
  generation to make sure terms and references are being used… correctly.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Sources</h2>
<ul class="bullet-list">
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.inputmag.com/culture/instagram-photo-dump-trend-captions-meaning-kim-kardashian-kylie-jenner-bella-hadid-emma-chamberlain"
      ><i
        >Everyone you love is doing it: How the 'photo dump' took over
        Instagram</i
      ></a
    >
    – <a target="_blank" href="https://www.inputmag.com/">inputmag.com</a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/style/cheugy.html"
      ><i>What Is ‘Cheugy’? You Know It When You See It.</i></a
    >
    – <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/">nytimes.com</a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22570006/cool-consumer-identity-gen-z-cheugy"
      ><i>The Great American Cool</i></a
    >
    – <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/">vox.com</a>
  </li>
</ul>


StrategyBlog Cheugy cover image

StrategyBlog Cheugy thumbnail image

“Cheugy”  vs. “Trendy” and the Rise of Gen Z vs. Millennial Territorialism

<p>
  It’s no surprise that influencers have a massive impact in our lives – whether
  we love them or hate them, they’ve forever changed the way we discover brands
  on social. But are influencers losing the credibility we once bestowed upon
  them? These days, it feels like every other post is a sponsored ad. Meanwhile,
  die-hard superfans are taking the spotlight, generating brand interest thanks
  to platforms like TikTok. So, which of the two is more influential? It all
  boils down to the level of authenticity and relatability of each that creates
  trust among audiences.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Influencers</h2>
<p>
  The world of influencers gets larger and more complex with time. In fact,
  there are four categories of influencers. So, what makes it about them that we
  <i>choose to follow and trust</i> the content they share?
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Top-Tier Influencers</h3>
<p>
  Historically, brands have used mid to top tier influencers as a tactic to
  reach new audiences at mass scale. The problem: this has become an expected
  tactic and frankly, we can spot a sponsored ad from a mile away – especially
  when it’s the occasional 1x post that has no connection to the influencer’s
  lifestyles or interests. As a result, followers become critical of the
  influencer and the endorsement he/she is making. However, if the brand’s goal
  is to drive mass awareness, when done right, partnering with these influencers
  is effective. A step after that, we can even ask influencers to drive their
  fans to a site or use a coupon code but only if the brand or product ties back
  to the niche of what this influencer is known for.
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Low-Tier Influencers</h3>
<p>
  Nano and Micro influencers are different. Partnering with them gives brands
  the opportunity to create long-term partnerships, given the costs are much
  lower than partnerships with mid to top tier influencers. Plus, low-tier
  influencers boast stronger engagement with their followers. But are they
  trusted? Yes. Most of them are in the early stages of growing their following
  and they likely haven’t worked with too many brands yet. Because of that, they
  develop stronger relationships with their existing followers which creates
  trust among fans. This then makes those fans receptive to trying a brand the
  influencer recommends.
</p>
<div aria-hidden="true" class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="814"
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20211103_influencers_vs_superfans/chart01.png"
  />
</div>
<div class="screen-reader-only">
  <h4 class="h-main h-size-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Nano/Micro (1k - 50k)</h4>
  <ul class="line-list">
    <li>
      Best for working with multiple niches to understand which community best
      resonates with your brand or product
    </li>
    <li>“Always On” ambassador</li>
    <li>More budget friendly</li>
  </ul>
  <h4 class="h-main h-size-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Mid-Tier (50k - 500k)</h4>
  <ul class="line-list">
    <li>
      Best to drive awareness and incentivize trial of products (coupon codes)
    </li>
    <li>Higher-reach, “Always On” ambassador</li>
    <li>Supplements larger marketing programs</li>
  </ul>
  <h4 class="h-main h-size-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Macro (500k - 1M)</h4>
  <ul class="line-list">
    <li>Best to drive mass awareness</li>
    <li>Supports pulse-level marketing initiatives</li>
  </ul>
  <h4 class="h-main h-size-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Mega (1M +)</h4>
  <ul class="line-list">
    <li>Best for mass awareness at a celebrity level</li>
    <li>
      Opportunity to establish partnerships for exclusive branded lines or
      merchandise
    </li>
  </ul>
</div>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Superfans</h2>
<p>
  Like influencers, Superfans come in all shapes and sizes. They can span from
  your most avid community members to creators who are visually showing the
  brand in their day-to-day. What sets these apart is the level of authenticity
  and relatability they evoke (often at no cost from the brand) making them
  trustworthy.
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Community Members</h3>
<p>
  If your brand has built an
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://camp-king.com/theplus/how-fandoms-contribute-to-building-brands"
    >active community</a
  >, then you likely noticed fans who frequently chime in the comments of your
  posts or tag you in their content. They have a smaller reach but because
  they’re an everyday person, that has a lot of influence.
</p>
<p>
  Brands like
  <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BurgerKing">Burger King</a>,
  <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Airbnb">Airbnb</a>, and
  <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Microsoft">Microsoft</a> often
  turn to fans who mention them to amplify those voices and generate additional
  brand love on social. What’s great is that those voices are
  <i><b>believable</b></i
  >. The brand didn’t ask them to create it, let alone pay them. It’s authentic.
  Even if you didn’t like that brand, you can’t argue the comment is a fluke.
  It’s a real person and that itself is believable, even if you don’t agree
  Burger King has the best chicken nuggets.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1" style="max-width: 500px">
  
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border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_AUPlBaiy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Burger King (@burgerking)</a></p></div></blockquote>
</div>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Creators</h3>
<p>
  Waaaayyy before TikTok rolled out any ad capabilities, TikTokers were Gen Zers
  seeking to be entertained or freely expressing raw moments of culture through
  their eyes. This of course included cameos of products, services, or their
  attitudes about brands as lived in their day-to-day lives. In fact, a recent
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/nielsen-study-tiktok-discovery-content-authentic"
    >Nielsen study</a
  >
  found an average of 64% of TikTokers said they can be their true selves on
  TikTok. Additionally, 53% of TikTokers globally said they trusted others to be
  their real selves on the platform. So when a brand or product is seen on a
  TikTok, the authenticity is real. Brands aren’t paying them to talk about it.
  As a result, a plethora of TikToks emerged (and continue to do so) with
  glimpses of products here and there. Though the brand isn’t the star of the
  TikTok, it’s subtly seen in the background. These creators are Superfans with
  genuine brand love.
</p>
<p>
  By now, we all know the story of<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/dunkin-dubs-coffee-drink-the-charli-after-tiktoks-biggest-star/584625/"
  >
  </a
  ><a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/dunkin-dubs-coffee-drink-the-charli-after-tiktoks-biggest-star/584625/"
    >Charile D’Amelio and Dunkin’</a
  >. Long before the brand approached her, Charlie was often seen taking a sip
  of her Dunkin’ coffee before doing one of her dancing TikToks. She’s a perfect
  example of a Superfan turned brand ambassador. And if you followed her
  content, you’d never question whether she <i>really</i> liked loved Dunkin’.
  Just like Charlie, there are other Superfans out there creating content,
  <a target="_blank" href="https://camp-king.com/theplus/influencer-made-brands"
    >some who have successfully built their own businesses out of it</a
  >, and the potential to generate a larger impact is real.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1" style="max-width: 500px">
  
  <blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@dunkin/video/6867887864416324869" data-video-id="6867887864416324869" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;" > <section> <a target="_blank" title="@dunkin" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dunkin">@dunkin</a> <p>The swirl is real. @charlidamelio fave drink is officially on the menu! Go order ‘The Charli’ 🙌🙌 <a title="charlirunsondunkin" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/charlirunsondunkin">#CharliRunsOnDunkin</a> <a title="dunkin" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dunkin">#dunkin</a></p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - Dunkin' " href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6867887892870597381">♬ original sound - Dunkin' </a> </section> </blockquote>
  <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
</div>
<p>
  So there you have it. Although the low tier influencers continue to carry
  credibility, there’s growing power behind the Superfans. If you proactively
  monitor those Superfan opportunities, you may find this approach works better
  for you and your brand. Meanwhile, using influencers can effectively act as
  supplemental pulses supporting a campaign.
</p>

StrategyBlog Superfan cover image

StrategyBlog Superfan thumbnail image

Influencers or Superfans: Which Has More Power? 

<p>
  There’s an obvious truth I need to get out of the way before diving into this
  blog post.
  <b>The pandemic has put a strain on people’s mental health. </b>Feeling
  anxious, stressed and lonely has become commonplace. As such, there has been
  an increased emphasis on tending to our mental health. We saw a rise in apps
  like Calm and Headspace. Gardening and baking became mindfulness tools. Two
  major athletes made powerful statements by stepping away from major career
  events in order to protect their mental health, Naomi Osaka at the French Open
  and Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics.
</p>
<p>
  What’s the most important lesson of pandemic life? I would argue that it’s
  this: Self-care isn’t selfish. And many brands have found obvious ways to tap
  into the self-care trend.
</p>
<p>
  Given the state of the world and the news cycle, the self-care trend isn’t
  going anywhere. Today,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20200612/80-of-americans-intend-to-regularly-practice-selfcare-after-covid19-pandemic"
    >80% of Americans</a
  >
  intend to regularly practice it in some way. The events of 2020 and beyond
  forced us into a year of extreme self-care, and with good reason. Self-care
  has evolved beyond a modern luxury and into a literal means of survival. And
  survival is hard! Consumers officially feel like they have permission to
  define self-care however they want. We’ve entered the world of self-care 2.0.
  Today, you don’t have to be a brand with a direct connection to the mental
  health and wellness space in order to tap into the new self-care.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Old way of thinking
</h2>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">How consumers defined self-care:</span>
  Strictly things like healthy habits, spa-like luxuries, and exercise
</p>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">Brands thought:</span> “If my brand doesn’t have an
  inherent connection to these things, this is not a trend we can tap into.”
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  New way of thinking
</h2>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">How consumers defined self-care:</span>
  Connection, indulgence, slowing down
</p>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">Brands should think:</span> “Self-care has become so
  central to consumers’ lives in the state of the world today. How can my brand
  acknowledge and create messaging and experiences that promotes or supports my
  target’s definition of self-care?”
</p>
<p>
  Here are a few examples of how brands have tapped into consumers deep desire
  for self-care through this new lens:
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Connection</h2>
<p>
  Many people didn’t realize how important companionship and quality time with
  others were to them until that was quite literally ripped away for a long
  period of time. And Zoom happy hours don’t cut it. People are hungry to not
  only spend quality time with others, but connect with people simply to help
  them see that they’re not alone in the challenges they’re facing.
</p>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">Brands should ask themselves:</span>
  “How can we facilitate spaces, experiences, or moments that empower connection
  and bonding?”
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Dove</h3>
<p>
  Maintaining close connections has been especially hard for parents who, beyond
  social distancing rules, had to take on remote learning while schools were
  closed. Instead of a standard “gift chocolate” message for Mother’s Day, DOVE
  sponsored private, social distance-friendly movie theater rental experiences
  across the country. Mom could be entered for a (chocolate-fueled) night out
  with her gal pals.
</p>
<img
  style="max-width: 450px"
  class="block-centered margin-t-1"
  src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20211012_selfcare/dove.jpg"
  width="2400"
  height="2400"
/>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Lagunitas Brewing</h3>
<p>
  For many, self-care during the last year meant getting a pet. In fact, 68%
  said that quarantining with a pet
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/pet-self-care-quarantine-study-36806646"
    >helped them feel less alone</a
  >. Lagunitas celebrated the closeness we’ve developed with our pups more than
  ever before by offering party packs for dog owners and their friends to get
  together on National IPA Day.
</p>
<img
  style="max-width: 800px"
  class="block-centered margin-t-1"
  src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20211012_selfcare/lagunitas.jpg"
  width="1200"
  height="675"
/>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Indulgence</h2>
<p>
  In the new state of self-care, we’ve flipped the narrative on “guilty
  pleasures.” Guilty pleasures have become well-deserved pleasures. Indulgence
  has not only become more planned, it’s purposeful. Indulging is an intentional
  means to achieving a particular mood or desired mental state.
</p>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">Brands should ask themselves:</span> ”What are the
  various things and activities my target considers a “well-deserved pleasure”?
  How can my brand relate to their mindset towards those things and connect with
  them in those moments of indulgence?”
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Pepsi</h3>
<p>
  Many define their version of the new self-care as a shameless content binge.
  Netflix data
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.statista.com/topics/2508/binge-watching-in-the-us/"
    >shows</a
  >
  that 73% of users reported positive feelings associated with binge-watching.
  To help kick off the 2021 NFL season, Pepsi’s “Made for Football Watching”
  encourages fans to binge game after the game. The campaign kicks off with a
  spot featuring David Costabile of Showtime’s drama Billions, in which the
  actor delivers a rousing speech glorifying the sanctity of a binge...
  <i>
    “Give me 12 straight hours of sinking so deep into your favorite spot on the
    couch that you don’t know where the couch ends and you begin.”</i
  >
</p>

<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    width="560"
    height="315"
    src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/SR9wdPjru78"
    title="YouTube video player"
    frameborder="0"
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Coors</h3>
<p>
  Coors has continued to lean into the role that beer has played within many
  people’s lives the last year and a half: a coping mechanism. It started as the
  brand’s response to a 93-year-old woman’s viral plea for more beer during
  quarantine, in which they sent her 10 cases.
</p>
<img
  style="max-width: 800px"
  class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1"
  src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20211012_selfcare/coors.jpg"
  width="780"
  height="438"
/>
<p>
  It led to ongoing social campaigns that allowed consumers to send beer to
  someone who might need it
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 480px">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      America
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CouldUseABeer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#CouldUseABeer</a
      >. But today (and most days, actually), nobody&#39;s more deserving of it
      than mom. So here&#39;s to kiddo moms, dog moms and everything in between.
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HappyMothersDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#HappyMothersDay</a
      >! <a href="https://t.co/pv0CcGdN22">pic.twitter.com/pv0CcGdN22</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; Coors Light (@CoorsLight)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/CoorsLight/status/1259552999640379393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >May 10, 2020</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>
<script
  async
  src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
  charset="utf-8"
></script>
<p>
  And has evolved into encouraging and enabling people to grab beers with those
  they said they’d meet up with when the world opened up
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 480px">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      If someone told you, “we should get a beer when this is over,” we’re gonna
      hold them to it. With beer on us.*
      <a href="https://t.co/akBZzhDxiG">https://t.co/akBZzhDxiG</a>.
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TIMEFORTHATBEER?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#TIMEFORTHATBEER</a
      >
      <a href="https://t.co/6Xm5ESQAFp">pic.twitter.com/6Xm5ESQAFp</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; Coors Light (@CoorsLight)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/CoorsLight/status/1412818748185137156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >July 7, 2021</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>
<script
  async
  src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
  charset="utf-8"
></script>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Slowing Down</h2>
<p>
  It’s one of the more mundane paradoxes of the pandemic: There’s a distinct
  feeling that we don’t have a moment to spare. The blurring of boundaries
  between work and home has led to
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.birchbox.com/guide/article/how-to-practice-self-care"
    >51% of Americans</a
  >
  feeling burnt out.
</p>
<p>
  <span class="h-size-2">Brands should ask themselves:</span> “How can my brand
  acknowledge that consumers are eager for moments of peace? Are there ways I
  can create or empower those moments, even in small ways?”
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Real California Milk</h3>
<p>
  Recognizing the nonstop constant influx of digital notifications, Real
  California Milk designed a campaign acknowledging the mindset consumers are in
  and encouraging a moment of slow-living during breakfast before the craziness
  of the day begins.
</p>
<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    width="560"
    height="315"
    src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/QSoC2v_7Mnc"
    title="YouTube video player"
    frameborder="0"
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-3 margin-b-1">Colgate</h3>
<p>
  Colgate partnered with meditation app Headspace to offer weekly programming
  through Hum, their line of smart toothbrushes. The collaboration aims to
  encourage consumers "to observe and reflect on their thoughts" and by doing so
  turn a regular behavior into a quiet moment of mindfulness.
</p>
<img
  style="max-width: 500px"
  class="block-centered margin-t-1"
  src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20211012_selfcare/colgate.jpg"
  width="682"
  height="684"
/>
<hr class="divider margin-t-4 margin-b-4" />
<p>
  Self-care has become survival. And through self-care’s evolution, consumers
  feel they can define it just about however they want, as long as it makes them
  feel the way they want to feel. This shift presents many brands with the
  opportunity to connect in a way that they haven’t before.
</p>


Three colorful hearts on a warm gradient background

StrategyBlog SelfCare cover image copy 4

How Non-Wellness Brands Can Tap Into the Self-care Trend

StrategyBlog SelfCare thumbnail image

Self-care 2.0

<p>
  As human beings, we have a psychological need to feel safe, respected and
  wanted. As such, humans naturally form communities and social relationships
  based on our values and beliefs. While communities used to be based on our
  physical proximity, mass media and the internet has facilitated the growth of
  digital communities across borders. As social media grew and fans connected
  with each other online more and more, these communities started forming
  quickly. This is how the modern day fandom exploded in popularity.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  What is Fandom?
</h2>
<p>
  Fandoms are groups of extremely dedicated fans; fans who are passionately
  committed (to almost anything really!) and banded by a strong sense of
  camaraderie, a dedication to expertise, and creativity. Many fandoms have
  adopted names: Travis Scott fans are known as
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/travis-scott-rodeo-ragers-anniversary.html"
    >Ragers</a
  >, followers of Justin Beiber dub themselves
  <a target="_blank" href="https://justinbieber.fandom.com/wiki/Belieber"
    >Beliebers</a
  >, and viewers of The Bachelor call themselves<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://bachelornation.com/"
  >
    Bachelor Nation</a
  >. Although many fandoms center around pop culture, there are also many brands
  that have die-hard aficionados, like Apple and Tesla. Whatever you may be
  interested in, there is a group out there for you: from
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/traderjoesmealideas4busymoms/"
    >Facebook Trader Joe’s Fans</a
  >
  to
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/orchids/"
    >Orchid Growers on Reddit.
  </a>
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      this is a Pilot G2 Gel Pen stan account. retweet if you are part of the
      superior Pilot G2 Gel Pen fandom
      <a href="https://t.co/NDSWpP575M">pic.twitter.com/NDSWpP575M</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; it’s just meera (@meeracleshappen)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/meeracleshappen/status/1425317967752011778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >August 11, 2021</a
    >
  </blockquote>
  <script
    async
    src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
    charset="utf-8"
  ></script>
</div>
<p>
  The strength of the fandom truly lies within its collective power. Fandoms
  have been notorious for becoming influential organizers, especially when it
  comes to their passion. When the NBC show <i>Chuck </i>was at risk of
  cancellation, fans organized #SaveChuck to keep it from getting cancelled.
  Because of the massive media coverage and national attention,
  <i>Chuck</i> came back for a final season.
</p>
<p>
  Fandoms are well aware of the fact that pop culture is a two way street and
  that they are not passive consumers. Fandoms have not only banded together to
  influence the content they consume, but they have also used their power to
  make real change. A recent example is when BTS decided to donate $1 million
  dollars to the Black Lives Matter organization in light of George Floyd’s
  death. Within 25 hours of campaigning on social media under the hashtag
  #MatchAMillion, BTS fandom,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.usbtsarmy.com/tutorials/bts-global-official-fanclub"
    >‘the ARMY’</a
  >, collectively matched the donation.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210823/btsarmy.png" />
</div>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  How have Fandoms affected brand marketing?
</h2>
<p>
  While all brands have loyal consumers, fans go above and beyond the
  traditional loyalist. Let’s take the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the
  most popular fandoms, as an example. Whereas a classic loyal consumer may go
  watch a new movie when it comes out, a fan would go see the movie multiple
  times, tweet about it, buy it on streaming platforms, and continue to engage
  with other fans online about the movie long after it leaves theaters.
  <b
    >The fan is important because not only do they buy, but they are actively
    creating organic marketing for your brand: authentically expanding your
    audience much more than a traditional loyal consumer. </b
  >As more and more marketing comes from social media or other earned channels,
  fans are central to the success of most modern businesses. As a brand, you
  need to be creating and cultivating a fanbase in order to unlock this power.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  How should brands approach Fandoms?
</h2>
<p>
  Brands often think that it is solely their product or service that can breed
  fandoms. However, businesses need to think about what comes after they create
  the product. How can they build continual touch points with fans and what
  additional experiences can they provide so fans continue to stay engaged?
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Understand</h3>
<p>
  It’s critical for brands to understand their particular fandom in order to
  engage with them authentically. Brands should go to where fandoms connect with
  one another and immerse themselves in fandom spaces on social media like
  Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and fandom-specific places (e.g. Discord
  for gamers). It is important to keep in mind that these platforms are not the
  same and fans interact with each other differently depending on the platform.
</p>
<p>
  In order to better appeal to fandoms, Brands need to learn certain unspoken
  rules, acronyms, and memes that are commonly used within the fandom. Analyze
  these spaces and seek to understand where fans are congregating, what they’re
  saying and how they’re saying it. Use those insights to drive future
  conversations and marketing towards fandoms. Fandoms are keen on authenticity
  and if they know that you are not in tune with their community, they will call
  you out for it. You must never take your fandom for granted, for even your
  biggest fans could turn on you at any time.
</p>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Engage</h3>
<p>
  It seems obvious, but brands need to pay special attention to engaging with
  fandoms. The more you communicate with and value your customers, the more
  they’ll reciprocate that positivity. Whereas normal promotional marketing may
  be enough for the average consumer, fandoms need more to stay engaged. Fandoms
  need immersive experiences to further enrich their typically digital
  communities and deepen their passion for the brand. Brands should take a cue
  from events like ComicCon, which welcomes fans and anyone interested to come
  and <i>experience </i>their shared love for Comics. These are experiences that
  not only allow fans to live in and intensify their fandom, but also find
  community and camaraderie.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210823/incredibles.png" />
</div>
<h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">Embrace</h3>
<p>
  Fandoms are breeding grounds for new creativity. You can think of fandoms as a
  very welcoming micro-universe for all who have the same interests. Out of this
  passion and welcoming space, fandoms nurture a safe space to create art,
  cosplay, podcasts, songs, short stories, poems, videos, and more. Through
  these works, fandoms often express values and sentiments that are very
  different from what the mass-market can offer. They challenge norms within
  mass media and push brands to think about things they never thought to offer.
  Brands should embrace this type of creativity and listen to what fandoms are
  saying and the ideas they have. These are ideas that push the label on
  innovation and creativity.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Conclusion</h2>
<p>
  At its core, fandom is so appealing to people because it meets so many innate
  human needs: entertainment, community, connection, creativity and
  collaboration--whether that is a community of Reddit memers, Twitter friends,
  or cosplaying at live events. This holds true for fandoms across genres. In
  order to truly connect with fans, businesses must understand how fandoms bring
  people together, what keeps them together, and how they can yield that
  community to further build their brand.
</p>


cover image

Taking a look at how fandoms have shaped brands and how brands should approach their followers 

thumbnail

How Fandoms Contribute to Building Brands

<p>
  Last year so many of us participated in protests, marches, and rallies for
  racial justice. We flooded our timelines with messages of solidarity and
  donation links, and called on brands to do the same. Brands answered that call
  with a barrage of statement after statement of solidarity with the Black Lives
  Matter Movement, some becoming so disingenuous that a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://twitter.com/Campster/status/1267183124582215680?s=20"
    >parody post</a
  >
  mocking the cookie-cutter-like outpouring went viral.
</p>
<p>
  A year and a half later, one thing has become clear: statements of solidarity,
  donations, and fluffy Black History Month and Juneteenth campaigns aren’t
  making the cut. They want lasting, institutional change, and they expect
  brands to step up to the plate.
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.ypulse.com/article/2021/02/16/do-young-consumers-think-brands-have-been-following-through-on-their-anti-racism-promises/"
    >63% of Millennials and Gen Z feel that brands still haven’t done enough to
    support Black Lives Matter.</a
  >
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210805/chart_01.png" />
</div>
<p>
  By February of 2021, Millennials and Gen Z’s expectations of brands shifted
  from online showings of solidarity to more institutional changes like better
  hiring and training practices:
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210805/chart_02.png" />
</div>
<p>
  That’s not to say there weren’t any standouts in the beginning, though. Savage
  X Fenty and Fenty Beauty rerouted all web traffic to bail funds and local
  anti-racist organizations in Minnesota. Netflix pledged $100 million to the
  Black community and released their first
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-inclusion-report-2021"
    >inclusivity report</a
  >
  and made moves to put more Black talent on screen and behind the scenes. Ben &
  Jerry’s partnered with Color of Change and its local NAACP, releasing a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.benjerry.com/home/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy"
    >lengthy</a
  >
  statement that led with the hard-hitting headline: DISMANTLE WHITE SUPREMACY.
  As extraordinary as these actions were, they’re just small ways that brands
  can <b>begin</b> the fight against racism and white supremacy, and we’d be
  hard pressed to find a brand that has consistently followed up with
  institutional changes.
</p>
<p>
  While that sounds daunting, the good news is that you don’t necessarily need
  to be a Savage X Fenty, Netflix or Ben & Jerry’s to make tangible change. Here
  are some ways brands can ensure that they are making changes that will last:
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Be specific.</h2>
<p>
  Name racism. Name white supremacy. Don’t be shy about it. Vague language is an
  immediate red flag. People don’t want to contribute to brands that play fast
  and loose with their humanity, and clarity is crucial.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Be authentic.
</h2>
<p>
  Make sure your response is true to your brand. A good way to start is by
  looking at your industry, finding the ways in which it contributes to racial
  injustice, and going from there. Working to bring equity to your industry
  builds something stronger and longer lasting than scrambling to follow some
  other brand’s lead. Always look inward first.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Be accountable.
</h2>
<p>
  Be honest about your brand’s stance on racial justice now, and where they have
  stood in the past. If your brand’s track record on racism hasn’t been great,
  acknowledge that. The work of justice begins internally. Any action taken
  without introspection is sure to fall on deaf ears.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Take action.</h2>
<p>
  This is the most crucial part! You can wax poetic about racial injustice all
  you want but nothing matters until your brand actually DOES something. Most
  brands do a great job of donating to worthy causes, but oftentimes that’s
  where the action stops. Donations to anti-racist organizations are nice, but
  it means very little if your home offices, board rooms, and store fronts are
  not welcoming places for Black people (or any other marginalized group).
</p>
<p>
  A lot of brands hesitate once it’s time to take action. Saying the wrong
  thing, hiring the wrong person, or pandering can derail the most well-meaning
  gestures, but that’s part of the learning process. And after all, the risk is
  certainly worth the reward of making a difference and gaining more consumers
  in the process.
</p>
<p>
  It’s easy to make social media statements and throw money at an issue every
  time racial injustice occurs, but it isn’t sustainable. Here we are a year and
  change later, and not much has changed, even after the herculean efforts made
  by multiple organizations. If brands really want to stand against racism,
  they’re going to have to change the way they operate, and not just in February
  or June. Unless your brand has specificity, authenticity, or accountability,
  every action you take toward racial justice will fall flat. Millennials and
  Gen Z consumers are more interested in brands making lasting changes like
  hiring BIPOC employees, cultivating inclusive workplaces, and using their
  platforms to create equity within their industries- and in turn, the world
  over.
</p>


StrategyBlog RacialJustice cover image

How to Make Tangible Change for Racial Justice

StrategyBlog RacialJustice thumbnail image

Black Lives Still Matter

<p>
    Our Associate Strategy Director, Sally Kallet, was recently featured on
    Julian Cole&rsquo;s "Starting in Strategy" podcast. In the episode, she offers
    advice for strategists, shares her career journey, and discusses what she
    finds most useful in being a member of the Planning Dirty Academy.
  </p>
  <p class="centered margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
    <a class="h-size-2" target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4jna5L8k767UduqkjNdT8s?si=37c54026855844d4">
      Have a listen.
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    One of her tips includes creating a diary of deconstructed strategies from
    good advertising. This is the template that she uses:
  </p>
  <h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
    <span class="color-dark">1.</span> <span class="color-accent">Identify the business challenge</span>
  </h2>
  <h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
    <span class="color-dark">2.</span> <span class="color-accent">Write the brief of the ad via Get/To/By</span>
  </h2>
  <p class="h-size-1">
    <span class="h-main">Get:</span> How a brand sees their audience and audience&rsquo;s problem<br />
  <span class="h-main">To:</span> The audience&rsquo;s desired response <br />
  <span class="h-main">By:</span> One message/action</p>
  <h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
    <span class="color-dark">3.</span> <span class="color-accent">Identify The idea</span>
  </h2>
  <h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
    <span class="color-dark">4.</span> <span class="color-accent">Identify the tension (if any)</span>
  </h2>
  <h2 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
    <span class="color-dark">5.</span> <span class="color-accent">Identify the creative strategy</span>
  </h2>


Podcast Feature: Starting in Strategy

<p>
  Over this past year plus, my family has been fortunate to have tools and
  resources that helped us get through this extraordinary time. We know that not
  everyone has those same things available. Beyond some of the basics like
  access to school and safe meals, I’ll look back on this time with appreciation
  for my family’s resolve to tackle each day head on, along with some
  Monday-morning quarterbacking for things we may have done better.
</p>
<p>
  Now that my wife and I have a vaccine in our systems, it’s starting to feel
  like this can be a time to “look back on.” While I recognize there’s still
  work to be done, I can reflect on this time in my role as a dad, what I
  learned from it, and what helped my family get through it. Because I’m writing
  about this in my role as a Brand Director, I’ll focus on tools and experiences
  related to brands and organizations, and what benefits they created for my
  family along the way.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  A Paradigm Shift in Using Technology to
  <span class="no-break">Educate Kids</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Over the past year, I’ve spent most of my time in a basement. It’s not a bad
  basement. I don’t mind it. But it’s a basement.
</p>
<p>
  My wife is situated at our dining table upstairs from me. She gets a bit more
  daylight up there and conducts her Zoom meetings from her iPad, which sits on
  a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.zingermans.com/">Zingerman’s</a> cured
  meat gift box. (Zingerman’s is a deli in Ann Arbor that puts together great
  gift boxes. Their role in this story is basically limited to ‘iPad Pedestal,’
  but they have a great box design and make really good bacon and I thought it
  was worth a shoutout.)
</p>
<p>
  My daughter is located on our top floor. While she’s getting back into hybrid
  school a couple days a week now, she’s let me know that she’ll miss having a
  couch as her classroom moving forward. For us, the biggest hurdle when schools
  shifted to remote learning was to maintain some form of structure and
  stability. Our daughter is in the Chicago Public School system which services
  hundreds of thousands of students. Finding a common solution for the entire
  system was likely a herculean task. I appreciate the fact that they landed on
  Google Classroom as the solution.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 500px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210615/google-classroom.jpg" />
</div>
<p>
  Before I go too far on giving kudos to Google Classroom, I will first give
  credit to the teachers and administrators for figuring out how to use it in a
  clear and consistent manner. With the strong anchor of those educator brains,
  my family experienced the benefit of a familiar interface with
  easy-to-navigate functionality and Google Apps integration. Google Classroom
  seamlessly integrates with tools like Hangouts, Drive, Gmail and Surveys. My
  daughter’s teachers can consistently deliver clear direction for at-home
  learning, facilitate live instruction, and support a clear tracking of
  progress on assigned work. I’ve appreciated that it’s a system that my
  daughter was able to learn to use in an intuitive way. She’s developed a great
  deal of self-sufficiency while I’ve enjoyed a system that allows me to check
  in with her regularly and talk with her about her lessons.
</p>
<p>
  When schools return to full in-person instruction, my hope and expectation is
  that education platforms like Google Classroom remain in place to enable a
  more effective system for students to manage their workloads, for teachers to
  manage their curriculum, and for parents to engage with their kids on their
  education. I recently saw that New York Public Schools will no longer close on
  snow days in the future and will instead treat them as remote learning days. I
  think shifts like these are a valuable step forward – and it leaves plenty of
  time for a good snowball fight once class is done.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Making Valuable Connections Between Online and
  <span class="no-break">Offline Downtime</span>
</h2>
<p>
  It is my express plan to never try and learn how much time my daughter has
  spent on streaming services this past year. I have a general sense, but I’d
  probably lose it if I knew the actual number.
</p>
<p>
  There <i>are</i> nuggets that I feel good about sharing with her. Her brain
  gets engaged and it creates curiosity about things away from a screen. A while
  back, Mythbusters was pretty much the epitome of this type of inspirational
  content. For my daughter, it’s
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/MarkRober/featured"
    >Mark Rober</a
  >. Mark Rober is a former JPL engineer and Apple employee that now makes
  YouTube videos about things like
  <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg"
    >squirrel obstacle courses</a
  >.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9">
  <iframe
    width="560"
    height="315"
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hFZFjoX2cGg"
    title="YouTube video player"
    frameborder="0"
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<p>
  They’re awesome. As with most content creators, Mark Rober will occasionally
  hawk some goods on his channel. What I’ve appreciated about his endorsements
  is that they are very ‘on-brand’ for him, which is to make the intricacies of
  STEM readily accessible to audiences young and old. We ended up subscribing to
  one of the products he endorsed –
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kiwico.com/">KiwiCo</a> – which provides
  at-home S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) kits
  for all ages. To date, my daughter and I have built a motorized spin-art
  machine, an air cannon tic-tac-toe game, and a mini catapult.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 440px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210615/kiwico.jpg" />
</div>
<p>
  I like when my daughter’s downtime is spent with content and activities that
  enrich her. For those who create content, this audience-of-one will share his
  appreciation when you strive to engage her mind, rather than just seek to gain
  her attention for a view count.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Rediscovering Old Experiences Suited to
  <span class="no-break">New Norms</span>
</h2>
<p>
  About a month back, we ventured out for one of the first ‘real’ indoor
  experiences in about a year – the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Chicago. This
  installation has been travelling the globe since 2008, so it is by no means
  new and was certainly not designed with COVID in mind. Even so, it was
  particularly well-suited for the protocols and behaviors that are inherent
  with our collective return.
</p>
<p>
  The installation operates in 19 cities across the United States and opened in
  Chicago in February. It lets you know about the safeguards they have in place
  in consideration of Covid: temperature checks, painted circles on the gallery
  floor to support social distancing and contact tracing measures. The
  experience was an environment where my family and I felt comfortable and
  absolutely immersed. The exhibit runs on a 40-minute loop and allows you to be
  situated in a single, social-distanced location enveloped by the
  audio-enhanced visuals of Van Gogh. My daughter and I relaxed and lost
  ourselves in the artwork.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="max-width: 660px">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210615/van-gogh.jpg" />
</div>
<p>
  Before COVID, the movie theater was our go-to for random Saturday outings.
  Occasionally, we would shift gears and head to the Museum of Science and
  Industry or the Shedd Aquarium. As I think ahead to Saturday outings, I’ll
  look for opportunities like the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit where we have an
  opportunity to experience culture in a safe manner.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Preparing for <span class="no-break">Re-Entry</span>
</h2>
<p>
  I know that we’ll never go back to the way things were before this thing hit
  us. My family’s experiences have changed us and our definition of ‘normal.’
  For my daughter, the role of technology has quickly and vastly expanded beyond
  her daily iPad time and now serves a critical role in how she operates. For
  our time together at home, we now depend more on content creators to deliver
  valuable enrichment rather than just filled hours. And as we start venturing
  back out in the world, we’ll look for experiences that help deliver a sense of
  normalcy while staying mindful of what it means to transition back to it
  safely.
</p>
<p>Onward.</p>


blog 2021-06-14 cover image

blog 2021-06-14 thumbnail image

A Dad’s Thoughts on His Child’s Interactions with Brands During Covid

<p class="italic">
  It was an honor to judge the Effie Awards this year. As perpetual students of
  the industry, it’s always inspiring to get that exposure to the greatest home
  runs of the past year and the cases that attempt to do
  <span class="no-break">them justice.</span>
</p>
<p class="italic">
  That said, it’s not lost on me how tedious and overwhelming the process of
  writing an Effie Case Submission is. Not unlike pitching, you’re committing to
  a process of gathering, revisiting, writing, rewriting, and directing a
  concept video with your extended team. All above and beyond your day-to-day
  responsibilities. So kudos to everyone who poured so much of themselves in
  service of their teams <span class="no-break">and agencies.</span>
</p>
<p class="italic">
  While I can’t disclose details of the work I reviewed, my hope is that the
  following observations help paint a picture of what the best case submissions
  looked like to us from across the virtual
  <span class="no-break">judging table.</span>
</p>
<div
  class="
    divider
    margin-t-4 margin-b-4 margin-l-2 margin-r-2
    md-margin-l-4 md-margin-r-4
    block-centered
  "
></div>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  They’re simple.
</h2>
<p>
  The best cases read like stories. They refuse to hide behind jargon and
  overpromises. Through ruthless exclusion, they stand up and out from all the
  other TL;DR contenders. They are about the cleverness of the campaign, not
  just the strategist. And by way of their refreshing brevity, they refuse to
  give you permission <span class="no-break">to skim.</span>
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  They’re courageous.
</h2>
<p>
  These cases do a lot with a little. They view a scarcity of budget, time, or
  resources, as a worthy challenge. These cases start by dramatizing the
  challenge, kicking things off with a tangible tension. Through a series of
  reveals, they bring you into the metaphorical war room in which they were
  conceived. They leave you with a feeling that success is born of a whole lot
  of audacity and a little bit <span class="no-break">of magic.</span>
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Their reels get real.
</h2>
<p>
  When it comes to case reels, most tend to minor in information and major in
  sizzle. But the ones that capture authentic reactions to the work - from
  tweets to reddit threads - seem to sizzle a little differently. Real-time
  reactions help take the work out of adland and into people’s homes and lives,
  proving that great ideas often take on a life of
  <span class="no-break">their own.</span>
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  They’re insight-rich.
</h2>
<p>
  The best cases are perceptive throughout. They don’t lazily rely on a silver
  bullet insight sitting dutifully in the strategy section. Through their
  generosity of sparks, these cases signal cross-departmental collaboration and
  intelligent evolution throughout the entire campaign
  <span class="no-break">development journey.</span>
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-5 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  They get us rooting.
</h2>
<p>
  My favorite part of the experience, by far, was the post-review dialogue with
  my fellow judges. As I sat alongside an accomplished panel of agency and brand
  executives volunteering their time to observe, unpack, and critique, it
  quickly became clear that the mentor in us was rooting for the people behind
  the words. While there’s no such thing as a perfect submission, the best cases
  made advocates of <span class="no-break">us all.</span>
</p>


blog 2021-06-effies-header-image

blog 2021-06-effies-thumbnail

What Makes a Great Effie Award Submission

<p>
  According to the
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations"
    >latest CDC data</a
  >
  at the time of publishing this piece, 47% of Americans have received at least
  one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination and 36% of Americans are now fully
  vaccinated.<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup> For
  many of us, that means more willingness to accept the risks of vacation travel
  and to make up for lost trips planned for 2020 or 2021.
</p>
<p>
  To get a better sense of who is most willing to travel for leisure, when,
  where, and why, Camp + King fielded a proprietary study in April. Because many
  U.S. destinations or travel and hospitality brands are very dependent on
  international travelers, our study also included respondents from Canada, the
  United Kingdom, and Australia. We chose these countries because they allowed
  us to avoid any language barriers or translation issues, but still gave us a
  view into international travelers’ perspectives from several global regions.
</p>
<p>
  Here are five quick consumer takeaways for brands to be considerate of now:
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <span class="color-grey">1.</span> There’s more pent-up demand to travel than
  at any other point during <span class="no-break">the pandemic</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Most consumers are currently seeking inspiration and ideas, or actively are
  planning their next vacation<sup id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >—this is true even amongst those who may still be months away from feeling
  comfortable traveling. In fact, there’s more excitement to travel this spring
  than there has been at any point since the pandemic started, including last
  summer, when cabin fever first became a reality.<sup id="fnref:3"
    ><a href="#fn:3" rel="footnote">3</a></sup
  >
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <h3 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-b-1">
    When do you plan to take your first true vacation in a post-COVID world?
    <small class="no-break">(U.S. consumers)</small>
  </h3>
  <img
    width="1200"
    height="329"
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210513/When_vacation.png"
  />
</div>

<p>
  What we found is that, in general, U.S. travelers will return to vacationing
  sooner than international travelers, presumably because of later access to
  vaccinations in other countries.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
  However, in our research, we found that most (59%) Americans are not
  immediately ready to vacation within the next three months either, and nearly
  a third are actually waiting until 2022 to vacation.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9">
  <iframe
    width="560"
    height="315"
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2hekDuCBxCc"
    title="YouTube video player"
    frameborder="0"
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<p>
  We also evaluated several different travel audiences. We found that Mature
  travelers—or those 55 years or older—are the first audience to return to
  vacation travel,<sup id="fnref:4"><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup>
  presumably because they are the most likely audience to be fully vaccinated.
  However, they’re the <i>least</i> willing audience to visit large cities<sup
    id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >—making Mature travelers a more immediate, but less lucrative consumer target
  for travel and hospitality brands.
</p>
<p>
  Conversely, BIPOC travelers may be an important consumer target for these
  brands, as they’re more likely to return to vacationing sooner than white
  travelers and more comfortable visiting cities. Nearly three-quarters of BIPOC
  travelers plan to take their first vacation post-COVID by the end of 2021,
  compared to just 64% of white travelers.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <span class="color-grey">2.</span> There’s an opportunity to convert would-be
  international travelers in <span class="no-break">2021 + 2022</span>
</h2>
<p>
  In a typical year, Americans take some 19MM trips abroad.<sup id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >
  With restrictions still in place limiting U.S. travelers in many countries,
  and trepidation that many international destinations still face public health
  crises, many of those would-be international travelers will redirect their
  vacation planning efforts to U.S. destinations.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <span class="color-grey">3.</span> For many travelers, there’s a common
  motivation with their <span class="no-break">next vacation</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Perhaps it’s no surprise, but when asked <i>what</i> they’re looking to get
  out of their next vacation in a post-COVID environment, the majority (56%) of
  respondents said they’re looking to recharge.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    width="1200"
    height="329"
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210513/Motivation.png"
  />
</div>

<p>
  But it’s important to remember that different people have different
  motivations for their travel. Mature and white travelers were the most likely
  audiences to be seeking a recharge in their next vacation, while BIPOC and
  LGBTQ+ travelers are more diverse in their vacation motivations.<sup
    id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
  In fact, LGBTQ+ travelers are the most likely consumers to be seeking both
  excitement and exhilaration or opportunities to immerse themselves in new
  cultures in their first post-COVID vacation.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <span class="color-grey">4.</span> There’s growing willingness to return to
  cities—but the level varies greatly among
  <span class="no-break">traveler audiences</span>
</h2>
<img
  class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1"
  alt="Nomadland movie poster"
  width="2492"
  height="1184"
  src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210513/nomadland.jpg"
/>
<p>
  Over recent months, road trips became the new norm and
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rv-life-booms-during-the-pandemic/"
    >sales of RVs</a
  >
  and
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transpotainment-trends-buoy-flailing-motorcycle-sales-during-covid-19-pandemic-301213405.html"
    >motorcycles</a
  >
  surged. People welcomed the change, as road-tripping allowed for
  <i>some</i> sort of regional travel with one’s pod and got us out of the
  confines of our homes. For many, this trend wasn’t about taking a single trip,
  but represented a major shift in lifestyle. Hell, <i>Nomadland</i>, a quiet
  film that celebrated the solitude and remoteness of life on the road, won
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/entertainment/academy-awards-2021/index.html"
    >best picture this year</a
  >.
</p>
<p>
  The effect of this trend is that remote or rural travel destinations have
  fared much better in economic recovery than urban destinations.<sup
    id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >
  This shift to remote and rural destinations makes sense given people’s desire
  to avoid crowds, not to mention the common motivation to recharge. But for
  many destination and travel brands, it’s imperative that people return to
  cities, where most travel services live—like hotel rooms, restaurants,
  airports, and car rental services.
</p>
<p>
  With that in mind, we took a closer look at current perceptions of urban
  travel. We asked respondents, “During your next vacation, how willing are you
  to spend more time traveling and staying in a large city?” and gave them the
  following response options:
</p>
<ul class="line-list margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <li>
    Very willing—Urban travel is important to me and I plan to spend multiple
    nights in a city
  </li>
  <li>
    Willing—I’m open to using a city as a gateway for my travel to fly into/out
    of and potentially to stay a night or two
  </li>
  <li>
    Not at all willing—I’m not ready to visit a city yet and will not consider
    lodging options in a large city
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  Overall, we were pleased to see that people appear to be much more willing to
  visit and stay in U.S. cities on their next vacation. However, again, there
  are big differences in that level of willingness among different traveler
  audiences.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <h3 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-b-1">
    Willing or very willing to travel and stay in a large city
  </h3>
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210513/Willing_to_travel.png" />
</div>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <span class="color-grey">5.</span> Perceptions of destination readiness vary
  greatly—and it (partly) comes down <span class="no-break">to politics</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Following one of the most politically divisive periods in our country’s
  history, we believe that an individual’s political perceptions greatly affect
  vacation destination choice. At Camp + King, we love our home state of
  California. Our new office on Crissy Field literally sits in the shadow of the
  Golden Gate Bridge, one of California’s top tourist attractions. But we
  recognize that the brand of California has been adversely affected on the
  national stage by everything from very real crises, like wildfires and
  homelessness, to political grandstanding, like the petition to recall Governor
  Newsom. All of these things have legitimate impact on people’s vacation
  choices.
</p>
<p>
  To unpack that, we were interested to see how views toward the COVID
  vaccination affected travel perceptions. In our study, 20% of U.S. respondents
  said that they do not intend to get vaccinated.
  <i
    >(For reference, this is fairly well aligned to a recent NPR/Marist poll
    that found that 25% of Americans don’t intend to get vaccinated.<sup
      id="fnref:5"
      ><a href="#fn:5" rel="footnote">5</a></sup
    >)</i
  >
  We asked respondents if they were considering California as a possible
  destination for their next vacation. Of all travelers, 44% said yes, they were
  considering vacationing in California. Interestingly, among those travelers
  who do not intend to get vaccinated that number dropped 15 points to just 29%.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <h3 class="h-main h-size-3 margin-b-1 color-accent">
    <span class="">Hypothesis:</span> Political perceptions affect vacation
    destination choice
  </h3>
  <h4 class="h-main h-size-2 margin-b-1">
    “Are you considering California as a potential travel destination for your
    next vacation?”
  </h4>
  <img
    widht="1200"
    height="329"
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210513/Considering_California.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  We also believe that national media coverage about a destination, combined
  with its approach to COVID response affects people’s views as to whether or
  not that destination is ready to accept travelers. For instance, as of April,
  only about one-quarter of U.S. consumers believed that California was ready to
  receive their visits as a destination.<sup id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >
  In other words, most Americans assumed California isn’t “open,” whereas 40% of
  U.S. consumers believed that Florida was visitor-ready.<sup id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >
</p>
<p>
  Looking back, California took a more cautious approach to its pandemic
  response, while Florida took a more laissez faire approach, limiting
  restrictions that could hinder economic opportunity. Recently, Florida
  welcomed NFL fans for the Super Bowl, Daytona Bike Week motorcyclists, and
  college spring breakers, and—for better or worse—these depictions portrayed in
  national news media reinforced a perception of destination readiness for the
  state of Florida.
</p>
<p>
  Those perceptions have real business impact: by the end of 2020, Florida
  recovered 70% of its domestic airlift (the number of domestic passengers
  flying into the state) from pre-COVID levels, while California had recovered
  only 49% of its domestic airlift.<sup id="fnref:2"
    ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
  >
  So, it’s important for travel and hospitality brands to counter any perception
  that a destination isn’t ready for visitors.
</p>
<h2 class="h-main h-size-4 color-grey margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  What this all means for brands—immediate top-of-mind relevance
  <span class="no-break">is critical</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Even if most U.S. consumers don’t feel comfortable vacationing in the next
  three months, the majority are actively planning or seeking inspiration for
  their next trip <i>now</i>. Like, right now! And with a backlog of vacation
  days and a desire to tackle more activities or visit more places than they can
  pursue in a single vacation, the planning they’re doing now will ultimately
  influence their travel decisions for years to come.
</p>
<div class="footnotes">
  <ol>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:1">
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations"
        >CDC, COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States</a
      >, data accessed 5.11.2021
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:2">
      Visit California, Marketing Strategic Framework FY20-22, 2.17.2021
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:3">
      Visit California, COVID-19 Research Dashboard Report, March 2021
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:4">
      Camp + King, Travel Attitudes + California Tourism Perceptions Study,
      4.27.2021
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:5">
      NPR; Vaccine Refusal May Put Herd Immunity At Risk, Researchers Warn;
      4.7.2021
    </li>
  </ol>
</div>


Several pieces of luggage parachuting high over the earth

StrategyBlog DomesticVacation cover image

StrategyBlog DomesticVacation thumbnail image

Five things to know about how consumers are returning to domestic vacations

<p>
  Brands have a space on TikTok, but their roles on this platform are markedly
  different than on other platforms.
  <span class="highlight"
    >TikTok constantly reminds brands not to create ads, but to create
    <i>TikToks</i>.</span
  >
  When it says “make TikToks,” the platform is referring to making content that
  feels more personal, relatable, or inspiring, and less like an ad. The key to
  creating a successful brand social strategy on this platform is a combination
  of timeliness and the ability to embrace some of the unpolished, real, and raw
  ways that creators and audiences show up.
</p>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Entertainment or social media?
</h2>
<p>
  TikTok operates as an entertainment platform, not a social media platform. It
  connects creators and audiences by interests instead of by real-life social
  networks. The app doesn't scrub your contacts or other connections, but
  instead, uses an algorithm to respond to your interests with undiscovered
  content that is
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou">#ForYou</a>. This
  takes the cap off of discovery and allows brands to create content that
  reaches audiences that are excited to engage. Brands should craft their
  content to fit within the entertainment style of TikTok.
</p>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  How brands find their home on TikTok
</h2>
<p>
  Brands benefit by finding what part of TikTok they fit into when it comes to
  the many niche interests, fandoms, and life-hack corners of the app. Do you
  have a scrappy social media manager or know a popular creator that could be
  the face of the brand on social? Should your brand be tapping into DIY or
  enthusiast niches?
</p>
<p>
  For example, on the popular
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cleantok?lang=en"
    >#cleantok</a
  >
  tag, creators share the best tips for cleaning as well as oddly satisfying
  before and after dirty-to-clean transformations. It’s worth it for a cleaning
  supply brand’s social strategy team to explore whether or not content around
  their most popular and effective product has a place in this community.
</p>
<div style="max-width: 580px" class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-2">
  <div class="columns h-pad-1">
    <div class="col md-2-5 align-self-center">
      <figure>
        <img
          class="block-centered"
          style="max-width: 500px"
          src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210402/cleantok.png"
        />
      </figure>
    </div>
    <div class="col md-3-5 block-centered">
      <blockquote
        class="tiktok-embed"
        cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@homewithchloex/video/6924427233515801861"
        data-video-id="6924427233515801861"
        style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
      >
        <section>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="@homewithchloex"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/@homewithchloex"
            >@homewithchloex</a
          >
          <p>
            ✨ like and follow to stay ✨
            <a
              title="homewithchloex"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/homewithchloex"
              >##homewithchloex</a
            >
            <a
              title="cleantok"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cleantok"
              >##cleantok</a
            >
            <a
              title="satisfying"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/satisfying"
              >##satisfying</a
            >
            <a
              title="hincher"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hincher"
              >##hincher</a
            >
          </p>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="♬ ily (i love you baby) - Surf Mesa"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/ily-i-love-you-baby-6798329661525854210"
            >♬ ily (i love you baby) - Surf Mesa</a
          >
        </section>
      </blockquote>
      <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Another popular tag is
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokmademebuyit"
    >#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt</a
  >, where creators list products they are currently obsessing over. For brands
  with a product that increases the comfort of home life while many of us are
  still working, teaching, exercising and dining at home, it may be worthwhile
  to aim to be one of the items on those lists. Brands can insert themselves
  into these lineups by using the hashtag and creating content that demonstrates
  the product's convenience to inspire a purchase.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-2">
  <div class="columns h-pad-1">
    <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-t-1">
      <blockquote
        class="tiktok-embed"
        cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@briannaxliv/video/6872802248653606150"
        data-video-id="6872802248653606150"
        style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
      >
        <section>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="@briannaxliv"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/@briannaxliv"
            >@briannaxliv</a
          >
          <p>
            Target must-haves pt13! ✨ link in bio, use AT300 for 30%
            off🥰@therabreath
            <a
              title="therabreath"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/therabreath"
              >##therabreath</a
            >
            <a
              title="targetmusthaves"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/targetmusthaves"
              >##targetmusthaves</a
            >
            <a
              title="targethaul"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/targethaul"
              >##targethaul</a
            >
            <a
              title="targetfinds"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/targetfinds"
              >##targetfinds</a
            >
            <a
              title="tiktokmademebuyit"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokmademebuyit"
              >##tiktokmademebuyit</a
            >
          </p>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="♬ original sound - Brianna"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6872802200553392901"
            >♬ original sound - Brianna</a
          >
        </section>
      </blockquote>
      <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
    </div>
    <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-t-1">
      <blockquote
        class="tiktok-embed"
        cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@blinkbeauty/video/6921820991748361478"
        data-video-id="6921820991748361478"
        style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
      >
        <section>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="@blinkbeauty"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/@blinkbeauty"
            >@blinkbeauty</a
          >
          <p>
            <a
              title="tiktokmademebuyit"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokmademebuyit"
              >##tiktokmademebuyit</a
            >
            with @cortneydryden 😍 THAT MASCARA ✨
            <a
              title="drugstoremakeup"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/drugstoremakeup"
              >##drugstoremakeup</a
            >
            <a
              title="ultahaul"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ultahaul"
              >##ultahaul</a
            >
            <a title="nyx" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/nyx"
              >##nyx</a
            >
            <a
              title="nyxshineloud"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/nyxshineloud"
              >##nyxshineloud</a
            >
            <a
              title="makeuptutorial"
              target="_blank"
              href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/makeuptutorial"
              >##makeuptutorial</a
            >
          </p>
          <a
            target="_blank"
            title="♬ original sound - cortneydryden"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6911822184776354565"
            >♬ original sound - cortneydryden</a
          >
        </section>
      </blockquote>
      <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Brands that have done it right
</h2>
<p>
  Some stand out brands on the platform include Chipotle, Marc Jacobs and
  Arby’s.
</p>
<p>
  Chipotle not only has a habit of sharing TikToks from creators and brand
  loyalists, but it has also employed hashtag activations with its
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/chipotleroyalty?lang=en"
    >#ChipotleRoyalty</a
  >
  challenge. The challenge called for creators to battle it out over why their
  custom Chipotle order was superior. The hashtag currently has 78M views.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-2">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210402/chipotle_royalty.png" />
</figure>
<figure class="margin-b-2">
  <img
    style="border: 1px solid #eee"
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210402/how_it_works.png"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  Marc Jacobs had great success with TikTok for the launch of its new fragrance,
  “Perfect.” It partnered with creator Rickey Thompson, who used a custom sound
  and invited TikTokers to use the duet feature and tag content with
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/perfectasiam"
    >#PerfectAsIAm</a
  >. Entries included people reacting to his motivating and high energy
  personality that many have grown to know and love. The more duets, the more
  exposure for the launch. The hashtag currently has 10.2B views.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210402/perfect_as_i_am.png" />
</figure>
<p>
  When someone stole a display from an Arby’s location and sold it as a
  flatscreen TV, Arby’s got creative and documented an entire saga on TikTok.
  The unsuspecting television buyer made a TikTok, and Arby’s responded and
  negotiated how to get the sign back. This humor and fast-acting social
  strategy paid off -- the six videos Arby’s made on its account raked in over
  1M views. The TikTok creator’s original video has over 3.6M views.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-2 block-centered">
  <blockquote
    class="tiktok-embed"
    cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@arbys/video/6888327263226465541"
    data-video-id="6888327263226465541"
    style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
  >
    <section>
      <a target="_blank" title="@arbys" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@arbys"
        >@arbys</a
      >
      <p>
        <a title="duet" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/duet"
          >##duet</a
        >
        with @h1t1 Now everyone knows what you’ve done @h1t1 😂😂
        <a title="h1t1" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/h1t1"
          >##h1t1</a
        >
        <a
          title="arbystv"
          target="_blank"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/arbystv"
          >##arbystv</a
        >
        <a
          title="arbysmenu"
          target="_blank"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/arbysmenu"
          >##arbysmenu</a
        >
        <a
          title="arbysmenuscreen"
          target="_blank"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/arbysmenuscreen"
          >##arbysmenuscreen</a
        >
        <a title="arbys" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/arbys"
          >##arbys</a
        > <a title="fyp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp"
          >##fyp</a
        >
      </p>
      <a
        target="_blank"
        title="♬ h1t1 sound - john casterline"
        href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/h1t1-sound-6882484098397522694"
        >♬ h1t1 sound - john casterline</a
      >
    </section>
  </blockquote>
  <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
</div>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">Go forth and TikTok!</h2>
<p>
  Is your brand ready to get on TikTok now? Here are seven quick tips for
  thinking through your brand’s strategy:
</p>
<ol
  class="big-numbers margin-t-1 margin-b-1 margin-l-1 md-margin-l-3 margin-r-1"
  start="1"
>
  <li>Find a home within niche interests and communities</li>
  <li>Participate in and generate challenges that make sense for your brand</li>
  <li>Demonstrate your products placed in the life of audiences</li>
  <li>Use great hashtag strategy to get discovered by engaged audiences</li>
  <li>
    Don’t just drop in content from other platforms – master in-app features and
    tools
  </li>
  <li>Choose great sounds that are trending and/or clever and useful</li>
  <li>
    And most importantly… take off your cool and lean into the creator and
    influencer community
  </li>
</ol>
<p>
  Adopting these strategies and habits are key to navigating how to get brands
  to connect meaningfully with audiences on this platform. Building such
  connections leads to simplified and shortened funnels as well as growing brand
  excitement and loyalty.
</p>


A 5-card hand of playing cards with TikTok icons instead of regular suits.

StrategyBlog TiktokStrategy cover image

StrategyBlog TiktokStrategy Thumbnail image

  How Brands Can Craft a Successful Social Strategy for TikTok

<p>
  I make a LOT of ill-fated purchases because “someone on the internet said it
  was good”. I’m not immune to influencer marketing – I just purchased Moon
  toothpaste, thank you Kendall Jenner – but I am far more likely to buy a
  product <i>created</i> by an internet personality, not just sponsored by them.
  Many online celebrities are opting to create their own products instead of
  sponsoring someone else's, and as marketers, there is a lot to learn from
  them.
</p>
<p>Here are some of the influencer-made products that are working:</p>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Chamberlain Coffee by <span class="no-break"></span>Emma Chamberlain
</h2>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/chamberlain_stairs.jpg"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  Emma Chamberlain, a 19-year-old YouTuber from the Bay Area who built her
  personal brand largely around daily YouTube videos speaking candidly about her
  life, launched her own coffee brand in 2019. With videos like “Trying Every
  Coffee Shop in LA”, “Trying Viral Coffee Trends”, and “Which Coffee Chain is
  Best”, Chamberlain became somewhat of an expert on all things coffee. When she
  wasn’t reviewing coffee brands, she was always drinking, making, or buying a
  coffee instead, so a coffee company of her own seemed like a logical next
  step.
  <a target="_blank" href="https://chamberlaincoffee.com/"
    >Chamberlain Coffee</a
  >
  offers whole beans and coffee brewing bags that combine the convenience of
  instant coffee with the taste of fresh-brewed French press. The brand is
  bright, playful, funky, and has attracted the attention of both my 60 year old
  mother and me.
</p>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Huda Beauty by <span class="no-break">Huda Kattan</span>
</h2>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/huda1.png" />
</figure>
<p>
  Huda Kattan got her start by blogging about her experience as a celebrity
  makeup artist and has since amassed nearly 48 million Instagram followers and
  over 4 million subscribers on YouTube. Kattan can be found on almost every
  “most influential beauty blogger” list and posts makeup tutorials and beauty
  hacks, in addition to more personal, anecdotal videos. In 2013, Kattan founded
  <a target="_blank" href="https://hudabeauty.com/us/en_US/home">Huda Beauty</a
  >, a cosmetics line that now boasts over 140 products and first garnered
  attention after Kim Kardashian publicly donned her fake eyelashes.
</p>
<h2 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Mean Mugs by <span class="no-break">Cody Ko</span>
</h2>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/meanmugs1.jpg"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  <a target="_blank" href="https://buymeanmugs.com/">Mean Mugs</a> is an online
  store that offers a variety of mugs that feature popular Gen Z slang. Mean
  Mugs is co-owned by
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfp86n--4JvqKbunwSI2lYQ"
    >Cody Ko</a
  >, a comedian who got his start on Vine and eventually transitioned to
  YouTube, where he now creates social commentary about internet trends. The
  store is simple, to the point, and has just a fleeting mention of the owner,
  which makes it even more on-brand.
</p>
<h2
  class="centered lead-in lead-in-lg center-text color-black margin-t-4 margin-b-1"
>
  <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.5em"
    >What can we learn from <span class="no-break">these products?</span></span
  >
</h2>
<h3 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  The brands serve as an extension of
  <span class="no-break">the influencer</span>
</h3>
<p>
  While I know at the end of the day these products are money-making endeavors,
  the brands have an enticing realness I continue to be drawn to. These brands
  aren’t starting from scratch, they are an extension of the influencer
  themselves, and by attaching a product to an already established public
  persona, the personality of the influencer is automatically transferred to the
  brand. Chamberlain Coffee? Fun, bright, quirky, and inventive. Cody Ko’s Mean
  Mugs? Crude, witty, what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude. Huda Beauty?
  Authentic, tasteful and classy. The brand and influencer work in tandem,
  creating a shared personality that fosters goodwill and generates exposure for
  both.
</p>
<p>
  For some bigger brands this can happen organically, a result of true brand
  adoration. Tik Tok star Anna Sitar (@annaxsitar) rose to fame by posting
  videos of her Starbucks order every day and has since amassed over 8 million
  followers on Tik Tok alone. Known for her catchphrase “another day another
  starbies”, Sitar’s bubbly personality and magnetic attitude have become
  synonymous with Starbucks for many as a result of her daily videos.
</p>
<div class="block-centered" style="max-width: 580px">
  <div class="columns h-pad-1" >
    <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-t-1">
      <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/annax_starbies1.jpg" />
    </div>
    <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-t-1">
      <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/annax_starbies2.jpg" />
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<h3 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Influencer-brand consumers have a predisposition to trust
  <span class="no-break">the product</span>
</h3>
<p>
  People engaging with the influencer’s content have presumably already taken
  advice or recommendations from these personalities, and are predisposed to
  trust them. The brands aren’t presented as being made by experts, but rather
  people who spend a lot of time in the product category. Kattan has spent her
  entire career surrounded by makeup so she’s learned a thing or two about what
  makes a good cosmetic product. Emma Chamberlain built her identity around her
  caffeine addiction and often made coffee taste-test videos on her channel well
  before the creation of Chamberlain Coffee. Cody Ko has nailed the snarky humor
  the internet loves (think: Wendy’s Twitter).
</p>
<p>
  This industry-expert technique has been utilized by brands like SiriusXM who
  regularly feature segments hosted by popular artists of the moment. The
  artists aren’t radio hosts by trade but they’re able to curate playlists that
  resonate with audiences as a result of being knowledgeable about the music
  industry.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/24kgoldn.jpg" />
</figure>
<h3 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Products are seen more often and in an
  <span class="no-break">organic context</span>
</h3>
<p>
  The creation of these side companies shows genuine interest in the product and
  the work that goes into it, and speaks to the heart of the brand. In turn,
  influencers are able to showcase their brands more often and in more organic
  contexts than normal brand deals would be able to. If I see Kattan using her
  own palette in a video I’m probably not even registering the product
  placement. Cody Ko sipping out of a Mean Mug mid-video feels natural, like he
  probably has them laying around his house. Seeing Chamberlain Coffee bags in
  Emma Chamberlain’s kitchen confirms that she is probably drinking her own
  coffee even when the cameras are off. The creators of these companies actively
  using their own products shows they are proud of the work they’ve created.
  Additionally, these brands are able to legally evade the “promoted by” and
  “#ad” tags that can cause some audiences to tune out.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/huda_product.jpg" />
</figure>
<h3 class="lg color-accent margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Brands embrace missteps and invite consumers behind
  <span class="no-break">the curtain</span>
</h3>
<p>
  Emma Chamberlain launched and then re-launched Chamberlain Coffee, giving it a
  complete branding overhaul to better match her personality and love of the
  product. Chamberlain was very vocal about wanting the product to truly be the
  best version of itself and felt the original branding didn’t do the product
  justice, openly talking about the process in YouTube videos and interviews.
  Brands publicly embracing their failings like this can cause their missteps to
  seem almost endearing and only strengthen fans allegiance to them.
</p>
<p>
  On a more macro-scale, Aerie, an offshoot of the clothing brand American
  Eagle, implemented the still-running #aeriereal campaign in 2014, which
  eliminated retouching of models and used “real girls” instead of super models.
  This campaign successfully acknowledged the brand’s previous shortcomings of
  conforming to impossible beauty standards, while promising to promote a more
  authentic image in the future.
</p>
<div class="columns h-pad-1">
  <figure class="col col-left md-1-2 margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
    <img
      src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/chamberlain_before.jpg"
    />
    <figcaption class="image-caption centered">Old branding</figcaption>
  </figure>
  <figure class="col col-left md-1-2 margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
    <img
      src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20210315/chamberlain_after.jpg"
    />
    <figcaption class="image-caption centered">New branding</figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>
<p>
  Not every small brand is destined for greatness. In fact, the success of many
  could be chalked up to pandemic-induced boredom - at least that is how I ended
  up with a David Dobrik
  <a target="_blank" href="https://100kpuzzle.com/">puzzle</a>. There are also a
  growing number of influencer-founded companies that have the potential to
  change the market. The brains behind these companies have amassed millions of
  fans on social platforms before they even had products to offer, so they might
  be worth listening to.
</p>


StrategyBlog Influencer cover image

StrategyBlog Influencer thumbnail image

How Influencer-Made Brands are Changing the Sponsored Content Landscape 

StrategyBlog brandcharacter cover image

StrategyBlog brandcharacter thumbnail image

Celebrating Brand Characters

<p>
  I remember a time years ago when staying up-to-date on trends and culture was
  easy. I was a social-savvy millennial and simply spending much of my time on
  the internet was enough to spot new trends, consistently consume the latest
  viral content and ultimately, inform my clients with thorough POVs on what was
  relevant. As adulthood responsibilities took over and my media diet changed,
  I’ve become far less cool and have to work harder to keep up with the latest
  in culture, entertainment, and business. With the vastness of the internet
  today and the proliferation of content, sources, and platforms, my secret
  weapon has become my email newsletter strategy.
</p>
<p>
  I let experts curate the content and everything is served directly to my inbox
  in the form of links and brief descriptions, allowing me to digest the latest
  and click through to go deeper on what I choose. I strive to protect time
  every day to get through my newsletters instead of sending them straight to
  the trash in an effort to clear my inbox. Staying consistent with this
  requires you to be protective of what newsletters get your loyalty. When
  crafting your newsletter strategy, liberally give out your email address to
  try new ones but be a savage with the unsubscribe button if you’re not finding
  the content useful. Here are the newsletters that have earned their place in
  my inbox by giving me everything I need to stay relevant and nothing I don’t.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ypulse.com/sign-up/">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1PGf0UwTRH2VPd6a4xpD4V/8d6135fcd6c1159967a972ad3aae6bb4/blog_2021-02-05_ypulse_1200x280.jpg"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="YPulse"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  As a leading authority on Gen Z and Millennials: today's tweens, teens,
  college students, young adults, and young parents, YPulse offers up a daily
  email that is a good mix of interesting stats on the demographic and what’s
  resonating with them lately.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigspaceship.com/internet-brunch">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/79k3lSEfn1CSfAO1p2pre8/5cf5cd6dbc803ab9c228c2e254c92ac5/blog_2021-02-05_bigspaceship_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Internet Brunch"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  From the folks at Big Spaceship, this daily email features a list of links to
  the latest viral content on social, as well as pop culture events of the day.
  Arguably my favorite because there’s always a nugget or two that will make me
  laugh.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://intelligence.wundermanthompson.com/">
    <figure>
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2lz3mozdM4kWKtnDU61svp/c54bd963c138d9c15bfaca23ae801376/.blog_2021-02-05_wunderman_1200x280-imageoptim.png"
        width="1200"
        height="280"
        alt="Wunderman Thompson Intelligence Brief"
      />
      <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
        (scroll to bottom for sign up link)
      </figcaption>
    </figure>
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  The intelligence unit for Wunderman Thompson offers up provocative thinking
  that focuses on identifying shifts in the global zeitgeist. Their weekly email
  highlights fascinating, emerging topics and trends with digestible examples,
  typically ones I haven’t seen featured elsewhere yet.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a
    href="https://news.futureparty.com/t/t-l-mldddty-wljhiilp-s/"
    target="_blank"
  >
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6MDhITrvxAg8pm3iPWDhw3/31e72f61db5484dacb5aa8bbc20bc2e8/blog_2021-02-05_futureparty_1200x280.jpg"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Future Party"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  This daily email features a robust digest of insights into pop culture,
  entertainment and business. They start with links to viral content across
  social platforms, feature 2-3 deeper dives on a trend or category, and wrap up
  each email with a curation of links to interesting stories from around the
  web.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://cassandra.co/daily">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7sdsVIZpRHCtFCaWkMVgxZ/4c426313037d90a286e72504932fdae9/blog_2021-02-05_cassandra_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Cassandra Daily"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  This intelligence consultancy on Millennials and Gen Z chooses one cultural
  trend per day and elaborates on it with a handful of relevant links and
  examples.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://us3.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=595c64b70aaa2b7b17d17486b&id=579476d426"
  >
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7gCBHcMRE5HkclFTyK20bx/a04e3de28a362852a5315d2259e4fa42/blog_2021-02-05_publicannouncement_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Public Announcement"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  A random but thoughtful curation of purely interesting links around the web
  across topics.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://thehustle.co/?ref=7b33116417">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2WjfkwxqoggUpdImvvdkJX/b088d1c9b722462d3d1f71078a681c8b/blog_2021-02-05_thehustle_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="The Hustle"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  A daily newsletter with over 1.5 million subscribers featuring commentary and
  analysis on the latest in business and tech. They’ve stood out and grown
  quickly with their bold and authentic voice. Every Sunday, they offer up a
  long-form deep dive into one category or topic.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://morningbrew.com/marketing/r/?kid=fd7cb46f">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3UZ6RMJ4j7N6CAJRrIlLWl/be556cab8ae38524158d019516fbfca5/blog_2021-02-05_marketingbrew_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Marketing Brew"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  Delivered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Marketing Brew is a
  comprehensive, more traditional marketing newsletter featuring news about
  platforms, trending campaigns, and links to case studies and tactical tips.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.contagious.com/newsletter">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5XqFoEq5vbCSB4N8ZbA1yo/a3a46b61991eb33a1e0eb42866a03b3c/blog_2021-02-05_contagious_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Contagious"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  Sent weekly, Contagious’ email is a source of inspiration featuring insights
  into great campaigns from around the world.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/pages/newsletters">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4PJO19HoS3KZCx25E5h8N5/01bf26d29ed3555fed46b0af945571a8/blog_2021-02-05_vox_1200x280.png"
      width="1200"
      height="280"
      alt="Vox: The Goods"
    />
  </a>
</h2>
<p>
  A newsletter on the consumer economy—what we buy, why we buy it, and why it
  all matters—written with Vox’s trademark consumer-friendly language and pop
  culture savvy with some really excellent investigative journalism.
</p>
<hr class="divider margin-t-4 margin-b-4" />
<p>
  If you’ve made it this far and are still grumbling at the thought of adding
  more to your inbox, I hear you and will offer up one more tip. Most email
  clients have a “rule” feature in which you can move emails from defined
  senders straight to a seperate folder, bypassing your inbox, for you to read
  later. Here are instructions for
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90550712/how-to-train-gmail-tabs"
    >Gmail</a
  >,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-c24f5dea-9465-4df4-ad17-a50704d66c59"
    >Outlook</a
  >
  and
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/set-up-filtering-rules-mm6b1a3f8a/icloud"
    >Apple Mail</a
  >. I hope this list makes you a little smarter and a little less lost when a
  teenager in your life is suddenly
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/sea-shanty-tiktok-whats-the-deal-with-the-shanty-trend.html"
    >into Sea Shanties</a
  >.
</p>


StrategyBlog SecretWeapon cover image

StrategyBlog SecretWeapon thumbnail image

Make these 10 eNewsletters Your Secret Weapon for Staying in the Know

<p>
  As we approach the close of 2020 there’s definitely quite a bit to digest.
  From a social media perspective, the pandemic unearthed a bevy of new
  learnings for brands--many of which provide a blueprint for how brands should
  approach 2021. From platform innovation to consumer learnings, 2020 has been a
  year of pivoting by both brands and social media platforms alike. As an agency
  we’ve been on the front lines, advising our clients in the moment on what
  steps set up the best chance for success. In all my years working in the
  social space, I’ve never seen a year this impactful. Now that the year is
  coming to an end, we can take a look at some of the trends that are certain to
  make an impact in 2021.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  Make Way For TikTok
</h2>
<p>
  TikTok has been one of the heroes of 2020. The platform catapulted itself to
  the forefront of relevancy with a mixture of viral moments, product
  innovation, and consumer targeting. One thing for brands to keep a definite
  eye on for next year is how to authentically integrate TikTok into their
  overall strategy. Brands that are succeeding on the platform have taken a more
  user-friendly approach, rather than that of traditional advertising. Simply
  handing someone a camera and telling them to “go create” seems to be the best
  course of action. Sam’s Club is one of a few brands that’s made major strides.
  They’ve promoted authenticity by choosing to highlight their products on the
  platform through culturally relevant memes and challenges.
</p>
<div class="tiktoks h-pad-1 cols margin-b-1 margin-t-1">
  <style>
    .tiktoks {
      display: flex;
      justify-content: center;
      flex-wrap: wrap;
    }
  </style>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub/video/6819026908244659461"
      data-video-id="6819026908244659461"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@samsclub"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub"
          >@samsclub</a
        >
        <p>
          Cedric Clark leads more than 85 of our clubs. But we think he would
          rather be CEO of hand washing 🧼 @norry_96
          <a
            title="samsclub"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/samsclub"
            >#samsclub</a
          >
          <a
            title="goingpro"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goingpro"
            >#goingpro</a
          >
          <a title="fyp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp"
            >#fyp</a
          >
          <a
            title="clean"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/clean"
            >#clean</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ original sound - Sam’s Club"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6818350366048914181"
          >♬ original sound - Sam’s Club</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub/video/6872438899881331974"
      data-video-id="6872438899881331974"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@samsclub"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub"
          >@samsclub</a
        >
        <p>
          Oh, so you’re saying you gotta work out on this stuff? 🏋️😂
          <a
            title="samsclub"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/samsclub"
            >#samsclub</a
          >
          <a
            title="whatspoppin"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/whatspoppin"
            >#whatspoppin</a
          >
          <a
            title="boostyourmood"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/boostyourmood"
            >#boostyourmood</a
          >
          <a
            title="protein"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/protein"
            >#protein</a
          >
          <a
            title="membersmark"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/membersmark"
            >#membersmark</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ original sound - Sam’s Club"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6872438854226316037"
          >♬ original sound - Sam’s Club</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <blockquote
      class="tiktok-embed"
      cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub/video/6852778144701746438"
      data-video-id="6852778144701746438"
      style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px"
    >
      <section>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="@samsclub"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/@samsclub"
          >@samsclub</a
        >
        <p>
          🌭🌭🌭
          <a
            title="todayyearsold"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/todayyearsold"
            >#todayyearsold</a
          >
          <a
            title="samsclub"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/samsclub"
            >#samsclub</a
          >
          <a
            title="membersmark"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/membersmark"
            >#membersmark</a
          >
          <a
            title="grilling"
            target="_blank"
            href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/grilling"
            >#grilling</a
          >
        </p>
        <a
          target="_blank"
          title="♬ Swear By It - Clutch"
          href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Swear-By-It-6777237779509151746"
          >♬ Swear By It - Clutch</a
        >
      </section>
    </blockquote>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  The platform also encompasses all walks of life, Tiktok actually saw a major
  shift from a younger audience to a more seasoned one. 43% of its active users
  are between the ages of 25 – 54.
</p>
<figure class="h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="671"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6ZByEn3PjdHk7JzlAuGUir/783754a58b10fcf73f7e27921ae0b83d/blog_2020-12-18_tiktok-ages_1480x671.png"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  It’s also taken the reins as the most engaged platform. With an average
  engagement rate of 9%, the platform is vastly outperforming other major
  platforms. This includes Instagram, traditionally the engagement leader
  amongst platforms. In response, IG has now incorporated similar technology
  with the release of IG Reels.
</p>
<figure
  style="max-width: 500px"
  class="h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered"
>
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="925"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1KiRPhZgtzb7WbnP4hMkrq/73360a07a4904e50e3cff843fba8205a/blog_2020-12-18_engagement-by-platform_1480x925.png"
  />
</figure>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  GO LIVE… or Not at ALL
</h2>
<p>
  Expect to see way more live content in 2021! Live streaming is an avenue that
  will definitely be explored by brands in the coming year. Users share comments
  and likes that a brand can directly respond to in real time. According to
  Stacey McLachlan’s hootsuite article,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-live-streaming/"
    >The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Live Streaming in 2020</a
  >, “There’s an urgency to a live post that demands attention. A recent study
  showed that 80% of audiences would
  rather watch a livestream than read a blog post. In an age of
  everything-on-demand, live TV broadcasts are still must-see-TV.”
</p>
<figure
  style="max-width: 410px"
  class="h-pad-0 margin-t-1 margin-b-2 block-centered"
>
  <img
    width="1200"
    height="1228"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4ljFKEmHWcx5MlRoVJuoEz/e749dd68ccf596f16bc8626884bc4f69/blog_2020-12-18_live-reactions_1200x1228.jpg"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  This is a level of excitement that brands should be capitalizing on, as
  real-time content has become the norm amongst desired media for consumers.
  There’s also major interest in behind the scenes content from brand audiences.
  According to McLachlanan, 87% would prefer to watch more videos online if it
  means more access to bts content. Another indication of the value here is the
  fact that all of the major platforms have adopted it. Facebook, Twitter,
  Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube all possess live streaming capabilities.
  Furthermore, as a result of on-site shopping activations becoming obsolete in
  2020, livestream shopping events<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://coresight.com/research/livestreaming-e-commerce-takes-off-in-the-us/"
  >
  </a
  >are now predicted to generate $25 billion in sales by 2023. So as you’re
  building out those content calendars for 2021, gather some listening around
  what consumers are saying or asking about your brand and that will unlock some
  easy ideas on what types of live content should be produced.
</p>
<figure class="h-pad-0 margin-t-2">
  <img
    width="2374"
    height="1334"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3Gs8uipeOwWnWSdD3g9caH/9ace7e519bb5033fec57acefdc8f3d41/blog_2020-12-18_fb-live_2374x1334.jpg
"
  />
</figure>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  Carousels Crowned King
</h2>
<p>
  Carousel posts have traditionally been some of the most engaging and impactful
  pieces of content of brand social strategies. Instagram has long seen these
  assets perform at high levels as their sole purpose has been to invite
  engagement. According to an SE Journal article by Matt Southern, a<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/instagram-carousels/379311/#close"
  >
    study of 22 million IG posts finds Carousels are the most engaging</a
  >
  type of post. Carousels have an average engagement rate per post of 1.92%,
  compared to 1.74% for images and 1.45% for videos. The engagement rate per
  post goes over 2% when all 10 carousel slides are used. Southern reports that
  in 2017, 3 to 4% of Instagram content consisted of carousel posts, compared to
  19% in July 2020. We expect to see this trend continue significantly in 2021.
  Not only are brands starting to catch on but more platforms have begun
  producing and promoting their own carousel capabilities.
</p>
<figure
  style="max-width: 500px"
  class="h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered"
>
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="751"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5rz6CAK3Ew8MjWljPGOSER/098183be4c2122418a1d00f076a95405/blog_2020-12-18_engagement-by-type_1480x751.png"
  />
</figure>
<p>
  Twitter has jumped head first into the carousel game, so you can see these
  engagement numbers continue to climb. Twitter is hands down the most
  conversation-and story-led platform of the bunch. Combine this with an asset
  that has already proven to be one of the industry’s most successful, with a
  usage rate that continues to rise, and you have a recipe for high impact
  social marketing. Carousels allow brands to showcase various products,
  highlight specific features, or tell a brand story that develops across 2-6
  Carousel cards. With this type of impact available in one single social post,
  brands should integrate a regular carousel cadence across all appropriate
  channels.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-2" style="max-width: 500px">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      Air Force 1 is a legend built from the street up.<a
        href="https://t.co/7T8rqlrJwK"
        >https://t.co/7T8rqlrJwK</a
      >
    </p>
    &mdash; Nike (@Nike)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/Nike/status/1297960912675119104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >August 24, 2020</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  A Game of Adjustments
</h2>
<p>
  2020 took us on a roller coaster ride of restrictions, pivots and key
  learnings. Those who made adjustments to the new landscape have succeeded.
  While those who didn’t have faltered. As we head into the New Year, we all
  need to come to terms that this rapid pace of change is going to continue, so
  the best course of action has to be to continuously ADAPT!
</p>
<script
  async
  src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
  charset="utf-8"
></script>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>


blog 2020-12-18 cover-image

Unlocking the Trends 2021 Could Bring

blog 2020-12-18 thumbnail

Social Media Keys

<div class="note margin-b-2 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <p>
    Camp + King wanted to know more about how alcohol brands are reaching Gen Z.
    Who better to help us out with this than a college student? We threw our
    (legal, 22 year-old) summer strategy intern, Emma Blackburn, at the task and
    here she shares her top insights with us on the + blog.
  </p>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  We want more than just a drink
</h2>
<p>
  With so many competing alcohol companies, it has become increasingly difficult
  for brands to differentiate themselves on packed shelves. I am guilty of
  gravitating towards the brightest bottles or the flashiest deals, but the
  brands that stick with me are the ones that keep me engaged beyond the point
  of purchase. Several brands have figured out how to talk to their consumers
  not just from a purchasing perspective but in a way that makes the consumer
  feel like the brand is more than just a drink. Here are a few of my favorites:
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  Absolut Vodka and Patrón Tequila:
  <span class="no-break">Authentic Activism</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Activism and brand participation in cultural events is important in any
  industry, but many companies have taken heat for appearing to only participate
  out of due diligence, not a genuine interest in the cause. Companies often try
  to please the widest possible audience which results in mass participation
  from brands for all causes: rainbow logos during Pride, blackout logos during
  Black History Month, etc. Absolut Vodka has chosen to focus their effort on
  the LGBTQ+ community year round, establishing themselves more than a
  fair-weather supporter.
</p>
<p>
  Well-known for their limited edition bottle designs, Absolut was the first
  spirit brand to feature a rainbow flag bottle which is available to purchase
  all year. Absolut has continuously used its platform to give a voice to the
  LGBTQ+ community rather than switching around to relevant trends which has
  given the company’s efforts legitimacy.
</p>
<figure class="cols h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/EIy8pymvt5rYIxClCeo9b/a3663a67245a6bcc3cfd1735a74f58d5/blog_2020-12-08_absolut_950x475.jpg"
    width="950"
    height="475"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">Source: Absolut Vodka</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  Similarly, Patrón Tequila has carefully chosen what events to commemorate in
  their limited edition bottles. As a company that prides itself on heritage and
  authenticity, Patrón has limited run cultural tins featuring imagery from
  different countries and cultures. The heritage collections correspond with the
  overall brand identity Patrón has already established so the alignment doesn’t
  feel forced.
</p>
<figure
  style="max-width: 380px"
  class="cols h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-1 block-centered"
>
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4vIY3SOY6AQqsG1TE3e2Rn/e6e7df4c18e7191d2e4fab9eaa3ebd67/blog_2020-12-08_patron_392x514.png"
    width="392"
    height="514"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">Source: Patrón Tequila</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  Jack Daniels: Branding a <span class="no-break">Culture + Style</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Jack Daniels has capitalized on the popularity and appeal of their logo. The
  Jack Daniels’ website directs customers to an online merchandise store
  featuring t-shirts, tank tops, hats and other branded items. The iconic label
  and branding allows the company to be relevant and top of mind for people who
  aren’t even consuming the product.
  <i
    >Even as a twenty-something college student who doesn’t drink whiskey, I
    have a shirt emblazoned with the Jack Daniels’ logo that I wear proudly. </i
  >Jack Daniels has successfully created a drink people enjoy, but more
  importantly a brand that people want to associate themselves with. By offering
  an in-depth character story behind Jack Daniels and creating an appealing and
  brandable logo, Jack Daniels has created a brand identity bigger than whiskey.
</p>
<figure
  style="max-width: 380px"
  class="cols h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-1 block-centered"
>
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5Ps9hY9PuSnh2rdwpjOabB/e9335951c8a8a11cfb555223a6c4f2dd/blog_2020-12-08_jack_daniels_shirt_555x555.webp"
    width="555"
    height="555"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Source:
    <a href="https://the-selvedge-yard.myshopify.com/collections/all-t-shirts/products/a-lucky-jack-daniels-whiskey-crew-tee-t-shirt-vintage-black-womens" target="_blank"
      >The Selvedge Yard</a
    >
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  Fort Point Beer Company: Leaning into
  <span class="no-break">Local Culture</span>
</h2>
<p>
  Fort Point Beer Company has found a way to stand out in a sea of beer
  companies by giving a nod to its birthplace – the city of San Francisco. The
  packaging depicts line drawings of the Bay Area and the names of the beers are
  references to Northern California or the makers themselves.
</p>
<p>
  By aligning itself with a city and basing much of its identity on being local,
  Fort Point has created a community of devout fans that see themselves in their
  drink of choice. Many seemingly independent craft beers are actually owned by
  the big corporations and their attempt at small town charm comes across as
  kitschy. As an independent beer company, Fort Point is able to personalize
  their products and social feed to a particular region in a way a big
  conglomerate never could. The Bay-Area-specific branding makes consumers feel
  like they are being seen by the company and forges a bond bigger corporations
  could not maintain. Fort Point Beer Company is down to earth, unique and feels
  like an old friend, not a corporation.
</p>
<figure class="cols h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1fo43gulr87CEbnIYSaLgt/43d8a1581279c5530bf8b90feb0981e4/blog_2020-12-08_fp_brewery_878x878.jpg"
      width="878"
      height="878"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6LgbIONpTVXr4MSGbPrBwY/d1be26819814d6854541e1ad7f67df6d/blog_2020-12-08_fp_pack_1194x1194.jpg"
      width="1194"
      height="1194"
    />
  </div>
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Source: Fort Point Beer Company
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-accent">
  My drink = me
</h2>
<p>
  People connect to companies that share messages that resonate with them, and
  that’s what makes these brands so effective. Social causes invoke a feeling of
  being heard, good branding makes people feel like part of a community, and
  personalization of local products gives people a sense of local pride.
  Consumers may choose a flashy brand once but they are looking for products
  that make them feel like they belong for the long term.
</p>


blog 2020-12-08 cover-image 4760x2160

Alcohol Brands Successfully Reaching Us

blog 2020-12-08 thumbnail 1200x630

The Voice of Gen Z

<p>
  If you watch the <i>Great British Baking Show</i>, then you’ve probably
  learned a few things about baking. Like, don’t overwork the dough. Taste is
  more important than looks. And whatever you do, don’t underbake it. The
  series, known as <i>The Great British Bake Off</i> in the UK, is filled with
  kitchen wisdom.
</p>
<p>
  With 100+ episodes and counting, it’s also a binge watcher’s ticket. Now in
  its 11th year, the series is so popular that it has spawned a string of
  spinoffs, including <i>The Great British Sewing Bee</i> and
  <i>The Great Pottery Throw Down. </i>There’s also <i>Haute Dog,</i> where
  groomers compete to style the best doggy hairdos.
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7qsgWLiLhBqnPCZ5I2CkHG/ef9773d740a8065035d5f25206dc33f3/blog_2020-11-12_gbbs_cast.jpg"
    width="1920"
    height="841"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Cast of the Great British Baking Show, Series 11
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  If you don’t follow the series, the premise is simple. Every week, a group of
  amateur bakers compete in three challenges. The judges select a weekly winner,
  called the ‘Star Baker,’ and they also eliminate a contestant. In the final
  episode, the remaining bakers compete to be crowned the UK’s ‘Best Amateur
  Baker.’ In addition to baking, there’s funny banter, plenty of b-roll, and
  just the right amount of tension to keep you glued to the screen.
</p>
<h2
  style="max-width: 15em"
  class="margin-b-3 margin-t-3 color-accent lead-in lead-in-xlg block-centered centered"
>
  Every baking challenge starts with a brief
</h2>
<p>
  Watching the show, you might notice similarities between the baking
  challenges, and making creative work at an agency. For example, the beginning
  of every challenge starts with a brief. A brief might say, “Make 24 yeasted
  buns.”
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-2-3 block-centered">
  <img
    alt="An image of a brief with an illustration of buns. Text: Brief - 12 Yeasted Buns. Ingredients – Flour, Yeast, Milk, Salt, Butter"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3ybuUyBDSO9u4FOCCaSkRU/aeed3693d88f33df73c07ee378e7de65/blog_2020-11-12_brief.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="1305"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Bun illustration by long-time <i>GBBO</i> illustrator Tom Hovey.
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  Sometimes the brief is filled with useful information, like a list of
  ingredients, and directions for combining them. But sometimes the brief – aka
  the recipe – has almost no information to go on. When this happens, the bakers
  are left to their own devices, relying on their skills and creativity to
  figure it out.
</p>
<p>
  If this is starting to sound familiar, the parallels don’t end there. As fans
  know, it’s not usually the recipes that cause trouble. More often, it’s the
  bakers who are their own worst enemies. Take Chocolate Week, from the fourth
  episode in the new season. In the first round, known as the
  <i>Signature Bake</i>, the bakers were tasked with making chocolate brownies,
  a deceptively simple assignment.
</p>
<h2
  style="max-width: 15em"
  class="margin-b-3 margin-t-3 color-accent lead-in lead-in-xlg block-centered centered"
>
  The brief went like this:
</h2>
<p>
  “Make a batch of 18 chocolate brownies. You can use any type of chocolate you
  like, and you can use as many additional flavors as you like, but the judges
  will be looking for that nice fudgy texture.” Sounds easy enough. But
  unfortunately, the bakers let their creative egos get in the way. Instead of
  solving the request, which was “18 chocolate brownies with ‘that nice fudgy
  texture,’” most of the bakers only heard, “you can use as many additional
  flavors as you like.”
</p>
<p>
  So began the race to reinvent the brownie with only 90 minutes to spare. When
  the baking was over, the judges were shaking their heads. Phrases like “it’s a
  mess,” “the flavors overpower the chocolate,” “it’s not your best work,” and
  the pointed “it’s not a brownie,” were used more than once.
</p>
<h2
  style="max-width: 15em"
  class="margin-b-3 margin-t-3 color-accent lead-in lead-in-xlg block-centered centered"
>
  The challenge played out like a disastrous creative presentation
</h2>
<p>
  In an effort to impress the judges with innovative flavors, the bakers missed
  the point. Their creative was all style and no substance. And because some
  bakers complicated the brief, they ran out of time for finishing touches.
  Meaning their brownies not only looked incomplete - they were underbaked!
  Which is perhaps the most mortal baking sin on the show (the other being a
  ‘soggy bottom,’ according to judge Mary Berry).
</p>
<figure class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/63Zogkz9EthNBAtCrmKZPj/3e1d8ca7944e8794a515ba0b1b09783f/blog_2020-11-12_brownie-judging.jpg"
    width="1920"
    height="1080"
  />
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith judge the creative on the show
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  Overall, the judges were not pleased. They had asked for creativity, but not
  at the expense of the objective. As Paul Hollywood said, this was “about going
  back to basics. If you can’t produce a decent chocolate brownie, there’s going
  to be problems.” Even Peter, the contestant who is most skilled in the science
  of baking, and the baker most capable of balancing creativity with restraint,
  tried to combine too many ingredients. His ‘Upside Down Brownies’ made with
  dates, figs, cinnamon, and pistachios, were judged “different and risky, but
  just okay.”
</p>
<h2
  style="max-width: 11em"
  class="margin-b-3 margin-t-3 color-accent lead-in lead-in-xlg block-centered centered"
>
  The feedback <span class="no-break">sounded familiar</span>
</h2>
<p>
  The bakers were so off the mark, that it soured the judges for the next two
  rounds. Anyone who works in advertising is familiar with this phenomenon.
  Fortunately, the events during Chocolate Week are an extreme example.
  Typically, the bakers do better.
</p>
<p>
  Over time, you start to notice the trends that set the best bakers apart. They
  have ambitious ideas that don’t outpace their abilities. They adapt when
  things go sideways. They don’t lose sight of the brief. And importantly, they
  know how to manage their time. After all, what good is a concept if it comes
  out of the oven half-baked?
</p>
<figure class="cols h-pad-0 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2IqoELzENLfzSSrWydQZnW/07dd8680639a71f270410ccc7933d214/blog_2020-11-12_hovey_kim-joy.jpg"
      width="1280"
      height="900"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1sVcUu2GV4tDRFLzduG0Zn/728b915692460a8e1b8fe0e8c18ab548/blog_2020-11-12_hovey_frances.jpg"
      width="1280"
      height="900"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1ygeAmX7SeShiKzvBgkBzX/d99c865d518c968b49802e4090bbaf85/blog_2020-11-12_hovey_benjamin.jpg"
      width="1280"
      height="900"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/WAXd2c3Z5DhqWro0pLtgV/dd8a628c63eb12b98716167812003308/blog_2020-11-12_hovey_rahul.jpg"
      width="1280"
      height="900"
    />
  </div>
  <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
    Examples of the show’s concept artwork by illustrator Tom Hovey
  </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
  Contestants like Nadiya Hussain, the winner of Season 3, proved repeatedly
  that a simple idea, cleverly executed, could beat flashier efforts. Her ‘Soda
  Pop Cheesecake’ is a perfect example. And Paul Jagger’s ‘King of the Jungle’
  shows what is possible when a baker embraces the limitations of a brief. Made
  entirely of bread, it received the first special commendation ever given on
  the show.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2 margin-b-1">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2QTcMyRdIzoyDGj7XbT5nn/dd7c710555df54a38422286e1a50dfed/blog_2020-11-12_soda-pop-cake.jpg"
        width="345"
        height="345"
      />
      <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
        Nadiya’s ‘Soda Pop Cheesecake’ with three layers
      </figcaption>
    </figure>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <figure class="">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/ozcL6FVwnOz2ZTQQgfGGI/b272f67f80386c37286f3033ae0141a6/blog_2020-11-12_lion-bread.jpg"
        width="686"
        height="686"
      />
      <figcaption class="image-caption centered">
        Paul’s ‘King of the Jungle’
      </figcaption>
    </figure>
  </div>
</div>
<h2
  style="max-width: 14em"
  class="margin-b-3 margin-t-3 color-accent lead-in lead-in-xlg block-centered centered"
>
  The talent is what makes the series so great
</h2>
<p>
  Every week, the bakers face a new set of challenges. The briefs are hard to
  solve. The judges are tough and informed. And the timelines are down to the
  wire. The pressure is high and the bakers can never be sure what will come out
  of the oven. Like advertising, they have to trust their skills and creative
  instincts. Sometimes they watch as their ideas crumble. But sometimes, they
  win Star Baker of the week.
</p>


blog 2020-11-12 header

What <i>The Great British Baking Show</i> can remind us about making ads

blog 2020-11-12 thumbnail

Don’t Underbake It

<p>
  It’s a bewildering time in the information worker world. The ability to safely
  return to the office is (hopefully) on the horizon, but we’re not sure when.
  Business leaders are being forced to make real-time decisions about the future
  of their “office” with what feels like insufficient data.
</p>
<p>
  Recently, some major corporations put their stake in the ground on different
  sides of the aisle. Pinterest
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Pinterest-terminate-SF-office-lease-88-Bluxome-15525421.php"
    >paid $90 million</a
  >
  to terminate a new lease obligation to better support a more distributed
  workforce. Bloomberg is reportedly
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/09/12/covid-19-has-forced-a-radical-shift-in-working-habits?utm_campaign=io12_cb&utm_medium=social-paid&utm_source=instagram&utm_term=lal-loy-10"
    >paying people to return to their London office</a
  >
  with a £55 a day stipend. Publicis CEO Arthur Sadouan clearly stated he
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/356373/sadoun-publicis-will-not-be-a-zoom-company.html"
    >doesn’t want to be a “Zoom Company.”</a
  >
  And
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/tech/google-work-from-home-extension/index.html"
    >Google</a
  >
  is one of many major tech companies where employees will work from home until
  July 2021.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 color-accent lead-in lead-in-lg">Our Take</h2>
<h3 class="margin-t-1 lg">Before Zoom Ruled Our Lives</h3>
<p>
  Pre-COVID, Camp + King was not a big believer of WFH. Like most agencies, we
  prided ourselves on work derived from in-person collaboration. We flourished
  in serendipitous hallway conversations, strategizing on mute during a client
  call, reviewing creative taped to a wall, and debating
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcaq1nZl0Ah/"
    >Roger’s newest ripped jeans</a
  >. When someone asked me if Camp + King could operate working from home in
  February 2020, I would respond that it simply couldn’t be done. I didn’t even
  have Zoom downloaded on my computer.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-4 lg">An Unprecedented Pivot</h3>
<p>
  Then we went into lockdown. Thousands of businesses became 100% remote. And
  the entire world pivoted out of necessity.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Jamie King</div>
      <div class="extra">CEO + Founder</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span>
        There was a violent propulsion forward for all businesses. Initiatives
        that would have taken 5 years took 1 month.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<p>
  Unlike some of our clients, the agency world is lucky that our services do not
  hinge on people going to a brick-and-mortar location. Even so, Camp + King
  (like most agencies) had a hectic transition period as we were launched into
  remote work.
</p>
<p>
  But we pivoted, adapted, and quite honestly, impressed ourselves. What we
  found was that working from home didn’t influence the amount or quality of
  work we produced. We actually produced as much, or more than we had produced
  pre-COVID.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-2-3 block-centered">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/60YIGk81BtccH7GfIexdqD/9b71d441689e03d1ceb3d29e42045d24/blog_2020-11-6_productivity.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  However, productivity alone doesn’t make Camp + King successful. A happy and
  fulfilled bunch of Camp + Kingers does. As we geared up for a longer haul of
  working from home it became clear that our violent propulsion forward meant we
  couldn’t simply go back to the way things were. And with a researcher at the
  helm of our company – the best way forward was to tap into the agency for
  guidance on what to do once we emerged on the other side.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-4 lg">Homebound Learnings</h3>
<p>
  We found that we missed humans from a cultural and collaboration perspective.
  We missed the structure of the day, but liked using our commute time for
  personal time. We were still working out Zoom presentation kinks, but enjoyed
  face time with our clients. We felt equally or more productive, but also found
  it hard to step away at the end of the day.
</p>
<div class="sm-1-1 md-4-5 margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7wnjbbJGlkQ2AHx8Ekg3r0/d8fdf0701cf22eebd12ed268a6b1d44c/blog_2020-11-6_miss-most-1.png"
  />
</div>
<div class="sm-1-1 md-4-5 margin-t-2 margin-b-2 block-centered">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7dNQiebVoUW85rmF90W2fN/d671f323533c7cee9a0cea8576cbce79/blog_2020-11-6_miss-most-2.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  On the future Camp + King office, results showed that people neither wanted to
  work from home 100% of the time, nor return to the office full-time.
  <i class="color-accent">Flexibility was essential</i>.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">David Morrissey</div>
      <div class="extra">Director of Strategy</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span>
        It was interesting to see how results varied by department. Creatives
        were more efficient than ever, but least liked working from home.
        Strategy was the opposite, spending more time on the same amount of
        work, but okay with working from home.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<p>
  Inspired by the agency survey, the Camp + King leadership team created an
  approach for the Camp + King office once we are able to safely return.
</p>
<h2 class="margin-t-4">
  <img
    width="1200"
    height="600"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2NtzdSrMhUzd0o6ADyWdjx/64439a958bdb9fb9f70c89c28936dfa5/blog_2020-11-6_cis-hdah.png"
    alt="Collaborate in Space, Heads Down at Home"
  />
</h2>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-2-3 block-centered">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/QvFNwQuSXaiTiXQuljUh9/fe1b9438f15c66db2e6370e104469fe7/blog_2020-11-6_collaborate.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  In essence this approach combines the best of both worlds – leaving us more
  alone when we need to be in the zone and bringing us more together when we’re
  together. Doing so means a recalibration of our office space and how we work
  at home. Here are key aspects Camp + King is thinking through to best fulfill
  Collaborate in Space, Heads Down at Home.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-black med">Presidio Roots</h3>
<p>
  The Presidio is part of Camp + King’s identity. It’s a (literal) breath of
  fresh air for our team, our clients, and our partners to come to. And now more
  than ever, being surrounded by the Presidio’s beauty is a respite. We won’t be
  leaving anytime soon.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-black med">Heads Up</h3>
<p>
  The office will be designed not to turn your head down but to look at a
  coworker. Our current office layout is optimized for big meetings and
  individual work time. The new space will promote coming together by
  prioritizing areas for brainstorming and concepting. This means an open floor
  plan with less workstations and more collaboration pods and nooks.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Michael Ng</div>
      <div class="extra">Associate Creative Director</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >When you concept in person, there’s a lot more room to digress and
        explore because you feel like there’s freedom to chase random thoughts.
        What creatives need is space and time to play.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-black med">Kitchen Comforts</h3>
<p>
  The Camp + King kitchen was the social center of the agency. It’s a space to
  eat, drink, vent, gossip or even hold impromptu meetings. The new office
  layout will super-size our eating space – making it an even more inviting
  place for people to congregate to.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Stephanie Nerlich</div>
      <div class="extra">Head of Havas North America</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >The office of the future shouldn't be set-up like a factory line, it
        should be set-up like a clubhouse with function...a place that people
        want to go to, to hangout in but also one that promotes collaboration
        and creativity.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-black med">ContentLab+</h3>
<p>
  Camp + King’s
  <a target="_blank" href="https://camp-king.com/capabilities">Content Lab</a>
  has unsurprisingly seen an uptick in work. From more animation needs to remote
  social content shoots, this momentum isn’t stopping. With less individual
  workstations, there will be more room to let our team work their magic.
</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Sophie Fyfield</div>
      <div class="extra">Associate Producer</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span>
        Being at home has uncovered our ability to produce work remotely and
        efficiently produce smaller projects, which has opened the door to more
        creative ideas actually getting made.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-black med">Breathers and Boundaries</h3>
<p>
  We’ve recently implemented some guardrails to create a finer line between work
  and personal life. This includes limited email and internal meeting hours, a
  light-meetings Friday, and encouragement to block lunch and break time
  throughout the day.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Ellen Obletz</div>
      <div class="extra">Brand Supervisor</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span>
        I’ve learned the value of time affluence. Working from home has lifted
        the burden of being at a desk for a set amount of time. Control over my
        own time contributes to my happiness and productivity.
      </span>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<p>
  Truth be told, we don’t know when it will be safe to fully put
  <i>Collaborate in Space, Heads Down at Home</i> into practice. And once we do,
  we’ll have more learning to do. But overall we’re energized by the idea. We’ve
  been given a rare opportunity to rewire how we think about work that
  ultimately will lead to a more progressive and creative workplace.
</p>


blog 2020-11-6 cover-image

Camp + King’s perspective on the future of “office life” for our agency

blog 2020-11-6 thumbnail

A Recalibration of Agency Life

blog 2020-10-23header

blog 2020-10-23thumbnail

Instagram launches reels and gives brands social innovation that is here to stay

<p>
  Millennials have been over-analyzed and unfairly chastised for most of their
  adult lives. Yet, the truth is they have been dealt a bad hand in more ways
  than one. Unfortunately, the pandemic is bringing a whole host of new
  challenges to this already disadvantaged generation.
</p>
<ul class="line-list margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <li>
    <span class="bold color-accent" style="font-size: 1.2em"
      >WFH isn’t working:</span
    >
    61% of Millennials are currently working remotely in some capacity.
    Pre-pandemic, 79% of Millennials wanted to be able to work from home. Yet
    today 36% say remote work during quarantine has been a difficult transition,
    and 34% say they are getting less work done.<sup id="fnref:1"
      ><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup
    >
  </li>
  <li>
    <span class="bold color-accent" style="font-size: 1.2em"
      >Playing double-duty:</span
    >
    More than 50% of families are without childcare, leaving them to balance
    eight hours of remote work with feeding, entertaining, and educating their
    children. 1 in 5 working parents said that either they or their partner are
    considering leaving the workforce to care for their children.<sup
      id="fnref:2"
      ><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup
    >
  </li>
  <li>
    <span class="bold color-accent" style="font-size: 1.2em"
      >Diverse and disadvantaged:
    </span>
    Millennials are an extremely diverse generation, making the current state of
    societal and political strife that much more pointed and personal. To make
    matters worse, the pandemic has hurt Black and Latinos populations
    disproportionately both in health and finances.<sup id="fnref:3"
      ><a href="#fn:3" rel="footnote">3</a></sup
    >
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  From a marketer’s perspective, there are a number of ways to connect and
  provide tangible value to their fast-changing lives and priorities. Below are
  a few attitudinal and lifestyle shifts that rise to the&nbsp;top.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4">1. The Great Reshuffling</h2>
<p>
  This describes the exodus from high-priced heavily populated urban centers to
  towns that accommodate their new live-and-work realities. Older Millennials
  are driving this trend as they look to right-size their living spaces, get
  closer to family, or just feed their long-standing desire for homeownership.
  Only half of Millennials in their early thirties are currently homeowners, yet
  most view owning a home as the most important symbol of success, rating it
  higher than marriage or parenthood.<sup id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-accent lg">What it means for brands:</h3>
<p>
  The concept of home is being radically redefined for many Millennials. It’s
  about a general shift in values – from urban access, population density, and
  proximity to transit to privacy, space, and comfort. It also suggests a huge
  swath of Americans are going to be collectively embarking on a new life stage
  over the course of the coming months/year, and brands can tap into the
  excitement and optimism of new beginnings that comes with it. See
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/house-sales-plummet-real-estate-brands-zillow-are-marketing-value-home/2250626"
    >Zillow’s latest commercial</a
  >
  below that offers to be of value during a time of fresh, optimistic change.
</p>
<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.ispot.tv/share/nino"
    frameborder="0"
    scrolling="no"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4">2. Bubbles. Pods. Quaranteams.</h2>
<p>
  These are all terms used to describe a recent trend where groups of two to
  three families agree to socialize restriction-free with each other, while
  continuing to maintain strict social distancing rules with those outside the
  pod. The idea offers a healthy compromise between a degree of normalcy and a
  sense of physical safety, which is especially crucial to the development and
  mental health of school-age children.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-accent lg">What it means for brands:</h3>
<p>
  Through this trend, we are witnessing a shift in the concept of extended
  family. While we’re quite accustomed to the concept of family plans and
  memberships, brands may begin to expand their product offerings to include
  this adjusted definition of family. For example, UK travel company G
  Adventures has introduced flexible<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://globetrender.com/2020/08/06/g-adventures-launches-book-your-bubble-trips-for-groups/"
  >
    ‘Book Your Bubble’</a
  >
  tours, where guests are encouraged to book private group trips of 8 to unlock
  their ‘family’ promotion.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1">
  <img
    width="1794"
    height="1060"
    style=""
    class="block-centered"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/54V157AGbBPOcfo1HkQ4kp/125682e63b50c153d723554b44675b8c/blog_2020-09-16_g-adventures_1794x1060.jpg"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4">3. Reimagining the staycation</h2>
<p>
  <i>Staycationing</i> is not a new concept. But as an audience that spent the
  last decade putting the experience economy into overdrive, Millennials are
  truly feeling the pain of being home-bound. This cohort is expected to be
  among the first to start venturing out as travelers post pandemic.<sup
    id="fnref:4"
    ><a href="#fn:4" rel="footnote">4</a></sup
  >
  But in the meantime, they’re taking advantage of an expanded definition of
  staycations – seeking out ways to stay entertained in and around their
  homebase.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-accent lg">What it means for brands:</h3>
<p>
  Brands are recognizing and responding to this audience’s pent-up desire for
  adventure in clever, inventive ways. Some are tech-forward in nature (Yeti and
  Audi), others take a more back-to-basics approach (Walmart and IKEA) and some
  straddle both worlds (the wine industry).
</p>
<div class="columns h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-2-5 margin-b-1">
    <img
      width="1794"
      height="1352"
      style=""
      class="block-centered"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6MdQWydywXkvQEoSsZcFs9/44d5cb57472859734fd583c2a88b51c8/blog_2020-09-16_yeti_1588x1279.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col col-right sm-1-1 md-3-5 margin-b-2">
    <h4 class="med">Explore the great outdoors:</h4>
    <p>
      Yeti launched the
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.yeti.com/en_US/yeti-plus.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=__iv_p_1_g_38898173662_c_309104562229_w_dsa-19959388920_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r__x__y__f__o__z__i__j__s__e__h_9032056_ii__vi__&gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_id=google_794219202_38898173662_309104562229_dsa-19959388920_c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItJ2Z7dPQ6wIVJQnnCh2M5AwiEAAYASAAEgJzRfD_BwE"
        >Yeti+</a
      >
      platform featuring footage of pure, unadulterated streams across North
      America for their nature-loving fans.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90486949/audi-made-a-four-hour-road-trip-video-to-help-you-deal-with-being-stuck-inside"
        >Audi Australia</a
      >
      created a four-hour video that takes viewers across a winding road in New
      South Wales, to simulate the joy of an epic road trip for isolated
      Aussies.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="columns h-pad-1">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-2-5 margin-b-1">
    <img
      width="938"
      height="740"
      style=""
      class="block-centered"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5KjZU0RYNj3x5XoXYZfm7w/24238ffd70f59bf8f6302365a490196e/blog_2020-09-16_virtual-tasting-1_938x740.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col col-right sm-1-1 md-3-5 margin-b-2">
    <h4 class="med">Guided Virtual Tastings:</h4>
    <p>
      Tech-forward wineries are offering tasting packs that can be shipped to
      your home or picked up curbside; coupled with free remote group tasting
      sessions for at-home enjoyment.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="columns h-pad-1">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-2-5 margin-b-1">
    <img
      width="1320"
      height="660"
      style=""
      class="block-centered"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4mlnzQaMYnSrazxflLNQ3J/abfe09ac9b7655e4cec05438cd3875d5/blog_2020-09-16_ikea-decor_1320x660.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col col-right sm-1-1 md-3-5 margin-b-2">
    <h4 class="med">Wanderlust-themed decor:</h4>
    <p>
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.travelandleisure.com/style/shopping/ikea-vacation-in-a-box"
        >IKEA UAE </a
      >released a holiday-themed series of décor collections, dubbed Vacations
      in a Box. The four travel destination themed boxes contain a selection of
      items to transform the home into a mini-escape.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4">
  4. Converting civic attitudes into civic action
</h2>
<p>
  Whether it's their views on immigration, gun laws, income inequality, systemic
  racism or climate change, 20-and-30-year olds today are hyper engaged on
  topics of political and societal change. With the presidential election around
  the corner, there’s been a shift in focus for brands - from reflecting and
  participating in civic attitudes to inciting civic action by way of voter
  participation. After all, increasing voter turnout is both a non-partisan
  cause and a civic duty.
</p>
<h3 class="margin-t-2 color-accent lg">What it means for brands:</h3>
<p>
  Good for democracy, good for business – 76% of people claim to be more likely
  to work for a company that promoted democracy; 81% were more likely to buy
  that company’s products or services; and more than 80% were more likely to
  recommend the company to their friends and family.<sup id="fnref:5"
    ><a href="#fn:5" rel="footnote">5</a></sup
  >
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://fortune.com/2020/09/01/old-navy-election-day-voting-polls-volunteers/"
    >Old Navy</a
  >
  is the latest brand to play in this space, announcing that it will pay its
  employees to volunteer at the polls on Election Day, as well as give workers
  up to three hours of paid time off on Nov. 3 to cast their ballots.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1">
  <img
    width="1999"
    height="1122"
    style=""
    class="block-centered"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6KkIAnkK7T4xxhQcZDpjLI/611db1a7d7e3be6af4f33dfa095a1265/blog_2020-09-16_old-navy-vote_1999x1122.jpg"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4">In closing:</h2>
<p>
  The health and economic consequences of the pandemic have hit Millennials
  especially hard – their families, finances, and future plans. Yet to date,
  they’ve shown impressive resilience and resolve to rebuild. Much like the
  examples mentioned above, brands can begin to lighten the load and be of
  value, by offering optimism, a spirit of inventiveness, and real action in
  light of uncertainty.
</p>

<div class="footnotes">
  <ol>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:1">
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.ypulse.com/article/2020/05/07/millennials-wanted-to-work-from-home-this-isnt-what-they-meant/"
        >YPulse</a
      >
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:2">
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://hicleo.com/blog/return-to-work-member-survey-results/"
        >Return to Work Member Survey, Cleo</a
      >
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:3">
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://hicleo.com/blog/return-to-work-member-survey-results/"
        >Return to Work Member Survey, Cleo</a
      >
    </li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:4">Mintel</li>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:5">Global Strategy Group</li>
  </ol>
</div>

blog 2020-09-16 header

blog 2020-09-16 thumbnail

Brands respond with optimism, as Millennials face yet another cruel setback. 

<h2 class="color-accent lg">
  Millennials & Their Fur&nbsp;Babies:<br />
  3&nbsp;Things Dog Brands Need to&nbsp;Know
</h2>
<p>
  Here at Camp + King, we’re factually dog-crazy. Dogs are part of our agency
  ID—and at one point, even in our email signatures. Given our collective
  obsession with dogs, we wanted to create an intersection of our love for dogs
  and our strategic muscle. So we set out to do trends research on dogs and pet
  parents—including both third party data and our own proprietary research.
</p>
<p>
  There’s a collection of reasons Millennials have been deemed the most
  pet-crazy generation of all. They’re famously “delaying” life stages, like
  getting married and buying homes, compared to the generations preceding them.
  And women are having kids later, if at all. Because of this, pets, and dogs in
  particular, now play a bigger role in Millennial’s lives than ever before. Not
  only do they own more pets than any other generational cohort, but
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="http://www.focusingfuture.com/data-driven-society/the-future-of-pet-ownership/"
    >76% of Millennials</a
  >
  see their pets as “beloved family members.”
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-b-1 margin-t-1" style="max-width: 340px">
  <img
    width="700"
    height="858"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4YL7gZXrv98VjPgrJylg3w/c6119c7a3d38049e2fe2ecc702b120bb/blog_2020-09-25_dog-babies_700x858.jpg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Prior to the pandemic, dogs were already a point of generational identity for
  Millennials. And COVID only amplified this further with people spending more
  time at home, The ASPCA saw a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/one-of-the-pandemics-most-unlikely-offshoots-are-high-quality-dog-food-brands/"
    >70% increase</a
  >
  in adoptions in April of 2020 over the same period last year. A
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/one-of-the-pandemics-most-unlikely-offshoots-are-high-quality-dog-food-brands/"
    >study</a
  >
  from Mira-Pet shows that 73% of people reported that having a pet helped them
  stay sane during lockdown and, perhaps most surprising, was that 38% said
  they’d take a pay cut if that allowed them to continue working from home
  solely so they could stay with their pets.
</p>
<p>
  There’s a whole slew of new pet parents out there looking to navigate the
  wonderful world that is pet ownership and introduce new pet brands into their
  life. As a collection of pet-obsessed folks ourselves, Camp + King decided to
  dive in and understand Millennial pet parents a little more to help brands
  stand out.
</p>
<h3 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  1. Millennials Acknowledge & Celebrate Their&nbsp;Crazy
</h3>
<p>
  Keeping their dogs happy and <i>thriving</i> is a Millennial priority.
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/one-big-reason-millennials-are-buying-homes-their-dogs-n790921"
    >Thirty-three percent</a
  >
  of Millennial home buyers’ decision to buy a home was driven chiefly by their
  dog. Dogs outranked getting married (25%) and having kids, too (only 19% of
  Millennials said the birth of a child was their prime incentive). Of those
  pet-owning Millennial homebuyers, 79% said they would pass up an otherwise
  perfect home if it didn’t meet the needs of their pets. And once Millennials
  do purchase a home, they often invest in upgrades just for their pets.
</p>
<h4 class="md margin-b-1 margin-t-1">Plus:</h4>
<ul class="line-list margin-b-1 margin-t-1">
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://intelligence.wundermanthompson.com/2019/08/petrenthood/"
      >91% of Millennials</a
    >
    in committed relationships who have pets consider these pets their “de
    facto” children.
  </li>
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/study-shows-millennials-demand-personalized-care-for-their-pets-to-remain-loyal-to-their-vets-300915777.html"
      >92% of Millennial pet parents</a
    >
    would rather spend time with their pet than their spouse, parents, and
    friends combined.
  </li>
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="http://blog.qsample.com/inside-mind-millennial-pet-owner/"
      >76% of Millennials</a
    >
    are more likely to splurge on an item for their pet than they would for
    themselves.
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  With dogs playing a bigger role in Millennials’ lives than ever before, and
  given Millennials’ love for dogs running so deep, culturally Millennials are
  proudly celebrating this irrational level of dog love. Millennial social feeds
  are filled with memes, like this one, that proudly exemplify that dogs are
  more important than anything else. And Millennials are quick to refer to their
  dogs as their “fur babies” –  with
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://s1.q4cdn.com/959385532/files/doc_downloads/research/2018/Millennials-and-Their-Fur-Babies.pdf"
    >67% of Millennial pet owners see their pet as a ‘fur baby.</a
  >’
</p>
<div class="columns h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <img
      class="block-centered"
      width="882"
      height="832"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1CstflCFBps6HAzjOSLlBt/150d37a14499bb8af6cf5aebe764e7e5/blog_2020-09-21_pie-chart_1200x1200.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col col-right sm-1-1 md-1-2 margin-b-1">
    <img
      class="block-centered"
      width="882"
      height="832"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/66H8m6zg9luPbm3XHRdElE/6dc9f7b88acb345c247c81715d997122/blog_2020-09-21_birthday_882x832.jpg"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<h3 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  2. Their Dog Food Choices are Just as Important as Their Own Food&nbsp;Choices
</h3>
<p>
  Millennials have prioritized wellness in various areas of their life, with
  food as one of their main points of focus - nearly 50% consider themselves
  foodies! (<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/catering-to-the-tastes-of-tomorrows-food-shopper"
    >source</a
  >) They’ve shifted their definition of “healthy eating” too - from counting
  calories and fat content to seeking out food that is fresh, less processed,
  and with fewer artificial ingredients.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-b-1 margin-t-1" style="max-width: 560px">
  <img
    width="1000"
    height="718"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7MKXmJ6WS1N2bVRWBYi4cx/5d25469c8f7154f2891e3eafb026487a/blog_2020-09-25_dog-at-table_1000x718.webp"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Naturally, the way Millennials think about food—and their focus on wellness—is
  impacting how they think about their dogs’ diets too. Millennials care just as
  much about natural and organic foods for their dogs, as they do for
  themselves, and in some cases more:
</p>
<ul class="line-list margin-b-1 margin-t-1">
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Morning-Consult-Consumer-Trends-In-The-Food-and-Beverage-Industry.pdf"
      >75% of Millennials</a
    >
    purchase organic food for themselves for health reasons, and
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.earthboundfarm.com/newsroom-items/survey-finds-organic-consumers-lifestyle-choices-bust-stereotypes/"
      >78%</a
    >
    purchase organic food for their dog for health reasons.
  </li>
  <li>
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Morning-Consult-Consumer-Trends-In-The-Food-and-Beverage-Industry.pdf"
      >81% of Millennials</a
    >
    believe “natural / fresh food is vital” for themselves, while
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/44-of-millennials-see-their-pets-as-starter-children-and-thats-a-big-opportunity-for-brands/"
      >86% of Millennials</a
    >
    believe “natural / fresh food is vital” for their pet.
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  It’s no surprise then that
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/study-shows-millennials-demand-personalized-care-for-their-pets-to-remain-loyal-to-their-vets-300915777.html"
    >92% of Millennial pet owners</a
  >
  are just as concerned about their pet’s health as they are about their own
  health.
</p>
<p>
  <i
    >Interested in digging deeper into Millennials’ concern for their dogs’
    wellness and how that impacts their purchase behavior, we fielded a
    quantitative survey of 550 Millennial dog parents who purchase kibble to
    learn more about them and their buy habits. One piece we found particularly
    interesting, the top 5 things Millennial pet parents find motivating and
    unique when it comes to choosing a dog food brand:</i
  >
</p>
<ol class="small-numbers margin-t-2">
  <li class="font-special" style="font-size: 1.2em">
    Meat is the #1 ingredient
  </li>
  <li class="font-special" style="font-size: 1.2em">Made in the USA</li>
  <li class="font-special" style="font-size: 1.2em">
    Sourced from farmers we know and trust
  </li>
  <li class="font-special" style="font-size: 1.2em">Minimally processed</li>
  <li class="font-special" style="font-size: 1.2em">
    Enriched with vitamins, minerals, nutrients
  </li>
</ol>
<h3 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  3. There’s An Opportunity for the Dog Category to Better Speak to
  Pet&nbsp;Parents
</h3>
<p>
  Most dog food brands fall into two overarching brand categories, which you’d
  probably recognize. The first is illustrated by the happy, healthy dog –
  because who doesn’t want that! With these brands, you’ll notice overused,
  stock-like photography of happy dogs, plus generic health claims, like
  “wholesome ingredients” and “added vitamins for health benefits.” The brands
  often feature images of bountiful, real foods on their packaging.
</p>
<p>
  The second category of dog food brands leans heavily into the science behind
  their food and how “biologically appropriate” it is for your dog. More often
  than not, these brands compare dogs to their wild ancestors, utilizing visuals
  of wolves and claims like, “nature’s evolutionary diet.” Packaging for these
  brands features stats, like “85% wild-caught fish ingredients” and “90% of
  protein from animal ingredients.”
</p>
<p>
  Because the majority of dog food brands fall into one of these two overarching
  categories—happy, health pet or science + nature—their products sound the same
  and once meaningful claims are now table stakes. More importantly, these two
  groups offer little for Millennial dog owners to connect with emotionally.
</p>
<div class="margin-b-1 margin-t-1">
  <img
    class="block-centered"
    width="1600"
    height="1067"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7sfmdbHlCJRNlsThW8NY0L/eb7470ce65420a3ad5859996d38d2bd3/blog_2020-09-21_dogs_1600x1067.jpg"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="margin-t-4 color-accent lg">In closing…</h2>
<p>
  Millennials are making monumental life decisions with their dogs’ best
  interest in mind. And they’re willing to go to the same lengths to keep their
  dog happy and healthy as they are for themselves—if not further. There’s an
  opportunity here for pet brands to reach this audience in a new way, and to
  demonstrate to Millennials that they’re just as dog crazy.
</p>


blog 2020-09-21 header

As the largest pet owning generation to date, we set out to better understand today’s pet parents and their needs from brands

blog 2020-09-21 thumbnail

We’re Dog Crazy

<p>
  Social media has become a cultural hotbed. Keeping that in mind, let’s dive in
  on how brands should be engaging in culture within the social space. First and
  foremost, brands should evaluate culture from a position of strength. This
  entails going on the offensive to locate and establish a narrative, rather
  than sitting back and allowing your product to define you. It’s no secret that
  every brand wants to have an identity. They're all looking to determine who
  they are and what they are, but the most important question when it comes to
  culture is “why they are.” Why is this brand here? Why do they exist? Why are
  they RELEVANT? The who and the what are universal, but defining the why is a
  goal that many brands struggle to achieve.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-3 color-accent margin-b-1 margin-t-4">
  Engaging Culture
</h2>
<p>
  In order to set ourselves up for success, we need to identify any trends
  within culture that will help the brand achieve relevance amongst its
  audience. These can be revealed by the way an audience promotes, responds, and
  or creates content around the brand or its products. These trends also reflect
  the identity of the audience. The brand in turn, cultivates these behaviors in
  order to deliver powerfully to market.
</p>
<p>
  Arby’s is a great example of a brand that understands why identifying and
  engaging with broader culture is so important. They identify with relevance.
  So no matter what is taking place around them, they adapt, cultivate, and
  activate in a way that feels organic to their audience. The anime community is
  one that is niche and very tight knit, but grows more and more popular by the
  day. Arby’s took note of this and flipped it in a way that was authentic and
  inclusive by creating their very own anime campaign centered around their
  products. They identified the trends, the audience they needed to target, and
  presented it in a way that remained true to who and what they are. This is why
  they remain relevant. It's more than just “THE MEATS”. A breakdown of their
  top anime posts can be found
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://beneaththetangles.com/2018/01/25/top-ten-arbys-anime-posts/"
    ><b>here</b></a
  ><b>. </b>
</p>
<div class="row h-pad-1">
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1UaAqDEOQgLT2vFdjB9Wao/8da409d2ff3fc8ea4f68c76330c42ffb/blog_2020-08-24_arbys_shake_1200x1200.jpg
    "
      width="1200"
      height="1200"
      style=""
      class="block-centered"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5BDoCINz4eENFkr7Vervsj/326a1d8f6ee7997e28cea5ba5f6d0883/blog_2020-08-24_abys_sandwiches_1080x1080.jpg
    "
      width="1080"
      height="1080"
      style=""
      class="block-centered"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  LEGO is another great example of a brand that enjoys tapping into specific
  niche communities and cultures. Sci-fi is a popular genre amongst consumers of
  all ages that LEGO continues to leverage in their favor. They’re deliberate in
  their storytelling and innovation when targeting the Star Wars community. This
  <i>Impact</i>
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/9-brands-that-brilliantly-newsjacked-star-wars-the-last-jedi"
    >article</a
  >
  showcases how LEGO created a 360-degree video experience where you are placed
  into a LEGO adventure in the “same time and location of Star Wars ‘The Last
  Jedi.’” Despite having a product that’s geared towards children, they’ve
  created a culturally relevant experience for fans of all ages.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1pqhRzrcs3LCFUzmFElGqr/e107ba4395153c2d9aa61c70a2ee30db/blog_2020-08-24_lego_last_jedi_01_1488x806.jpg
  "
    width="1488"
    height="806"
    style=""
    class="block-centered"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-3 color-accent margin-b-1 margin-t-4">
  Establishing an Audience
</h2>
<p>
  The makeup of our audience will always be important, but once again, we should
  be sure to understand why. We begin with who our audience is, age, gender,
  nationality, etc. When establishing this, brands should keep in mind that our
  target audience should be built around our culture but not limited by it. This
  means once the identity of our audience is known, we should look for ways to
  enter conversations both within and outside our target. It’s about growth. The
  purpose of finding your brand audience identity should be to shed light on how
  to grow and expand this group. By promoting a culture that is willing to
  explore a world outside their core target, you're presenting the brand as both
  inclusionary and culturally relevant.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-3 color-accent margin-b-1 margin-t-4">
  UGC
</h2>
<p>
  User generated content can go a long way in establishing and cultivating the
  brand culture experience. We should be evaluating what types of content users
  are creating to show brand love. Whether positive or negative, this is going
  to reveal how our audience authentically views the brand. Memes, hashtags, and
  relevant events are all essential. We want to uncover where the brand resides
  within the lives of our consumers. Understanding how our audience feels and
  where they input the brand will provide the blueprint for how we’re able to
  reach them in the market. Lilach Bullock breaks down a few outstanding UGC
  programs in her
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/15-examples-of-big-brands-using-user-generated-content-and-how-to-adapt-them-for-your-campaign-02221251"
    ><i>Business 2 Community published article</i></a
  ><i>. </i>Here’s a highlight of two of the absolute best:<i> </i
  ><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwqEaDhnMo/"
    >Louboutin asks their customers</a
  >
  to post photos of themselves wearing Louboutin shoes with the hashtag
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/somethingrouge/"
    >#somethingrouge</a
  >. The company then selects the best photos and reposts them on their
  Instagram page.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/BVrH8bK97HrimL53jkaYM/0c0028b4ff940adaa5e966756c7c0a40/blog_2020-08-24_somethingrouge_1870x1200.jpg"
    width="1870"
    height="1200"
    class="block-centered"
  />
</div>
<p>
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Byd2fZ2JeXR/"
    >Calvin Klein asks its fans</a
  >
  to fill in the campaign line “I_____in
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mycalvins/"
    >#MyCalvins</a
  >.” After the inaugural campaign, thousands of their fans and followers took
  photos and posted their briefs, making the campaign go viral. In just a few
  months, over 500,000 photos were tagged on Instagram.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1ObcNLckOeFOkWAYet4eXd/a5fda4262dd5b7f0412aeb363d5a6d5b/blog_2020-08-24_calvinklein_1630x1200.jpg"
    width="1630"
    height="1200"
    class="block-centered"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Imagine the insights each of these brands gained for simply asking their
  audience to showcase how their products are embedded within their everyday
  lives. There are endless amounts of ideas now available to both brands, their
  next step should be to simply activate on what’s already in front of them.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-3 color-accent margin-b-1 margin-t-4">
  Where to Play
</h2>
<p>
  Having an understanding of the current social media climate is essential in
  identifying what cultural spaces to operate in. We can’t tell our cultural
  story without passing it through a lens of the current climate. We’re in a
  state right now in which everything needs a second set of eyes to ensure it is
  not perceived as insensitive. People are standing up and demanding to be
  heard. Brands need to understand this and adjust their messaging to adhere to
  the current landscape. It is not enough to just say the right thing, brands
  are now being forced to stand on their words and follow up with the right
  actions. That is the culture of today.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-3 color-accent margin-b-1 margin-t-4">
  What Matters Most
</h2>
<p>
  The message going forward is clear. Those who choose to utilize cultural
  insights as a means of actionable data will set themselves apart from those
  who don’t. Strides forward are made on the strength of a brand’s cultural
  efforts rather than just that of their products. Become overly familiar with
  the primary social platforms. Every platform has its own nuances. Through
  platforms we’re able to discover where and how people are being the most
  creative. Twitter for example, is a conversation led platform that will
  provide the truest look into how your audience views the brand. Staying in the
  know of what conversations are taking place, what’s trending, and what verbage
  users are using to communicate, is an easy way for brands to help unlock the
  current culture. Relevance is the name of the game, while creativity and
  timing are indeed the weapons of choice. It’s going to be fun to watch out for
  which brands end up on top.
</p>
<p>
  Michael Plant is a Chicago‑based Community Strategist at Camp + King.
  Previously, he spearheaded UberEats social media engagement efforts, building
  its global engagement strategy.
</p>


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Helping Brands Engage Culture, Where to Play, & How to Identify What Matters Most 

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Five Major Ways That U.S. Consumer Behavior Has Changed for the Long Term

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What Brands Need to Know for 2021

<p>
  We can all agree that our lives feel “interrupted” by COVID-19 in ways we
  could never have expected. For Gen Z, though, it’s almost as if life feels
  cancelled. Overnight they lost daily interactions with teachers, friends, and
  teams. They had milestones like proms, plays, big games, and graduation ripped
  away from them. These events are not only lifelong memories but rites of
  passage that are important to social and emotional development. Gen Z makes up
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.adweek.com/agencies/covid-19-generation-defining-internet-obsessed-gen-z/"
    >40% of the global population</a
  >
  and COVID-19 has become a generation-defining moment that will have lasting
  effects on how they view the world and live their lives. As such, they’ll have
  evolving needs from the brands they connect with. Here are three ways we see
  the pandemic impacting Gen Z and ways for brands to support and engage them.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  1. Amplifying a Relentless Pursuit to Make a Change
</h2>
<p>
  This generation has always been social action-oriented but as the world has
  seen massively unsettling events in this past year, their desire to help has
  kicked into overdrive. Gen Zers are less optimistic about the future, but
  increasingly believe they can shape it: Just 19% of Gen Z say the U.S. is
  heading in the right direction, down 12 points since May. But on the flipside,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://morningconsult.com/form/gen-z-worldview-tracker/"
    >62% of Gen Zers</a
  >
  agree they have the potential to impact the world, up six points since May,
  and 10 points higher than millennials. Part of this optimism is a recognition
  and pride that Gen Z will be the generation to lead the way, and taking action
  is deeply embedded into who they are even prior to COVID.
</p>
<p>
  Gen Z has always scrutinized brands and their values, with
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nG9dzBIUIltNshV9P7gAbBw5jfA5oH_9szl3sKbfqP0/edit?ts=5eeb9ad1#slide=id.g82085ab194_41_62"
    >two-thirds of them stating</a
  >
  that their impression of a brand is positively influenced by its association
  with a social cause. However in today’s state of the world, brands must move
  beyond just being purposeful to being useful. Your brand should find ways to
  empower Gen Z through their purchasing decisions because here’s what they
  expect today:
</p>
<div class="row h-pad-1 margin-t-1">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 col-right md-1-3 margin-b-1 md-margin-b-0">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="500"
      height="566"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/aJvgoibxGC4Sr0iHu5xMh/33e6dd764c94ac36743111cb147fff09/blog_2020-07-22_chart_1-1.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 col-right md-1-3 margin-b-1 md-margin-b-0">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="500"
      height="566"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/21tcUG5tsCLPFmaytbVgBd/9e4127bef95efb141aad03d211d8c3fb/blog_2020-07-22_chart_1-2.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 col-right md-1-3">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="500"
      height="566"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2RUfRAwGBNFB75ZywzuNIk/62ffa2980c6a3be17df24d32307bc618/blog_2020-07-22_chart_1-3.png"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p class="centered">
  <small>
    (<a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.adweek.com/agencies/covid-19-generation-defining-internet-obsessed-gen-z/"
      >source</a
    >)</small
  >
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Example: Papa John’s</h3>
<p>
  Camp + King recently launched a campaign for Papa John’s called “Bigger Than
  Pizza” to promote its new product, the Shaq-a-Roni, in which $1 from every
  purchase goes toward the Papa John’s Foundation supporting community. This
  foundation supports issues like COVID relief, the fight against racial
  injustice and organizations like the Boys and Girls Club of America.
</p>
<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vi2oNS2Kgdg"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  2. Giving Super Creators More Time to Create
</h2>
<p>
  Gen Z’s digital capabilities and hyper-connectivity have equipped its members
  with unmatched creative expression. They are the super-creatives and faced
  with a quarantine, they have more time on their hands to create. Gen Z is used
  to shooting content at home for social media and have a unique ability to
  reach their peers across different platforms during this time.
</p>
<p>
  To connect with Gen Z through their passion to create, your brand should
  consider consulting and empowering them with opportunities to express their
  creativity in new and interesting ways. Whether by offering tools, inspiration
  or a virtual megaphone, the brands that help them amplify their passion will
  be remembered for it.
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Example: Hollister</h3>
<p>
  Unable to shoot its typical seasonal campaigns, teen clothing brand Hollister
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/marketing-to-gen-z-during-covid-19"
    >enlisted its community</a
  >
  to produce its brand content from home. Now, their own customers are featured
  across emails, their website and on social channels in place of typical
  models. The content is beautiful and reportedly performing very well.
</p>
<p>
  <img
    style="max-width: 400px;"
    class="block-centered"
    width="2150"
    height="4002"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3Zsxdt6gTse0PzV1uaat2Y/6ad6d99ba3d76a184385937602823ef2/blog_2020-07-22_hollister.jpg"
  />
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  3. A Negative Toll On Mental Health
</h2>
<p>
  Gen Z has been notoriously more in-tune with and vocal about mental health
  issues than previous generations. A recent study from DoSomething shows that
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://medium.com/dosomethingstrategic/gen-zs-thoughts-on-covid-19-2067b0f36af1"
    >65% of Gen Z reported</a
  >
  that mental health has become even more important to them in light of COVID.
  They are well aware of the disappointment, frustration, and sadness they are
  facing due to the disruption of important moments in young adulthood.
</p>
<p>
  As mental health becomes front and center for this generation, your brand
  should acknowledge this by considering messaging and tone through the lens of
  an audience who is likely learning how to process these difficult issues and
  emotions. Further, seek relevant connections between your brand and mental
  health issues and think about ways you may be able to provide tools and
  resources for young folks.
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Example: Jansport</h3>
<p>
  In lieu of their usual product-focused back-to-school marketing efforts,
  Jansport launched a campaign called “<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/jansport-aims-to-lighten-the-load-for-gen-z-with-mental-health-resources/"
    >Lighten the Load</a
  >.” The brand aims to be an ally for Gen Z during this time. Campaign
  executions include live online conversations with mental health experts
  touching on topics like isolation, compassion fatigue, uncertainty and family
  relationships. They also debuted a series of original films to provide young
  people with a platform to have conversations surrounding mental health. Each
  unscripted film showcases an individual offering a glimpse into their mental
  health journey and insights on what they’re doing to lighten the load.
</p>
<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nnkSMOhPBOE"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>

<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">In closing…</h2>
<p>
  COVID-19 hit during the most formative years of Gen Z’s lives. How your brand
  responds now may define your relationship with them for years to come. First
  and foremost, your brand should not be trying to solve their every need.
  Instead, look at your offering and values and identify the specific need(s)
  you could meaningfully respond to. More importantly though, empathy is key.
  Your brand must act with empathy in everything targeting Gen Z as we all move
  through this unpredictable future together.
</p>


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A Generation Defining Moment

blog 2020-07-22 thumbnail

COVID 19 + Gen Z

<p>
  As a strategist, brand workshops are integral to our jobs — whether as a
  discreet agency offering, a component of a new business pitch, or as part of a
  new client engagement. We recently had the good fortune of on-boarding a new
  client and started to make plans to kick off an in-person brand workshop. And
  then we went into shelter-in-place.
</p>

<p>
  But the show goes on, and we successfully planned, conducted, and delivered a
  brand session that we're pretty proud of. Here are some of the learnings from
  it, that we figure could be useful to others planning the same.
</p>

<p>
  Note: This isn't about workshopping platforms, and there are plenty of other
  articles that get into that. We just used Zoom to keep things simple.
</p>

<div class="row h-pad-2 margin-t-4">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-3 margin-b-1">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="400"
      height="400"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1Blc9m2Uj66YtVi4JQmh3d/29ece0f7e9c0df249204e012dd4b403f/blog_2020-07-06_01_collaboration.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-2-3">
    <h2 class="lg color-accent margin-b-1">
      Agency × Client Collaboration is&nbsp;everything
    </h2>
    <p>
      Unlike in-person sessions where attendees are expected to just show up
      with nothing more than a willingness to play along, virtual sessions need
      a ton more collaboration between the agency and brand team. This is
      because they require a committed facilitator on both sides of the fence.
      While we, the agency, facilitated the <i>what</i> and the <i>how</i>, our
      lead client facilitated the <i>who</i> and the <i>when</i>. And together,
      we collaborated on the most important component — the <i>why</i>, so that
      we were in absolute lockstep going into the workshop.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="row h-pad-2 margin-t-4">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 col-right md-1-3 margin-b-1">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="400"
      height="420"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7t8TDZsQH9ikk8Jz7nVqY/95ae4514a21f8cf5ba9db06ea370cb2e/blog_2020-07-06_02_pre-video.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-2-3">
    <h2 class="lg color-accent margin-b-1">
      <span style="white-space: nowrap;">Pre-video</span> >
      <span style="white-space: nowrap;">Pre-read</span>
    </h2>
    <p>
      Here's the thing — brand workshops are fun. Mandatory Zoom meetings are
      not. Also, pre-reads only make them even more tedious. To lay the
      groundwork for a successful session with the right tone and energy, we
      recorded a simple 5-minute video as a pre-watch to all attendees. It
      detailed the vision and ambition of the session, a brief overview of the
      approach we would be taking, and ended with a simple homework assignment,
      so we could capture (and kick off the session with) top-of-mind sentiments
      from those closest to the brand day-in and day-out.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="row h-pad-2 margin-t-4">
  <div class="col col-left sm-1-1 md-1-3 margin-b-1">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="400"
      height="250"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3EOKXEcX29cj4d21RZjLOj/4d2504a2d665467e43dfd9b73ab219fc/blog_2020-07-06_03_shorter-sprints.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-2-3">
    <h2 class="lg color-accent margin-b-1">
      Shorter Sprints, Spread&nbsp;Out.
    </h2>
    <p>
      It's important to recognize that with remote workshopping, you're up
      against screen-time fatigue and all kinds of WFH realities. Rather than
      forcing a single-day marathon approach, chunking down the session to 1-2
      hour blocks over 2-3 days, is a more realistic approach to maintaining
      momentum.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="row h-pad-2 margin-t-4">
  <div class="col sm-1-1 col-right md-1-3 margin-b-1">
    <img
      style="max-width: 270px;"
      class="block-centered"
      width="400"
      height="308"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7j6hkOx1X7ySGFpajeAc99/025780a4c9cd95663891107c21bbd700/blog_2020-07-06_04_video-presence.png"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-1 md-2-3">
    <h2 class="lg color-accent margin-b-1">
      Video presence preferred (Tough&nbsp;Love Edition)
    </h2>
    <p>
      When it comes to brand workshops, video presence has an undeniable impact
      on quality of participation. We want all voices to be heard and that's
      hard to ensure when some are more visibly present than others. Of course
      we recognize that life happens, but it is important to set expectations
      early on the importance of on-cam presence as much as possible.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="margin-t-4">
  <h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg color-black margin-b-1">
    A few other learnings:
  </h2>

  <ul class="line-list margin-b-1">
    <li>
      <span class="highlight"
        >Breakout sessions on Zoom are a blast, if you haven't tried them.</span
      >
      You get to dispatch people into rooms, and then swiftly summon them back.
      The host can also broadcast messages to everyone and join separate rooms
      to check in on progress.
    </li>
    <li>
      <span class="highlight"
        >Use shared docs and shared slides where possible.</span
      >
      Make things easier on yourself with collaboration tools so you have all
      team exercises consolidated in one place. You'll thank yourself later when
      you're toiling over that post-workshop report.
    </li>
    <li>
      <span class="highlight"
        >Hire a great moderator, because they can't trust the DJ if the DJ
        sucks. </span
      >With remote workshops, you need a lead moderator, team breakout
      facilitators, and a technical facilitator for all that dispatching and
      summoning we talked about earlier. As strategists, we often try to double
      up and play multiple roles in a session, only for it to backfire. So
      contract someone great for the job and you won't be disappointed.
    </li>
  </ul>

  <p>
    Remote workshopping for us was definitely more work than the traditional
    in-person format, but we’re thrilled that we were able to maintain the
    quality of feedback and insight that we were hoping for. It certainly takes
    some getting used to, but will be an important skill to have in this new
    normal. Good luck to all of you out there. You got this.
  </p>
</div>


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Remote Brand Workshopping

<p>
  In 2005, USA Today covered a new type of media, podcasts, describing them as
  “free amateur chatfests.” 15 years later, over
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2019/11/18/podcasting-is-going-mainstream/"
    >67 million Americans</a
  >
  listen to podcasts every week, and there are over
  <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasthosting.org/podcast-statistics/"
    >1 million podcasts</a
  >
  to choose from. What began as niche and scrappy radio-esque programming has
  become the new darling of audio entertainment, as well as a blooming arena for
  advertisers.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 md-1 md-2-3 block-centered">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="1356"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/TMWTxY1COqgiL5SNhcSgi/6292a8f561d5ea5724873ab25d42e013/blog_2020-06-22_podcast_listeners.png"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Why are people attracted to podcasts?
</h2>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <blockquote class="bq-1 margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Paul Zak</div>
      <div class="extra">
        Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate
        University
      </div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >A good story’s a good story from the brain’s perspective, whether it’s
        audio or video or text. It’s the same kind of activation in
        <span style="white-space: nowrap;">the brain.</span></span
      >
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<p></p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Intimate listening</h3>
<p>
  Because podcasts are generally in an interview or co-host format, they have an
  intimate one-to-one atmosphere. Listeners feel like they are sitting in the
  living room with the hosts and guests, which leads to a sense of familiarity
  and trust. This also means podcast hosts are choosier about their advertisers,
  which lends itself to more inherent trust in featured sponsors.
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Entertaining education</h3>
<p>
  Education is the
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306174"
    >second most popular genre</a
  >
  of podcasting, following Comedy (which, is often a veiled form of education).
  Compared to written media, podcasting allows for much more room to play in
  delivering information in an attention-grabbing way. Studies have shown that
  “dramatized audio” yields increased levels of mental imagery and the retention
  rate of auditory learning is
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306174"
    >2×&nbsp;higher than reading</a
  >.
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Topical diversity</h3>
<p>
  Podcasting has exponentially expanded the topics traditionally covered in
  radio.<b> </b>The Apple Podcast app has 19 overall categories, the majority of
  which have subcategories. This range include podcasts like “<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pen-addict/id909109717"
    >The Pen Addict</a
  >,” which features two friends talking about pens and pen-adjacent
  accessories. Another example, “<a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id979059619?ls=1&amp;mt=2"
    >Witch Please</a
  >,” is two literature professors who give a feminist analysis on the Harry
  Potter series. There’s something for everyone, which also means there is great
  opportunity for brands to reach and engage with hyper-specific audiences.
</p>
<h3 class="med color-accent margin-t-2">Focused multi-tasking</h3>
<p>
  In our proactivity-driven society, we are wired to consistently learn and do.
  This makes podcasting the perfect avenue to feed our brains while also being
  able to check off our long to-do lists. The majority of podcast listeners are
  listening while doing something else.
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.slideshare.net/webby2001/infinite-dial-2018"
    >11% of podcast listeners</a
  >
  even turn on programs while they’re working.<sup id="fnref:1"
    ><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup
  >
</p>

<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="537"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/MLcOPJg2nuPBS7cgT12uK/33a02d9999ff1a7d9a24caf3e2c07268/blog_2020-06-22_where_listening.png"
  />
  <div style="text-align: center;">
    <small
      ><a target="_blank" href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306174"
        >(source)</a
      ></small
    >
  </div>
</div>

<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  If you aren’t already advertising, you’re late to the party
</h2>
<p>
  Podcast advertising
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.statista.com/chart/17824/podcast-advertising-revenue-united-states/"
    >quadrupled between 2016 and 2019</a
  >. Why?
</p>
<ul class="line-list margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <li>
    Podcasts have active listeners devoted to the content (<a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://musicoomph.com/podcast-statistics/"
      >80% of podcast listeners</a
    >
    listen to most or all of an episode.
  </li>
  <li>
    The vast amount of podcast topics allow advertisers to reach hyper-specific
    target groups and micro-communities (see pen-lovers above).
  </li>
  <li>
    Podcasts have longer shelf-lives as listeners tend to search for topics or
    specific podcasts over looking at what’s new.
  </li>
  <li>
    Compared to other paid channels, there are few sponsors per episode. This
    has led to podcast ads having both higher ad recall (podcast ads are
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.ebiquity.com/news-insights/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-podcast-advertising/"
      >4.4×&nbsp;more effective than display ads</a
    >), and purchase intent (Podcast ads lead to an average of
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.ebiquity.com/news-insights/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-podcast-advertising/"
      >10% uplift in purchase intent</a
    >).
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  And the growth of the channel is showing no signs of slowing down.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="721"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/30zaSEdpUhh50Lf8lMBmGc/031f37f8416234fecc67970d6e7a88eb/blog_2020-06-22_ad_revenue.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Including podcasts in your media mix extends beyond simply placing pre-roll,
  mid-roll, and post-roll ads. Advertisers have found creative ways to insert
  their brands into podcast content to add value to their audiences while also
  paying off for the brand. For example:
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">“How I Built This”</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <a
    href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this"
    target="_blank"
  >
    <img
      style="max-width: 380px;"
      width="1400"
      height="1400"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4HDut6szJQc0w65FM0oi1B/8125dc82400ba2ac1f5d138e4e399ed5/blog_2020-06-22_how_i_built_this.jpg"
    />
  </a>
</div>
<p>
  Company leaders are increasingly coming into the limelight as consumers look
  for ways to build a deeper and more empathetic connection with brands. “How I
  Built This” is a podcast featuring interviews with some of the world’s
  best-known company founders like Ben &amp; Jerry’s (Ben Cohen and Jerry
  Greenfield), FitBit (James Park), and Birchbox (Katia Beauchamp). While the
  podcast is not a sponsorship opportunity, the founders get a platform to share
  not only their journey, but the values of their brand and their hopes for it.
  It’s a space for them to cultivate more intimacy between them, their company,
  and their current/potential customers.
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">“Slack Variety Pack”</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <a
    href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slack-variety-pack/id1177619183"
    target="_blank"
  >
    <img
      style="max-width: 600px;"
      width="500"
      height="261"
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4XQtfw5vBAoFLhJFzaUa7f/1cd6dc7d53d07d880089d7e89cbb5b10/blog_2020-06-22_slack_variety_pack.png"
    />
  </a>
</div>
<p>
  Slack had low brand awareness amongst its target audience, so it launched a
  podcast as a way to introduce the brand to consumers in the workplace. Slack
  knew that podcasters, eager to learn and life-hack, would be the perfect
  audience for its productivity-focused workplace app. The podcast features a
  mix of stories on work culture, teamwork, workplace innovation and how it fits
  in modern society. The content is aligned with Slack’s mission to change the
  way that people work forever—and each story is centered around such. The
  season had millions of listens.
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">McDonald’s “The Sauce”</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    style="max-width: 600px;"
    width="1280"
    height="720"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3dZKaJgZ75pOih1kY4UtH7/684737d8ee4d3fee1ce93d583e516d74/blog_2020-06-22_the_sauce.jpg"
  /><small>(this podcast no longer available)</small>
</div>
<p>
  McDonald’s announced it re-released its beloved Szechuan sauce via a
  three-part investigative podcast called “The Sauce.” The podcast, a mock play
  on the popular crime investigation genre, examined the controversy behind
  McDonald’s failed attempt at bringing back the Szechuan sauce months prior. It
  brilliantly capitalized on an obsessive (and angry) audience and gave a
  creative and transparent apology. The podcast made it onto the iTunes Top 100
  Podcast Chart less than 24 hours after its release and McDonald’s reported
  historic levels of online conversation about the brand.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  How your brand can get involved now
</h2>
<p>
  Whether a paid ad, sponsorship, branded podcast or executive interview, there
  are a handful of creative ways brands can utilize this quickly growing
  channel. Our advice: be useful, be entertaining, and connect with your
  audience before promoting yourself.
</p>


<div class="footnotes">
  <ol>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:1">
      <p>
        The author is not talented enough to listen to a podcast and write this
        blog post at the same time.
        <a href="#fnref:1" title="return to article"> ↩</a>
      </p>
    </li>
  </ol>
</div>

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Podcasts: The New Darling of Audio Entertainment 

<p>
  Major events have been cancelled, and office spaces remain fairly empty as
  employers continue to have staff working from home. But while many of us are
  struggling with the new normal, there are also those who are more content than
  others. We’re working from home, gaming, taking up hobbies we never knew
  existed, we’re reading, we’re cooking, our creative juices are pumping at an
  all time high. And then there’s social media, a place that cultivates any
  activity you could imagine. Is there any tool more equipped to shoulder us
  through these difficult times? There’s news, entertainment, updates on the
  crisis, memes, challenges, video chat etc... You name it and social media
  provides.
</p>

<h2 class="lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Social Media platforms have seen major spikes in time&nbsp;spent
</h2>

<p class="margin-t-1 margin-b-2">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/17Bog25Y4gA1GoXzz2hrQC/7d4a6c176f87c629ed46b723b85554ef/blog_2020-06-01_mobile-use-change.png"
  />
</p>
<p>
  Naturally, with everyone being urged to social distance, time spent on
  Lifestyle apps has taken a rather large dip in a short period of time. Social
  media meanwhile has seen a vast increase in time spent. It wasn't too long ago
  that many of us began to question if we’re spending too much time on social
  media. Fast-forward to now, as we continue to venture down this road of
  quarantining, and we seem to have abandoned the notion. Platforms have
  responded accordingly by giving us even more reasons to spend time consuming.
</p>

<p>
  According to Matt Southern of
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/instagram-growth-in-2020/364490/"
    >Search Engine General</a
  >, video content consumption has seen enormous spikes. Matt elaborates on the
  rising video views with the following:
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <blockquote class="bq-1 margin-t-1 margin-b-1 no-header">
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >People are spending more time consuming content on social media,
        especially video content. eMarketer now projects that people will spend
        an average of 1 hour and 20 minutes per day with social media this year.
        That’s an increase of 6 minutes per day compared to eMarketer’s
        <span style="white-space: nowrap;">previous forecast.</span></span
      >
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>
<div class="md-2-3 block-centered margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <img
    alt="Social Media Use - +6 Minutes Per Day (vs previous forecast)"
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2xKflOh0rkkXUMIyaFOGmj/d58b568818c4ee4f185ff9a1bc3f5a79/blog_2020-06-01_social-increase.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  The article also indicates that Facebook has completely reversed downward
  projections in minutes spent on the platform per day. An unnamed Facebook data
  analyst dove deeper into the new projections with data showing a growth of
  4.3% as a result of COVID-19. This comes out to an increase of over one
  minute. While this may not seem like a lot, users are currently projected to
  spend thirty-four minutes per day on the platform. To completely shift the
  projections of the entire year as a result of a current trend taking place in
  such a relatively short time span is definitely worth noting.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <blockquote class="bq-1 no-header">
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >So we’re now, because of the COVID-19 effect, showing a growth of 4.3%,
        which is positive. And we’ve been seeing declines on Facebook for a
        number of years now. So that’s about an increase of a little bit over a
        minute. So it’s not super significant like we’re seeing for some of the
        other socials like Instagram and Snapchat. But it is a
        <span style="white-space: nowrap;">positive story.</span></span
      >
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>

<h2 class="lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Out of the three major platforms, Instagram has seen the most improvements as
  a result of&nbsp;COVID-19:
</h2>

<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <blockquote class="bq-1">
    <header>
      <div class="name">Matt Southern</div>
    </header>
    <div class="bq-content">
      <span
        >Instagram was pretty flat growth. We projected a 1.5% growth in 2020,
        but because of COVID-19 it’s actually going to see the biggest,
        strongest growth out of all of the socials that we cover. Nearly 14%
        growth. That’s about 3.2 minutes when you add
        <span style="white-space: nowrap;">that up.</span></span
      >
    </div>
  </blockquote>
</div>

<p>
  This actually makes a whole lot of sense. We yearn for the things we’re
  deprived of. Instagram provides a multitude of different avenues for users to
  project a sense of normalcy. What better place to document the new norms of a
  social distancing world than on the gram. Those new found hobbies show off
  nicely in any filter. And what better way to keep in “touch” with loved ones
  than on Instagram where affection and adoration is given in the form of a
  double tap. 👆🏽👆🏽
</p>
<p>
  The current state has without question driven heavier usage across channels.
  Going forward it will be interesting to see how platforms find ways to
  maintain these numbers post pandemic without sacrificing other areas of
  strength. There’s definitely more to come and for someone who operates within
  the industry, I’m excited to see what upcoming strides will be taken.
</p>


blog 2020-06-01 header

blog 2020-06-01 thumbnail

Social Distancing: A World Made For Social Media?

<div class="note margin-b-2 md-margin-l-2 md-margin-r-2">
  <p>
    Since mid-March, we’ve been updating the Camp + King blog,
    <a href="/theplus">The&nbsp;+</a>, with the latest information and insight
    that we’ve offered to our clients to best help their brands succeed in a
    changing world. There’s an abundance of guidance for brands on the web, but
    guidance on how to produce video, film, and high-end digital work has been
    slower to come into focus. So, we asked our Director of Content Production,
    who’s safely and successfully executed remote shoots, animation, and UGC
    projects since the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders took effect, to offer
    some guidance on production guidelines for now and the near&nbsp;future.
  </p>
</div>

<p>
  Like everything else, production practices are rapidly evolving during the
  COVID-19 pandemic. As an industry, we need to be prepared to produce in a very
  different landscape than we’re used to. We
  <strong class="color-accent">can</strong> produce content without putting our
  employees, clients, and crews in harm’s&nbsp;way.
</p>
<p>
  The following outlines some best practices given the current solutions at
  hand. We initially presented this content to our own Creative teams at Camp +
  King to encourage them to concept ideas in such a way that still allows for
  the production of great work, with minimal interruption, and with
  consideration to the uncertainty of the coming&nbsp;months.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  Shelter-in-place still yields some lovely + creative production work
</h2>
<p>
  First, an acknowledgement: Sure, there’s some bad COVID-19-related work out
  there. But there’s some wonderful work being produced in this moment, too. If,
  at its core, creativity is problem solving, it’s been inspiring to see the
  range of creative thinking applied to the tools that are available to us to
  produce work now. Some examples include:
</p>
<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">
  Budweiser – Checking in, that’s&nbsp;Whassup
</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eg5ZMkS8zfM"
    frameborder="0"
    webkitAllowFullScreen
    mozallowfullscreen
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">Asaf Avidan – Earth&nbsp;Odyssey</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/408100395"
    frameborder="0"
    webkitAllowFullScreen
    mozallowfullscreen
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2 color-accent">
  Apple – Creativity Goes&nbsp;On
</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kl1NW7h7lrY"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">
  Thao & the Get Down Stay&nbsp;Down – Phenom
</h4>
<p>
  ↗
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/8/21213608/coronavirus-zoom-music-video-thao-and-the-get-down-stay-down"
    >The Verge – How Thao & The Get Down Stay Down made a music video on Zoom</a
  >
</p>
<div class="embed-container margin-t-1">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DGwQZrDNLO8"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>

<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">Uber – Thank You For Not&nbsp;Riding</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_e8XLnMiCOE"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreena
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1 color-grey">
  Considerations for producing work today
</h2>
<p>
  When live-action production isn’t a viable option for brands and agencies, we
  can focus on other forms of production in which the assembly of crews, talent,
  and locations aren’t required. Safe, scalable options for the
  time-being&nbsp;include:
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">
  Found/stock footage, stock stills + UGC
</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1YGHXwFMwpBfWtTYkjLbPb/5e11e2e26b77867aeccf0bb4721ab45a/blog_covid_prod_stock.jpg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  There are more stock footage options than ever before and while it takes time
  to find the unexpected gems, there are also more talented curators ready and
  available to help collect&nbsp;footage.
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">
  Mograph, animation + mixed&nbsp;media
</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 cols h-pad-1">
  <div class="col md-1-2">
    <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3Pe81Tb4r3cw2Z4wNo5VSa/01b39e06c1616930d386f5f30b517c04/blog_covid_prod_mograph_anim_mixed_01.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6Da83BESmffbJWmAvHgz8B/ac8758062e768a4c9d2c3549326c4ce5/blog_covid_prod_mograph_anim_mixed_02.jpg"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Adding animation to existing found or stock footage is an easy way to
  customize off-the-shelf video and create a unique, ownable look for a brand.
  The only limit is our imaginations. As more brands embrace existing footage,
  animation over live-action footage (like in the examples below) will become
  more&nbsp;commonplace.
</p>

<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">Adidas – Powered by the Past</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WlgkOM0qLN4"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>
<h4 class="med color-grey margin-t-2">Coca&#8209;Cola – Mural</h4>
<div class="embed-container">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2oxX4LkHD-A"
    frameborder="0"
    allowfullscreen
  ></iframe>
</div>

<h3 class="lg margin-t-4 color-accent">Influencer content</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/Yd3ycwkaocERVhmgzOEs1/fd35ad0d3ec4863066c3c4394fe71a02/blog_covid_prod_influencers.jpg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Influencers—they’re just like us! (In that, they’re stuck at home, too.) It’s
  a great time to engage influencers or influencer agencies to produce content
  on behalf of brands, with the added benefit of drafting off influencers’
  existing audiences for your&nbsp;clients.
</p>
<h3 class="lg margin-t-3 color-accent">
  Individual shooters, photographers&nbsp;+&nbsp;makers:
</h3>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5fqqXrCyfqbj3JAZ5YP8AT/a66ad38d2864785c92a350c469d9ff0c/blog_covid_prod_maker_01.jpg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Many individual photographers and filmmakers now allow you to shoot
  specifically what you request and pay per clip, adding a new element of
  flexibility. In some cases, we’ve been able to execute single shots with
  individual shooters at a fraction of the cost of what a full production would
  run. Additionally, in response to COVID-19, many of these individuals are now
  offering their imagery as stock—and even offering up their own homes and
  families as potential locations or&nbsp;casting.
</p>
<p>
  One collective we particularly like has thousands of content creators chomping
  at the bit to create both photography and video assets:
  <a target="_blank" href="https://thehhub.com/">The&nbsp;Hub</a>.
</p>
<p>
  And check out this collection of Photographers and Directors’ homes & families
  on offer:
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.createinplace.com/">Create in Place</a>.
  (Ask them for the password. It’s worth a&nbsp;browse.)
</p>

<h2 class="lead-in lead-in-lg margin-t-4 margin-b-1">
  In the near future: Live-action considerations moving forward
</h2>
<p>
  We’ve already seen the rise of some production companies shipping talent
  sterilized Drop Kit camera + lighting set-ups to record in the talent’s own
  homes, teleconferenced casting sessions over Zoom, and some brands using
  high-end cameras with remote heads driven by an operator who is physically
  removed from the&nbsp;talent.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 cols h-pad-1">
  <div class="col md-1-2">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1t0IkZiOwr8Y4ooqGa3pyy/d23d2e7821d5f799333871c51a21a649/blog_covid_prod_virtual_shoot_01.jpg"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2">
    <img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/17a5WTLd34IM7r82ZAkjqO/c9fc5cb92ac56783f7da68dde39ffe4f/blog_covid_prod_virtual_shoot_02.jpg"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Over time, as we build toward more traditional live-action shooting, there
  will be some important things to consider. ‘Is it <i>legal</i> to shoot’ is a
  very different question to ask than ‘is it <i>ethical</i> to shoot.’ Our
  position at Camp + King is to abide by best practices to help stop the spread
  of COVID-19. We will adhere to all social distancing requirements
  as&nbsp;necessary.
</p>
<p>
  It’s important to note, that even as local governments lift shelter-in-place
  orders, it is possible that permitting offices may continue to limit or deny
  production permits in public spaces for several months. Additionally, will
  homeowners and businesses be as willing to open up their locations to crews as
  they once&nbsp;were?
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6STOT88ZE7lyfIEUl2UV6J/52b6a74055e5954a24a50afc36f220c7/blog_covid_prod_production_01.jpg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  So, moving forward, production partners—especially directors—should be brought
  onboard earlier in the creative development process to help design a
  production effectively. Pre-production meetings and coordination will shift to
  video conference. During a production, we’ll likely need to assemble in much
  smaller groups than what we’ve all experienced in the past. At the least,
  expect smaller crews who will need to stagger their workflows—a production
  designer will dress the set, then leave; a gaffer will come in to light, then
  leave; the talent will be placed on set while agency and client attendees
  watch via a remote video&nbsp;village.
</p>
<p>
  Regardless of how this exactly takes shape, expect productions to require even
  more coordination and to move more slowly than before. The takeaway is that
  productions with many talent, crewmembers, and locations are soooooo
  last&nbsp;year.
</p>
<p>
  In the meantime, here’s what we’ve counseled our Creative team members to do:
  The future is uncertain. We can’t predict if there will be a second wave of
  the virus, forcing prolonged social distancing requirements. So, as you’re
  thinking through the most impactful work possible for your clients, pursue the
  ideas that can be successfully produced no matter the circumstance. We’re not
  settling for less craft. We’re acknowledging that we need to push past our old
  way of doing&nbsp;things.
</p>


blog covid prod header

blog covid prod thumbnail

Production Best Practices in the Face of COVID-19

blog covid trends header

blog covid trends thumbnail

Content Trends of COVID-19

<p>
  We’re all adapting. Days and nights are starting to blend. Homeschooling is
  now a part of our 9-to-5. Loungewear is the new workwear. And ‘zoom-hangover’
  is a thing. So much has changed about how, when, and where we work. But if I’m
  being honest, one of the most challenging aspects of this new reality is that
  as planners, we’re guiding clients on what they should be doing, when we’ve
  barely begun to process what it is that we’re feeling.
</p>
<p>
  As a society, we are collectively processing feelings of denial, shock,
  disbelief, anxiety, grief, and (even if we’re ashamed to admit it) bouts of
  boredom. These emotions are not being experienced in a linear fashion, we are
  in fact on a journey. A journey towards an entirely new normal. As strategic
  partners to our clients, our job is to appropriately and meaningfully navigate
  these mass cultural shifts taking place every single day.
</p>
<p>
  Of the few frameworks out there that attempt to capture and codify these
  stages, I’ve found <i>The Pandemic Stages Journey</i> by behavioral insights
  practice <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canvas8.com/">Canvas8</a> to be
  the most useful to brands. They have used historical models of past crises to
  craft a structure that plots not just consumer sentiment and behavior, but the
  corresponding tone, mode of operating, and leadership style, that people seek
  in those moments.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="548"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3GLNVV6sNXvGFG1dc9Ukj8/a99bc4bd658d0664bdf4423e3ae28c57/blog_pandemic_pandemic_stages_v1.png"
  />
</div>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4">Let's go.</h2>
<h3 class="med margin-t-1">Stage 1, Denial.</h3>
<p>
  This is where we were a few weeks ago as a nation – walking the precarious
  line between downplay and panic. We had an overabundance of information, a
  good proportion of it false and misleading. Which is why our ask of brands was
  simple. Be clear and communicative, and proactively offer up solutions for
  your patrons, e.g. adjusted hours of operation, pick-up and delivery
  solutions, mobile and web solutions, and any other social-distancing response
  initiatives.
</p>
<h3 class="med margin-t-3">Next is Stage 2, Anxiety.</h3>
<p>
  This is the phase we sit squarely in today so I’m going to spend a bit more
  time here. The situation has escalated and feels very close and very real.
  Every day, more cases and deaths are announced and there seems to be no
  shortage of data visualizations and trend projections to dial-up that growing
  sense of dread. As seen in customer centricity firm
  <a target="_blank" href="https://ds.gongos.com/corona_microsite"
    >Gongos’ Coronavirus Sentiment Tracker</a
  >, consumer levels of concern continue to grow, and people are reporting
  heightened levels of anxiety and fear.
</p>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="680"
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2AMyim0bqhoC9lNffSO0aO/679f249134aeb2e0bc2abd83eb28fa3c/consumer_concern_graph_v4.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  In this stage, we’re looking for brands to show solidarity and generosity, or
  simply put – <i>Be Helpful</i>. Some themes here are:
</p>
<ul class="margin-t-1">
  <li class="margin-b-1">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      <img
      src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2JFIDo3cltYQWDe78DVGmb/97898f67f721af1635450b4574de4a8f/blog_pandemic_response_icon_innovate.png"
      " class="sm-3-line md-4-line" width="500" height="500" />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold">“Innovate for Good”</span> – Companies like
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.ft.com/content/e9c2bae4-6909-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3"
      >LVMH</a
    >,
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/tech/dyson-ventilators-coronavirus/index.html"
      >Dyson</a
    >, and most recently,
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90485000/how-under-armour-is-making-100000-masks-a-week-to-fight-covid-19"
      >Under Armour</a
    >
    have shown how they are genuinely increasing access to life-saving resources
    through the production of hand sanitizer, ventilators, and no-sew masks
    respectively.
  </li>
  <li class="margin-b-1">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1rj1TgDFZTTVmwqcaqfXnQ/a07232ea5a1277715638c58349305beb/blog_pandemic_response_icon_support_frontline2.png
      "
        class="sm-3-line md-4-line"
        width="500"
        height="500"
      />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold"
      >“Support us all, by supporting the frontline”</span
    >
    – Companies like Uber (via
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.pymnts.com/coronavirus/2020/uber-pledges-free-food-delivered-medical-providers/"
      >UberEats</a
    >),
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://news.airbnb.com/hosts-offer-100000-places-to-stay-for-covid-19-responders/"
      >Airbnb
    </a>
    and
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/26/coronavirus-companies-donate-products-aid-for-those-in-need-unilever/5081149002/"
      >Unilever</a
    >
    are stripping the price tag off a portion of their offerings to take a
    burden off healthcare workers and first responders in a variety of ways.
  </li>
  <li class="margin-b-1">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/LIOQz3jf8nCx95vaOMfc7/4498aa38e4c6e9f8e6022dfce2454988/blog_pandemic_response_icon_collab.png"
        class="sm-3-line md-4-line"
        width="500"
        height="500"
      />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold"
      >“Cultivating community and connectedness”</span
    >
    - Brands like
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.adweek.com/digital/chipotle-together-hangouts-on-zoom-are-a-way-to-cope-with-social-distancing/"
      >Chipotle</a
    >
    and
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2020/03/26/twitch-stream-aid-go-live-to-save-lives-on-328/"
      >Twitch</a
    >
    (via Stream Aid 2020) are using the lockdown as an opportunity to rally
    their own communities around common themes of togetherness, and charitable
    giving.
  </li>
  <li class="margin-b-1">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2i26qD9B3PlwWDy0S4DBRC/d74c92a5578fb60b9a9f701763bc8039/blog_pandemic_response_icon_solidarity.png"
        class="sm-3-line md-4-line"
        width="500"
        height="500"
      />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold">“Messages of solidarity”</span>
    – These are messages of hope and inspiration, exemplified by the likes of
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.adweek.com/creativity/nike-rallies-all-sports-fans-to-play-inside-play-for-the-world/"
      >Nike</a
    >
    and
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/dont-worry-well-march-again-guinness-says-ad-after-st-patricks-day-parade-suspensions/2244471"
      >Guinness</a
    >. These tend to be most impactful when they’re playing the role of PSA
    disseminators, encouraging people to stay in, or pay it forward, rather than
    empty signals of solidarity.
  </li>
</ul>
<h3 class="med margin-t-3">Stage 3 will be next - Adjustment.</h3>
<p>
  Here, the curve is flattening as intended and we will have begun to adapt to
  changing circumstances. We will start to not just miss, but crave normality.
  We will have grown accustomed to life indoors and maintaining relationships
  virtually but will crave some change and interest around us. In this phase, we
  will likely turn to brands to innovate around our new realities, entertain,
  and engage us. We might begin to see some levity in messaging here, as content
  and technologies serve the role of a much-needed escape. The examples below
  are ones of brands starting to already play in this area.
</p>
<ul class="margin-t-1">
  <li class="margin-b-1 cf">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5vaLIMvzFKUbqfxYKKvQz4/f57952e84dec77303fa517bde6e05667/blog_pandemic_response_icon_upskill.png"
        class="sm-3-line md-5-line"
        width="500"
        height="500"
      />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold">“Remote Upskilling”</span> - These brands are
    trying to support people trying to navigate their new realities, while also
    sustaining their self-improvement goals:
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/linkedin-learning-resources/free-linkedin-learning-resources-to-help-you-navigate-the-impact"
      >Linkedin Learning</a
    >
    offering professional development content free of charge,
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/16/21182267/peloton-workout-app-trial-at-home-subscription"
      >Peleton’s free 90-day app trial</a
    >, and the
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/the-metropolitan-opera-is-streaming-a-new-slate-of-free-performances-every-night-this-week-040520"
      >Metropolitans nightly live shows</a
    >.
  </li>
  <li class="margin-b-1">
    <div class="float-left margin-r-1">
      <img
        src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1vFH77fNKsFBBJXzCWgA4A/95c6004d10a31d95d79039ab7afde354/blog_pandemic_response_icon_fashun.png"
        class="sm-3-line md-5-line"
        width="500"
        height="500"
      />
    </div>
    <span class="ls-narrow bold">“Quarantine, but Fashun”</span> – Brands like
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.adweek.com/creativity/brands-are-creating-zoom-backgrounds-to-class-up-your-quarantine/"
      >Behr and West Elm</a
    >
    are creating Zoom backgrounds to class-up your quarantine. Because your
    coworkers don’t really need to know you’re taking this call from your kid’s
    fabulous unicorn-themed room. This approach may seem overly light and silly,
    but it is certainly a solidarity-booster in its own right.
  </li>
</ul>
<h3 class="med margin-t-3">Stage 4 is all about Re-evaluation.</h3>
<p>
  Here, we’re over the bell curve and life begins to return to normal. But we’re
  grieving the loss of loved ones, and the collective trauma within our
  communities and circles is still fresh in our minds. As panic subsides, we
  will enter a mode of reflection and recovery. We should see a slight rebound
  in consumption habits. Businesses will need to adapt fast to our changing
  values and sensibilities, and offer up hope and regeneration, through both
  words and action.
</p>
<h3 class="med margin-t-3">And finally Stage 5. The New Normal.</h3>
<p>
  We’re post-crisis. We’ve made choices between the behaviors from the past that
  we will fall back into and the new ones from this disruption that we’re going
  to sustain. What will our shifted priorities look like? We don’t know yet.
  What we do know is that it takes only 66 days for a habit to form, and we’ll
  be well past that window and then some.
</p>
<p class="accent"><b>All we can do is plan for change.</b></p>
<p>
  It’s important to note that we may know the general cadence of stages, but we
  certainly don’t know the calendar. A particular phase could span a few weeks
  to a few months, and there is little geographic consistency in how this
  epidemic is charting its path.
</p>
<p>
  As marketing teams around the country grapple with questions like - should we
  pull, pause, or push media currently in flight? Should we say something, or
  stay quiet till we have something of substance to say? Should we retain our
  brand tone, or make big shifts as we plan for 2021? – I suggest revisiting the
  stages above. I also urge brands to revisit those well-crafted mission
  statements and brand purpose pieces of the past decade and start to put them
  to the test. We don’t know where things will end up six months from now, but
  we do know that companies will be remembered for how they responded – or
  didn’t, when it mattered the most.
</p>

blog pandemic planning header

blog pandemic planning thumbnail

How Do You Plan Around a Pandemic?

The negative impact on the restaurant industry from COVID-19 is massive, of course. However, for those QSR brands able to pivot to takeout and (especially) contactless delivery, near-term demand may actually increase. We were interested to learn how COVID influenced Americans decisions to order takeout or delivery. So, last week, we partnered with The Harris Poll to ask 1,102 U.S. adults a simple question: <b class="accent">“Due to the impact of Coronavirus, how much more or less likely are you to order from a fast food/quick service or pizza restaurant for pick-up or delivery in the next two weeks?”</b>

For our food service clients, we were heartened to see that more than half of Americans are more likely to order food than they were before. More details below on how the data breaks down, including the specific audiences most likely to be receptive to takeout and delivery messaging now. Age, HHI, employment status, and the presence of children at home have the highest impact on a consumer’s decision to order food at home.

<div class="margin-t-3">

  
![covid infographic](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4H440WSE3ds5hQBQioOnx8/0dc85714b950e1f58ab8f199bcaea276/covid_infographic.png)

  
</div>

covid infographic thumb

How Coronavirus Impacts American Consumers Likelihood to Order Food at Home

<p>
  It’s an unsettling time for the economy&mdash;and an incredibly difficult time
  for brands to identify how best to communicate. Generally speaking, consumer
  spend has dramatically decreased, and quickly. But whether businesses are
  taking a hard hit (sit-down restaurant traffic is down by 121%<sup
    id="fnref:1"
    ><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">[1]</a></sup
  >) or are actually seeing an economic gain (big box retail traffic is up 32%),
  brands’ overarching narratives are shifting to a purpose higher than what they
  sell: support and safety for customers and employees.
</p>
<p>
  We’ve watched the trials and tribulations of brand communications and
  advertising amidst COVID-19 in real-time. What was appropriate one day might
  not be the next, and a wrong move could have significant long-term
  consequences.
</p>
<p>
  So, how do you keep your business running by selling your product or service,
  while effectively communicating your COVID-19 safety efforts to your
  customers?
</p>
<p>
  There is hardly a blanket approach for how brands should be talking to their
  customers and employees. At Camp + King, as we help our various clients
  navigate their communications, we are noticing some guiding principles that
  apply across verticals. The following are some overarching guidelines, and
  examples of who, in our opinion, is doing it well and who missed the mark in
  the early stages of this new reality.
</p>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h3 class="med">Communicate to your most sensitive consumer.</h3>
<p>
  People are overwhelmed, uncertain, and even panicked. Assume that even the
  most nuanced references can be a trigger. Word choice, visuals, tone, and
  topic should all be extensively reviewed for appropriateness. Some things to
  keep in mind that could solicit a negative reaction:
</p>
<ul class="line-list margin-t-1">
  <li>
    An overly casual tone, even if trying to provide a moment of levity
  </li>
  <li>
    Inviting conversation about previous safety practices by instilling
    &ldquo;new&rdquo; safety measures, which is proving to be a common pitfall
  </li>
  <li>
    Giving yourself a pat on the back for being innovative or empathetic
  </li>
  <li>
    Visuals of large groups of people or hands
  </li>
  <li>
    Topics or phrases surrounding sickness (even &ldquo;Spring Fever&rdquo;),
    in-person social gatherings, commuting, or parents/grandparents
  </li>
</ul>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h3 class="med">Be transparent, but don’t inundate.</h3>
<p>
  Provide essential information on your safety efforts. However,
  overcommunicating may make an already fragile audience even more worried. Keep
  in mind that your communication is sandwiched between loads of brands within
  and outside of your industry discussing the exact same topic. This means two
  things:
</p>
<ol class="big-numbers margin-t-1" start="1">
  <li>
    Your brand likely doesn’t need to over- or re-define safety terms for
    consumers. For instance, phrases like &ldquo;no-contact delivery&rdquo; have
    become part of the broader vernacular.
  </li>
  <li>
    Your audience is already fatigued with COVID-19 communications from brands,
    news, and friends. They are looking for important takeaways, and then
    they’ll move on.
  </li>
</ol>
<div class="cols h-pad-1">
  <div class="col md-1-2 block-centered margin-t-1" style="max-width: 450px;">
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
      <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
        Oh sweet, I was wondering how every corporation I&#39;ve ever given my
        email to was handling COVID-19.
      </p>
      &mdash; Jason Mustian (@jasonmustian)
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/jasonmustian/status/1238586940833832962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >March 13, 2020</a
      >
    </blockquote>
  </div>
  <div class="col md-1-2 block-centered margin-t-1" style="max-width: 450px;">
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
      <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
        *opens freezer*<br />*note falls out*<br /><br />“We here at Totino’s
        Pizza Rolls know you’ve been wondering about our response to COVID-19”
      </p>
      &mdash; social distance warrior (@IAmSpilly)
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/IAmSpilly/status/1240030578142937088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >March 17, 2020</a
      >
    </blockquote>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h3 class="med">Prioritize community management over content creation.</h3>
<p>
  There has never been a better time to showcase your empathy as a brand.
  Prioritize hours spent responding to customers over coming up with clever
  GIFs. Anticipate questions that will be asked tomorrow, next week, and beyond,
  and be ready with answers.
</p>
<p>
  This doesn’t mean that all content creation needs to shut down. This is a good
  time to add moments of levity in your followers’ feeds by highlighting the
  community formed by your product/offering. Your UGC library is a good place to
  source this content, but keep in mind communicating to your most sensitive
  consumer.
</p>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h3 class="med">Take a leadership role to help humanity.</h3>
<p>
  Finally, the brands that will be remembered most positively are those that are
  stepping up to help people beyond providing easier access to their goods and
  services. We understand that businesses’ first priority should be the safety
  and well-being of their own people, as well as the health and sustainability
  of the business itself. But we’d like to applaud those that have taken it a
  step further to offer help to a wider net of people affected. For example,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/lvmh-will-use-its-perfume-and-cosmetics-factories-to-manufacture-free-hand-sanitizer.html"
    >LVMH is using its perfume and cosmetics production sites to manufacture
    free hand sanitizer</a
  >.
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.campaignlive.com/article/jameson-keeps-st-patricks-day-spirit-alive-bartender-donation/1677401"
    >Jameson pledged $500,000 to support the US Bartenders’ Guild</a
  >
  and is matching every dollar donated up to $100k to the Bartender Emergency
  Assistance Program. And
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/ford-pulls-national-vehicle-ads-replacing-them-coronavirus-response-campaign/2244726?utm_source%3Dad-age-news-alerts%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3D20200316%26utm_content%3Dhero-headline"
    >Ford pulled its existing national vehicle advertising</a
  >
  and replaced it with a message to reassure those who might be financially
  affected by the Coronavirus. Even if your business can’t financially afford to
  make a significant investment, finding unique ways to communicate solidarity
  with the larger communities you are a part of can go a long way.
</p>
<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4">Who’s Doing it Well:</h2>
<h3 class="med margin-t-1">Guinness St. Patrick’s Day</h3>
<p>
  A video that acknowledges the situation but carries a hopeful tone by
  highlighting the power of community during hard times. The video ends on a
  brief mention of a contribution to the Guinness Give Back fund.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1" style="max-width: 600px;">
  <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/B9rzWNHJiC_/"
    ><img
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/YJJSWeCYbs1j1IFX4kmm4/9cc71ee616b2338a6125a8273e8bb43c/guiness.jpg"
  /></a>
</div>
<h3 class="med margin-t-2">&ldquo;Chipotle Together&rdquo; Zoom Hangouts</h3>
<p>
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://twitter.com/ChipotleTweets/status/1239613534222180352"
  ></a>
  Every day this week, fans can virtually mingle with celebrities and get
  Chipotle coupons. A fantastic example of using social to entertain and quite
  literally meeting customers where they are.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1" style="max-width: 450px;">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      There’s a lot going on rn. If anyone wants to hang we’re going live on
      Zoom here: <a href="https://t.co/BveZZGXSeH">https://t.co/BveZZGXSeH</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/ChipotleTweets/status/1239613534222180352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >March 16, 2020</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>

<h2 class="lead-in margin-t-4">Who Missed the Mark:</h2>
<h3 class="med margin-t-1">Marine Layer</h3>
<p>
  An attempt to make work from home more enjoyable comes across as
  commercializing the&nbsp;situation.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1" style="max-width: 300px;">
  <img
    alt="A screenshot of an marking email from Marine Layer with the headline 'Working from Home? Wear this?' with a photo of various knitwear below"
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4fBFL0NDVF8zCY5wOt7fNO/f7bb5ef250eefab10e0d7672c88ee680/blog_covid19_marinelayer.png"
    title=""
  />
</div>
<h3 class="med margin-t-2">Lysol</h3>
<p>
  The brand continues to run heavy broadcast and digital advertising despite the
  real-world shortages of their products on store shelves. Meanwhile, Clorox
  suspended much of its media buy for the same reason.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1" style="max-width: 450px;">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      Odd to see Lysol disinfectant wipes ads running on TV. Poor look, on many
      levels:<br /><br />• reminds everyone they are out of stock<br />• brite +
      cheery ad tone is out of touch<br />• last thing they need to do rn is
      drive demand<a
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#coronavirus</a
      >
      <a
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID%E3%83%BC19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#COVIDー19</a
      >
    </p>
    &mdash; andy (@adnys)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/adnys/status/1239244423793278976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >March 15, 2020</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>
<div class="divider margin-t-4 margin-b-4"></div>
<p>
  This is an ever-evolving situation. While these guidelines may shift in the
  coming weeks, we believe that being clear, transparent, and empathetic will
  continue to be the guiding pillars of coronavirus communication.
</p>
<div class="footnotes margin-t-4">
  <ol>
    <li class="footnote" id="fn:1">
      <p>
        Coronavirus: What Customers are Buying, MFour, March 2020
        <a href="#fnref:1" title="return to article"> ↩</a>
      </p>
    </li>
  </ol>
</div>
<script
  async
  src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
  charset="utf-8"
></script>


blog covid19 header

  Communication Guidance in an Evolving Situation

blog covid19 thumbnail

  Coronavirus: How We’re Advising Our Clients

<p>
  Over the last year or so, we’ve seen a major QSR campaign (Popeye’s Chicken
  Sandwich), and a major streaming service movie campaign (Netflix’s Bird Box)
  flourish once social media’s most active and engaged community, Black Twitter,
  got involved. The question now is, when will we see a major brand player
  intentionally and unapologetically target Black Twitter? Popeye’s came the
  closest. For other brands, there are many resources available to help them
  succeed within this space, but they’ve got to make a concerted effort to do
  so.
</p>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">The timing is right</h2>
<div class="cols h-pad-1">
  <div class="col-right md-2-5  margin-b-1">
    <img
      width="500"
      height="500"
      class="md-margin-r-1"
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5sgEEW7azEHqEvYvpZbrAi/fcd24d9157a736468b400b744434e9c5/blog_black_twitter_timeisnow.gif"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col-left md-3-5">
    <p>
      There has never been a better time for brands to tap into black culture. A
      recent
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2015/black-influence-goes-mainstream-in-the-us/"
      >
        Nielsen report</a
      >
      indicated that 44% of African Americans earning over $100,000 per year use
      social media to show support for their favorite companies or brands. These
      households are also 142% more likely to react more positively than
      non-Hispanic whites about seeing other celebrities in the media that share
      their ethnic background. Furthermore, according to Nielsen’s findings,
      African American star power has become the most influential across all
      major entertainment categories. The following graphic indicates the top
      performers across each category based on their Nielsen score.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <img
    width="1480"
    height="724"
    alt=""
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5HvM6rnPStoZlIiWgF2CjI/de199ff0c73816cef0acd3de7a9be884/blog_black_twitter_top_performers.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Further, it’s worth mentioning that African Americans also command $1.3
  trillion per year in buying power, according to a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2019/its-in-the-bag-black-consumer-path-to-purchase/"
  >
    2019 Nielsen report</a
  >. Black Twitter has proven to be a window into insightful and organic
  conversations, while boasting an ability to drive both social change and
  purchasing influence.
</p>
<img
  width="540"
  height="304"
  class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered md-2-3"
  src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6iPMT0MmxjgMVWxgPCPBD4/613540976b2fdf129b681e327eedee18/blog_black_twitter_1billion.gif"
/>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">
  Its LIT <span role="img" aria-label="fire" class="emoji">🔥</span>
</h2>

<p>
  Oh, how easy it would be if I were able to approach a brand and say
  &ldquo;Hey! if you want your social campaign to be lit, you need to
  intentionally target and integrate Black Twitter into your strategy.&rdquo;
  Many of the decision-making stakeholders within these brands are either out of
  touch with this particular vernacular or genuinely don’t understand or
  identify with the approach. Hmmm, so how about we breakdown the word
  &ldquo;lit&rdquo; in a way a brand can understand.
</p>
<div class="cols margin-t-2 margin-b-2">
  <div class="col  md-1-2">
    <img
      width="480"
      height="270"
      class=" "
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/VQrkXmsVDM6sO9kNROX9V/be25521e9afeee1b7a8e770d05ff9160/blog_black_twitter_lit1.gif"
    />
  </div>
  <div class="col  md-1-2">
    <img
      width="480"
      height="270"
      class=""
      src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4iI4Ioe9lXEqlAuKZmgjuz/e7db20d88af31efd6f6c28d5cf28948b/blog_black_twitter_lit2.gif"
    />
  </div>
</div>

<p>
  Lit is...success! A &ldquo;lit&rdquo; campaign is highly engaging, it’s
  generating more sales, and driving more traffic to your channels than ever
  before. Essentially, if your campaign is &ldquo;lit,&rdquo; you’ve hit on any
  and every one of your campaign’s KPIs, and overall vastly exceeded
  expectations! Think the chicken sandwich wars initiated by Popeyes and
  amplified by Black Twitter. Or how about the
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/06/236203/beyonce-assistant-twitter-game-choose-your-own-adventure"
  >
    &ldquo;Choose Your Own Adventure: Beyonce’s Assistant for a Day&rdquo;</a
  >
  challenge, which was created by Black Twitter’s own, Green Chyna. What brand
  wouldn’t want this level of success?
</p>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">So how do you achieve this?</h2>
<p>
  The single most important resource needed to succeed within this strategy
  centers around &ldquo;The People.&rdquo; Simple as it may sound, brands need
  black people in order to reach black people. Journalist Brittany King’s
  article:
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.popsugar.com/news/Why-Diversity-Important-Advertising-Industry-44628212"
  >
    &ldquo;This Black Woman Is Putting an End to the &lsquo;Mad Men&rsquo; Era
    of Advertising,&rdquo;</a
  >
  highlights a 2017
  <a target="_blank" href="http://www.72andsunny.com/work/72andsunny-playbook">
    playbook</a
  >
  published by 72AndSunny that shows the advertising industry was 81 percent
  white and only 19 percent people of color. African Americans made up 5.8
  percent of that latter figure. How many times have we witnessed a brand
  attempting to reach this demographic only to see things fall flat or be called
  out for being insensitive? You can bet that the lack of black faces within the
  process flow of idea to execution is the reason for a campaign’s failure in
  this capacity. We saw Dove attempt to promote diversity within a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/08/dove-apologises-for-ad-showing-black-woman-turning-into-white-one"
  >
    2017 body lotion ad</a
  >, only to have it backfire and be deemed racially insensitive. This could
  have been avoided by simply going the extra mile to pass their messaging
  through the appropriate internal lens before launching.
</p>
<p>
  Now that we’ve established that, let’s circle back. We’ve seen Netflix achieve
  success by leaving the door open for engagement without directly targeting the
  Black Twitter community. We’ve seen other brands achieve success by targeting
  the black community long before the emergence of Black Twitter: McDonald’s
  with its
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Ak2z_pDBg">
    Oh Snap campaign</a
  >, or Coca-Cola’s
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djPDSIXy_eE">
    Alway’s Coca-Cola</a
  >
  campaign. We must now push forward and encourage brands to take that next
  step. Through my experience working in the social media space working on
  behalf of prominent consumer brands, I believe I’ve identified an underlying
  formula that translates into social media success.
</p>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">The formula is as follows:</h2>
<div class="margin-t-1 margin-b-1 block-centered" style="position: relative">
  <img
    width="480"
    height="270"
    class=""
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6wTOgPIFtaLYUqKmiH72zP/529196c57c5878473fb78bedb8613675/blog_black_twitter_formula.gif"
  />
  <img
    width="480"
    height="270"
    alt="(Engaging content + Tapping into a culturally-shared experience) × Black Twitter = A lit campaign"
    style="position:absolute; top:0; left:0"
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/eavpOweH0GrDnvx0IKcDs/328901d671be3a5523b67b2a5bc7dd52/blog_black_twitterformula_4x.png"
  />
</div>

<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">Engaging Content</h2>
<p>
  This can be defined as many things. We all have different interests and
  tastes, so who’s to decide on what a piece of engaging content looks like. So
  let’s keep it simple. This is content that makes a person stop what they’re
  doing to spend time and energy to read and take in your message. This is
  music, videos, movies, a good gif with good copy, a photo, even something as
  simple as an engaging, well written tweet.
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ehisosifo1/funnest-tweets-black-twitter-2018"
  >
    Buzzfeed</a
  >
  does an excellent job highlighting some of the more engaging pieces of Black
  Twitter content&mdash;most of which comes from users expressing free, organic
  thought. Brands can start here as they evaluate what types of Black Twitter
  conversation topics typically promote the most engagement.
</p>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h2 class="lg">
  Tapping Into Culturally Shared Experiences
</h2>
<p>
  Now this is the tricky part of the formula, because it is very easy for brands
  to be labeled as insensitive when attempting to highlight a culturally shared
  experience. The key is to be clever in communicating your approach. Do your
  research on the experience you wish to highlight and utilize the appropriate
  people throughout the process. No idea should be finalized without passing
  through your internal lenses of black employees. Especially considering black
  culture lives and breathes off of these experiences. Many of us come from
  similar backgrounds, and were instilled with similar values and beliefs. As a
  result, if a brand targets one of these shared experiences within their
  messaging, they’re setting themselves up to reach a broad audience, while also
  maintaining authenticity. This ultimately helps a brand resonate with black
  consumers.
</p>
<p>
  In psychology, this concept is known as collective memory and defined
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="http://psychnet.wustl.edu/memory/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Roediger-Abel-2015_TiCS.pdf"
    >here</a
  >
  by Henry L. Roediger III and Magdalena Abelas of Washington University’s Dept
  of Psychology as: &ldquo;a shared pool of memories, knowledge and information
  of a social group that is significantly associated with the group’s
  identity.&rdquo; This is part of the reason why campaigns that promote
  nostalgia and family are typically successful. Karla Cook, author of
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-nostalgia-marketing-ads"
  >
    15 Ads that prove Nostalgia is a Powerful Marketing Tactic</a
  >, describes it as the advertising equivalent to comfort food. She goes on to
  explain how nostalgia marketing gives consumers the feeling of continuity and
  meaning, while transporting them to a simpler time that they already know was
  great. Nintendo executed this with their
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJched2MvZ8"
    >Two Brothers</a
  >
  ad in promotion of the Nintendo switch.
</p>
<p>
  This is just a POV from someone who’s currently in the trenches of the social
  media marketing space. As both a black marketer and a black consumer, I yearn
  for the day that a major brand takes that next step. For there is indeed a
  cultural renaissance happening through social media, and I’m proud to say that
  it’s being driven by black culture. So who’s ready to hand Black Twitter the
  keys?
</p>


blog black twitter header

<p class="centered">
  <small
    ><i>
      This piece first appeared in
      <a
        target="_blank"
        href="https://www.campaignlive.com/article/nows-time-hand-black-twitter-keys/1676834
  "
        >Campaign US</a
      >
      on 3.11.2020.</i
    >
  </small>
</p>

blog black twitter thumbnail

  Now’s the time to hand Black Twitter the Keys…

<p>
  Burger King has always played the role of a feisty challenger brand, looking
  for new ways to disrupt people’s fast food decision-making and just generally
  be a thorn in McDonald’s side:
</p>
<div class="v-space-1"></div>
<ul class="line-list">
  <li>
    Remember in 2009 when it
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.cnet.com/news/delete-10-facebook-friends-get-a-free-whopper/"
      >encouraged people to sacrifice Facebook friends for a Whopper</a
    >?
  </li>
  <li>
    Or in 2015 when
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-proposes-mcwhopper-burger-with-mcdonalds-2015-8"
    >
      BK published a full-page open letter on International Peace Day</a
    >, suggesting that it and McDonald’s put their differences aside and
    collaborate on a McWhopper?
  </li>
  <li>
    In
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/12/04/burger-king-penny-whopper-promotion-mcdonalds/2197166002/"
      >2018, the brand took to geofencing</a
    >
    McDonald’s locations through its app to offer people close to a competitor
    location a Whopper for just a penny.
  </li>
  <li>
    And last year,
    <a
      target="_blank"
      href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=BfEEY1nmW8o&feature=emb_logo"
      >BK resorted to size-shaming the not-so Big Mac® in the UK</a
    >.
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  Burger King’s intended takeaway across each of these examples? Superiority.
  Burger King is superior to McDonald’s, and the Whopper is superior to the Big
  Mac.
</p>
<div class="divider margin-b-3 margin-t-3"></div>
<p>
  Last week, Burger King found a new way to demonstrate its brand superiority—by
  making the Whopper look, well, a <em>lot</em> less super. As Burger King wrote
  in a tweet,
  <i
    >“the beauty of real food is that it gets ugly. that's why we are rolling
    out a whopper free from artificial preservatives. coming by the end of 2020
    to all restaurants in the U.S.”</i
  >
</p>
<div
  class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1"
  style="max-width: 400px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;"
>
  <blockquote
    class="twitter-tweet"
    data-lang="en"
    data-dnt="true"
    data-theme="light"
  >
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      the beauty of real food is that it gets ugly. that’s why we are rolling
      out a whopper free from artificial preservatives. coming by the end of
      2020 to all restaurants in the U.S.
      <a href="https://t.co/yQL6kAYZrY">pic.twitter.com/yQL6kAYZrY</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; Burger King (@BurgerKing)
    <a
      href="https://twitter.com/BurgerKing/status/1230115099660124160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >February 19, 2020</a
    >
  </blockquote>
</div>
<script
  async
  src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
  charset="utf-8"
></script>
<div class="v-space-1"></div>
<p>
  What more effective way to demonstrate that a Whopper is no longer chock full
  of preservatives than by documenting its demise? Or, at least, that’s the
  thinking. The
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSDC4C3_16Y"
    >45-second film</a
  >
  opens with a Whopper being carefully built and styled. Then, a cinematic
  time-lapse shows the lettuce begin to wilt, the bun to grow heavy, before the
  science-experiment mold starts rearing its fuzzy head. The 1959 Dina
  Washington hit song, “What A Difference A Day Makes” provides the perfect
  musical accompaniment.
</p>
<p class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-1">
  <img
    src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/43HVa8BmS1LPqNl69uJh6I/2cf83992e78b2259c8c256d189360403/moldy-whopper-ooh-2.jpg"
    alt="Moldy Whopper Out of Home Execution"
  />
</p>
<p>
  As
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.adweek.com/creativity/why-burger-king-is-proudly-advertising-a-moldy-disgusting-whopper/"
    ><i>AdWeek</i> called out</a
  >, “The chain’s anti-preservatives pledge breaks just about every rule in
  advertising.” The film style is equal parts disgusting and beautiful—and
  entirely fascinating (hidden deep in my id is a junior high-aged kid who
  admits to watching the spot a dozen times or so).
</p>
<p>
  Turns out, BK has caught the attention of a lot of curious ids. In five days,
  Burger King’s initial tweet generated 1.2 million views, while the YouTube
  spot earned 1.7 million views. And Google News reported 85,000 news stories
  covering the Moldy Whopper.
</p>
<p>
  Excitement and coverage like that typically translates to a brand performing
  well in creative awards shows, but is no guarantee of sales. In fact, a
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://civicscience.com/a-whopping-48-of-americans-drawn-to-burger-kings-real-food/"
    >survey from Civic Science</a
  >
  asked 1,739 consumers how likely they would be to eat at Burger King now that
  some menu items are free of artificial colors and flavors. A whopping
  (pun-intended) 52% of people responded, “Not at all likely.”
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-2 margin-b-2" style="max-width:700px;">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5MCo1M9PPdwW4XmiOnQ0ic/f21af1322a63793016e017b2510a71a2/blog_2020-02-25_graph_v2.png"
  />
</div>
<p>
  That said, we’re anxiously awaiting to see the impact of Moldy Whopper on BK’s
  sales. At C+K, we believe that every brand, in every category is made up of
  two key components: Product Integrity and Brand Magnetism. Put more simply,
  the rational and irrational components of what attracts a consumer to a brand.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-2" style="max-width:400px;">
  <img
    src="https://images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4dRHbSnNtNJ1q9ucrrDZ6Z/bad85cf679509e5591a926621c2f4257/integrity-magnetism-outlines.svg"
  />
</div>
<p>
  Some categories are inherently more rational, which means dialing up Brand
  Magnetism in communications can be very effective. The battery category is a
  good example of this, which is why C+K has been so successful in
  <a target="_blank" href="https://camp-king.com/work/energizer-bunny"
    >reimagining the iconic Energizer Bunny to create distinction from
    Energizer’s main competitor</a
  >, Duracell.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-2" style="max-width:400px">
  <video width="100%" autoplay muted loop>
    <source
      src="//videos.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/42kGMqF5iYS5B9Qa3kR8kB/a49c000482f3ee1acd97f27a9797765a/bunny-evolution.mp4"
      type="video/mp4"
    />
  </video>
</div>
<p>
  Other categories are inherently more irrational—and in those cases, dialing up
  one’s Product Integrity can go a long way. Michelob Ultra is a fantastic
  example of this, as
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenadamson/2016/07/27/how-michelob-ultra-took-a-cue-from-nike-to-overtake-the-competition/"
    >it zagged from traditional beer industry advertising</a
  >, recognizing that its younger, more affluent, urbane audience celebrated a
  healthier lifestyle. Ultra tapped into this by expressing its Product
  Integrity in a unique way.
</p>
<p>
  QSR brands are generally magnetic and largely irrational. Don’t get me wrong.
  There’s always been rationality in the decision to choose QSR—perceived value
  and convenience are factors that especially push consumers to fast food. But
  what we’ve found at Camp + King in years of working with
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.deltaco.com/">Del Taco</a> and more
  recently with
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.papajohns.com/">Papa John’s</a>, is that
  while rationality may drive someone to a QSR category (pizza, burgers, tacos,
  etc.), it’s irrationality that typically drives brand choice or menu item
  choice within that category.
</p>
<p>
  That’s what makes this Moldy Whopper campaign so interesting to us. Will food
  decay (rationality) drive crave-worthiness (irrationality)? Historically,
  campaigns rationally touting good-for-you ingredients in products that are
  irrationally indulgent are ignored. Or, worse yet, these campaigns can
  actually adversely affect sales because people assume the healthier version of
  a product they love won’t taste as good. This is exactly what drove Kraft to
  wait three months to tell people that it
  <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4hpL3QyeSc"
    >updated the recipe of its beloved Mac & Cheese.</a
  >
</p>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h1 class="med">One last note:</h1>
<p>
  In true BK fashion, it turns out that the Moldy Whopper is also a dig at
  McDonald’s and its heavy use of artificial ingredients as documented by the
  hashtag,
  <a
    target="_blank"
    href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/lastburgerselfie/"
    >#lastburgerselfie</a
  >.
</p>
<div class="block-centered margin-t-1 margin-b-2" style="max-width:500px;">
  
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            style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"
          >
            View this post on Instagram
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          style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"
        >
          <div>
            <div
              style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"
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              style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"
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      ></a>
      <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;">
        <a
          href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ZLE5ZlN_H/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading"
          style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;"
          target="_blank"
          >The chosen bun 🍔 REYKJAVIK (AFP) – A decade after McDonald’s shut
          down in Iceland, thousands of online users follow the live slow decay
          of the last order – a seemingly indestructible burger with a side of
          fries protected in a glass case like a precious gem. More details on
          www.borneobulletin.com.bn #borneobulletin #borneobulletinsunday
          #worldnews #mcdonalds #bun #lastburgerselfie</a
        >
      </p>
      <p
        style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"
      >
        A post shared by
        <a
          href="https://www.instagram.com/borneobulletin/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading"
          style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;"
          target="_blank"
        >
          Borneo Bulletin</a
        >
        (@borneobulletin) on
        <time
          style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;"
          datetime="2019-11-03T06:32:07+00:00"
          >Nov 2, 2019 at 11:32pm PDT</time
        >
      </p>
    </div>
  </blockquote>
  <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
  
</div>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<p>
  That hashtag is assigned to an actual McDonald’s meal on display in
  Reykjavik—apparently the last McDonald’s meal served in Iceland before the
  business pulled out in November 2009. A decade later, the burger and fries
  still look more or less as first intended.
</p>
<p>Kudos, Burger King.</p>

moldy-whopper-header

On making the irrational, rational

moldy-whopper-thumbnail

Will a Moldy Whopper Whet Consumers’ Appetites?

<p>
  You’ve heard these things a million times at this point: Our lives are driven
  by visual-content. We have the attention spans of goldfish. Brands are
  competing for that attention among tens of thousands of other advertising
  messages every day.
</p>
<div class="v-space-1"></div>

<img class="block-centered sm-1-1 md-3-5" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7tYiZYLyXI9FLsnmlITkjc/1c1a114c827721b8055e844f9d1b5299/giphy_stat.png">
<div class="v-space-1"></div>
<p>

This is the reality we live in as marketers – and in this reality, GIFS are
one medium that have reached mass popularity. To put some data behind that,
<a target="_blank" href="https://giphy.com">GIPHY</a>(the largest GIF-hosting platform) sees
1 billion searches from 700 million unique users every single day.[^1] To put
that in perspective, it is estimated that there are
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/">
3.5 billion Google searches</a> every day. That means there are nearly a third
as many searches for the perfect GIF as there are for anything else on the internet.

</p>
<p>
  As GIFs exploded in popularity, more and more brands have tapped into their
  potential as a way to connect with consumers. You’ve likely seen GIFs all over
  your own digital world, whether directly in a text message, across different
  social platforms, embedded in email newsletters or articles, etc. This makes
  that lingering question of “what should my brand do with GIFs?” even more
  complex. We’ve been hearing this question from clients more and more so we’ve
  put together an overview of ways for brands to approach using GIFS.
</p>
<div class="v-space-6"></div>
<h2 class="lead-in accent">A few key things to understand about GIFs:</h2>
<div class="v-space-1"></div>
<ul class="line-list">
  <li>

It’s not just for Gen Z. Yes, GIFs reach more than 80% of 18-24 year olds.
But GIFs also reach 60% of the entire population over 18.[^2]

  </li>
  <li>
    GIFs are a conversation tool. They are reactions, expressions,
    entertainment, or things you want to talk about.
  </li>
  <li>
    Most of the GIFs you see in the world come from the GIPHY database. When you
    hit the GIF button in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Messenger,
    Whatsapp, iMessage and more, they are pulling from the GIPHY API.
  </li>
</ul>
<div class="v-space-6"></div>
<h2 class="lead-in accent">
  Here are few a ways brands can incorporate GIFs into their overall content
  strategy:
</h2>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h3 class="lg">Create branded GIFs</h3>
<p>
  The most direct approach would be to concept and create branded GIFs. There
  are three types of conversational content you could capture to create these
  GIFs:
</p>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<h4 class="med">1 – Evergreen expressions or reactions</h4>
<p>
  Things like “Yes” “Excited” “OMG” “Exhausted”. Here at C+K we made some fun
  ones with the Energizer Bunny.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:112%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/5k278bOJTumfCUhkka"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2 v-center">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:110%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/ywvaM3LlTLtSmORMXE"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h4 class="med">2 – Timely happenings</h4>
<p>Birthdays, days of the week, seasons.</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/1nQ9JQ2JH9TcJmIFH3"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:100%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/1oTQbVLsCtEPeYZwgS"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h4 class="med">3 – Culture moments</h4>
<p>
  If it makes sense for your brand, you could create GIFs that align with
  holidays, award shows, or sporting events.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:75%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/h59AQgAjTikZSBeCr4"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:75%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/eHid7pNKlbut21bmrA"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<h4 class="med m-b-1">Pro-tip</h4>
<p>
  If you have community managers or customer service reps having one-on-one
  conversations with customers on social media or messaging apps, you could arm
  them with a bank of generic reaction or expression GIFs for more interesting
  engagement.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:75%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/ei9pMw3x3MYVhtlBla"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:75%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/dTXD2592LKRrqejtOt"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-2"></div>
<p>
  For maximum reach, a brand would then house those GIFS on a GIPHY brand page
  and incorporate a tagging strategy so they are easily found in search. For
  further amplification, GIPHY does offer ad products like Promoted Search or
  Trending Feed.
</p>
<div class="v-space-6"></div>
<h2 class="lg">
  You’re already creating digital content. Make&nbsp;it&nbsp;GIF&#8209;like.
</h2>
<p>
  Instead of your usual image or video in social posts or emails, use looping
  videos to make these GIF-like. Your audience speaks this language and it will
  feel like a natural fit to them.
</p>
<div class="v-space-1"></div>
<div
  class="center"
  style="max-width: 400px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;"
>
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">
      Well done to Kim-Joy for spicing up
      <a
        target="_blank" 
        href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBBO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
        >#GBBO</a
      >
      with her biscuit brilliance!
      <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/e7Rf3AZ8qI">pic.twitter.com/e7Rf3AZ8qI</a>
    </p>
    &mdash; British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff)
    <a 
      target="_blank" 
      href="https://twitter.com/BritishBakeOff/status/1044680532750151680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
      >September 25, 2018</a
    >
  </blockquote>
  <script
    async
    src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"
    charset="utf-8"
  ></script>
</div>
<div class="v-space-6"></div>
<h2 class="lg">
  Play with what you got.
</h2>
<p>
  Maybe a GIF-specific production is not in the books right now. Or maybe you
  need a little more convincing before diving in headfirst. Go through footage
  you currently have available to you and see if there are opportunities to
  create looping videos that represent expressions or reactions and can be
  easily uploaded to GIPHY.
</p>
<div class="cols h-pad-1 margin-t-2">
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:100%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/10U4lyFT7SCi4M"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col sm-1-2 md-1-2">
    <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:76%;position:relative;">
      <iframe
        src="https://giphy.com/embed/X1FeBsAYMQiwo"
        width="100%"
        height="100%"
        style="position:absolute"
        frameborder="0"
        class="giphy-embed"
        allowfullscreen
      ></iframe>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<div class="divider"></div>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>
<p>
  These are just a few ways brands can use GIFS and we encourage you to try
  different approaches and see which works best with your audience. Lastly, if
  you’ve read this far and were hoping this post would answer whether it’s
  pronounced “GIF” or “JIF”... here’s what I have for you: The man who created
  GIFs in 1987, Steve Wilhite, made a very unpopular statement in 2017 that it
  is in fact pronounced, “JIF.” However, the editor of the Oxford English
  Dictionary was noncommittal, and has since stated that the dictionary accepts
  both pronunciations.
</p>
<div class="v-space-4"></div>

[^1]: Source: GIPHY Research
[^2]: Source: GIPHY Research


GIF the people what they want header image

GIF the people what they want thumbnail

GIF the People What They Want

<blockquote style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:3em;margin-top:3em">
<hr />


<span class="highlight">“Reddit kind of scares/confuses me, but I am trying to get into it!”</span>
  <br/>—C+K e-mail chain
<hr />

  
</blockquote>


Last week Reddit released its “Year in Review” report, a compilation of the most popular content and trends in key topics discussed on the channel.
 
As a non-Reddit active user, to me it’s a mythical social channel where people that truly “get” the Internet linger. From an advertising perspective, while it can be a goldmine for pop culture research, few brands have a presence on the platform as its audience is notoriously anti-marketing.
 
In the age of advertising-ridden, hyper-aspirational, and untrustworthy social platforms, Reddit is proving to be a much-needed breath of fresh air. The platform’s success reflects this – Reddit reported that its user base grew 30% year-over-year and that its active monthly user count reached 330 million, surpassing Twitter’s.
 
What surprised me about Reddit’s “Year in Review” was how the platform has moved far beyond niche internet culture and hosts a broad range of topics and audiences. Here are some of my key takeaways:

  
  
## <span>Reddit is not just for dudes.</span>

While in 2016 almost 70% of Reddit users were male[^1], female-oriented topics grew significantly in 2019. The skincare subreddit has over 1 million followers, the r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/thebachelor/">thebachelor</a> is #3 on TV communities, and subscribers in the top 50 beauty communities grew 63%.
 
## <span>Reddit could replace Facebook as a go-to news platform.</span>

With distrust in Facebook, people appear to be turning to Reddit more to consume and discuss news. The top 50 news communities saw a 17% YoY rise in subscribers. There also appears to be more room for humor within the news than other traditional social channels. For example, r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/">nottheonion</a> is amongst the top news communities and this <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/aohpmo/given_that_reddit_just_took_a_150_million/">Tank Man</a> post received the most upvotes in 2019.
 
![Tank Man Post](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5keKkrK1pvJWSvXPq1efkO/42ae1794f8a0a1f5735e65b316fcf022/blog_2019-12-18_tankman.jpg)
 
## <span>Reddit is growing as an advice platform for big life moments.</span>
  
While Pinterest is aspirational (and often unattainable), Reddit is a place for practical, no BS advice. Weddings and parenting were two popular topics in 2019. r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/weddingsunder10k/">weddingsunder10k</a> grew 209% and family and parenting communities grew by 87%.  

![50% of C+Kers trust Reddit advice over other platforms](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1M0Cd13B4nkHW8O6ZRP2Mk/3a2fea2eebdbaadebd4542f35bd1bdc5/blog_2019-12-18_Survey-results.png)
 
## <span>People are talking ABOUT brands, just not to them.</span>
  
The viral Twitter sandwich war between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A also took place on Reddit. The r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Popeyes/">Popeyes</a> subreddit grew 390% compared to 122% for r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ChickFilA/">ChickFilA</a>. While both brands were aggressively engaging on Twitter, Reddit conversation was left to the fans.
 
<hr style="margin-top:3em;margin-bottom:3em;" />
 
These learnings do not mean that advertisers should immediately try and establish their Reddit content strategy. However, the platform is an important research tool as well as an indicator of consumer behavior on social.
 
Here are some of the ways we’ll be using Reddit to help our clients in 2020:


<ol>
<li class="clearfloat">
  <div class="float right sm-1-4 md-1-6">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5Q8PPuPw1rqZ73tdn8Fu3z/9ab6297d0c40c57ec98811e5f44e631c/blog_2019-12-18_Keeping_on_the_pulse_of_pop_culture.png" /> 
  </div>  
  <span class="highlight">Keeping on the pulse of pop culture.</span> While Reddit might not be as fast paced as Twitter, it is “the front page of the internet”. A broader range of content means more opportunity to uncover relevant ways for brands to engage.
</li>
<li class="clearfloat">
  <div class="float right sm-1-4 md-1-6">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6Rql8X7v2Iz89rJom1pKqU/e80486b86c90585df99aaf3e8f82af1b/blog_2019-12-18_Going_deep_on_verticals.png" /> 
  </div>
  <span class="highlight">Going deep on verticals.</span> Reddit is an easy place to dig into more nuanced and emergent trends in a particular category. Using retail as an example, while Instagram might uncover broader trends like minimalism and athleisure, subreddits like r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/">onebag</a> and r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/rawdenim/">rawdenim</a> add a level of specificity.
</li>  
<li class="clearfloat">
  <div class="float right sm-1-4 md-1-6">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/mp8ijLdCfrXcD1TAOjeV8/06bb875103f9e3f92ba3ce793df3a6f3/blog_2019-12-18_Uncovering_influencers.png" /> 
  </div>
  <span class="highlight">Uncovering influencers.</span> As the audience for Reddit broadens and ‘likes’ disappear on other channels, Reddit could be a great place to uncover trusted and untapped influencers.
</li>
<li class="clearfloat">
  <div class="float right sm-1-4 md-1-6">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/68KArsiRbYXdkGcQm5bb9X/d0bc4a4a0244f282c945c2d030c3b03c/blog_2019-12-18_Monitoring_brand_conversation.png" /> 
  </div>
  <span class="highlight">Monitoring brand conversation.</span> While brands might not interact directly with Reddit users, this could be the best place to seek out the most brutally honest commentary about your brand.
</li>
<li class="clearfloat">
  <div class="float right sm-1-4 md-1-6">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1j23L96Su9zTslHh0bE3gk/92b547f6e5e2a6eb1536404b2251877e/blog_2019-12-18_Embracing_more_long_form_content.png" /> 
  </div>
  <span class="highlight">Embracing more long form content.</span> Reddit has proven that visual, short form content is not the only way to be engaging on social. While we won’t normally recommend a 500-word Facebook post, in some scenarios text-only and/or longer formats is the best way to tell a story on social. 
</li>

</ol>
<p class="clearfloat">
Now excuse me while I go spend the next 3 hours on r/<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/">aww</a>.
</p>

[^1]: [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/517155/reddit-user-distribution-usa-gender/)


By Senior Strategist Sally Kallet

blog 2019-12-18 Reddit Newsletter

What Surprised Us About Reddit’s 2019 Year in Review

Paige here, Senior Strategist at Camp+King San Francisco. I recently had the opportunity to take a class in Data Analytics and had a few share-worthy takeaways from the experience. I wanted to learn more about analytics because a lot of Excel documents end up on a strategist’s desk and as a natural right-brain’r, my goals coming out of it were to A) be less intimidated by a screen filled with thousands of numbers so that I can B) better understand how to turn numbers into actionable insights and meaningful narratives. 

<h2><span>It’s a critical time for data</span></h2>

Data has come along way. In fact, in 1880 the US census took eight years to tabulate and create a final report. By the time it was completed, they were just two years from rolling out the next one![^1] To put that into perspective, today Google processes data from 40,000 search queries every second.[^2] Research suggests we are at the beginning of a revolution with data that will touch every business and every life. For example...

- Estimates show that by better integrating big data, healthcare could save as much as $300 billion a year — that’s equal to reducing costs by $1000 a year for every man, woman, and child.[^3]
- For a typical Fortune 1000 company, just a 10% increase in data accessibility will result in more than $65 million additional net income.[^4]

![But currently, less than 0.5% of all data is ever analyzed and used](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7vO215gx36OTvDHA0mhtbY/bd1229138672bc1a24cab54194cd1be9/blog_2019-12-03_less_than_0.5.png) 

<h2><span>Why is data analytics important to us in advertising?</span></h2>

<ol>
<li>
<h3><span>Our partners want it</span></h3>

With more data being generated about consumers than ever before, clients are looking to us as their agency partners to be able to interpret this data and apply it in ways that will make their marketing more effective. 

![blog 2019-12-03 chart-biggest issues](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6JlRrZclcI4vUWN1tIPiXV/b2cf3dee189b1d2e8e40822b3880dba4/blog_2019-12-03_chart-biggest_issues.png)

</li>

<li>
<h3><span>There’s an opportunity to use it creatively.</span></h3>

  
At the Cannes Lions Festival this year, not a single US agency won top honors in the Creative Data or Data Strategy categories. There is room for improvement here! As an industry we have to understand how we can tap into data’s potential from a creative standpoint to make our final product more interesting and relevant to its audience. Here’s “Go Back to Africa,” this year’s Grand Prix Winner, as an example of that.
  

<style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KIzXBAxljW4' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</li>
</ol>



<h2><span>What we’re doing at Camp + King</span></h2>

We know that data rules today and, as an agency, we’ve begun to expand our approach to analytics so that we are better able to bring the power of data to our process of making brands Conversationworthy. When do we think about how data can play a role? Here are a few opportunities:  


<h3 class="clearfloat"><span>Strategy Development</span></h3>

<div class="float sm-1-4">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7Iy4lSHIh9AmzY3XIQ8Hvn/3b2ba90db2b9be3b01b6d4a5fb2ca80b/blog_2019-12-03_icon-strategy_dev.png" />
</div>
  
This is the obvious stuff. We get our hands on as much research and data as we can about culture, the category, consumers and the company to help with insight generation and communications planning. 

<h3 class="clearfloat"><span>Creative Exploration</span></h3>

<div class="float sm-1-4">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1kakrl2CF4UZJiBkNVR9y4/1616f98c3e55493d7205b5ac0ad7e790/blog_2019-12-03_icon-creative_exploration.png" /> 
</div>
  
This is where we use data to influence our choices and build cool things. Data tells us when and where to reach people but also allows us to customize, personalize or make things interactive. Real-time data allows us to create things that change in the moment. We even use data to help develop new products or offerings. 
 
<h3 class="clearfloat"><span>Collaborating with Clients</span></h3>

<div class="float sm-1-4">
  <img aria-hidden="true" src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5WUYQK8UAmidkwr0n5LH8K/574746b0cb38b21e2940ebb0de630763/blog_2019-12-03_icon-collaboration.png" />
</div>
  
This is when we use data to help our clients do great work. 
Numbers and charts give us a shared language with stakeholders across departments: marketing, tech, business and information groups. Using data with our partners helps us paint a universal picture to make sure everyone is on the same page and excited about what we’re building together. 

<hr class="clearfloat" style="margin-top:3em;" />

I was inspired by the endless possibilities for data beyond where we typically think about using it. There is so much that can be done with data to help brands grow today, I hope I’ve inspired you to think about different ways to tap its potential. 

<hr style="margin-bottom:3em;" />



<p style="text-align:center;"><i><small>Paige took this class as part of Camp+King’s +Minor Program. +Minor is designed to help employees pursue a minor area of study to develop a skill set outside of their day-job.
</small></i></p>


[^1]: Source: <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24987147?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents" target="_blank">Scientific American</a>

[^2]: Source: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#d25960f17b1e" target="_blank">Forbes</a>

[^3]: Source: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#d25960f17b1e" target="_blank">Forbes</a>

[^4]: Source: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#d25960f17b1e" target="_blank">Forbes</a>


blog 2019-12-03 thumbnail

Let’s talk DATA

Dads today [spend nearly triple the amount of time](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/fathers-day-facts/) caring for their children as they did in 1965. And they want credit for it. Homer Simpson is passé and “Dadvertising” seeks to realistically depict Dad’s role in modern society.


![Newsletter 2019-06-14 pie-charts](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/454cq4J0wTpQvQU04dcWFk/dcccb2866cc17596059cb06891519156/Newsletter_2019-06-14_pie-charts.png)

<p style="text-align:center;">
(<a target="_blank" href="https://www.adweek.com/creativity/infographic-fathers-present-unique-targets-for-advertisers/">source</a>) (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.adweek.com/creativity/fathers-are-tired-of-seeing-doofus-dads-in-advertising/">source</a>)
</p>

Advertisers and entertainers are making a solid effort to not make the faux pas of painting fathers as removed, bumbling and/or overly protective figures. Disney committed to do away with Dad stereotypes. The UK Committee of Advertising Practice banned companies from including gender stereotypes within ads, citing fathers as an example. Modern Dads are playing leading roles in Super Bowl advertising.

![Newsletter 2019-06-14 no-princesses](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3c4ChNjwlUYK8DgcYfMRLW/27277f61ef6971ab21783850db1a9a4d/Newsletter_2019-06-14_no-princesses.png)

But appealing to Dads goes farther than avoiding the “Doofus Dad”. <span class="highlight">Brands shouldn’t turn Dad into Mom — he approaches parenthood in his own way and wants this difference to be reflected.</span>

One approach to showcasing Dad’s difference has been through lengthy and emotional spots that show everything Dad does. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=qmaOe4RVWGU">Dove</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4CRc_h-9w">HP</a> go to great lengths to paint a picture of an involved, loving father. However not all brands have the budget for this, and more importantly, not all brands are able to make such a direct tie of fatherhood to their brand’s purpose.

![Newsletter 2019-06-14 venn-diagram](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6kdzRrIXefI5SjXR28OIQM/7b6f337874d6ce32a04e116118fbba0f/Newsletter_2019-06-14_venn-diagram.png)

Every brand has a different level of what they can push for when incorporating relevant Dad marketing without coming across as tone deaf. There are more nuanced ways beyond a father-specific spot to weave fatherhood truths into advertising. A social program dedicated to Dad Hacks with your product, art direction of modern family dynamics in a TV spot, an in-store experience catered to Dads, are just a couple of ways to make this audience feel understood and still create a meaningful tie to your brand.

![Newsletter 2019-06-14 changing-stations](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2RXbYkCuComFNbhrCOS2Jw/996eb560fd6d4cae8236b6575a36ccff/Newsletter_2019-06-14_changing-stations.png)

There is rich cultural relevancy around what it means to be a Dad today. Taking the time to understand how Dads interact with your brand, product, and their family is more important than ever to gaining their attention and retaining them as customers. 




Newsletter 2019-06-14 thumbnail

Dad in His Own Right

In the age of rage against “isms” like racism and sexism, we can’t
overlook ageism. Let’s face it, advertisers (and their agencies) are
especially guilty of this “ism” as most remain hyper-focused on
advertising made for and made by twentysomethings. But, as we
aspire for better representation and diversity in advertising, let’s
embrace the beauty, wisdom and cash that comes with age.


![reebok-ad](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/lYg1foWkzjspdimZK7x96/6dce2065b7f156746b911b2714edac9e/reebok-ad.jpg) 

Reflecting age diversity in advertising makes business sense.
Americans over 50 are the healthiest, wealthiest, and most active
generation in history. Yet most feel completely ignored by marketers.
A recent survey from Fancy revealed that women over 40 feel brands
systematically underestimate her spending power (64%) and her
intelligence (80%) and continue to perpetuate negative age-related
stereotypes (76%)

![women](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/zZfVwMsfU2kSXBkZcz07W/1e5ba6a5d49ea8306fe23427921decca/women.jpg) 

Age also brings something every marketer is chasing: authenticity. Older models exude confidence and wisdom which allows them to serve as brand storytellers rather than merely just another pretty face. Google celebrated DJ Sumiko, the 84-years young DJ in Japan, while the silver fox Ron Jack Foley brought cachet and intrigue to Volvo.

![foley-sumiko](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2QmOXuuqlc6APRGADoR4w4/e9755302a99908a4364ea1908bf3c5ed/foley-sumiko.jpg)

Where fashion leads, most marketers follow. And fashion is leading the way in the Greynaissiance. At the age of 94, Iris Apfel is represented by the same modeling agency as Gigi Hadid. Older Instagram influencers like Sarah-Jane Adams tags her posts with #mywrinklesaremystripes and the Accidental Icon, Lyn Slater, who at the age of 65 has a social media following that’s 65% under the age of 32. And, possibly the greatest example of the Greynaissance is Maye Musk, who at the age of 70 is fashion’s “It Girl” and says she’s just getting started. As one 19-year old commented on Maye’s account “When I grow up I want to be Maye Musk.” Aspiration is ageless, so let’s make ageism old news and embrace the beauty, wisdom and cash that comes with age.

![apfel-musk](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7LZ9cqlPo6fZi0eWpF8GNn/26c77c969c5b2eb8abc3e28927c8be2e/apfel-musk.jpg) 


The Greynaissance

It’s likely impossible to have a bigger selection than Amazon or cheaper prices than Walmart, but retailers can win with a unique in-store experience. From simple classes to immersive retail residences, retailers can carve out a niche the big boys can’t match by enticing customers with the promise of doing something in store. And it’s what today’s consumers really want. A recent Harris Group study found 72% of Millennials prefer to spend money on doing things rather than buying things. Here’s how some brands are creating a living space, not just a purchasing place, in-store.

![2018-03-11 newsletter chart1](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/75hWF1onIr3dFkDHl2B76i/695795bafdd102a8523222e84be913e7/2018-03-11_newsletter_chart1.png)
<hr />

Challenger brands have managed to gain traction against their dominant competitors through retail experiences. Microsoft has managed to pull young consumers out of Apple stores with the addictive lure of Microsoft Fortnite Fridays, hosted evenings where kids can play Fortnite with friends unfettered by nagging parents. Reebok’s La Salle De Sport in Paris engages athletes with a branded space that blurs the line between store and gym.
 
![newsletter 2018-03-11 la-salle](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/Q8lATXjfvgVNC0jvXi7E0/1742b45e2fa178bac0bf9be4b0706d72/newsletter_2018-03-11_la-salle.jpg) 

<hr />

Lululemon was an early-adopter of the in-store experience hosting free yoga classes and now they’re venturing into relaxation pods for meditation. Casper’s Dreamery in NYC takes it to another level. It’s not a store, rather a spa for naps. You book a 45-minute nap and nestle into your own sleep pod equipped not only with a Casper bed (with Casper bedding, naturally), but also with free toiletries, luxury sleepwear, and cold brew upon waking.

![newsletter 2018-03-11 relaxation-pod](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6USLnDbYeBSXWwh9iQxH0e/7bcd9350e9e6ef5d7c6609a9f143add1/newsletter_2018-03-11_relaxation-pod.jpg)

<hr />

Retailers are also taking the stay and play concept even further by creating retail residences. RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is incorporating coffee bars, wine vaults and restaurants into their galleries (formerly known as stores). And opening their first boutique hotels, RH Guesthouse, in Manhattan and Aspen, following in the footsteps of IKEA, Gucci and other retailers turned hoteliers. These are definitely experiences you can’t replicate online.

![newsletter 2018-03-11 rh-guesthouse](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5zxxJZMunEzFnmk8bFScii/4824aba46a61d49456beddcb70b57e5c/newsletter_2018-03-11_rh-guesthouse.jpg) 

<hr />

Finally, in the age of social media, retailers need to imagine their store as a backdrop for Instagram. Color Factory and Museum of Ice Cream are testament to the lengths we will go for a good ‘gram. Tiffany’s let consumers literally have breakfast at Tiffany’s and L’Occitane’s 5th Avenue store transports you to an idyllic bike ride through Provence - all styled and framed for a great Insta.

![newsletter 2018-03-11 instagrammable](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7oENwHLkREmtLHzqcmeJkA/6f06f70561f0dfbabdcb105b0499fb3b/newsletter_2018-03-11_instagrammable.jpg)

So hey retailer, it’s not just about buying, it’s also about doing in today’s retail stores. From simple classes to immersive overnights, create an experience that can’t be had online. And frame it all to be easily shared 
on social.

2018-03-11 newsletter thumb

Hey Retailer, do something and win

In a post-truth era, most of us have become deficient in one critical area: trust. It’s effecting the way people look at leaders, how businesses approach consumers and even how we inherently feel about those around us. To understand people’s expectations and perceptions of trust in today’s world, Havas conducted a global study of 9,000 people in 24 markets, as part of its thought-leadership series, Prosumer Reports. Here’s what we learned:
 
## <span>Trust is one of our most important values</span>
 
Think about it, our day-to-day lives are built on trust. Without the assurance that people and organizations, for the most part, are going to do what we expect of them, things would be chaotic, and nothing would get done.
 
Societies are built on it, too. Trust is the social glue that holds together communities, cultures, and countries. In fact, most of us would argue that a good barometer of a nation’s health is the extent to which its citizens trust one another.

![trust graph](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/42kXsfy8qW0vkY6a9WzOly/65ba0e6215237b824d64ddd07dde7d67/trust_graph.png) 
 
## <span>In very few we trust</span>
 
![trust is rare](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2vkU86ouFWasdWLBLkxmGC/5bbe4df57bced4b31568882438cda494/trust_is_rare.png) 

Because trust is so important, the fact that it’s increasingly lacking in our world has become arguably the biggest issue of our time.
 
And unfortunately, the situation doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. <span class="highlight">Whereas 77% of baby boomers said their inclination is to trust a person until proven wrong, just 61% of millennials said the same.</span> One can’t help but wonder whether growing up alongside email phishers, magnanimous Nigerian “princes,” and Russian bots has had a lasting impact on this first generation of digital natives.
 
![who do we trust](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/oKJjPysp8V3eFAcVnz1bz/1aab768cd39f0587f4fb432f6fe0493e/who_do_we_trust.png) 
 
What we see from these findings is that our circles of trust are small indeed. Our system of trust has become broken and a new model of trust has emerged. In the past, people’s trust extended from those within close physical proximity (family, friends) to their wider communities and then even further outward to include groups with which they had something in common (race, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, etc.). Today, this sense of connectedness does not appear to extend nearly so far. Our windows of trust are getting smaller.
 
![expansion to contraction](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5vXFX6jvO4A4Z3FAMfYZDA/ac7a4816dab85a43b7004bd4a4dfba4b/expansion_to_contraction.png)

## <span>Trust is at a tipping point</span>
 
There was a period of time not too long ago when people seemed to be shifting their trust from experts to their peers. We believed that new horizontal business models like Uber, Airbnb, and Trip Advisor, would bring back trust because these services allowed us to source information and recommendations from ordinary people like ourselves. Recently, however, these new models have given us reasons to lose trust in them. Headlines about racism on the Airbnb platform or a couple finding a hidden camera in their rental. Horror stories of Lyft rides gone wrong. Rumors of businesses gaming the system on review platforms like Yelp and TripAdvisor. Instances like these have caused these models to lose some ground. The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer verifies this shift. The report states that just 54% rated “a person like yourself” as very or extremely credible—down 6% from 2017.

If we are beginning to lose faith in our peers, we can just go back to trusting the authorities...right? Unfortunately, we won’t be moving right back to a vertical trust model because leaders that we deem worthy of trust are in dangerously short supply.
 
![loss of trust](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5ieUfDuUwEJj9tTcPbKx2r/8543062e67b4d9f1df47dd049c5a18c9/loss_of_trust.png)
 
However, there has been some resurgence of experts as voices of authority. Again looking at Edelman’s Trust Barometer, we see that technical experts and academic experts have increased 4% in just one year in the share of people who consider them very/extremely credible. While trust in leadership is lacking, we are becoming more open to listening to the voices of those with verified expertise.
 
## <span>What this means for brands</span>

1. <h3><span>Operate with transparency and amplify positive experiences</span></h3>
Two-thirds of people cited transparency as key to a company’s ability to establish trust. Part of being transparent is admitting mistakes and being open about how they are being addressed. It’s fact that it takes 12 positive experiences to compensate for a single negative one. In the age of social media, it’s critical to handle issues that arise promptly and publicly. It’s also critical to look for ways to amplify and celebrate positive experiences. 
 
2. <h3><span>Make use of the powerful voice of your employees</span></h3>
When people are deciding how they feel about a company or brand, they pay close attention to what it’s employees have to say. When asked “whom do you trust most to honestly tell you how a company operates?” 60% of people in the study said it’s employees.  Smart companies recognize the value of their employee evangelists, treat them accordingly, and make it easier for them to spread the good word.
 
3. <h3><span>Share your vision and bolster it with facts</span></h3>
Knowing that today’s consumers inherently feel more distrustful, it’s important that your motives are clear to those who are unfamiliar with your brand. Today’s consumers want brands to build a brighter future in some way, whether that’s innovation or standing for something, and they demand factual evidence for how you’re doing it. Forty-four percent of people say that supporting causes is one good way for a company to build trust. It allows brands to broadcast their values and build meaningful connections with those who share them.
 
4. <h3><span>Get a little closer</span></h3>
Just as people feel most strongly connected to those in close proximity to them, so, too, are they more apt to trust a company that is local. Companies can and should make efforts to connect with their local community but it doesn’t have to be limited to just physical proximity. In our view, the key to appealing to “local” sensibilities has less to do with distance or scale than with a company’s ability to establish a meaningful presence in people’s lives. Understanding your customer’s unique interests, wants and needs and relying on them to tell you what they want to see from your brand is a good place to start.

Learn more about the study and Havas’ global thought leadership series, Prosumer Reports <a href="http://mag.havas.com/prosumer-reports" target="_blank">here</a>.
 
<p style="text-align:center;"><small>Source: Havas, <a href="https://download.havas.com/prosumer-reports/the-future-of-trust/" target="_blank">Prosumer Report: The Future of Trust</a>, December 2018</small></p>

Brands need a new approach to connect with today’s guarded consumers

We’re living in a depleted state of trust


<p style="text-align:center;"><i><small>Originally published in the <a href="https://www.thesfegotist.com/editorial/2018/12/19/111300/" target="_blank">SF Egotist</a></i></small></p>

![Sally Kallet](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4WhUiMsB0kgM6iMKA2MEOy/cb39d14fb482be78ac50d1c2138e2c70/sally.jpg)

At the beginning of this year, I nervously passed up an opportunity from a friend to write myself a letter that she’d mail to me at the end of 2018. I’m now kicking myself because A. that would have made writing this a lot easier, and B. I think this year turned out to be pretty kickass.

Here are some things I learned:

## <span>There is something interesting to uncover in everything.

In 2018 I committed to creating a one-second video every single day. It made me be acutely aware that there is at least one beautiful, interesting, or funny moment of each day. It’s also served as a fantastic reminder when working on a seemingly mundane brief or making too fast of an assumption about someone. I encourage everyone to give it a try.

## <span>Don’t let shiny things get in the way of what your brand stands for.

As new platforms, ad types, and technology are being introduced at lightning speed, I’ve noticed an increasing amount of activations that are prioritizing an “innovation halo” and the short-term impressions that result from it over making a memorable brand statement. I’ve learned take a step back and ask myself, “how does this idea change or reinforce what someone believes about this brand?”

## <span>People are extremely committed to 1-minute meetings.

OK, it’s attempting to hold a plank for one minute, not technically a meeting. But I’ve never seen so many people show up early to a recurring calendar invite. It’s a great way to bring people together that normally might not interact throughout the day. Plus, you learn some interesting things about your coworkers when trying to distract yourselves from searing core pain.

Not accomplishing the “10 Things to Do Every Morning to Make You 15x as Amazing” does not mean you are any less than.

While we are in an era of extreme self-improvement, we are also in a time where the definition of success is changing. I read these click-bait articles for months before realizing that doing 50 pushups at 5am followed by a 3-minute ice-cold shower in order to get through my emails 30 minutes faster just wasn’t how I wanted to prioritize my life. 

## <span>A ferocious work girl gang is crucial to my wellbeing.

60% of the Camp + King team is made up of intelligent, creative, confident, badass women. Whether applauding each other for a new innovative use of the panini grill or a breakthrough insight on the third iteration of a campaign briefing – I know this group has each other’s backs. There is nothing like females building each other up on the reg.

Here’s to an inspiring, plank-heavy, you-do-you 2019.

sally

What I Learned Last Year: 2018

## <span>Brands with Charisma Win</span>
We’ve written before about the importance of a brand having both product integrity and brand magnetism. We call the combination Brand Charisma. Brands that have it enjoy higher talkability, loyalty and faster growth - get a quick refresher [here](/blog/159797195839/finding-your-brands-charisma). 

![charisma](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2uDUHOTNZuy6aWsso0Cuiw/5c8732979740609581fe9b6d97c3e89e/charisma.png)

## <span>What Are the 5 Ps?</span>							
The 5Ps are a framework for helping uncover a brand’s product integrity proof points. As marketers we can delve into each of the five Ps separately to look for inspiration.

![5P-Graphics](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4TUqoq3Q52wyyKyuKAkGI4/d9d38ffdf186b02e8d44d1a1c3b21130/5P-Graphics.png)


## <span>LET’S BREAK IT DOWN</span>									

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#### <span><span class="highlight uppercase">Provenance</span> – Where a brand is born. Where they’re made. Where they’re sourced.</span>

Coors Light is a great [example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW0PROlv2L4). The “Born in the Rockies” campaign leans into the brand’s heritage and creates a compelling mechanism for rooting the Coors cold aging process and tagline of the ‘world’s most refreshing beer’. 

<i>Other brands leaning into Provenance: Burberry, Fiji, Rolex</i>

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![coors](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6oGM5UmMWA2qm8q2cESM20/44959d4aac7a800d801b80b5152fdf51/coors.jpg) 

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#### <span><span class="highlight uppercase">Process</span> – How it’s made. The steps taken. The science employed.</span>

Veggies from Green Giant are picked at the peak of perfection and flash-frozen after harvesting. It’s a process that locks in nutrients and flavor and provides a rational benefit for buying canned over fresh. 

<i>Other brands leaning into Process: Smirnoff, Ford, John West</i>

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![greengiant](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4tWrOtmasgUGGCUSgsCg8g/c9d653d9bd79affcf40eacdd8c2581ba/greengiant.jpg)

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#### <span><span class="highlight uppercase">People</span> – The brains behind a product. The inventors, founders or team that brought us a product.</span> 

Del Taco’s Hardest Working Hands [campaign](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcKG7KFRP64) brings the Del Taco crew front and center. By celebrating their crew’s commitment, the brand also brings an important message front and center – Del Taco does more fresh prep than the competition.

<i>Other brands leaning into People: Dyson, Sam Adams, Beats by Dr. Dre</i>

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![deltaco](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/7JLaIAywWkAKwKIyaquokG/103220bbf51c90c5e6fccaf42b8231eb/deltaco.jpg) 

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#### <span><span class="highlight uppercase">Product</span> – The ingredients. The secret sauce. What we put in or what we leave&nbsp;out.</span>

Applegate Sausage pledges that all of its products are all natural, that each product is made without antibiotics and is GMO free. For this brand, talking about the products in a differentiating (and [hilarious](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQhHyHkCeBo)) way means talking about what <i>isn’t</i> an ingredient.

<i>Other brands leaning into Product: Dawn Soap, Cadbury Milk Bar, Intel</i>

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 ![applegate](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4Wlgehfy3YEWaoc2S40Oeq/62417840709e30521981a9a30c81a200/applegate.jpg) 

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#### <span><span class="highlight uppercase">Proprietary</span> – The first. The only. No one else can claim it or no one else ever&nbsp;has.</span>

Dyson’s cyclone technology is a prime example of product integrity coming to life through a proprietary innovation. Dyson has patented this process and consumers don’t truly have to understand how it works to believe that it does, in fact, work and create better suction.	

<i>Other brands leaning into Proprietary: Energizer Ultimate Lithium, Spanx, Chevron with Techron</i>

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![dyson](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1uI4u1R3aUIacIWQSyWaom/0b59f6a09aea69577e0de5e4ede1c1ac/dyson.jpg)

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## <span>What Does This Mean for Me?</span>
If your brand could use a bump in product integrity, consider conducting a workshop with key stakeholders from across teams and specialties to foster conversation and help discover new RTBs. It’s incredible what can be uncovered when we look beyond current proof points and delve into our brand’s provenance, process, people, products and proprietary claims.

A methodology to help unlock your brand’s product integrity

5P-Graphics-01

The 5 Ps Framework

## <span>Consumers want more</span>

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<img src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/10gKWsTZTWg8I86YUc2MkY/b0a87f20d4e480f5e187a99851b0fbde/Havas_Group_Newsletter.jpg" />
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In a recent study, “DIY + Data: Taking Healthcare To the Next Level,” the Havas Group surveyed 9,447 adults in 27 countries. The study found that across the globe, people are eager for the healthcare industry to advance significantly, but don’t believe that it will be the industry’s incumbents (traditional healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies) that will create meaningful innovations. Instead, it’s a combination of tech startups, individuals’ growing tech savvy, and the wake of personalized data we create that consumers expect to have greatest impact. 

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## <span>In data, we trust</span>

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For many, tracking personal health data means the ability to move beyond passively taking a pill for everything and instead developing better long-term individual habits. The amount of personalized data we create and monitor has had such an impact on our life, that now more than ever, people are comfortable sharing their data with others—including for-profit third-parties. In the Havas Group study, half of all respondents agreed with the statement, “I am willing to give all my personal health information to pharmaceutical companies so they can better monitor my health.”[^havasgroup1]

It’s interesting to note that we’ve become so comfortable, in fact, that we’re willing to share literally the most personal of information to an industry that is among the least universally trusted. (And this is in an era in which we’re informed of a new data breach affecting our personal data seemingly monthly. Indeed, a staggering 67% of people globally believe that in the future, no one will be able to keep their private data secure.[^havasgroup2])

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## <span>The more you know</span>
Gone are the days when people put off visiting their doctors or investigating their personal health conditions out of fear of the worst-case scenario. (Warren Zevon’s final interview with David Letterman comes to mind, in which Zevon told Letterman, “I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years. It’s one of those phobias that didn’t pay off.”[^2]) Instead, 72% of people said that they’d want to know whether they are prone to develop a disease—even if prevention or a cure were highly unlikely.[^havasgroup3] 

![TheMore](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2XKj0qU6x2G8a8mIqG2GCo/cb8b043ac2c4885e48e0bad200fc1cf1/TheMore.png)

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In other words, today, we fear being unaware more than we fear the incurable. That helps explain why testing one’s DNA is now mainstream, with 68% of people around the world saying that they’d be willing to take a DNA test to evaluate potential health risks.[^havasgroup9] In the U.S., 12 million Americans have already taken a DNA test. Beyond data privacy risks, what makes this especially notable is that direct-to-consumer DNA test kits didn’t even exist before 1999.[^3]

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![dna-companies](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5qAAYs0MBqgQ4AI8ugEugW/51df1217e67dafe71b35af895efe6fdf/dna-companies.png)

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## <span>The perception of Big Pharma: It’s time to shift from cash to care</span>
Meanwhile, the consumer perspective on Big Pharma remains cynical, at best. Only about half (52%) of people globally trust drug makers to provide them with safe medications.[^havasgroup7] Nearly two-thirds of global consumers (65%) question the intentions of pharmaceutical companies, agreeing with the statement, “Most healthcare brands would rather make money off me than help me get well.”[^havasgroup4]

![BigPharma](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2qeoCSmXJOCgA2a8c248oO/59484a09abb43b9c424c7c1e75e3b410/BigPharma.png)

Further, only about a third of people globally trust these companies to make ethical choices. This cynicism is even worse in the U.S. where 48% of Americans agreed with the statement, “I do not trust any healthcare company to be my advocate and do the right thing for me.”[^havasgroup5]

Conversely, the majority of American consumers (55%) believe that tech companies and startups will push aside drug makers to become the major players in the healthcare industry. While pharmaceutical companies are perceived as prioritizing profit over people, most respondents perceived technology startups as organizations driven by innovation and a burning desire to solve the most pressing problems in humanity. That faith runs so deeply that—incredibly—nearly half (47%) of all U.S. respondents to the Havas Group study said they would allow a private company to modify their DNA to prevent or cure a disease.[^havasgroup6]


## <span>The doctor Internet knows best</span>
With access to previously unimaginable amounts of personal health data—all conveniently sorted in a pretty UX from Apple Health or Fitbit—and a reliance on Googling anything and everything (roughly 3.5 billion times per day[^4]), people are also growing much more comfortable in challenging the opinions of their healthcare providers. 

In the U.S., this is likely bolstered further by the perception that people simply don’t have enough time with their doctors, and that doctors are quick to rush to a diagnosis. For instance, in a recent survey, the majority (56%) of American Primary Care Providers said that they spend fewer than 16 minutes per patient visit.[^5] Additionally, some experts estimate that the average PCP sees about 25 patients per day forcing them to run from one to the next.[^6] 


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<img src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6E0nFZKFFYEW8Sw2Q0GmOg/5f32a693c080889b392ea3cd96faba73/TheDoctor.png" />
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Why? The U.S.’ fee-for-service industry model requires healthcare practices to continue to increase volume—more patients, more diagnoses, faster—to remain financially sustainable. The result is that doctors may rush to judgement with a potential diagnosis without hearing all pertinent information. (One infamous study found that, on average, primary care patients were interrupted 12 seconds into their appointments![^usatoday1]). 

Experts also believe that shorter, more rushed visits increase the likelihood that a doctor will prescribe a medication, rather than counsel a patient on a behavioral change.[^usatoday1] The Havas Group study certainly supports this: The perception of the majority of consumers globally (55%) is that their “doctors are better at prescribing drugs than they are at listening to people fully to offer the right individualized treatment.”[^havasgroup8] Ouch.

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## <span>So what does this mean for healthcare brands in the U.S.?</span>
For tech startups and large, established brands dabbling in healthcare, the future is bright. Consumers are pulling for them and welcome disruption to what is commonly viewed as a complex, belabored system. 

For incumbent healthcare brands, it’s time to rewrite the script. Recently, Camp + King conducted a competitive brand identity and messaging analysis for a healthcare client. We were surprised to find such an echo chamber in healthcare and pharmaceutical branding—a veritable sea of same. 

Consistently, imagery felt staged and inauthentic. Again and again, messaging spoke to leadership positions within the industry (but we can’t all be leaders, right?). Invariably, brands promised to develop critical innovations in treatments and medicine in the future. Unfortunately, it all rings hollow for consumers who are hungry for brands to communicate authenticity and humanity, humbleness, a higher-order purpose beyond profit and consolidation, and a reason to trust in the industry’s ability to invent meaningfully today—not tomorrow.

[^havasgroup1]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup2]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup3]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup4]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup5]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup6]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup7]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup8]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^havasgroup9]: Havas Group; Prosumer Report: DIY + Data: Taking healthcare to the next level; 2018
[^2]: [Pareles, John; New York Times Magazine; Warren Zevon’s last waltz; January 26, 2003](http://ultimateclassicrock.com/warren-zevon-final-letterman/)
[^3]: Wikipedia; Genealogical DNA test; September 25, 2018
[^4]: Smart Insights; Search engine statistics; January 30, 2018
[^5]: Medscape; Amount of time U.S. primary care physicians spent with each patient as of 2018; sourced from Statista
[^6]: Referenced from Getzwell Pediatrics FAQ
[^usatoday1]: Rabin, Roni Caryn; USA Today; You’re on the clock: Doctors rush patients out the door; April 2014
[^usatoday2]: Rabin, Roni Caryn; USA Today; You’re on the clock: Doctors rush patients out the door; April 2014




Consumer expectations of the healthcare industry have propelled forward—can traditional healthcare brands keep pace?

Poster

Healthcare Brands Need a New Script 

<p style="text-align:center;"><i><small>Kendall Shaver is a Camp + King Strategy intern.<br /> She is a rising sophomore at San Diego State University studying advertising.</small></i></p>

## <span>The Conundrum of Marketing to Generation Z </span>

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Generation Z has grown up with a smartphone in hand. Although we could barely tell you what MySpace is, we live through Snapchat and Instagram. There are few brands and agencies who underestimate the importance of using social media as a channel to reach younger audiences. However, it is seemingly unclear which platforms Generation Z is on and how we are consuming media on each platform.
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## <span>Snapchat dominates Gen Z’s Social Media Usage</span>


![snapchat](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2JfHdyiNmweM4eIagYymy8/aea5d5acd117ed3bf9effed319d536f6/snapchat.png)


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![snapchat-graph](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1ZOxe5je16Gy6iuSKWMEks/d85e9d92f0f94e2d2969489a6f4d2079/snapchat-graph.png)

78% of 18 to 24-year-olds are on Snapchat. By contrast, only 54% of 25 to 29-year-olds are Snapchat users.[^1] As a platform, Snapchat has catered to our visual content obsession through providing us with the ability to share photos and videos with friends in real time. <span class="highlight">It is common to Snapchat in lieu of texting for day to day communications amongst friends.</span> We use the platform more to keep in touch with friends throughout the day than to watch Discover content and follow influencers.

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![snapchat-screen](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1tdYS4QxWM2C46GWMwYICs/6530a94973820adcdfba1569794fbfec/snapchat-screen.png)

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## <span>Memes are the new influencers on Instagram</span>
    
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![instagram-graph](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4GfrFIJmz6Auugss42462m/75cbe6103a77006ba17b18708ab2891d/instagram-graph.png)

71% of Generation Z uses Instagram, out-populating the 25 to 29 age bracket by a margin of 16%. 

While Snapchat is primarily used to engage with friends, on Instagram we are much likelier to follow our favorite influencers, celebrities, meme accounts, and brands that complement niche interests. If we stumble across a particularly funny, interesting or relatable post from one of these accounts, it is very common to direct message it to a friend or group of friends. More often than not, it is a meme.

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![instagram-screen](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3dOX7WIhv2e8WKqey0Oi6i/4c45d1e202f162f64af5c752880d81fd/instagram-screen.png)

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## <span>UGC wins over Stylized Content </span>

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As a brand, Vans has done an exceptional job at gaining Generation Z followers. Their success on Instagram is credited to their inclusion of user generated content. The posts by Vans appear to be created with their UGC in mind and are all lifestyle focused.  

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![vans](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/57vmluI7JmKMQQiYkm6EwW/145820b9c87b9d62ef8759210f099e3d/vans.jpg)

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Their competitor Converse has staged photos of shoes that look and feel like a traditional advertisement. The brand also has 5 million fewer followers. The more native the content is, the more interesting it is to Generation Z.

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![converse](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3Nd3Ce9sWkaYIa8CsegqoK/b611a5d753bd4bb4d88d7b0184134c23/converse.jpg)

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## <span>Facebook and Twitter are Never Top of Mind</span>

Only 45% of Generation Z uses Twitter. Those that do use the platform to follow celebrities and influencers.  It is not uncommon for us to follow celebrities on Twitter but not necessarily post content ourselves. 

![twitter-graph](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/520juAqAtyig2QcK0aOsqM/9f9e46ac5611c27ec82b4011cbdcc123/twitter-graph.png)

We have been crowded out of Facebook by older generations. In fact, it is the only social media platform where Generation Z does not have the majority of participants. Unlike the other social media platforms, Facebook is where we know our parents and extended relatives are looking into our lives. Therefore, our adopted persona and interactions on Facebook are almost always family friendly. 

![facebook-graph](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6KklXgUhXicwCCaWIckUc6/a7d785960b65a1d8cf2df5556c7f5fe2/facebook-graph.png)


## <span>What does it mean?</span>

The way Generation Z consumes media is unique in comparison to any other generation. Not only in terms of the platforms we are on, but how we are using them. There is an emergent opportunity for brands to create content worth sharing. I’ll leave you with a couple things to remember about Gen Z: 
 - We are primarily on Snapchat and Instagram.
 - We pay attention to visual content that is both natural and eye-catching. 
 - We love memes but can immediately smell a brand that tries to infuse a marketing message when using or creating one.
 - We love sharing anything we find entertaining with our friends via direct messaging. Although it is typically user generated content we consume, there is an emergent opportunity for brands to create content worth sharing. 

[^1]: [Pew](https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/)


Surprise! This is not written by a Millennial

fb-poster

Generation Z through the Eyes of Generation Z

## <span>What's happening?</span>

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![mobile-stats](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4BQePtYhFCmWy0ICI8MuMa/dd8332d48a208331bce68d2129572342/mobile-stats.png)
  
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The data doesn’t lie, our lives revolve around our smartphones.  Of all time spent with digital media in the US, 71% comes from a mobile device.[^1] US adults are spending 5 hours a day on their devices[^2] and more than half are turning to their mobile devices first for anything they do online.[^3] <span class="highlight">Chances are, you’re reading this very newsletter on your mobile device right now.<span> 

For us as marketers, this requires a new way of thinking. The focus of our brand efforts moving forward should cater to the exponential growth of consumers who now use smartphones as their first – and many times only – device. 

But it’s not that simple. More and more consumers are installing ad-blockers (We recently came across one that replaces all ads with [cute cat pictures](https://getcatblock.com/). The internet never lets us down.) and the effectiveness of banner ads has dwindled to a mere .13% click-through rate.[^4] Today’s consumers expect more from brands and advertising and Camp + King has a few thoughts on navigating this goliath of a media channel.

## <span>Optimize creative for Mobile</span>

Rather than simply repurposing versions of existing assets that were developed and optimized for other platforms, creative that will live on mobile needs its own customized format. Research shows that units developed from the ground up for mobile, like six-second ads and vertical video, have been successful for advertisers, scoring higher on brand attributes: relevant, modern, and innovative.[^5]

With nearly 60% of today’s total digital ad budgets going to video [^6], let’s start there. Here are some ways you can be strategic with the vertical screen:

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1. <span class="highlight">Split your screen</span>  
  Dividing up the vertical space can create more opportunities for you to tell your story in newly arranged ways. You can split your screen in half or create a grid to show different angles or multiple products or stories at the same time.

2. <span class="highlight">Animate your ideas</span>  
Experiment with animation to delight viewers through 2D, 3D, stop-motion or motion graphics. Animations are a great way to capture attention and bring ideas to life.

3. <span class="highlight">Play with design and type</span>  
Stacking type in an eye-catching way can hook viewers and bring them into your story. Using overlays can also add texture and dimension to your videos.


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![johnny-walker-iphonex](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2sXmgPLuocok0G60i8oME8/d7adc4fca176d4da32d4a164aaf9d9e5/johnny-walker-iphonex.jpg)

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<div style="margin-left:auto;margin-right: auto;max-width:420px;"><div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:177.778%;position:relative;"><iframe width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/10DtGJdRZ5A?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div>

## <span>Experiment with new formats</span>

It’s hard to ignore the high reach of the mobile-web and ad-tech vendors are always exploring new ways to make display media more interesting and engaging on mobile. Think about experimenting with new formats as a way to breathe new life into this media. Here are a couple that caught our eye: 

1. <span class="highlight">Augmented Reality</span>  
The major challenge the AR industry has always faced is creating an environment of scale. Blippar has introduced a unit that offers web-based AR experiences natively within the device browser. Early executions are seeing 30% greater engagement rate and more than 11× the dwell time.[^7] [Check out this one](https://creative.blippar.com/pub/8c7d846c-7e61-4eb6-8926-4552c0b0f157/index.html) from Jaguar Land Rover that gives users an “inside” look into the new car using AR.

2. <span class="highlight">Mobile Web Stories</span>  
Popularized by Snapchat and Instagram, the “story format” lets users click through multiple videos or images in one post. To bring this familiar behavior to the broader web, PadSquad introduced a unit that behaves just like a story on Instagram would so that brands can create richer content. Early adopters like Clorox and Ben and Jerry’s have seen engagement rates rise by 400% and 11x the time spent with the ad.[^8] [Check out those examples here](http://info.padsquad.com/squadstories).

## <span>Understand your customer’s journey</span>

Most importantly, when planning your strategy on mobile, think through the customer journey  carefully and completely. Mobile will undoubtedly play a role in multiple phases but understanding your consumer’s mindset, behavior, and intent will uncover how and where you can strategically reach people on their device. 

For example, beauty shoppers spend 80% of the purchase journey in pre-search phase[^8] and brands like Glossier and Milk Cosmetics knew their target was killing time on their smartphones during their commute. Both brands have successfully built brand awareness through Instagram influencers and promoted product-education content that reaches their on-the-go target during these key moments. Additionally, Starbucks knew that most of their mobile loyalty program customers came in the morning vs. the afternoon, so this summer they began running promotions in the app specifically for afternoon store visits. 

By understanding the customer journey, these brands have found ways to reach their customers on mobile at key moments along the way. 

## <span>What does it mean?</span>
The rise of mobile has forced us to change the way we approach building brands and telling stories in advertising. But change doesn’t have to be scary, or limiting. The mobile screen may be small but the opportunities to reach and engage our consumer in new ways are mighty.


[^1]: [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306923)
[^2]: [TechCrunch](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306923)
[^3]: [Gartner](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306923)
[^4]: [Google](http://www.richmediagallery.com/learn/benchmarks)
[^5]: [Adweek](https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/infographic-the-mobile-ad-formats-that-consumers-like-the-most-and-why/)
[^6]: [IAB](https://www.iab.com/news/nearly-60-advertisers-digital-budgets-allocated-video-steady-rise-since-2016-according-iab-research/)
[^7]: [Blippar](https://www.blippar.com/blog/2018/04/09/reinventing-banner-ad-ar-increases-engagement-30)
[^8]: [Mobile Marketer](https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/clorox-ben-jerrys-engagement-rates-jump-400-with-mobile-web-stories/526741/)
[^9]: [Mobile Marketer](https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/study-beauty-shoppers-spend-80-of-purchase-journey-in-pre-search-phase/527852/)


Go Mobile or Go Home

## <span>WHAT IT IS</span>

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Esports (electronic sports) or professional gaming is competitive video game playing and it is <span class="highlight">big business</span>.  More people tuned in for esports tournaments in 2017 than all the NFL regular season games combined[^1] and most nights Twitch viewers outnumber cable network viewers.[^2] 

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![intro-image@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6b08gS7VW8MQSKqaSsQMso/fec3d9e4a9802aeed68f4806f72997db/intro-image_2x.png)

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## <span>A LITTLE HISTORY</span>

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Video game competitions first exploded as spectator sports in South Korea in 2000 and have become a part of their mainstream culture. Top players are household names, stadiums sell out, and millions of people tune in to watch game competitions on TV. 

The phenomenon is now global, and esports is estimated to be a $1.5 billion industry by 2020 following the business models of traditional professional sport leagues, complete with highly paid players, sponsors, advertising, media rights, ticket sales, and merchandise.

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![korea-world@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5HfCzGok7uawSOYwQ6y2KA/340240b75e8db446b184be83bd207a87/korea-world_2x.png)

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## <span>THE ESPORTS ECOSYSTEM</span>

![esports-flowchart@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4zUCnaxq6I4WAIq2mm6ugi/87d8f643ef57c9770cc0962fba01a747/esports-flowchart_2x.png)

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![esports-devs+pubs@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5vZVSKudriWcg48GkI22WC/b92afeca8194d9212e1d862bd4b868d4/esports-devs_pubs_2x.png) 
  
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![esports-brands-adv@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1awRF83YzUi2EI8qUM2a6Q/cd112173be79f24b3ac589f89e7dc7ce/esports-brands-adv_2x.png)

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## <span>THE AUDIENCE & THE OPPORTUNITY:</span>

- Made up of <span class="highlight">young</span>, global participants, esports is an opportunity to market to an audience of <span class="highlight">cord cutters</span> often difficult to reach.  In fact, males ages 18-25 report that they spend more time watching esports than traditional sports, TV or news. Esports are second only to movies for this demographic.[^3]

- This audience is highly engaged with gaming, and <span class="highlight">brands that sponsor esports see better results with brand appeal and purchase intent</span>.[^4]

![esports-graph@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1mrtkTDYYg02uakKAGq2aG/5b0c957562754650bfe2e2cba01e9bee/esports-graph_2x.png)


- The esports audience is more open to endemic and semi-endemic sponsors of players, tournaments, and advertising.[^5] 

![categories@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5uR3TiM4akok4ee4MSe04m/18e526e3cf8b249346265f72f8e780eb/categories_2x.png)



## <span>BRANDS CREATING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS:</span>
  
### <span>Coke – Feeding Fans’ Passion</span>
Coke was perhaps the first semi-endemic sponsor to enter the esports space. Over the years, their success has hinged on tapping into and facilitating fans’ passion for the games. Along with the expected digital sponsorships and advertising, Coke has included some more traditional techniques to bring fans closer to their favorite teams and players, like old-school cheer boards at events that allow fans to write messages of support or celebration on them. They also host viewing parties at movie theaters to let mega-fans stream championships in high definition, alongside other members of the gaming community.

### <span>Sephora – Promoting Diversity</span>
Sephora is one of the first big brands to specifically target women in the esports world. The GIRLGAMER Esports Festival’s mission to celebrate and promote women’s esports competitiveness makes it a natural fit for the beauty retailer. 

### <span>Snickers – Extending a Successful Campaign to Serious Snackers</span>
ELEAGUE’s “Official Chocolate Bar” tapped into the league’s viewing audiences through branding elements across television and digital. This included a sponsorship of the pre-game show airing on TBS and “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” moments airing post-game every week, which captured the biggest bloopers from that week of gameplay.

[^1]: [Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-professional-video-gamers-train-for-a-world-championship-1524495294)
[^2]: [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-is-bigger-than-cnn-msnbc-2018-2)
[^3]: [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/us-millennials-are-watching-more-esports-than-regular-sports-w502850)
[^4]: [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/630744/sports-and-esports-fans-engagement-with-brands/)
[^5]: [Nielsen](https://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/ru/docs/nielsen-esports-playbook.pdf)

An Introduction to Esports

esports-thumbnail

The Esports Revolution

## <span>The Situation</span>

Augmented Reality is one of the most talked about technologies of 2018. Brands are jumping on opportunities to differentiate themselves by utilizing AR within their products, advertising, retail experiences, and more. 

Generally, brands are using AR in one of two ways:

1. An adaption of AR technology to drive a functional benefit ([Ikea’s “Place” app](https://www.wired.com/story/ikea-place-ar-kit-augmented-reality/) to help furniture shoppers design their own home)
2. An execution/stunt that utilizes AR to flex tech muscles and offer people an interesting brand experience (Kate Spade’s [“My Little Paris Tapage”](https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/kate-spade-new-york-guides-paris-tours-with-help-from-ar-and-influencers/505264/) that guided users through Paris to generate buzz around their first brick-and-mortar store)


## <span>A Recent AR Experience that Stands Out</span>
  
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Outdoor Voices is an athleisure company that has quickly risen in popularity to compete with athletic superpowers like Lululemon, Sweaty Betty, and Adidas. Their motto, “Doing Things” speaks not only to the athlete, but to the person who might just want to enjoy going outside to take a leisurely stroll or bike ride.

![“‘Doing Things’ is a resource for recreation, but it’s also about introducing people to new things in life.” – Tyler Haney, Outdoor Voices CEO](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/4qjbzgEmH6mY2uISoSecY6/73993df96720873093cc819c30ca6cbf/Newsletter_027_2018-05-18_quote.png)

Outdoor Voices recently announced on their Instagram Stories the launch of a trail running line. The announcement invited participants to download the OV Trail Shop app. On launch day, <span class="highlight">the collection would only be available to shop at 50 select running locations around the country.</span>

 
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![An image from Instagram stories featuring a woman holding plate of food outdoors and the text "Bring your energizer bunny Vibes & #RunWithOV tomorrow 4/24"](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/14kiHdxwAy4wy4WEUcoeaQ/7daaac8667ecbad9ae0f215a763e7a57/Newsletter_027_2018-05-18_image1.jpg)

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The brand also invited fans to meet at their brick-and-mortar stores to participate in the launch by running to the first locations unveiled within the app. 

A couple of Camp + Kingers (and OV superfans) geared up to meet at 7:30am at the store in Hayes Valley. The group then ran to the secret location, Dolores Park, to shop the collection.

Once at the virtual shop, using the app people could walk up to an item of clothing, move it, see the inside and outside and different color options, and directly buy it there.

While this experience is fun and buzzworthy, what stands out is that it capitalizes so well on the Outdoor Voices “Doing Things” motto. Fans actually needed to go outside and do something in order to shop the new line. <span class="highlight">The experience was able to be both a fun stunt and a statement of OV’s core belief.</span>

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![Newsletter 027 2018-05-18 image2](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1PTV7YthSkaKOMoyq4aYww/1b61f410f8c913b9d8e3b1d7535360b0/Newsletter_027_2018-05-18_image2.jpg) 
  
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## <span>How Can We Learn from This?</span>

The OV Trail Shop app is an example of a brand doing an AR execution right. The following are some things to keep in mind when thinking about utilizing augmented reality for a brand experience:

<ol class="bold">
  <li>
    <span class="highlight">Don’t use AR just to use AR.</span><br />
    Brands often utilize AR to capitalize on its trendiness rather than provide an experience that makes a brand statement. Ask yourself, how does this showcase what my brand is all about? How can this change or reinforce what my customer believes about my brand?
  </li>
  <li><span class="highlight">Introduce the launch on mobile and continue to tell a story there.</span><br />
  OV knew their audience was very engaged on Instagram Stories so that’s where they teased the launch. They continued to publish Instagram content that showed all the launch runs with #RunwithOV to further drive excitement. Show your audience how this experience is bringing the brand’s community together. 
  </li>
  <li><span class="highlight">Utilize Superfans to help spread the word.</span><br />
  The ROI of downloading a branded app is far greater than a like on your Facebook    post because it involves so much more from your audience. Engage your superfans who are eager and willing to participate, get a first look, and talk about your brand.  
  </li>
  <li><span class="highlight">Ensure there is usability beyond the initial launch.</span><br />
This is one critique of the Outdoor Voices experience as there has not been an update to the app since the launch. Since a consumer is downloading an app, keep them intrigued with new updates and experiences.
  </li>
</ol>

### <span>Sources</span>

[Runner's World](https://www.runnersworld.com/gear/a20003515/outdoor-voices-running-collection/)  
[Wired](https://www.wired.com/story/ikea-place-ar-kit-augmented-reality/)  
[Mobile Marketer](https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/kate-spade-new-york-guides-paris-tours-with-help-from-ar-and-influencers/505264/)  



Outdoor voices Blog Post

How Outdoor Voices Tied an Augmented Reality Experience to their Brand Motto

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	<img alt="Effie Logo" src="https://static.camp-king.com/blog/20180423/effie_logo.png"/>
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The marketing and advertising industry is rife with award shows, but arguably none has the rigor in evaluating great work—and certainly evaluating the effectiveness of great work—than the North American Effie Awards. In first round judging alone, every case submitted to the Effies is evaluated by no fewer than five judges for advancement consideration.

At Camp + King, we were honored to have three of our team members invited to serve as 2018 judges: Kristin Barbour, Managing Director, who judged in Chicago in January; David Morrissey, Strategy Director + Head of Communications Planning, who judged in February in San Francisco; and Jamie King, Founder + CEO, who judged in New York. Of course, we are bound not to disclose the details of a single case we’ve reviewed. However, we wanted to share five lessons we learned as judges that you can put to use when writing your next award case submission.

## <span>1. Put yourself in the judges’ shoes when writing your&nbsp;case</span>

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First thing first: Know your audience and recognize what’s happening in the judging room. Judges come from various senior agency and client-side roles. They’ve stepped away from the demands of their busy careers to volunteer for a half-day. Even the best judges bring their own stresses into the crowded room. They’re pressed for time and encouraged to evaluate as many cases as possible. They’re asked to be suspicious and critical in assessing each case. And they’re likely feeling exposed—chances are, many of the judges reading your submission know little about your particular industry or category. 

With this in mind, it’s important to focus on establishing context—help the judges understand why the business challenge you’ve set forth is particularly difficult in your category; why the results, which might appear inconsequential without category context, are actually dramatic; why the strategic insight or creative execution was breakthrough compared to traditional category work.

## <span>2. Ensure a simple, consistent narrative + voice&nbsp;throughout</span>
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	<img alt="" src="http://static.camp-king.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/20180423/image_02.jpg" />
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This may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often written cases lack clarity, simplicity, or consistency. In one case reviewed, it was evident that the organization had multiple writers tackle each of the different sections, resulting not only in an inconsistent voice, but also in each section regurgitating the case set-up, over and over again. 

The best cases follow the principles of good narrative, compelling the reader to move from one section to the next and building the case as simply as possible. One helpful tactic here: Use headlines and subheads to help the judge quickly absorb the skeleton of the story.

Before submission, ensure that someone completely removed from the campaign reviews the case with fresh eyes, looking for inconsistencies and things that mean little to category outsiders.

## <span>3. Carefully consider each one of the objectives you&nbsp;include</span>
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	<img alt="" src="http://static.camp-king.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/20180423/image_03.jpg" />
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Just like gymnastics or figure skating, Effie judges are asked to consider each case not just on the achievement of results, but also on the degree of difficulty of the objectives set forth. You should also know that due to volume of submissions, it’s simply harder to advance in some categories than others. 

With that in mind, don’t get bogged down solely in media or perceptual metrics, such as impressions, views, click-throughs, or likes. Powerful cases demonstrate how upticks in those media or perceptual metrics led to real change—measurable impact in sales, reputation, or behavioral change by the target. Indeed, some of the most powerful cases show how the campaign created brand or product exposure far beyond the reach of the media plan.

Additionally, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Every judge will check to ensure that each objective listed was achieved. And, as you might imagine, the more disparate objectives you list, the more challenging it becomes for you to write a cohesive story—and for the judge to make sense of it. If your campaign included two or three major objectives, and lots of minor ones, why not focus your case narrative on the two or three only?

## <span>4. Don’t overlook the importance of the Insights + Strategic Idea&nbsp;section</span>
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	<img alt="" src="http://static.camp-king.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/20180423/image_04.jpg" />
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About half-way through each judging session, the judges are invited to take a short break and take part in a moderated conversation, discussing trends across cases and asking specific questions. In one of those conversations, someone asked which section of the Effie questionnaire is typically scored lowest. According to an Effie moderator, that is most often the Insight + Strategy section, which is given less attention by case writers than the challenge, creative, and results sections. 

The truth is that this section serves as the glue for your entire case. After you’ve established context and before a judge can truly consider the impact of your creative idea and your campaign’s results, she must really understand the value and uniqueness of the human insight your team has developed. Like any other section, you should take the judges on a narrative journey with you beyond the data. How was the insight developed? How did it reveal a universal human truth, but do so in a new or surprising way? How is it unique to your brand or product, and not those of your competitors?

## <span>5. Read last year’s winners in your&nbsp;category
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	<img alt="" src="http://static.camp-king.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/20180423/image_05.jpg" />
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As we heard in the Effie judging room, “You can’t write your way into winning an Effie. But you can certainly write your way out of one.” Each year, the Effie organization publishes the winning cases. Compare your draft to those who won previously. Does it feel on par with the winners? Be honest. If so, then look for specific storytelling devices, word choice and phrasing, and organizational cues the winners made and borrow with abandon. 

[^1]: [Women, Power & Money](http://fleishmanhillard.com/2013/07/news-and-opinions/women-around-the-world-becoming-more-future-focused-with-economic-improvement-finds-fifth-wave-of-women-power-money/)

[^2]: [Think with Google, “How mobile has redefined the consumer decision journey for shoppers.”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/micro-moments/mobile-shoppers-consumer-decision-journey/)

[^3]: [Think with Google, “No decision is too small for today’s consumer”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/mobile-search-behavior/#/)

[^4]: [Think with Google, “Are you worth it? Your customer wants to know”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/search/brand-consumer-research/)

[^5]: [BazaarVoice “The ROBO Economy: How smart marketers use CGC to influence omnichannel shoppers”](http://www.bazaarvoice.com/research-and-insight/ebooks/The-ROBO-Economy-How-online-reviews-influence-offline-sales.html )

[^6]: [Pew Research Center, “Online shopping and Americans’ purchasing preferences.”](http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/12/19/online-shopping-and-e-commerce )

[^7]: [Podium “State of Online Reviews”](http://learn.podium.com/rs/841-BRM-380/images/2017-SOOR-Infographic.jpg)


Effie blog post

Five Lessons we Learned Judging the Effie Awards

## <span>What is it?</span>

<span class="highlight">Research online, buy offline (known as ROBO)</span> is the ever-growing trend of consumers seeking out online reviews, studying topic forums, even falling down #hashtag rabbit holes as they evaluate their product options before purchasing an item in-store. 

## <span>What’s happening?</span>

Consumers are increasingly looking to strangers online for help in purchase decisions. While it is not news that consumers conduct research online before making a purchase, what is new is the increase of online research for low ticket items. Specifically, the rise in use of mobile in-store to research.

In a world with an abundance of options, data paralysis on store shelves is very real. Nearly half of all women report that they are overwhelmed by all the product choices available.[^1] Over-choice paired with the fact that nearly every shopper has a smartphone in his or her pocket has resulted in ROBO becoming a key point of the consumer journey.  In fact, 82% of smartphone users consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store.[^2] While in-store research typically consists of looking at reviews and ratings, consumers are increasingly asking for suggestions on social and looking at user generated content (UGC) as well. 

![82% of smartphone users consult their phones on purchases they're about to make in a store.](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3kzpkk4XlmSmMQ0U0cmimk/2773c918ffc5e62f20a6287aab38f166/Image1.jpg)

### <span>No Purchase is Too Trivial</span>
Google’s search data shows that searches for words like BEST and REVIEW have increased YOY and that these searches are growing at a higher rate for “low-consideration” products than “high-consideration” products.[^3]  

![Searches for: Best Salt - +370%, Best Toothpaste - +125%, Best Umbrella - +140%](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/3ZCAJ0S99ewIyQuwa8qY0K/4c157b9ce6633371ac1d39bf1cff4f07/Image2.jpg)

Just as there has been growth in mobile searches for “best,” Google reports seeing a growth in mobile searches for “worst.” Google reports a 1.5X increase in mobile searches ending with “to avoid” in the past two years.[^4] For example, consumers are looking for “cooking oil brands to avoid” or “refrigerators to avoid.” 

### <span>Social Proof Informs Shopping</span>
Increasingly, consumers are looking for advice from other consumers—not from brands.  Consumers want to hear about experiences with brands from people like them. UGC has given researchers access to word-of-mouth recommendations at unprecedented scale.[^5] ROBO makes this connection possible while walking down an aisle.  A study from Pew Research Center reports that 62% of in-store shoppers use their phone to look up online reviews before making a purchase[^6] and 82% of consumers say that the content of a review has convinced them to make a purchase.[^7]   The value of positive consumer commentary cannot be undervalued.

![62% of in-store shoppers use their phone to look up online reviews before making a purchase. 82% of consumers say that the content of a review has convinced them to make a purchase.](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5N0p0tFZEAE4GuuAg8UiUS/a0587aa27315c2b8f252cf82429dcdf4/Image3.jpg)

### <span>Brands Bringing Consumer Feedback to Life:</span>
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<p>Pinterest has incorporated a new feature, the ‘I’ve Tried It Checkmark’ making it easy to see and leave feedback on pins across categories.</p>
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<img alt="Image of a frying pan full of breakfast food, shown on a phone on Pinterest. The user has checked the 'I've tried it' checkmark." src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6R8T2GWoBGI0WssQCOC6qu/3f280cf0ff39d3f8fb483d7b4e2bbaf5/Pinterest.jpg" />
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<p>
Pawstruck combined UGC with customer reviews to create Facebook ads. This powerful combination increased conversion and allowed the brand to authentically connect with puppy parents.
</p>
</div>
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<img alt="Image of Pawstruck advertisements on facebook with the caption 'Our satisfied clients love our 100% NATURAL bully stick dog treats.' Images of dogs are paired with user reviews." src="//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/5uUXcT7opq0cQw0q802SWm/f8e60ea397391e06381045fed2f519ec/Pawstruck.jpg" />
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## <span>What are the implications?</span>
- <span class="highlight">When thinking through search optimization (or even prompts for UGC) think about both lifestyle and product terms.</span> As Google notes, advice isn’t one size fits all. Sometimes it is product decisions consumers are looking for (“best anti-aging skin care products”), and sometimes it’s more lifestyle related (“best skin care routine for &rsquo;30s”). Explore search data for your own category. What is the range of things that people want to know?

- <span class="highlight">Make leaving reviews & ratings easy.</span> Build in the ability to easily review products on your sites. If this isn’t possible, use social listening to find testimonials from pleased consumers and incorporate these organically on owned platforms.

- When offering multiple products in the same category, <span class="highlight"> make the differences easy to decipher</span> so that buyers don’t just default to the less expensive option. Even if owned sites don’t allow for e-commerce, put as much content on your product pages as possible. 

- And, of course, <span class="highlight"> make sure that content is easy to find and navigate on mobile devices.</span>


[^1]: [Women, Power & Money](http://fleishmanhillard.com/2013/07/news-and-opinions/women-around-the-world-becoming-more-future-focused-with-economic-improvement-finds-fifth-wave-of-women-power-money/)

[^2]: [Think with Google, “How mobile has redefined the consumer decision journey for shoppers.”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/micro-moments/mobile-shoppers-consumer-decision-journey/)

[^3]: [Think with Google, “No decision is too small for today’s consumer”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/mobile-search-behavior/#/)

[^4]: [Think with Google, “Are you worth it? Your customer wants to know”](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/search/brand-consumer-research/)

[^5]: [BazaarVoice “The ROBO Economy: How smart marketers use CGC to influence omnichannel shoppers”](http://www.bazaarvoice.com/research-and-insight/ebooks/The-ROBO-Economy-How-online-reviews-influence-offline-sales.html )

[^6]: [Pew Research Center, “Online shopping and Americans’ purchasing preferences.”](http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/12/19/online-shopping-and-e-commerce )

[^7]: [Podium “State of Online Reviews”](http://learn.podium.com/rs/841-BRM-380/images/2017-SOOR-Infographic.jpg)


Online research is driving decision making in-store

ROBO Blog Thumbnail

The ROBO Revolution

After the holiday season and Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day advertising efforts are often overlooked by many marketers—but they shouldn’t be. Valentine’s Day is big business, with the National Retail Federation (NRF) reporting that consumer spending for 2018 would reach $19.6B.[^1] (Put into context, that’s roughly the same amount as the recently approved bipartisan Senate budget deal for nationwide infrastructure improvement projects.)[^2]

## <span>You can’t buy love—or can you?</span>

For many consumers, Valentine’s has become increasingly important—with the holidays behind them and the long winter months slogging ahead, chasing Cupid’s arrow gives people a reason to celebrate. And celebrate they do. Of that $19.6B, NRF estimated the spending breakdown as:

![](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/6CQ3A2yHiomioqQuCmOac6/667e6c4b1db9f51552cfc46052256488/spending.png)

These are not insignificant category spends for what was once thought of as just a “<a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hallmark_holiday" target="_blank">Hallmark holiday</a>.” With that in mind, Camp + King offers you a quick view into the winners and losers (not just those without dates) this Valentine’s season, and a few insights to ensure consumers fall in love with your brand for Valentine’s Day 2019.

## <span>The Way To Your Valentine’s Heart Is Through The Stomach</span>

Outside of the brands you’d expect to see ratcheting up advertising spend in February (candy, flowers, jewelry), it’s food and QSR brands that rise to the occasion with unique and creative initiatives. As the saying goes, food is love.

Our favorite from this category: Snickers, who perfectly extended its “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign to solve a common Valentine’s frustration—forgetting to make a dinner reservation. After all, Snickers suggested, you’re forgetful when you’re hungry.[^4] In London’s trendy Shoreditch neighborhood, Snickers parked a van and posed the question, “Need a table for tonight?” Passersby could pull a reservation card from the van for an exclusive table at a pop-up restaurant with a top UK chef.

<div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56%;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/l3nSXopeBinCJKSAg" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></div>

Other interesting executions: Land O Lakes quirky “Spread the Love” TV spot boldly claimed that “Love is like butter.”[^5] KFC tapped into the nostalgia of elementary school Valentine’s cards, offering fried chicken scented scratch-n-sniff Valentines.[^6] Meanwhile, McDonald’s sparkled with its “Bling Mac” social media contest, inviting fans to express their adoration for the Big Mac for the chance to win a $12,500 bejeweled ring in the shape of the sandwich.[^7]

![Bling Mac](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/43TIaly3ZS8k6MMCissAGo/a32abdb5e1926d0b4e2795ae36965df5/bling-mac.jpg)

And we’d be remiss not to mention that year after year, Valentine’s proves to be one of the most important nights of the year for two of America’s beloved greasy spoons—White Castle and Waffle House—both of which offer romantic, full-service dinners with reservations required far in advance.[^8][^9]

On the flipside of White Castle’s and Waffle House’s efforts to coyly poke fun at the Valentine’s Industrial Complex is Panera Bread, which invited people to propose at one of their locations for the chance to have their wedding catered for free.[^10] Here’s the thing: Put aside that there is no food less romantic than a soup bread bowl, those who did actually get engaged at Panera were then entered into a drawing for the free catering. Come on. Opportunity missed.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Love is in the air. This Valentine’s Day, get engaged at a Panera and we might cater your wedding, for free. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PaneraProposalSweeps?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PaneraProposalSweeps</a> <a href="https://t.co/mpL5VbjSOd">https://t.co/mpL5VbjSOd</a> <a href="https://t.co/VPRzu0QLNd">pic.twitter.com/VPRzu0QLNd</a></p>&mdash; Panera Bread (@panerabread) <a href="https://twitter.com/panerabread/status/961970453483896832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


## <span>This Modern Love</span>

Outside of food brands stepping up for Valentine’s, the other underlying trend in creative execution was brands using the holiday as a platform for social commentary, addressing gender and relationship norms, unhealthy relationships, and love in the era of the #metoo movement. Naturally, some brands did this well, while others extended beyond the bounds of the topics they have credibility addressing. For instance, while the sentiment is lovely, a UK-based frozen food brand, McCain, may have overreached with its celebration of the new normal with its “Here’s to Love” TV spot.[^11]

<div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative;"><iframe width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/79LtGHFAVlI" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

One interesting execution that effectively forced people to evaluate their own behaviors was the One Love Foundation #LoveBetter pop-up store in New York. In the week leading up to Valentine’s, a store opened seemingly offering traditional Valentine’s gifts like candy, jewelry, and stuffed animals. However, upon closer inspection, each item struck a darker chord, providing commentary on unhealthy romantic relationship behaviors to draw attention to the reality of abusive relationships.[^12]

<div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative;"><iframe width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OFYkslIiHmI" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Two brands successfully contemporized themselves without entering into the broader cultural conversations listed above. Tiffany’s, long a Valentine’s brand favorite, has found it’s had to work harder to attract younger audiences. It created “The Tiffany Tattoo Shop” a series of tattoo-like stickers that users can add to their Instagram photos, creating branded customer photos for Tiffany’s, as well as offering its younger visitors a fun interactive experience.[^13]

![Tiffany Tattoo Shop](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/1e55AUuU9A4a8SMscOMccK/d226cd1f13e364b891bf1320c8609848/tiffany-tattoo.jpg)


Kudos also go to another Valentine’s classic, Sweethearts conversation hearts candy, for modernizing without stepping away from its heritage. In recent years, those silly heart-shaped candies with classic Valentine’s messages (“Be Mine” or “Kiss Me”) printed on them have begun offering more modern messages, too, like “Text Me” and “Tweet Me.”[^14] As a result, Conversation Hearts now command more share for Valentine’s candy purchases than the staid heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, suggesting that other gift and candy makers should take note and look for ways to modernize their offerings, too.

![Candy Hearts that say "Text me" and "Tweet Me"](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/2TzzKk8mHY4YOwkycC6CQE/f085512c291af6927df0f1e1e1ca5122/tweet-me.jpg)

## <span>Searching for love</span>

As you might imagine, consumers are turning to search more than ever to make their Valentine’s Day purchases. 1800Flowers proved to be the paid search winner for 2018, ratcheting up its search spend with 890 unique search ads that ultimately garnered ~35% of Valentine’s paid click-share.[^15]

While this is indeed impressive, search trends actually suggest that marketers are missing out on some big Valentine’s opportunities. According to Google, the top-searched Valentine’s topic for 2018 was “Valentine’s gift,” earning a whopping 60% of the search volume. What’s more, Google suggested that most frequently it’s women searching for gifts for men, instead of the other way around. Indeed, two of the top five most frequently Googled questions were “What to get your boyfriend on Valentine’s Day” and “What to get a guy on Valentine’s Day.”[^16]


![Chart showing search interest in "gift for boyfriend" tends to be higher than search interest in "gift for girlfriend" in the US.](//images.ctfassets.net/enzv3zmclegl/148fd9KICycIQWOGUwGkUm/c64c9fc02c81014ef8740c77135fe644/trends-boyfriend-girlfriend.png)

This makes sense if you stop and think about it: Men have basically been programmed to buy flowers and chocolate for their significant others on Valentine’s, whereas women thinking about gifts for men are offered little direction. And, when you consider that according to Psychology Today, during other holidays (like Christmas), women give 84% of all gifts, but only receive 61% of them,[^17] there’s a huge opportunity for a brand to fill this void and capitalize on these search trends.

One final interesting tidbit from our Valentine’s search behaviors: In 48 states, people are more likely to search “Valentine’s flowers” over “Valentine’s chocolates.”[^18] The two states that need their sugar fix? Alaska and Maine—presumably to help get through the long winters.

[^1]: NRF; “NRF Says Consumers Will Spend Near-Record $19.6 Billion On Valentine’s Day;” January 31, 2018

[^2]: The Hill; Shelbourne, Mallory; “Senate Budget Deal Includes $20 Billion For Infrastructure Projects”

[^4]: AdWeek; Nudd, Tim; “Snickers Opened A Valentine’s Day Restaurant, Oublie, For Couples Who Forgot To Make Reservations;” February 15, 2018

[^5]: Stash; “Moving Colour ‘Spread the Love’ For Land O Lakes;” February 20, 2017

[^6]: The Drum; Smiley, Minda; “KFC Is Gifting Scratch-and-Sniff Fried Chicken Cards For Valentine’s Day;” February 12, 2018

[^7]: AdWeek; Gianatasio, David; “McDonald’s Absurdly Lavish ‘Bling Mac’ Ring Could Be Yours, If You Love It Enough;” February 13, 2018

[^8]: Business Insider; Tyler, Jessica; “I Went To White Castle’s Reservations-Only Valentine’s Day Dinner and Discovered Why Many People Are Obsessed;” February 15, 2018

[^9]: Waffle House; “Once Again, Waffle House Is the Perfect Spot For Valentine’s Date;” January 25, 2018

[^10]: AV Club; Worgaftik, Gabe; “Please Do Not Get Engaged At Panera Bread,” February 13, 2018

[^11]: [YouTube; McCain Here’s To Love Advert 2018; February 9, 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79LtGHFAVlI)

[^12]: Now This News; “#LoveBetter Pop-Up Shop Wants To Teach People To Spot Abusive Relationships;” February 14, 2018

[^13]: Yotpo; “10 Best Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns”

[^14]: AdWeek; Klara, Robert; “Move Over Heart-Shaped Boxes Of Chocolate, Sweethearts Are Now the Most Popular Valentine’s Candy;” February 13, 2018

[^15]: Geomarketing; Kaplan, David; “How 1-800-Flowers Won Valentine’s Day Search Advertising;” February 16, 2018

[^16]: [Google Trends; “Valentine’s Day 2018;” pulled February 18, 2018](https://trends.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_J-BrTmEBAAAtLM_en)

[^17]: Psychology Today; Furnham Ph.D., Adrian; “The Psychology of Christmas Gift Giving;” December 17, 2014

[^18]: [Google Trends; “Valentine’s Day 2018;” pulled February 18, 2018](https://trends.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_J-BrTmEBAAAtLM_en)


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Influencers or Superfans: Which Has More Power?

Self-care 2.0

How Fandoms Contribute to Building Brands

Black Lives Still Matter

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