First Impressions: Volume 3

Have you ever seen those virtual influencers on social media where Creators are using an always-on filter to portray a cartoon or anime character? A company called Dentsu created a software geared towards brands to create their own brand ambassadors using this method... except without the influencer part. Seeing as how the one of the biggest appeals to brands using influencers is the fact that real Creators have a relationship with their audience, this software seems a little counterintuitive. What’s the difference between this and a company mascot??

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms have been heavily targeting Gen Z’s shopping habits over the past few years, controversially tanking a ton of unsuspecting credit?scores. Now, in a complete shift in focus, they’ve got their eyes on the $700B+ B2B industry, offering short-term loans to help with daily expenses. Companies still dealing with a range of issues from COVID-19 are relying on supply chain finance offerings to stay afloat. You have to wonder... is this shift purely about the BNPL firms seeing new opportunities? Or?is Gen Z finally realizing that building debt to sustain their shopping habits isn’t the best idea??

Walmart’s paid loyalty program, Walmart+, has seen a plateau in growth and is sitting at around 11M members as of June 2022. In an effort to continue the growth of the program, they’re now offering a Paramount+ subscription instead of decreasing the actual annual cost of being a member. Seeing as how with this new addition you get the ‘Essential Plan’ which still?has commercials when watching shows or movies on Paramount+, one could guess that they’d see way more growth if they would just slash the price of the plan itself. I’d much rather pay $4 less a month for my membership than get another streaming service that has commercials.?

We’ve seen several platforms adding developments and quality-of-life changes to their Creator-side tools in the?few months, and it’s great to see that LinkedIn is on that same train as well. They’ve added clickable links that are now available on images and videos to encourage followers to take action, as well new built-in templates (similar to what Meta has been doing) that Creators can choose from to give some more flair and spice to their content. On top of that, Carousels are scheduled to come this fall. LinkedIn is?solidifying themselves as?one of the top platforms in the B2B Creator space. @Twitter, where you at?!?

As a result of this year’s supply chain issues and Target’s plan to massively stock up to navigate the disruptions, the big box retailer reported that their distribution centers reached 90% capacity in June, straining their inventory system. They navigated the supply chain issue perfectly, but now they’re paying the price (literally) with price slashes and inventory reduction, causing Q2 earnings to significantly fall. You can’t really blame the decision-makers as earlier this year they made the best decisions they could with the information that they had. They’ve since reduced their distribution center inventory to 80% capacity, so we should see an uptick in the back half of the year as the pressure is getting taken off.?

gen.video is making yet another appearance in-person at Groceryshop 2022 and we would love to meet our newsletter subscribers! Groceryshop brings together thousands of industry leaders from both established and startup CPG brands, so it’s not one to miss. Also... it’s in Vegas, baby!! Groceries, slot machines and social commerce companies. Why would you NOT come visit? We’re at booth #814, so make sure to come say hi if you’re around.?