?? Fishing for a new Olympics sport
This is an abridged version of our weekly newsletter, ‘On the dot’. To get the full edition in all its glory,?subscribe to the real deal.
Hi folks,
As we collectively process the Olympics (and the gap in our lives without it), we can offer one final insight to help make sense of it all: despite the now-famous sponsorship of Giorgia Villa by the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, gymnasts are actually no more likely to buy cheese than the average Italian. At least, not yet.
Scroll down to read about ‘real’ art, a Valentine’s Day surprise, and a potential new audience for sneakers.
Stats to power your week
?? You know that feeling of scrolling through YouTube or Netflix and not quite settling on what you want to watch? Well, it turns out that scrolling is actually the method people most prefer to discover new video content – even more than word-of-mouth recommendations or personalized suggestions. Perhaps the thrill is in the hunt after all? GWI Zeitgeist
?? Don’t know about you, but it sure seems like you can’t move these days without bumping into a running club, a running date, or quarter-life crisis marathon entry. And sure enough, there seems to be some kind of running boom going on, with a 27% increase in the number of recreational runners year-on-year. At the crest of the trend are price-conscious consumers, tech enthusiasts, and creatives. GWI Sports (UK)
?? When you get a running boom, you get more consumers who need to buy shoes more often. But they’re not the only ones – there’s an intriguing trend of sneaker buying among 65+ year olds. The number of them who buy trainers has grown 58% since the last quarter, with a 21% rise in those buying Skechers gear specifically. GWI Core (UK)?
?? For a few years, we’ve been checking in with consumers to see whether they think AI tools can produce “real” art. And we’re a bit flummoxed by the findings. Despite the advent and growth of multiple image, video, and music generators, the number of consumers who’d call this ‘true’ art is lower than ever. Just 31% in the UK, and 38% in the US say so. GWI Zeitgeist
?? Our latest data set, GWI Moments, is the gift that keeps on giving (pun semi-intended). The stats on Valentine’s Day are full of surprises – last week we revealed that appetite for branded content on February 14th was relatively low, while this week we can reveal that men in relationships are more likely to say the day is important to them than women in relationships are. GWI Moments
Chart of the week?
So the Olympics are over, and the long wait begins until the next Games in Los Angeles. When 2028 rolls around the addition of cricket, lacrosse, and squash means that more sports will be contested than ever before. But it still begs the question…what are the most popular sports that are not in the Summer Olympic program?
Some, like motor sports, would present some challenging infrastructure issues. And some would argue whether chess and fishing, for example, could be considered “real” sports or not. But then again, inclusion in the Olympics is often what helps legitimize something (as it has for beach volleyball and snowboarding, among others).
Besides, many of us would probably change our minds if our country was successful in a new discipline. We might be skeptical about bass fishing or blitz chess…right up until the moment we win that gold medal.?
More from GWI
This is an abridged version of our weekly newsletter, ‘On the dot’. To get the full edition in all its glory,?subscribe to the real deal.