Sunday Strategy: Niche Hobbies, 90's Music and Stunt Marketing, Stagnating AI + More
In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at five stories to think about next week, including: Personal Brands and Niche Hobbies, Ageism vs. Unachievable Retirement, Lonely America, Stagnating AI and Nostalgic Music’s Stunt Marketing Shift.
In addition, we have ads from: K-Citymarket J?rvenp?? , Dr. Squatch , Taco Bell , parkrun and Squarespace .
// Five Stories of the Week:
1.) Is Nostalgia Not Enough in Music Anymore?
For anyone tracking the UK grocery advertising scene, you’d assume 90s music doesn’t just sell itself, but also whatever else it is associated with - as Waitrose’s collaboration with S-Club ?and LIDL’s cover of “Ooh Ah (Just a LIDL bit)” with Marene McCutcheon have both dropped this week. Nostalgia, it seems, can still be weaponized. However, it’s power may not be universal, as other 90s artists have recently resorted to stunt marketing to give nostalgic re-releases a power up.?
Social media champion and UK music artist James Blunt announced that if the 20 year anniversary re-release of his album ‘Back to Bedlam’ goes to number one in the UK - he will change his name to whatever the public chooses. While early suggestions have involved ‘James Sharp’ and ‘Blunt Force’, the move seems unlikely - but still risky given Brits were responsible for naming a ship ‘Boaty McBoatface’.?
Augmenting musical nostalgia has also spread to band Green Day’s re-release of their 90’s classic album ‘Dookie’. ‘Dookie Demastered’ sees the album’s 15 tracks being distributed on a variety of unexpected formats, including a gameboy, a Billy Big Mouth Bass, a door bell and a music box. Each set of objects was given away by drawing to fans.
So what can James Blunt and Green Day’s campaigns tell us about musical nostalgia? Is it weakening as nostalgia becomes a broader jumble of decades and years in pop culture? Or is competition for attention and memory increasing to a point where even classics need a little help to recapture consumer interest??
2.) Ageism vs. Unachievable Retirement.?
A new study by YouGov has shown that while 69% of Brits would like to retire before 65, only 33% are confident in their finances for retirement. With 52% saving 5% or less of their annual income for retirement and 21% already planning to work part time in retirement, many Brits are going to end up in the workforce for longer and at higher ages. But what happens when retirement meets ageism in work???
A new report in the Times showed that nearly half of recruiters believed 57 was too old for a job. Expectations of what candidates should look like vs. the breadth of those who are looking for a job, against the backdrop of retirement uncertainty, looks poised to create more prominent conversations about age discrimination and work - out of necessity vs. moral outrage.??
3.) America the Lonely??
Do Americans know how to make friends? Recent Google trends data says we might not, as searches for ‘how’ and ‘where to make friends’ have increased faster and concentrated more in the US than in other markets. Additional data shows that nearly half of Americans say they’re lonely, with the responses changing by state. While we may be in a ‘social recession’ globally due to economic and technological factors, the US looks to be hit harder than other places.??
While a recent NY Times article shows a data trend before and after Covid of a shift to more time at home, referring to the US as a nation of ‘homebodies’ - is this by circumstance, as search data implies, or choice? With rising costs to a night out, lingering work from home behaviour and a lack of casual places to mingle (Britain’s pub culture seemingly keeps the google searches down), are we seeing a nation kept at home because they have nowhere to go or because they don’t know how to??
4.) Is AI Implementation Stagnating??
New research from Gallup, on how AI is being adopted in the workplace, indicates a potential plateau in AI adoption. 67% of workers surveyed say they never use AI in their jobs (54% of white collar workers say the same) and only 16% say they are very or somewhat comfortable using it for work. The lack of comfort seems to have stagnated enterprise adoption, as Gallup found usage figures are very similar to those from a year ago. AI enterprise enthusiasm doesn’t seem to have translated to AI adoption and execution.
However, the future of work may be growing, but in pockets. 93% of HR leaders say they’ve implemented AI within their business, though only 15% of workers say they are aware of these plans. AI may be growing top down, with training and communication about its presence the two factors necessary to kick starting growth.??
5.) The Rise of the Personal Brand Niche Hobby Complex
Influencers and the rise of the ‘personal brand’ have been responsible for a lot of things - from shifting travel attitudes and the rental market in NYC, to creating new ways to experience a natural disaster. Are they also changing how we think about our hobbies??
We’ve always wanted to make ourselves interesting, from how we travel (something Expedia leveraged brilliantly more than once) to what we adopt as our past times. However, as pressure to differentiate our ‘personal brand’ grows, simply having the hobbies of everyone else isn’t enough. Powered by TikTok and other social networks which are creating and amplifying niche groups and influencers, an explosion of niche hobbies are being made available to people from the vaguely familiar (archery) to the unexpected (butter churning, taxidermy and yarn spinning). With this explosion comes an opportunity to monetize new interests, but does a more mercenary approach to finding a ‘true’ and unique hobby strip out the authenticity and enjoyment? When it becomes about how others see us, does it take away something from our own enjoyment??
// Ads You Might Have Missed:?
1.) ‘Ad(d) to Cart’ - K-Citymarket:?
There’s something great about cross brand advertising. Perhaps it's a personal appreciation of the logistics for getting multiple brands in an ad, or the idea that it uses media in a creative way - but ads from the UK’s classic Lego ad break to the US market’s Old Spice takeover or Tide Super Bowl ad stand out for their integrated creativity. Adding to this approach is Finnish retailer K-Citymarket, who have taken over the entirety of the advertising in an episode of Survivor Finland, to feature 15 co-branded ads invaded by the brand’s character. From Doritos to Lofberg and Benecol, the brand recreated each ad down to the last detail before inserting their new character into each across the breaks - which were funded 50/50 between brands.?
2.) ‘A Website Makes It Real’ - Squarespace:?
Website hosting company Squarespace has taken their long running ‘A website makes it real’ brand platform to life in three new ads which illustrate the elements of a business coming to life alongside a business website. While previous campaigns had taken a similar approach, the visual style, emotion and choice of business in these three ads is unique. In ‘Muscles’, linked above, a body builder sits in a restaurant - starting a personal training business as diners around him ‘hulk out’ into jacked versions of their previous selves. While other ads show a bakery (flying flour, oven heat) and scuba school (a website filling with water and divers) coming to life as owners start their websites.?
SMB creation ads can often fall into similar, almost worthy territory, around determination, grit and owner celebration. While these often work, seeing a brand double down on the evocative elements of the business being created gives an air of tangibility to the intangible website. This approach, coupled with a consistently valuable insight in the role of a website in businesses, makes them feel different and powerful.?
3.) ‘Britain, We Stink’ - Dr. Squatch:?
If you thought grooming brand Dr. Squatch was content with just running its US campaign with Sydney Sweeny as their ‘Bodywash Genie’, you’ll be surprised by their new UK market entry ad. ‘Britain, We Stink’ takes a scouring negative overview of UK life (from rising rental and train prices to ‘silent retreats’) and pivots to ‘smelling great, even when things stink’. The ad seems to capture a view that the more pessimistic Brits amongst us may agree with, as well as using a news reader (Red Richardson who I’m sure has heard, and potentially tires of hearing, that he evokes Matt Berry) and set to deliver a monologue that feels BBC news.?
Dr. Squatch is currently only available in UK grocer Waitrose and this limited distribution, as well as what I can imagine are different production budgets and logistical outlooks, may explain why the campaign diverges from the more prominent new Sydney Sweeny ads. The British ad introduces the brand effectively, but with internet discussion and engagement outside of the US on ‘Bodywash Genie’, whether we see a continuation or a switch to campaign consolidation is an open question.?
4.) ‘Stash Away’ - Taco Bell:?
The rituals and items a brand develops are on show in Taco Bell’s newest Canadian campaign, ‘Stash Away’. The brand celebrates fan’s accumulation of their different sauces, showing where regular customers may store their haul and celebrating the sauce bank they’ve built up - be it in a drawer, a fridge shelf or somewhere else. The campaign aims to build relatability, but it also shows a realistic attitude to showing the experience of regularly consuming Taco Bell. While some brands may worry that tacitly acknowledging hoarding sauces hits the bottom line, some UK McDonalds may charge for ketchup, or bite into a secondary grocery sauce brand - the reality is that consumers are taking and storing these regardless. So, being realistic about how people enjoy your brand just makes an obvious truth public.?
5.) ‘Doctor’s Notes’ - Parkrun:?
UK running charity Parkrun is celebrating its 20th year of pushing people to come run weekly 5ks in parks around the country and beyond. To do so, they’ve launched a series of ads positioning the event as a prescription to feeling better, written on prescription pads and mentioning ‘as prescribed by doctors’ - implicitly leveraging their partnership with UK GPs.
While the straightforward campaign is beautifully done, down to realistic recreations of doctors’ handwriting, another aspect of it is also unique - as it shares a very similar visual style and approach with a new WWF campaign, ‘A Prescription for Nature’.? Both campaigns were created by Uncommon and it looks as if the coordination and similarities between them could make both punch harder than they would on their own.?
// Sunday Snippets
// What makes a brand seem generous? Fold7 have released a new study investigating it
// How do brands get playful? TRA have released a study investigating playfulness in brands
// Gen Z and shifting attitudes towards relationship age gaps
// Are bag profits keeping retailers from adopting more sustainable solutions for bagging goods?
// Sonos has a plan to win back consumer trust, but will it work??
// Meta makes a move towards Gen AI video with its new Movie Gen model
// New Chinese regulation aims to make AI watermarks happen
// Ultra-travelers and the race to visit every country on Earth
// Not everyone has hopped on Dua Lipa’s Pickles, Jalapenos and Diet Coke drink trend
// Barbie launches ‘Diwali Barbie’ in time for the holiday?
// McDonald’s France introduce vegan McPlant Nuggets with Beyond Meat
// Tesla’s Cybertruck is facing resistance for being ‘too big’ and ‘too sharp’ in Europe
// Despite feeling like they’re already here, Dog Crocs are on their way
// Rethinking Tomb Raider without the male gaze
// Not content with one holiday, US retailer ‘Spirit Halloween’ unveils plans for ‘Spirit Christmas’
// Until Next Sunday
As always, let me know what you think by email ([email protected]),? website or on LinkedIn.
Founder & Chief Research Officer @ midsail research
1 个月With the rise of personal branding, do niche hobbies risk losing their authenticity, or do they gain broader acceptance and visibility as a result?