Weekly External Insights - 04.02.22

Instagram tests 90-sec Reels and Live Banners, what is Sunroom? Book sales thrive thanks to TikTok, Fashion Week in the metaverse, influencer marketing evolves and do we see ads in our dreams?

1.?Instagram tests 90 second Reels?

Instagram is seemingly working on extending the maximum duration of Reels videos to 90 seconds, as per reputable tipster and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi’s recent Twitter post. This is most likely to replace the current 60-second limit for Reels. (Via?Beebom)

2.?Instagram launches “Live Banner” feature

Adam Mosseri, has announced a new “Live Banner” feature. This new feature would provide users with an option to schedule their live streams. This schedule will pop up on the user's profile as a badge which would have a list of all of their upcoming live streams. Users will be able to create a schedule for future live streams as well. (Via?Digital Information World)

3.?Sunroom: The new social app for empowerment

Sunroom, founded by alums of Hinge and Bumble, is a creator platform centred around empowering female and non-binary creators—and helping them get paid. Sunroom takes the premium monetization model of something like Patreon or OnlyFans and blends it with a social feed, run through a generously Gen Z design filter. Sunroom is designed to provide an alternative to traditional social media apps, one that empowers people who are tired of seeing their content devalued and censored elsewhere. (Via?TechCrunch)

4.?The success of BookTok

Book sales are up, and we have TikTok to thank. BookTok is an online niche community on TikTok, where readers congregate to post thousands of videos about any and all books. The popularity of the community has led to books that were published years ago re-ranking in the 2021 bestselling books. (Via?TubeFilter)

5.?Fashion week in the Metaverse is coming

Metaverse platform Decentraland is hosting its first Metaverse Fashion Week starting 24 March, with dozens of global brands and thousands of visitors able to virtually experience fashion shows, attend live music sessions at branded after parties, and buy and wear digital clothing directly from catwalk avatars. Virtual avatars will be walking the runways—some wearing items that will be shoppable and wearable for visitors. (Via?Vogue Business)

6.?Influencer marketing grows up in 2022

With more adspend on digital, greater regulation, social and live commerce, and deeper levels of consumer engagement—2022 could be the year the influencer industry grows up. Creator-driven platforms like TikTok are helping influencers to take control of their own content and careers, driven by invested audiences that, of course, want to follow them rather than the brand they represent. (Via?Econsultancy)?

7.?Do we see ads in our dreams?

Plushbeds conducted an online survey and found that as many as 7 out of 10 people have had a dream about a brand or a product. In most of the dreams, the person saw themselves either shopping in person or shopping online. Most others saw themselves using a product, and the rest merely saw an advertisement. The top brand seen in dreams is Apple, followed by Nike. On the flip side, the top brand seen in nightmares is Playboy. (Via?Plushbeds)

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Lloyd Williams, Head of Strategy @?Socially Powerful.