Tag: black friday

Hello and welcome to your weekly FWD. This week we have seen many changes in the social media world. First up, Facebook is testing an Explore Feed that will push non-promoted posts out of your Newsfeed. Say hello to the ‘Jumanji’ VR experiences on Newsfeed, but prepare not to press ‘like’ after Facebook’s decision to put the Like button, and annoying Farmville invites, to sleep. Twitter is preparing for a “tweetstorm” feature, offering users to compose their stories with the click of one “Tweet All” button.

Hail Spotify as they bolster their ecommerce offering, allowing listeners to purchase makeup through the platform. A smart move with Black Friday just around the corner and estimates that 40% of Christmas sales will be purchased during the sales. Doritos and Xbox also partnered this week to re-create classic gaming levels in the physical world, a world where gaming influencers have to compete against each other. Shout out to our PepsiCo teams for this awesome campaign!

HEADLINES

• Facebook trials a second ‘explore’ newsfeed, aimed showcasing wider content that isn’t determined by historical preferences and friends’ posts. It’s pushing non-promoted posts further to the back as a result
• Introducing the Twitter Tweetstorm function
• Ever wanted to buy cosmetics via Spotify? Well, you can…

 INSIGHTS

• Black Friday is anticipated to take an even bigger slice of the total consumer Christmas coffers
• The role of Google visibility and success in the Retail category
• Where did all those Farmville invitations go on social? An insight into how Facebook has phased out invites and likes

COOL

• Doritos and Xbox partner to re-create classic gaming levels in the physical world, a world where gaming influencers have to compete against each other
• For the upcoming Jumanji release, Facebook test its VR credentials in the newsfeed, for users to explore all manner of things
• Thanks to Boston Dynamics, robots are officially suppler and athletic than myself

DEEP READS

• Why AI is designed to be mentally unbalanced
• A global look at the commercial impact of Singles Day on the rest of the world
• A future thought on how digital publishers can co-exist

Please tag and share anything interesting you see with #OMDFWD

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of OMD FWD. With the big Christmas TV ads released over the last week (including the hotly anticipated John Lewis advert by MG OMD), the festive season is well and truly upon us. This week, Apple teaches people around the world to code with their “Everyone Can Code” initiative. For those that don’t fancy staying in to code, there is good news for nightlife lovers as Facebook relaunches their Events app as Facebook Local, adding bars, food, and nearby attractions.

In retail, Black Friday is around the corner but will sales overtake those from China’s Singles’ Day? Alibaba, the e-commerce Chinese giant, reported over $25.3 billion in sales last weekend as retailers competed for a share of consumer spending. This start-up is making augmented-reality glasses to help the blind see again.

HEADLINES

• Twitter expands its character limit from 140 to 280 to help users express themselves more deeply
• Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Code’ initiative expands beyond the U.S.
• Instagram tests letting you follow hashtags instead of people

INSIGHTS

• 71% of school students say that they’ve taken a ‘digital detox’ from social media channels, a study finds
• Alibaba’s $25.3bn sales figure for ‘Singles’ Day’ dwarfs 2016’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined
• Social listening looks set to grow in importance as technology improves

COOL

• Facebook’s newly re-branded ‘Facebook Local’ app will help you discover bars, restaurants, and nearby events
• These augmented-reality glasses are helping the blind to see again
• With Christmas on the horizon, here’s the best tech-based toys of 2017

DEEP READS

• GDPR goes beyond just the use of data, as brands need to ensure they have the right tone, language and content as well
• Should brands be aiming to delight consumers rather than building brand trust?
• Brands continue to tread the blurred lines of subliminal messaging

While you wait for next week’s FWD (and Christmas!), check out the best tech toys of 2017. As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD

Black Friday is fast approaching. As people get ready to hit the online sales, reports are predicting that shoppers will return over £1 billion worth of goods purchased. UK shoppers will spend £5bn in a four-day internet shopping frenzy from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Yet, these huge returns will result in tying stock up for three to four weeks in the supply chain returns loop. As a result, on any one day, there is roughly £978m worth of e-commerce stock tied up in the returns cycle in the UK alone. E-commerce returns are costing the industry £25.5bn each year. It is clear there is a problem that needs tackling. One such problem is that products aren’t as expected from their online descriptions and images. Using the data that is already collected, there could be simple fixes to reduce the number of returns and money lost.

HEADLINES

• Snap Inc (Snapchat’s parent company) prepares for IPO, secrecy and intrigue make up the narrative
• Facebook has had to issue a response to another miscalculation in its page insights, fortunately in metrics that were little used by marketers
• Instagram rolls out Live features and includes updates to Direct messaging

 INSIGHTS

•  How the Snapchat Spectacles (reviewed here) release isn’t repeating the same mistakes as  Google Glass, and how some brands are already getting involved
• £1 in every £5 of web sales on Black Friday is returned
• Google launches APIs for its machine learning tech through Google Cloud and also updates us on how Google Translate is getting better through Neural Machine Translation

COOL

• Love Pictionary? Google’s Quick Draw is the most fun you can have learning about machine learning
• Microsoft uses HoloLens to do a mixed reality Mannequin challenge
• Google Earth used to create a ‘love letter’ to cities

DEEP READS

• How Google, Facebook and Microsoft are remaking themselves in response to AI
• Here we go again; how 5G technology will change the way we use the web
• And final, some thoughts on why Facebook might need a news editor

Share anything you see through the week with the hashtag #OMDFWD