OMD FWD w/c 11th December
Hello and welcome to your weekly FWD. This week, YouTube joins the ‘stories’ bandwagon, allowing users to post Snapchat-like videos on their channels. Meanwhile, Instagram is testing a stand-alone messaging app that will replace the current inbox. Good news for brands and celebrities as you can now save your Instagram stories on your profile and Twitter’s new 280-character limit drives higher engagement rates. Prepare to start shopping from the comfort of your car’s Marketplace as research finds that voice search has a positive impact on sales and Amazon’s Alexa users buy more. Lastly, rumour has it that Apple is in the process of acquiring Shazam to step up its game in music services.
HEADLINES
- YouTube launches new short form video format (that looks a bit like ‘stories’), ‘Reels’
- Instagram is testing ‘Direct’, a standalone messaging app
- Apple are rumoured to be acquiring music recognition app Shazam
- Instagram now lets you make a story permanent on your profile
INSIGHTS
- Twitter’s new 280 character limit drives higher engagement rates
- Amazon Echo users are buying more CPG products and stay increasingly loyal
- The 5 ways that retailer Shop Direct is winning in Mobile
COOL
- Danske Bank’s Wealth investment robot now has 11,500 clients
- You can now shop from the in-car entertainment systems from GM cars
- Coach collaborates with Snap to create high-tech Coach x Snapchat holiday pin
- Prepare for your room to tidy itself
- Alexa integration into console games is coming and looks pretty cool
DEEP READS
- Ben Evans: What the next 10 years looks like (video presentation)
- How Ultrasound will enable you to feel in virtual reality
- Inside Baidu’s attempts to lead the future of Artificial Intelligence
And finally…prepare to cuddle up with a huggable spoonbot
Another call for stories, we love it when you get involved! If you find anything interesting, please share using #OMDFWD