Top 5 trends in social media and influencer marketing | November 2019

This month was eventful - Winter arrived in Amsterdam, Mariah Carey started sneakily appearing in the office’s playlist and BlackFriday notifications are hitting up everyone's screen. But this did not prevent us from keeping an eye on the hottest news on socials. Here are this month’s top 5 trends in social media and influencer marketing.

1. OK Boomer: from a meme video to a cultural denunciation

(Photo Credits: Nlshirts)

At the beginning of October, @Kevingthebigpickle released a video on Tik Tok mocking the judgemental lectures of the boomer generation towards the younger ones. The ‘OK Boomer’ catchy nickname of the video resonated among many and since then, the phenomenon grew fast. A month later, Chlöe Swarbrick, a 25-year-old New Zealand Member of Parliament, shuts down an older lawmaker trying to interrupt her climate change speech using ‘OK boomer’. The snowball effect turned ‘OK Boomer’ into THE catchphrase for denouncing the poor economic, environmental, and social decisions taken by baby boomers that need to be taken care of by younger generations now. Trying to surf the trend, the American conservative television news channel Fox has filed a trademark application to use the phrase as the premise of a TV show a few days ago - certainly a decision driven by a baby boomer.

2. TikTok is moving to social commerce

(Photo Credits: Adweek)

TikTok is testing in-app shoppable ads with a selected group of influencers in the US, which is aligned with the increasing conversion power of influencers and would reinforce their position on the channel. This would enable influencers to build their own online store, meaning, for now, a dedicated Amazon page. TikTok aims to be the immersive destination for discovering authentic and creative short-form video content. It is also relatively new in the market, meaning that implementing commercial tools to the platform this early could be an advantage for users to effortlessly buy directly on the platform.

3. This Xmas will be in AR

(Photo Credits: DRNK)

Augmented Reality is more and more present in our daily life and this year, numerous brands are going to tap into it to stand out from the competition. In Asia, the wine shops and restaurants chain Wine Connection just released its Xmas campaign, bringing Santa Claus to life. Users are invited to download the DRNK AR app within the store and scan any wine label using the app. Santa Claus will then appear on the screen and may offer a gift - the app will always reward users after a few attempts and will advise consumers in their wine choice. Same spirit but on the other side of the ocean, One Stop, a subsidiary of Tesco, has launched its AR game ‘Find Eddy the Elf’ on its Facebook page to offer an interactive experience and some prizes to its customers, from Maltewers to a Lapland trip. So watch out, Santa or Coca-Cola holiday cans are one digital step away from you.

4. Instagram does not plan to lose users against TikTok

(Photo Credits: Instagram)

In Brazil, Instagram launched its new Reels feature on iOS and Android within Instagram Stories, called locally “Cenas”. The new feature will enable users to create 15-second short videos using a huge catalog of music, borrow the audio from another user’s video to create a remix of their meme or joke - just like TikTok. Brazil has a big Instagram population, a deeply musical culture, and a thriving creator community, according to Instagram director of product management Robby Stein. Instagram will also encourage its users to create Reels content by pushing those in the Explore section of the channel within the new 'Top Reels' section.

5. Made.com opens The Apartment in Amsterdam, an Instagram-friendly place

(Photo Credits: Made.com)

The British design company built ‘made for socials’ apartments for influencers to create content in. The apartment completely curated by MADE.COM, located in the center of Amsterdam, aims to be ‘a place where unique design comes to life’. Although The Apartment is not for rent, the brand is inviting consumers to visit the place and influencers to collaborate with them. The accessible activation is a way to boost the creation of content on socials but also to encourage sales by projecting visitors in real places.