In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at four stories to think about next week, including: Bot-Nets vs. Brands, Inconvenience as the Cost of Community, Generational Taste in Activewear, Agentic Commerce, Controlling Our Social Algorithms and How We Actually Use TikTok.
In addition, we have ads from: FedEx, Battlefield, Backmarket and Doritos.
// Stories of the Week:
1.) Artificial Outrage: Bot Networks vs. Brands.
While many marketers consider how to make more discoverable to AI, should we be considering the downside of when bots find brands? A new analysis published in the WSJ shows that bot nets are stoking brand outrage online, often joining in on social discussions around brands like Cracker Barrel’s recent rebrand. Peakmetrics suggests that 44% of X posts that occurred on August 20 (24 hours after the Cracker Barrel logo change) were from ‘bots or likely bots’, increasing to 49% of posts calling for a boycott.
GenAI’s increasing sophistication allows bots online to join in more believably to social discussions while trying to farm engagement, subsequently amplifying the perceived scale of outrage in the process. Their activity ‘raises the floor’ of a crisis and makes it easier for media, politicians and influencers to discover or magnify an ongoing crisis. Marketers can’t discount the scale of a crisis, even if it’s being amplified by AI, but we should consider how large the tempest in the AI amplified tea pot may be.
2.) Is Inconvenience the Cost of Community?
As technology has pushed us further into sanitized, projected and curated spaces, are we paying the price for ‘peace and quiet’ in loneliness? Social media discussion of ‘protecting your peace’, ‘self-care’ and celebrating cancelling plans may champion prioritising our own needs – but does it ignore that relationships are often based on ‘showing up for friends’?
As we get more opportunities to avoid conflict and discomfort, we may need to culturally rebalance boundaries and community. As Dazed puts it in the link below, “You cannot avoid the natural chaos that comes with being in each other’s orbit – people will demand time and energy of us, rub us up the wrong way, and even hurt us. But we should realise that in trying to circumvent pain or awkwardness, you don’t get any of the good stuff either: support; kinship; a village.”
3.) How Does Activewear Change Across Generations?
How do different generations approach active wear? A new BCG research report shows that generational shifts exist within sports played, activewear brands considered and how sub-categories are evaluated. Younger consumers preferred team and high intensity sports (Running, Basketball, Football), while older generations prioritized wellness and individual activities (Golf, Hiking, Indoor Cycling).
Different tastes in activities create differing tastes in activewear, as younger generations buy clothes on ‘confidence’ and ‘comfort’ factors while still seeking trends and exclusivity in footwear. Alternatively, older generations buy both based on ‘fashion’, ‘community’ and ‘exclusivity’ – showing different opportunities for activewear brands across ages.
4.) OpenAI Launches Greater ‘Agentic Commerce’
With 700m weekly users, ChatGPT’s launch of ‘Buy it in ChatGPT’ and their ‘Agentic Commerce Protocol’, which allows users to buy from participating stores in interface, looks to make an instant impact on retail. The feature, which surfaces product recommendations when asked and allows users to quickly buy, solidifies the platform’s role as a partner to consumers in product discovery and purchase.With Shopify, Etsy and Stripe as partners, a range of retailers can now drive conversion without ever having users engage deeply with their own presences.
5.) Can We Effectively Control Our Social Algorithms?
As Instagram announced 3bn monthly active users last week, they also announced a trial of a feature to let users take greater control over their algorithm. The new feature, tested first with reels, allows users to suggest what they’d like to see more or less of, with prompts from what the algorithm has watched them consume. Fine-tuning an algorithm reflects the changing nature of social media, shifting from connecting with friends to content consumption. It tailors our content preferences in a way that seemingly empowers users and ensures greater continuing attention for a platform. But are users poised to do it effectively?
We’re naturally not the best judges of what we like. Our idealized content preferences and our actual preferences diverge often. Control of an algorithm effectively requires us to not only be ‘algorithmically literate’, but also ‘individually literate’ to our own tastes. Being aware of the algorithm has caused many to worry about its effect on our attention and content consumption – but for greater control to effectively be the answer, we may need to first start with ourselves – not the algorithm.
// Chart of the Week: How Do People Use TikTok?
What does an hour on TikTok look like? A study from 2024 attempted to pull and analyze every TikTok on the platform posted for one hour (1.9m posts in total). The results, shown in the study and in the Economist, highlight the topography of the platform – from a mass of pop culture and entertainment through to corners of pet videos, beauty and sports.
// Ads You Might Have Missed:
1.) ‘Power Move’ – Fedex:
A real power move is rare, as most make the user seem weaker than intended. Fedex’s latest campaign recognizes this, lampooning hyperbolic eye contact, limited time slots and others with a real power move – shipping with FedEx, which offers ‘next level’ control of shipments. The ad shows how B2B advertising can retain its humor and humanity while still selling services effectively. While many people will point to fear based campaigns like the venerable ‘No one ever got fired for choosing IBM’ when it comes to emotional B2B – FedEx shows humor, truth and relatability can also deliver impact.
2.) ‘Battlefield 6 Trailer’ – Battlefield / EA:
When the world of first person shooter game releases becomes more and more fixated on celebrities and IP integration, how do you keep up? Battlefield’s latest trailer for the upcoming Battlefield 6 turns the convention of celebrity players on its head by introducing, and quickly dispatching, a celebrity squad including Zach Efron, Morgan Wallen and Paddy Pemblett. Its quick rug pull sets up a live action trailer focused more on friends playing together through a Brooklyn battlezone, positioning the game as a grittier, combat focused alternative to Call of Duty, Fortnite and others.
The rug pull works effectively because of the conventions set up in how the sector uses celebrity – reminding brands that when a well worn tactic becomes too competitive, using it as a foil becomes an effective solution.
3.) ‘The Obsolete Computer’ – BackMarket:
Why do we accept planned obsolescence as the price of innovation? Refurbished tech market place BackMarket is taking on the concept in its latest initiative ‘The Obsolete Computer’ – calling out a Microsoft update that looks to deprive 400m computers with new updates to Windows. Through installing Linux or ChromeOS on these devices, BackMarket plans to give away newly working ‘obsolete computers’ while calling out Big Tech for creating a cycle of innovation and waste.
4.) ‘Telethon for Hawkins’ – Doritos:
With Season 5 of Stranger Things launching next month, Doritos has gone fully into 80s culture with a ‘Telethon for Hawkins’ featuring a number to speak with David Hasselhoff, Paula Abdul and ALF. Complementing their line of ‘Stranger Things’ products, Doritos faithfully recreates the sense of 80s charitable telethons while putting the hotline at the centre for fans who want to engage deeper.
// Sunday Snippets
// Marketing & Advertising //
– Yinka Ilori and Bloomingdales debut a new in-store art installation [Retail]
– Hyundai and Lil Jon (looking surprisingly svelte) partner to show some attention to the brand [Ads]
– Beer brand 1664 announces Robert Pattinson as its first global brand ambassador [Brands]
– Oura turns to ‘self expression’ as it launches its ceramic ring in different colors [Fashion]
– Agent Provocateur unveils a Julia Fox led AW25 campaign [Fashion]
– Brands continue to hop on the 90s nostalgia train with new Y2K era celebrity partnerships [Brands]
– Amazon launches a price conscious grocery brand [Marketing]
– Gucci replaces the runway with a 33 minute film to show its new artistic vision [Fashion]
– Theme park Six Flags releases a 7+ minute horror movie to kick off Halloween [Ads]
– Godiva partners with actress Leighton Meester in their latest campaign [Food]
// Technology & Media //
– New filing shows an update to the Apple Vision Pro is on the horizon [Technology]
– Landline phone use for children is growing and helping start-ups like Tin Can grow with it [Media]
– Meta will use AI chat data in advertising targeting [Media]
– Google leverages the iPhone’s ubiquity to call it ‘Vanilla’ in its Pixel 10 launch [Ads]
– Review signals are gaining in importance for local search rankings [Media]
– New Pew Research shows a majority of Americans believe AI will weaken our ability to think creatively [AI]
– New research shows AI’s direct impact on job losses may be overstated [AI]
// Life & Culture //
– Despite sober news to the contrary, Gen Z may just be looking for a ‘session’ wine [Food]
– San Francisco explores the limits of dog friendly culture [Culture]
– Luxury credit cards are becoming lifestyle subscriptions [Finance]
– 6% of paid salary workers apparently took time off for this week’s launch of Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ [Music]
– An ‘Emo Christmas’ pop up bar is coming to NYC next month [Holidays]
– Primark is offering a ‘Traitors’ inspired fashion line [Fashion]
– Chili’s is offering a two person ‘mozzarella stick cheese pull’ Halloween costume [Fashion]
// Until Next Sunday
As always, let me know what you think by email (dubose@newclassic.agency), website or on LinkedIn.
You can also listen to an audio summary and discussion of each week’s newsletter on Spotify. We’re also on TikTok!
