NFR #56 - Social Commerce, Mushroom Packaging & Writing Online

🐦 Inspirational tweet:

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🐦 Twitter thread of the week:

(Link to thread)

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🤖 eCommerce News:

👀 Disney lowers longer-term forecast for Disney+ subscribers by 15 million

“Disney lowered its 2024 guidance for Disney+ by 15 million on both the low end and high end. The new Disney forecast for 2024 is 215 million to 245 million, down from 230 million to 260 million.Disney reaffirmed Disney+ will be profitable by 2024.”

🚀 TikTok has established itself as one of the top online platforms for U.S. teens, while the share of teens who use Facebook has fallen sharply

“A new Pew Research Center survey of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 finds TikTok has rocketed in popularity since its North American debut several years ago and now is a top social media platform for teens among the platforms covered in this survey. Some 67% of teens say they ever use TikTok, with 16% of all teens saying they use it almost constantly. Meanwhile, the share of teens who say they use Facebook, a dominant social media platform among teens in the Center’s 2014-15 survey, has plummeted from 71% then to 32% today.”

🎶 Spotify launches ticket selling platform to allow fans to buy direct from the app

“Your destination for live events by creators you love, ticketed by Spotify”

🧠 Selena Gomez’s Mental Health Startup Gets $100 Million Valuation

“A startup cofounded by pop star Selena Gomez, Wondermind, is raising funds at a valuation of $100 million as it looks to capitalize on a boom in the mindfulness trend. Tennis icon Serena Williams’s venture fund, Serena Ventures, led the $5 million early-stage round, which was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. Brent Saunders, the former chief executive officer of pharmaceutical company Allergan, also took part.”

📹 YouTube Advances Plans for Streaming Video Marketplace

“YouTube is planning to launch an online store for streaming video services and has renewed talks with entertainment companies about participating in the platform, according to people close to the recent discussions. The company hopes the new platform, which it is referring to internally as a “channel store” and which has been in the works for at least 18 months, could be available as early as this fall, some of the people said.”

🕹 Meta rolls out new Reels features on Instagram and Facebook, including an ‘Add Yours’ sticker

“Meta announced today that it’s launching new Reels features for Instagram and Facebook. Most notably, the company is rolling out an “Add Yours” sticker for Reels on both social networks. The sticker allows users to respond to other users’ Reels with their own following a prompt or a certain topic. For example, you can share a Reel with an Add Yours prompt that asks others to post videos of their pets”

🛍 Shopify launches Collabs, a new way for creators to earn revenue on the platform

“Creators can get started by applying for a Shopify Collabs account, after which they will be able to browse for Shopify merchants that align with their audience. Once creators find brands they like, they can partner with them and curate a list of their products to share on social media using Linkpop, Shopify’s link in bio tool. When someone purchases a product using the link a creator has shared, the creator will receive a payment.”

🍄 Mycel’s mushroom-based biomaterials sprout $10M in funding

“Co-founder and CEO of Mycel Sungjin Sah told TechCrunch that the company uses mycelium, a root-like structure of mushroom, to make leather substitutes that can be used in car seats and luxury cosmetic products, and fashion products like shoes, clothes and bags. Mycel is in talks with global cosmetic brands to co-develop the mycelium-based leather products as well as cosmetics ingredients, Sah said, adding that it aims to commercialize its mushroom leather in 2023.”

🤝 Gorgias’ valuation rises to $710M with $30M Series C for e-commerce customer support

“Gorgias, developing customer service tools for e-commerce companies, raised $30 million in new Series C capital in a round that boosted its valuation to $710 million. Transpose Platform and Shopify led the round and were joined by previous investors Jason Lemkin of SaaStr, Rajeev Dham from Sapphire Ventures, CRV and Alven.”

💬 Meta invests in Take App, a Singaporean startup that helps merchants sell via WhatsApp

“WhatsApp has long transcended its roots as a simple messaging app for friends, and is now a core communication tool for businesses seeking a direct channel to their customers’ pockets — both literally and metaphorically. Countless companies have turned to the omnipresent messaging app as they build the very foundation of their business, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by WhatsApp’s parent company”

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🐵 NFT Article of the week

“Is There A Mental Health Crisis In The NFT Space? Amidst all the hype, volatility and toxic positivity, we could be in the midst of a mental health epidemic.”

Snippet ⬇️

“For creators, it’s difficult to divorce the worth of a project from the worth of the creator themselves.

As promising as NFTs are, the truth is that we’re not all going to make it.

Markets go up and down, projects achieve varying degrees of success, and fortunes turn on a dime. The pressure placed upon every project to succeed is unrealistic at best, and damaging at worst. With all this expectation, and so much potentially at stake, there’s very little room for creators to make mistakes, with backlash from ‘investors’ becoming, at times, incredibly vitriolic.”

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🎶 Tik Tok Ad Of The Week:

Fabletics X Tik Tok

“Fabletics is a global, active-lifestyle brand that sells both men's and women's sportswear, footwear and accessories, commonly referred to as "activewear". The company operates on a membership model and is known for its e-commerce business approach and also has over 85 brick-and-mortar stores”

Fabletics have really caught my eye with their punchy & creative marketing and this is a classic example.

Why was this Ad good?

• Plant the seed of doubt 

  • “Stop paying £80 for the same old boring shorts”

  • It’s a good hook, opens up a loop in the consumer’s mind and creates a void of information that needs to be filled. What’s the solution then?

• Sells the benefit not the feature

  • “Zipper pockets, so you never drop your phone. Yeah! Stop being that guy!”

  • “5 Inch seams for that taller look, the right fitting short can make you look 6 foot”

  • Great bit of script this, sell the outcome not just “long length shorts”

• Effectively sells the value of becoming a member

  • These shorts used to be £64 a pair. But now, new VIP’s get 2 for £24

(Link to Tik Tok)

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📈 Trends Of The Week:

NFT marketing

“Despite setbacks to the overall crypto market in 2022, growth in the space is undeniable.

The global NFT market size is set to balloon by 680% from ~$16B in 2021 to ~$122B in 2028. The number of NFT owners is projected to grow 533% (to 65m people) over the same period.

Consumers are confident in NFTs’ staying power: 80% of NFT owners and the NFT-curious believe NFTs are not just hype, and 92% of the same cohort believe brands have a role in the NFT space.”

“A number of brands are experimenting with novel NFT applications, including:

• NFT-powered subscriptions: Anyone who owns one of the Bored Breakfast Club’s NFTs is entitled to free shipments of exclusive coffee blends and access to an online community, live events, content, and discounts on additional bags of coffee.

• Gamified NFT collections: Louis Vuitton has released their “Louis the Game” mobile app, which includes 30 embedded NFTs that could only be collected by playing the game. Gap has also incorporated a gaming component into their NFT collection to encourage continued customer engagement.

• Real-world NFT activations: Neon launched the world’s first NFT vending machine in NYC in February 2022. The machine accepts fiat currency, making it possible for people to invest in NFTs using their credit card — without the need to convert to crypto first.”

Source: Trends.co. (Check them out, they’ve got a great free trial offer.)

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Happy Existing 👋