This December’s Top Marketing Industry News

Happy New Year, awesome reader! We hope you enjoyed every single moment of the holidays. We know we did. The good news? We’re back on track and we have your back in case you’re asked what happened last month in the marketing industry. As usual, we’ve only selected the best stuff. Let’s dive in!

22 Instagram Stats You Need to Know in 2020 [Infographic] (via SMT)

We already know that Instagram can do much more than simply showcase morning lattes. ☕️ The social network continues to grow this year, as more brands are exploring new ways to expand their Insta presence. Squarelovin’s new infographic summarizes 22 key facts and figures about Instagram you should have in mind for 2020. 

Burger King hid a Big Mac behind every Whopper ad last year (via The Drum) 

Burger King revealed a huge secret in December: it has hidden one Big Mac behind every Whopper advert that its creative agency BBH made last year. The point was to prove that the Whopper outsizes rival McDonald’s burger. Point made.

Ian Heartfield, chief creative officer at BBH London said: “Placing our competitor’s product in our own ads throughout 2019 without anyone knowing has been one of the most fun ideas we have ever executed. It is of course just a good old fashioned product comparison idea, but it’s been brought bang up to date by some lateral thinking and rebellious media behaviour. We’re loving it.“

 

Favorite Tweets of the year?

We’ll start. Here’s our 19 for 2019
#ThisHappened

— Twitter (@Twitter) December 9, 2019

Twitter’s Top Tweet Trends of 2019 (via WeRSM)

Twitter has compiled the list of the best tweets of 2019 and it’s worth checking out if you’re looking for inspiration. They also presented tops of most-tweeted-about television shows (Game of Thrones), movies (The Avengers: Endgame), actors (Tom Holland), musicians (BTS), teams (FC Barcelona), news-related hashtags (#NotreDame), or politicians (Donald Trump). 

Spotify Wrapped 2019 revealed users’ listening habits of the last decade (via Spotify Newsroom)

If you’re an avid music listener, you probably spent countless hours lip-syncing to your favorite songs last year. You don’t have to guess which songs, as Spotify Wrapped 2019 shows you precisely what you listened to most over the past year. You can also check out what genres you listened to, how much time was spent streaming, and much more. 

To celebrate a new decade, Spotify added something new to Wrapped: your favorite artists and songs from the past 10 years. Spotify also shared the top songs, artists, playlists, and podcasts that people around the world listened to in 2019. While “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello was the number one song, Post Malone claimed the spot of most-streamed artist. If you’re more into podcasts, Spotify Original The Joe Budden Podcast with Rory and Mal was the most appreciated one of 2019.

In New Nike Ad, LeBron James reflects on a world that doesn’t start with ‘humble beginnings’ (via AdWeek) 

Nike teamed up with American professional basketball player LeBron James to spread a powerful message. The latest ad is about more than just basketball. It’s about LeBron’s impressive journey. To close the ad, LeBron says “you know what would be really special? If there were no more humble beginnings.”, stressing out that children don’t have to be as poor and disadvantaged as he was growing up in Akron. Well done, Nike!

Instagram creators begin testing Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager (via Adweek) 

Instagram is testing a tool that makes it easier for brands to partner up with influencers. The Brand Collabs Manager tool has been in use by Facebook since 2018. Now, Instagram is getting more involved in influencer marketing, an industry it helped create. We can’t say we’re surprised. Influencer marketing is expected to reach $15 billion worldwide by 2022.  

Doritos, Lay’s, Tostitos and Cheetos team up in football-themed campaign (via Marketing Dive)

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay has launched a football-themed campaign promoting several of its brands of chips and it’s hilarious. The “Group Chat” commercial features former NFL stars Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Tony Gonzalez and Terry Bradshaw on a video chat discussing which chips they plan to bring to the game. Bradshaw getting dressed and wearing Tostitos underwear is clearly the highlight of the spot. 

 

Instagram to now flag potentially offensive captions, in addition to comments (via TechCrunch)

In early 2019, Instagram launched a feature that would flag potentially offensive comments before they’re posted. Now, the platform is expanding the flagging system to Instagram’s captions, as well. The users will receive a notification to “pause and reconsider their words before posting.” How does this work? Instagram’s AI detects captions which are similar to those that have already been reported for bullying and warns the user before posting.

This way, the social media platform aims to limit cyberbullying. While the flagging system doesn’t prevent someone from posting offensive captions, users can turn off comments on individual posts, remove followers, filter comments, mute accounts and more.

Wunder spent $10k on blank white ads for the holidays (via WeRSM)

Canadian agency Wunder Wunder has taken out $10,000 worth of advertising space only to fill it… with absolutely nothing. They decided to give everyone a break from ads during the holiday season. The campaign included billboards, transit shelters, bus ads, full-page newspaper ads, social ads, and even radio ads. Stephen Flynn and Mike Postma, the two creative geniuses behind Wunder, stopped dreaming of a “White Christmas” and actually took some action. ❄️ 

Pinterest’s top trends to inspire and try in 2020 (via Pinterest 100)

Forget partying like it’s 1999. These days, we’re living like it’s 1999. It’s as real as the surprising return of the scrunchie. 90s Rerun is just one of the 10 ten key categories that Pinterest has identified based on search and general usage trends throughout the year. The full report covers many interesting insights to consider in your planning for 2020.

As explained by Pinterest, “every time someone searches on Pinterest, they’re thinking about what they want to try next. Multiply that behavior by the more than 320 million people using Pinterest all over the world, and you get unique insight into emerging trends.”

It’s a wrap, people! Hope you found the inspiration to start planning your marketing activities for this year. ✨