TikTok is here for now. How to capitalize on childhood nostalgia. And the notorious OnlyFans
Issue No.04. Your monthly newsletter on brand and cultural moments.
Welcome back to another issue of brandish. If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter, please give it a like above^ 💖💖
This month’s discoveries: DuaLipa has new rules for dating. The easiest way to know if you’re a Millennial or GenZ. If this is 2020, I don’t want it. IKEA crushes influencer collabs. Obama has a finsta. Taco Bell has wine. Mountain Dew has margaritas. And when you thought you’d seen it all, Pepsi launches a sleep beverage.
Now let’s get into this issue!
The bites:
1. TikTok merger could be hinting at where commerce (and brands) are heading.
A lot has happened with TikTok, the tl;dr: Microsoft dropped out of the acquisition race, then Oracle jumped in and won the bid but to do so, they had to join forces with Walmart and form a new entity called “TikTok Global.” Woof. That’s a lot to unpack but for now, it looks like TikTok is here to stay (Source: NYT).
So why does this matter for brands? The two biggest things I’m keeping an eye on:
Brand Creative: With Instagram, we saw brands using pastels and soft fonts, an aesthetic that works well in a static image grid (think Glossier and Summer Fridays.) TikTok on the other hand is a video-first platform, so we can assume the companies that will emerge from it will be different: think fun packaging that fosters creativity (ie: Starface) or using elements that look good in motion like hologram and glitter (ie: Merci Handy).
Commerce: With this acquisition, we’re also seeing the merging of physical retailers (Walmart) with these social giants. Instagram Shopping showed us e-commerce is changing and TikTok shows us product discovery is alive and thriving amongst younger generations. So why would these retailers be interested in TikTok? Just imagine the surge in sales if all the “Amazon must have’s” videos flooding TikTok changed to “Walmart must haves.”
2. A new take on childhood nostalgia: Magic Spoon, the adult cereal that’s still fun.
The chaos of the outside world has people reaching for comfort foods like cereals and frozen foods. A new player in this fad is Magic Spoon, the healthy cereal that tastes too good to be true (or so they say… they don’t deliver to New Zealand 🙄). Earlier this year, Magic Spoon raised $5.5M in seed funding which got me thinking, healthy cereal isn’t a particularly revolutionary idea, so why is this product booming? My guess: deep user insights tied to great brand design. So to learn how Magic Spoon is planning on taking the $11B US cereal market, I wrote a ~brand-breakdown~. Read it below 👇
3. OnlyFans is more than just tasteful nudes
Long time brandish reader, Sam Kizer, recently asked me to cover OnlyFans. You may have heard about OnlyFans from your beloved accountants on TikTok, and it’s clear that OnlyFans is the fan-favorite this quarantine season- let’s see why:
More than just a name so clearly fitting for a ventilation company, OnlyFans is a digital content platform where creators charge their viewers to see their photos and videos. While OnlyFans wasn't specially created with adult material in mind, the site's intentional lack of content restrictions allows creators to share the type of content that wouldn't be allowed on other sites. And, since the quarantine started, many have turned to OnlyFans to make ends meet. (Source: @efeng)
But the differentiator for OnlyFans isn’t just the NSFW pictures, it’s the fact that you can engage more intimately with your favorite influencers through direct messages and private posts. This is the same trend we’re seeing everywhere: people are looking for deeper social connections. So to answer the question of why did it get so popular? OnlyFans crossed the line from just nudity to intimacy (Read more: Bustle).
That’s all for now, friends! As always, I’d love to hear from you- what you liked and what you’d like to see more of. Annnddd, if you enjoyed reading this issue, please share it with a friend <3
xx- Dani