Marketing lessons from Grimace and Duo; Big win for Threads

Plus: There is a (soft) ceiling to social buying [Insider Intelligence]( [Emarketer Daily]([Emarketer Daily]( Charts. News. Analysis DECEMBER 5, 2023 | By Sara Lebow, Arielle Feger, and Becky Schilling Oxford’s word of the year for 2023 is [‘rizz’](. If you’re not sure what ‘rizz’ is, you’re either above 25 or not scrolling through TikTok all day. The slang for charisma beat out situationship, deinfluencing, and Swiftie. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. TOP STORY [How the best brand mascots build buzz]( Duo is going to the Super Bowl. McNugget Buddies are back. Grimace never left. The most exciting brand mascots respond to and play off of existing energy, transforming display and out-of-home ads into social media conversations. “Be scrappy,” Duolingo’s CMO Emmanuel Orssaud said at Marketing Brew’s The Brief back in May. Orssaud said 70% of marketing should be reactive, quick work. Here’s how some of the biggest brand mascots are building buzz. [Keep reading]( NEWS AND VIEWS [Meta’s Threads app outpacing X in recent downloads]( Our view: Advertisers and users backing off of X following Elon Musk’s incendiary comments have been Meta’s gain. Much of Threads’ growth has come from outside the US, so keep that in mind when considering who your brand will reach on the platform. [While TikTok Shop delivers strong early results, questions remainÂ]( Our view: TikTok users are buying on the platform, which is emerging as a retail goldmine. But brands should recognize that a lot of these sales are driven by TikTok-subsidized discounts and counterfeit goods, so sales could slow. [Gmail’s AI-powered spam detection is its biggest security upgrade in years]( Our view: The new filter can now detect “homoglyphs,” or words containing special characters that are made to look like other words. The update is good news for email marketers, since it will help clean up true spam from users’ inboxes. INDUSTRY VIEWS [In 2024, retail media and streaming TV will build on each other’s momentum]( For the second half of 2023, US retail media ad spending will reach $46.38 billion, per Insider Intelligence’s forecast. Meanwhile, connected TV (CTV) ad spending will also post growth of 20.0%. In response, marketers in 2024 will create dedicated retail and media strategies to leverage retail data sets in CTV. This article was contributed by Roku. [In 2024, retail media and streaming TV will build on each other’s momentum | Sponsored Content]( [Keep reading]( ANALYSIS [There is a (soft) ceiling to social buying]( Following Meta’s recent backtracking on its shopping initiatives and TikTok’s early struggles with TikTok Shop, it’s easy to dismiss social commerce. Yet sales continue to rise, and social platforms continue to capture a growing share of total retail ecommerce sales. Sales are quickly approaching $100 billion. Gen Z’s influence on social media habits, new commerce technologies from TikTok, and rising annual spending by buyers are the main factors driving growth. And with users now spending just shy of 2 hours on social media per day, there is plenty of room for brands and users to squeeze more sales. [There is a (soft) ceiling to social buying]( [Keep reading]( THINGS TO KNOW 🎄 [Coca-Cola, McDonald’s had the best Christmas ads this year: report]( 🎥 [Google expands video requirements for “Video mode” where video must be main content of the page]( 👀 [An overview of recent TikTok updates]( 💵 [Gen Z women spend more on TikTok as app ‘drives consumption,’ analyst says]( 🎙️ [Podcast companies begin to advertise like Hollywood studios]( PODCAST [Behind the Numbers: The Daily]( The ride-hailing ad opportunity, the direction of self-checkout, and Amazon trialing humanoid robots. Tune in on [Apple Podcasts](, [Spotify](, [YouTube](, or wherever you listen to podcasts. [Follow us on Instagram.](Behind the Numbers is made possible by Affinity Solutions. [Listen in]( THE BIG QUESTION Insure thing: In Geico’s latest co-branded ad campaign, the Geico Gecko teams up with whom? A) Leo the Netflix lizard B) Perry the HBO parrot C) Dominique the Hulu dog D) Frankie the Paramount+ frog [Get the answer]( Email sent to: {EMAIL} If you cannot view the HTML newsletter, [please read it in your browser here](. [Become a Premium Subscriber]( | [Advertise with us]( [Manage your email preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Privacy Policy]( ©2023 Insider Intelligence, One Liberty Plaza 9th Floor, New York, NY 10006 [LiveIntent Logo]( [AdChoices Logo](