💌🥂 You're Invited: The New Age Of Social Media & Reducing Hangovers | 👀 Anthro Newsletter #023
Your weekly newsletter on brands, campaigns, culture and insights.
Welcome to your weekly source of must read content about brands, culture and actionable insights. If you’re a founder, at a start-up, in agency or in house - this is the place for your dose of industry news. I’m trying to make this one of the most valuable emails you receive each week. If you’ve enjoyed this issue, please hit the 💗 button and leave me a comment 💬
Hey friends
Welcome back to Anthro, the 1st proper issue of 2021 🎉 Thank you so much to all of you who sent me such sweet “get well soon” messages. I was SO touched by how many of you shared kind words. Good news! I’m feeling a lot better. Not 100% yet, but much better, which is key. My family is doing well too thank God 💕
I hope you’re all keeping safe still! If any of you are suffering, or have loved ones affected by Covid and want some tips for healing please know you can message me - I’m here for you too 😊 Breathing exercises, a positive mindset, OJ, berries, lots of fluids, good food and the support of loved ones got me through 🍊 Symptoms are far more complicated than the news tells us, and when someone you love is close to hospitalization it is SCARY AF. We may be in lockdown, but you’re not alone - reach out if you need it ☀
In terms of Anthro, coming up over the next couple of months, we’ve got interviews with more industry pros, from marketers and founders, from the media industry, to the growing cannabis, crypto and beauty spaces. There is so much in store. We’ll FINALLY be launching some downloadable resources as well as some free guides on all things insights and marketing.
Here’s what you’ll learn today:
Social Trends: The rise of intimacy, closed communities, audio and ethics in social media (+ a cheeky cheat sheet with everything you need to know!)
Booze brands, transparency, alcohol harm and reducing hangovers
The power of olfactory (scent) branding & the Marketing Mind Meld newsletter by my mate Kushaan
The New Age Of Social Media: Intimacy is the goal and closed communities, audio apps and trust are the vehicles to get it!
Social media is changing for the better, and it’s really, bloody exciting! How many of you have been tempted to “get off Instagram” or downloaded Telegram lately? Because Facebook uses your data in dodgy ways? Because people’s augmented faces and bodies make you feel bad about your own (beautiful!!) self? Because your time is being usurped by the smart, addiction-inducing algorithm? 🙅🏽♀️
Well, you’re not alone. In the grand scheme of the world, social media is still in its infancy and there is a lot left to be desired. The industry is steadily changing, and brands need to take note and act on this! In the last week, we saw 25 million new users download Telegram because of WhatsApp’s dodgy privacy policies (N.B. WhatsApp is still owned by Facebook). We’ve also seen Clubhouse take the social media world by storm - providing audio only panels and discussions in an age where we all have screen fatigue 😴 Twitter is following suite here and they are currently beta testing their own audio function - Twitter Spaces, which I am loving so far! And to boot, other means of building communities such as Discord and Substack (hey you guys!) have blown up in popularity during the pandemic. These newer, different forms of social media -Clubhouse, Discord, Substack, Telegram and Twitter Spaces are just a few of the next big things in social - and the elements of community and two-way interaction are a big part of this evolution. If not already, then soon, brands will be hiring people devoted to more intimate community and interacting in more closed environments like messengers and discussions 👀 Read the full Anthro Industry Analysis
👀 If you're a consumer-focused brand, you don't need to feel confined to Instagram just because it's the "done thing", see Bottega Venetta’s example
Consider the ethics of the channels you are choosing to use - privacy, transparency, positive community, and mental health impacts 🔐
Audio is growing, and it’s less resource intensive than video/TikTok content. What kind of topics would your audience want to engage in a live audio conversation? 🗣
Here’s a cheeky cheat sheet you can save for your own reference, or share with colleagues - best viewed on your computer or tablet, or turn your phone horizontal 😉
Reducing hangovers with alcohol transparency
Did you know that hangovers, and feeling grotty after an alcoholic bev is directly correlated to the ingredients and quality of what you’ve been drinking?🍹 I remember learning that for the first time as a teenager when my friends swapped my good vodka for something cheap and cheerful (Ugh! Je regrette!) 😂🙃 Well, if you haven’t already heard, newcomer brand, Haus, is addressing that, by making high quality aperitifs from their family run farm in Sonoma, California. Transparent about ingredients and production, and using higher quality ingredients, they are empowering you to enjoy a cheeky aperitif with minimal down side 🎉
To help alleviate the pain points of the alcohol industry, Drink Haus just launched “Know Your Alcohol” - a platform for alcohol education and solutions, in partnership with over 24 other independent brands. These guys are creating the future of the alcohol industry, where nutrition facts and ingredients are listed just like in every other industry (food, fashion, skincare etc) where brands are being held to account through transparency 👇🏽 Here are some considerations for your brand to help create a better future:
Consider the pain points in your category (e.g. hangovers) 🤕🥂 What reduces your audience’s health or quality of life? Can it be prevented? How can your brand help alleviate the pain? Can education help do this?
Own, and address, the pain points of your industry to help create a better tomorrow ☀️
Use transparency and education as a way to unite your industry - and remember, a collective is way more powerful than an individual brand 📚👩🏽🏫
Other interesting things:
If you love reading fun and unconventional insights about brands, check out the Marketing Mind Meld, a look into how brands can leverage human psychology and irrational behaviors. Learn how scent, ASMR, colors, sounds, and emotions all play in a role in the brands we love - Marketing Mind Meld, Kushaan Shah
Burger King smashes its rebrand - Tom Ravenscorft, De Zeen
Burger King was also super nice last month, sharing the spotlight with local restaurants - John Glenday, The Drum
Cyptocurrency wallet app, Coinbase, responds to customer service complaints and platform issues with admirable transparency. BUT they banned anyone replying to their tweets. NOT COOL.
I still have a bunch of Clubhouse invites 💌 so if you’d like to get on the app and explore it, drop me a tweet or email 👌🏽
Thanks so much for reading. And see you in the same place next week 💖 Sending lots of love, warmth and fun in this weird January, and some good Freddie Mercury vibes to take you into the week ahead. #DontStopMeNow
Sanya 😊
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Written by Sanya-Jeet Thandi, a brand strategist & consultant with a love for culture, start-ups and good karma. British Indian currently in Kent & London, and soon to be US ex-pat. You can connect with me on Twitter, but not Instagram, because it’s boring so I deleted it.