17 Jul Spark Bites: For the Love of Brands
Welcome back, Spark Biters! Whether you’re reading this on your desktop, laptop or mobile device, you’ve probably used that medium to interact with a brand on social media in some shape or form. So the next time you’re scrolling through your social media feed, keep an eye out for this week’s updates, which include a social media update to the video feature on Pinterest, Twitter Arthouse—a creative team making unique ads, and an anti-bullying feature on Instagram. Let’s get into it!
This first update is pretty “pin-teresting.”
Pinterest has introduced an improvement to a feature that a lot of brands—including L’Oreal, Tastemade, and Giadzy—have already taken advantage of.
This new and improved video option allows brands to feature all of their videos in one place for added discovery, and the uploader helps creators and businesses to “reach new and existing audiences, and access the latest metrics.” The update hopes to encourage the “evergreen” aspect of videos on Pinterest, which, due to the platform’s algorithm, tend to resurface over time.
Additionally, there is now a “video tab” on business profiles, which allows for users to quickly view and discover more video content.
Great news for brands… bad news for impulse buyers?
Brands are catching on and using Twitter as a means of marketing to consumers in fun, creative ways. This includes connecting to Twitter users through cultural moments. However, they’re not doing it alone anymore.
This week, Twitter announced a new creative service called Twitter Arthouse, which aims to “help brands to produce video content on their own platform.” The best-in-class team consists of influencers with broad reach and artists with creative craft, including photographers, illustrators, animators, and videographers. These creators then “develop ideas and assets on behalf of brands.”
The team pulls creative inspiration from cultural trends and optimizes engagements by allowing the brands to tap into “unique voices and built-in fan bases” from influencers. The idea is to create a connection with users rather than pushing the promotion of products or services.
You can stay connected with Twitter Arthouse here.
With the abundance of users on Instagram, cyber-bullying is a challenge that many, especially young people, face. However, this new feature hopes to make Instagram a more supportive place with positive interactions.
The social media platform has integrated an AI tool that detects offensive language before users post a comment, with a notification popping up saying, “Are you sure you want to post this?”
Instagram also states that they are committed to “leading the industry in the fight against online bullying.”
In today’s social-media-prevalent world, this is definitely a step forward towards understanding online bullying and how to respond to it through technology.
We salute you, Instagram.
Those are all the social media updates we have for you this week, Spark Biters. In the meantime, as an experiment, see what brands catch your eye the next time you’re scrolling through your feed!