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Wiki TikTok and Coca-Cola Y3000
“absolutely terrible at every conceivable level”
Olivia Rodrigo releases ‘Get Him Back!’ video, filmed on iPhone 15 Pro; according to Gen Z, millennials have been wearing sunglasses all wrong; and The Cut interviewed Sedona Prince, the 23-year-old women’s basketball player who has found viral fame on TikTok for her hoops clips (and relationship updates — JoJo Siwa is an ex).
GEN Z LOVES THE NEWSPAPER (ON TIKTOK), embedded
23-year-old Kelsey Russell has become TikTok-famous for “doing something decidedly un-TikTok-y: reading the New York Times out loud.” I can’t get enough! Forever grateful to Embedded’s Kate Lindsey for putting Russell on my radar, and forever mad at TikTok for not putting her on my FYP. (Meanwhile, Artifact, the algorithmic news-reading app started by Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, just released a new feature called Links, basically “TikTok for text.”)
TIKTOK HAS QUIETLY BEEN INSERTING WIKIPEDIA SNIPPETS INTO SEARCH RESULTS, theverge
We all know that TikTok has effectively replaced Google as Gen Z’s search engine (even Google knows this!), and now TikTok search results are reflecting this shift. The company is partnering with Wikipedia to bring information to users directly in-app within the search functionality. Seeing as people are looking to TikTok for everything from diet advice to birth control guidance, anything that might help limit the rampant misinformation on this app is a good thing.
GLOBAL INFLUENCER MARKETING SPEND EXPECTED TO HIT $34 BILLION IN 2023, adage
The global influencer marketing economy, which expanded 21.5% last year, is on track to grow another 16.9% this year, topping $34 billion in spending. Marketers invested over $5.3 billion into macro-influencers, while spend on micro-influencers — who cost less and thus have greater ROI — jumped more than 30%. If I were a marketer with a budget to spend, I would go all-in on micro-influencers and never look back.
IS MÅNESKIN THE LAST ROCK BAND?, nyt
Måneskin is “arguably the only rock stars of their generation, and almost certainly the biggest Italian rock band of all time.” Despite criticism (Pitchfork called them “absolutely terrible at every conceivable level”), their music has amassed over nine billion streams online.
The need to feel the rock may explain the documented problem of fans’ taste becoming frozen in whatever era was happening when they were between the ages of 15 and 25. Anyone who adolesced after Spotify, however, did not grow up with rock as an organically developing form and is likely to have experienced the whole catalog simultaneously, listening to Led Zeppelin at the same time they listened to Pixies and Franz Ferdinand — i.e. as a genre rather than as particular artists.
FAZE CLAN FIRES CEO AS ESPORTS INDUSTRY STRUGGLES, theverge
The esports team-turned-influencer marketing agency had a valuation of close to $1 billion at the end of 2021. But under CEO Lee Trink's leadership, it faced significant losses, including a reported $48.7 million in losses in the previous year. This comes at a tough time for esports, as sponsorships have significantly declined as advertising budgets tighten.
COCA-COLA LAUNCHES BEVERAGE CREATED WITH THE HELP OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, marketingdive
The product, called Coca-Cola Y3000, is the latest flavor to launch under the company’s Creations platform “designed to highlight its signature soda while drawing in younger consumers.” Right, because an AI-generated soda is exactly what’ll appeal to the youth! I wish they’d just stick to cranking out Diet Coke, a perfect elixir.
One last thought:
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