Discover the latest trends and incorporate them into your marketing strategy.

• Twitter: Nintendo
• TikTok: Big Boy Speed Up – Dj Kampung
• Spotify: Boy's a liar Pt. 2 - PinkPantheress, Ice Spice
• Google: Ariana DeBose

Prioritize your strategies and outperform your 2023 goals with data from over 1,600 marketers across the globe covering areas like content, social media, email, digital advertising, and influencer marketing. 

Plus industry predictions from leaders like HubSpot weighing in on inbound marketing strategies, Litmus breaking down the state of email, Rock Content talking content marketing, and Wistia leaders share insights on where video is headed in 2023.

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Not to say I told you so but I have been saying for ages that BeReal’s golden era simply won’t last. It’s repetitive (please not another WFH picture in front of a laptop), not engaging enough (only permits one photo format and no videos) and it doesn’t allow for advertising which naturally reduces an app’s shelflife.

Finally, it seems, I am not alone in thinking so. Recent third-party data has shown a drop-off in download growth (roughly a 95% drop in weekly U.S. downloads from the app’s 2022 peak) for the anti-filter app that had strong momentum in 2022. Though beauty brands initially rushed onto the app starting in the second half of last year, activity is possibly slowing down. But brands aren’t giving up yet.

According to Katelyn Winker, VP of Client Strategy & Services at digital marketing agency Taylor & Pond, BeReal is “still relevant but declining quickly” among Gen-Z. A lot of people in college still use it but not nearly as much as a few months ago. It was much more popular when it first came out, and people are starting to stop [using it] because they feel it’s pointless.”

Due to BeReal’s inability to advertise, it has also meant that many brands have fallen off the wagon. This February 14th only featured one post by a beauty brand: a Valentine’s Day picture from Too Faced. The brand posted again on February 15, along with three others: Innbeauty, Peace Out Skincare, and Alpyn Beauty. Missing were some of the most enthusiastic early beauty adopters, including E.l.f. Beauty and Rare Beauty. 

Evan Horowitz, co-founder of Movers + Shakers, the creative agency that helped set up E.l.f.’s BeReal, is still “bullish about the future of BeReal.”

Personally: The app must find better ways to engage its users. One notification per day is insufficient to keep users from deleting the app. And not knowing when the notification will go off will never work with brands; you can't expect a social media manager to work around the clock. Even if your brand meets the notification for posting a BeReal, how influential will it be? I don't see it working for any brand looking to increase sales or awareness. But if you want to have some fun, go ahead.

Read more on Wishu

It goes without saying that AI is having a moment...

The technology has risen as one of advertising’s buzziest talking points, mostly recently credited to the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, inspiring a slew of marketers to explore its potential. 

Activations have come from brands like Snapple and Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile, which used the tech to script one of its commercials. 

Most recently, Patrón, entered the AI marketing game. For National Margarita Day 🍸, Patrón released a 'Dream Margarita Generator' which supposedly creates an image of the perfect margarita for consumers who note their ideal cocktail preferences via the brand’s microsite. 

Personally: It's fun to embrace the latest trends and hypes like integrating ChatGPT, but that doesn't mean your customers will. I haven't heard anyone use these AI x brand generators since their initial media release. So the question is, is it worthwhile to invest? Probably not yet.

• Microsoft discusses coming ads in Bing chatbot experience. (SMT)
• Why are some DTC brands cutting their influencer marketing budgets? (AdAge)
• Why Daniel Lee is an exciting and subversive new Creative Director for Burberry. (Wishu)