News and updates from social, culture and tech.

Updates Ahead: A Look Into Platform News

IG Makes It Easier to Create Reels with new Templates, Music

Instagram has been giving more users access to its Reels 'Templates' option, which enables you to create Reels based on popular content formats in the app.

What you need to know: Reels will soon be the dominant form of content on IG, ramping up the pressure for brands to deliver engaging short-form content consistently. Now is the time to build a sustainable Reel strategy to maintain/increase organic reach and engagement. Here are some tips for creating short-form content on a budget.

Tiktok Could Be Up for A New Legal Battle

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr published an open letter to remove TikTok from app stores due to TikTok's 'pattern of surreptitious data practices', which specifically relates to how it shares data with its Chinese parent company.

What you need to know: Yet another reminder to not put all your eggs in one social platform basket. Test TikTok, but maintain regular posting on other vital channels.

Elon Pulls Out, Twitter Gets Ready to Sue

Late Friday, Musk disclosed he was pulling out of his agreement, citing the lack of information about the number of Twitter users made up of bots. Twitter responded by saying it would "pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement."

What you need to know: Don't overly invest in your Twitter strategy/adopting new Twitter formats until the situation stabilizes.

Trending Now — Noteworthy Work

The Hottest Summer Advertising Trends

1. Influencer marketing booms while recession looms — people may decide to no longer engage with "clickable and shoppable" Instagram ads in an effort to save cash, but they're not going to unfollow their favorite creators.
2. The Metaverse as an engagement tactic — even if consumers are confused by the Metaverse, data shows they are intrigued by it.
3. Audio ads are on the rise… big time — the earworms of TikTok and Reels are impacting what advertising sounds like across all platforms.
4. In-game ads are a fortress, but a goldmine for marketers — console gamers are 22% more likely to buy brands they've seen advertised compared to the average consumer.
5. The cookie-less future is wildly unknown — Don't wait for google, start your data acquisition strategy NOW.

The Minions: Rise of Gru marketing team works hard, but Gen Z works harder.

Universal's promotional strategy is a master class in how to engage and build loyalty with Gen Z audiences. From "physical-to-digital" activations, to creative word play on twitter, to the trending hashtag 'gentle minion' on tiktok (which had droves of guys and bros attending the movie wearing their finest suits) minion marketing drove over $125M opening weekend.

Trending Sounds & Filters

• Crissy wake up
• Hi, i'm Dory!
• Confessions/sadness
• Horace
• Usher "watch this"
• She's a 10