You are casually scrolling through your Instagram feed, and there you see it - an advertisement for that obscure product you mentioned in a conversation with a friend. You're confident you didn't google search it, or even text about it to a friend. While the tech experts claim our phones are incapable of doing it, … Continue reading Are our phones listening to us? →

Sadly, in the world of commerce there are multitudes of racist campaigns. This blog discusses H&M, big time retailer whom recently released a seemingly racist article of clothing. Many voiced their disgust at the sight of an ad that featured a young black model whose hoodie read "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle". Almost immediately, H&M … Continue reading Racist campaigns →

There are plenty of brands that talk a big game about the communities they are creating online and the inherent value of the online conversation. However, there are actually very few that have created any community of value to their brand. American Express is an example of a company that have successfully grown a community … Continue reading Communities – American Express →

Controversy in marketing is more commonly used than one would think. Brands are constantly looking for ways to create a splash and sometimes controversy is the best way to be noticed. However, Lunya's promotional effort was impactful but for all the wrong reasons. As much as it is important to highlight and celebrate the most … Continue reading Using controversy – Lunya →

Messaging app Viber shifted their innovation strategy from being product-centric to user-centric. Consequently, the messaging platform increased overall engagement by 15% for its one billion registered global users. Viber is the cross-platform instant messaging and voice over application, operated by Rakuten. With the rise of social media and staying connected through apps, Viber is a … Continue reading How Viber increased messaging by 15% for one billion users →

With more than 700 million people scrolling through their feed each month, prices for influencer advertisements have been hitting serious highs. An account with over a million followers can earn upwards of $50k for a single sponsored post (depending on its engagement). Marketers have noticed that once an account is over a certain size, however, … Continue reading Micro Influencers →

International sports brand Adidas took a unique and innovative approach to digital marketing this April. They utilized the 30,000 runners of the Boston Marathon to create personalised videos for each and every runner in order to promote its latest running apparel. A mix of professionally produced user-generated content and emerging technologies (in the form of race bibs … Continue reading Crowd engagement →

Recently, Instagram quietly rolled out a new direct messaging feature. This update, which is a status activity notification in Direct, shows you when people you message or follow were last active on Instagram. With notifiers that say things like “typing” or “active 7m ago,” the update makes it harder to keep your social media activity private. … Continue reading Invasion of Privacy on Instagram? →

Augmented reality beauty is revolutionizing the cosmetics industry and the way consumers shop for products. L’Oreal announced today (March 16, 2018) that it has acquired Modiface, a company that’s had a hand in the creation of many custom augmented reality beauty apps, including those from Sephora and Estée Lauder. Modiface allows users visualize makeup and hairstyles … Continue reading Modiface – Augmented Reality in the Beauty Industry →

The story of Salt Bae demonstrates the unrivalled power of social media and its strong influence. Chef Nusret Gokce went viral with his Salt Bae social campaign and is now the owner of a thriving chain of Turkish steak houses. Nusret demonstrated his superior ability for salting and slicing meat with a meme-style video shot … Continue reading Salt Bae →