oh my DOT | Connecting the Dots #96

Moral Compass

In a world of constantly changing norms, your moral compass helps you navigate. Without it, you are easily swayed by the currents of convenience and conformity, in a sea of ambiguity.

It’s critical that we as marketers and brands don’t legitimize attitudes we’re not 100% aligned with. And at the same time, as fans, we have a responsibility to speak up when people and brands we love behave this way.

Marketing and media

#1 State of Digital 2024. A great report, built on market data with clear implications for the future of digital. More reports like this.

#2 Gen Z and their twist on weddings. Forget gender-divided groups, church ceremonies and hashtags. In are personalized details, paperless invitations and unique songs for the first dance.

#3 Temu has spent €2 billion on Meta in 2023. However, on average, they lose €7 per order. This fast fashion is taking the route of pairing at any cost.

#4 Pinterest summer trends. It’s all about bold fashion, beauty, decor and food. Maximalist fashion, Y2K and the 90s. Pinterest is a great platform to get a better idea of what has yet to be popular in your feeds.

#5 Tinder rebrands towards friendships. Moving away from a culture of casual relationships to attract Generation Z. It introduced stricter rules, face photo requirements and features to encourage in-person meetings. However, with declining revenue and fewer users, the question remains whether this rebranding will attract Generation Z back. The truth is that there is a shift from dating apps to real life.

#6 Netflix already has 40 million users of the service with advertisements. At their Upfront 2024 event, they announced that their ad-supported plan now has 40 million users, up from 5 million last year. More than 40% of new signups are opting for Netflix ads and audiences. They will also launch their own technology to improve ad buying and measurement by 2025.

#7 Crocs leads the popularity charts. A Google search analysis by BusinessFinancing.co.uk estimates that Crocs is the most popular fashion brand in the world. It leads in 23 countries and reaches $3.96 billion in revenue in 2023. It is followed by New Balance, which tops in 18 countries with $5.3 billion in revenue in 2022.

#8 Why do we love horror movies?

#9 Sweetened beverage tax. The government is again considering a tax on sugary drinks. This time it wants to consolidate finances, not improve health. Although they have taken some products out of the proposal, this is a minimal concession. Consumption of sugary drinks has been falling for years, and a tax that should bring money into the budget is an unsystematic measure that only encourages pointless spending. Real consolidation should be about cutting inefficient government spending, not about raising taxes.

Life

#1 Cycling is good for your knees. Cycling not only improves longevity but also significantly reduces knee pain and osteoarthritis, according to a new study involving 2,600 people. Cyclists were 21% less likely to have symptoms of arthritis in their knees.

#2 How music is becoming timeless. The dramatic fall of disco in 1979 shows how quickly musical genres can fall into obscurity while some artists persist. Research and streaming data estimate that while most popular music fades out within a decade, rock, rap, and timeless hits like Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” retain cultural relevance across generations.

#3 How the Cockroach took over the world.

#4 How we experience childhood greatly influences the kind of people we will become.

#5 The French have stamps that smell like baguettes. Scratchy and fragrant stamps with the smell of freshly baked baguettes. This €1.96 stamp, with illustrations by Stephane Humbert-Basset, celebrates France’s culinary icon and seeks to highlight the nation’s gastronomic heritage. Using a brand asset on point.

#6 Quiet vacationing – taking time off without informing your bosses. A Harris Poll survey found that nearly 40% of millennials secretly take breaks, compared to 24% of Gen Z and Gen X. This generation also excels at pretending to be busy: 38% keep their status active on company apps and 37% deliberately send messages outside of work hours. This is in contrast to Generation Z, which openly demands a work/life balance.

With love