Feed Fatigue
Plus: TYB's Series A, Oura's new campaign, and more 🗞️
Hello and welcome back to Brandscape!
It’s another gloomy morning in New York, BUT there’s lots of exciting brand news this week. In this letter, I’ll be diving into Instagram’s new strategy for Gen Z, Oura’s new brand campaign, the fall of alternative milks, and more.
Instagram is trying to win back Gen Z. The problem? Although we still actively use the app, we don’t post in feed (see: my 2 feed posts 😅)! Rather, Gen Z primarily uses the app to post stories (100%) and chat with friends via DMs. As one interviewee in this NYT article noted,
“‘It’s just a lot less pressure posting on TikTok,’ said Sheen Zutshi, 21, a college student in New York. She uses Instagram to send direct messages to her friends, but sees it as a more curated option — the sort of place where someone might earnestly post a photo of the night sky, like her older cousin did recently. ‘It’s just really cute, because she’s a millennial,’ she said.”
To try to encourage greater posting on Instagram, the app has launched its largest brand campaign in its history featuring artists like Rosalía and Tyler, the Creator.
Oura’s new “Give Us the Finger” campaign is genius. In this campaign, they reframe aging as aspirational, not daunting. Empowered by the health stats from your finger, you too can age with the attitude of those featured in this video:
Hinge debuted 10 new profile prompts in partnership with renowned psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel. Hinge has been killing it recently. It’s so fun to see ads for their
Substack series on my way to work every morning.
The fastest growing facial studio, Glowbar, recently released its first product. The Expert Cleanser is the culmination of six years of in-studio expertise. To promote the launch, Glowbar sent professional couch cleaners to influencers’ homes to provide cleanings that reflects the cleanser’s promise.
" ‘After earning our community's trust with 20 studios across the East Coast, launching Expert Cleanser was the obvious next step,’ says Rachel Liverman, Founder and CEO.” - Glowbar Press Release
Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney just raised an $11 million Series A for her brand loyalty platform, TYB. TYB is a leader in gamifying brand loyalty, offering coins to users in exchange for actions like writing reviews. I think TYB demonstrates the shifting ways in which co-creation between brands and consumers takes place (a topic I’m very interested in!).
AI-powered personal styling app Alta raised an $11 million seed round led by Menlo Ventures. I’m interested to see how they grow. The app UI is great. It looks like a mix of TheRealReal, Pinterest, + ChatGPT.
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A preliminary University of Michigan study shows that consumer confidence has picked up this month.
The internet gave rise to plant-based milks. Now it’s turning on them. Growing online conversations surrounding seed oils, processed foods, and high-protein diets are cited as contributing factors to the recent rise in dairy milk’s popularity. Between 2023 and 2024, whole milk sales increased by 1.6% while plant-based milk sales decreased by 4.4%. However, the nondairy industry is still projected to grow in the coming years.
In the age of AI overload, brands are increasingly looking to specialty customizable packaging that allows customers to personalize their items. Chloe Gordon Cordover from DIELINE noted how brands like Brightland and Ghia are employing this strategy to give their products a human touch.
Baggy Studio just designed a new website for industrial design studio In Common With. Baggy’s sites are always visually interesting yet still easy to navigate. I really like this one.
Thank you for reading!
— Henry
Brandscape is a weekly newsletter covering marketing, brand, consumer insights, and design — all through the lens of a college student.
Instagram stories ftw!!
The professional couch cleaning feels so fresh I love it! Will definitely be looking out for other brands that opt to gift services rather than typical PR boxes. Although I do believe it should be something used sparingly to keep the novelty of it though.