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BeReal is bringing real celebrities and brands to its app 👀

Plus: Be ready to be wooed by Super Bowl ads

Author

Nikita Verma
February 09, 2024

Happy Friday 👋

We are back with another edition of D2C Creator fresh from the marketing and retail sectors. The Super Bowl Fever is catching up, and it's raining cats and pigs. Let’s dig deeper…

Brands are all ready to woo you with their Super Bowl ads

It’s the Super Bowl Season, and marketers are leaving no stone or influencer unturned to woo the fans. 

A Marketing Brew and Hellmann survey found that 76% of the people who said they would watch the games seemed ‘at least somewhat excited about the ads.’ 📺

Have you watched this quirky ad from Hellman starring Kate McKinnon and cat actor Chipmunk? It’s hilarious, and the Mayo😸!

And did you know CBS has asked brands a whopping $7 million for a 30-second ad this year? 

Advertising Super Bowl will have an influx of celebrity-filled commercials this year on February 11. Brands had already lined up their teasers two weeks before the game.  There’s Addison Ray teaching dance to a mystery student in aNerds Gummy Clusters ad, Kris Jenner is making her ad debut with Oreo, the Popeyes fried chicken franchise has a promotional offer from their mascot Poppy, Hellman’s Mayo Cat, and more. 

Some brands have taken to Instagram to post their teaser – Pringles, for instance, posted this 👇👇👇

Volkswagon is celebrating its 75th anniversary with its documentary-style Super Bowl ad, Ice cream brand Drumstick and Doritos Dinamata will be among the many brands getting their first Super Bowl slot this year. 

This one needs a special mention for the number of celebrities plus the humor they captured – Great job, Uber Eats. (How many celebrities did you spot?) 

So, while you munch down cozy on your couch during the Super Bowl game, don’t miss the ad frenzy, either.  Meanwhile, Sir Patrick Stewart and Peppa Pig are together in a Super Bowl ad from Paramount+, the official streamer of the Super Bowl. Read the full story here. 

BeReal is bringing real celebrities and brands to its app 👀

The app will allow users to check out real-time updates from celebrities and brands in-app. The list of celebrities includes names like Niall Horan, Joe Jonas, Nina Dobrev, Bretman Rock, and many more. You can also view behind-the-scene updates from amazing sports and beauty brands like MAC, Glossier, Addidas, Puma, Gymshark, etc.  

There are also great colleges and universities that will share quick updates from their campus. Already, these RealBrands accounts are live on BeReal. 

The list will keep growing, but you can choose whose updates you wish to see.   

What does the Modern Retail Index (MRI) say about 2023? 

2023 is a bygone, but it has left us with developments that will shape the 2024 trends. Here are some quick numbers from MRI throwing light on how 2023 went by for the retail trade. 

  • E-commerce sales in the US jumped by 2.3% in Q3 of 2023. 

  • Holiday spending was up 0.6% monthly and 5.6% compared to 2022. 

(A clear indication that e-commerce is recovering from the pandemic bout and growing steadily.)

  • Thanks to their paid membership programs and new emerging tech investments, big-box retail giants like Walmart and Best Buy took the first and second spots in MRI, respectively. 

Do you know you can ask the Walmart app to help you with your Spongebob-themed party? Its partnership with Microsoft has enabled generative AI on its onsite and in-app search functions.   

  • Departmental Stores: Except for Walmart, departmental stores saw a decrease in sales of 1.5% in the first seven months of 2023.  Kohl’s and Macy’s faced an equally rough 2023. 

  • Drug Stores: Drugstore retailer CVS outshone everyone as the top drugstore based on performance due to its robust membership programs. But it laid off 5,000 people to save costs. Sadly, Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy. 

  • Dollar and Off-price Stores: These stores continued to underperform the index. Dollar General and Dollar Tree both fell in ranks, while Burlington and Ross rose five ranks each.  Dollar stores saw light revenue increases at an average rate of 7% year over year (YoY). 

  • Home Goods:  Five of the nine retailers in the home goods cohort have adopted some form of AI strategy. In 2023, Home Goods accounted for 42% of AR/VR adoption among all cohorts.

Specialty Retail:  The top players in this cohort were beauty-focused retailers Ulta and Sephora. Almost all specialty retail brands adopted AI in 2023, except Barnes and Noble. Another area of strength for the group is its membership programs.

More news from the D2C world 

  • Amazon is selling Chanel and Hermes?: Did we catch you off-guard? Amazon is actually selling Prada, Chanel, Hermes, Birkin, and other luxury brands – but all of them are preloved handbags, chic belts, and slingbacks. Amazon has partnered with the resale site Hardly Ever Worn It (HEWI) to bring the pre-loved luxury finds.

  • It’s ‘winter’ for Kering: The second-largest fashion group, Kering, saw its sales fall by 4%, putting it behind its key rivals. Kering owns fashion brands like Gucci and Saint Lauren. Meanwhile, Kering had decided to pull its brands from Farfetch. 

  • Levi’s is going non-denim: Levi’s wholesale business impacted its sales growth in 2023. But, the denim brand wants most of its sales to come from D2C channels by 2027. For that, Levi’s is pushing more non-denim items like tops and dresses in its stores and improving its supply chain. 

What’s up in marketing? 

  • Marketers are closely watching the TikTok x Universal Tussle: When Universal pulled its music catalog from TikTok last week, the marketers were the most worried. A lot of influencers and creators use Universal’s music. The deal fallout will have a downstream effect, and marketers may need to change how they engage with audiences and creators. 

  • E..l.f. Cosmetics launches app on Vision Pro to tap the hype: E.l.f. Cosmetics has launched a beauty app called ‘your best e.l.f.’ on Apple’s Vision Pro to capture the hype around the headset. The app uses activities like guided meditations and interactive paint-by-numbers games to provide a virtual reality experience to users.   

There’s more for you…

PS: Some change of commands this week 👏

Goodbye 👋 until next week!