🏀 SKIMS x NBA? Netflix IRL? Here’s why we aren’t surprised.

And if you’ve been following along, you likely aren’t either!

Welcome back, Scanner!

Okay soooo we all saw SKIMS’ big announcement, right? Raise your hand if you guessed that a big partnership was coming between a celebrity brand and a sports organization ✋! This is the power of scanning, it helps you think critically about the industry and gives you a competitive edge that can put you miles ahead of other marketers. And don’t worry, we aren’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. Your fresh batch of signals are here and ready for you to dig into. What could they lead to? We have some ideas! 

If SCAN 👀CLUB has helped you, we’d love it if you'd share it with your marketing bestie.

Now, onto this week’s signals.

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😲 SURPRISING

Netflix Is Opening Up Brick and Mortar Locations

Who’s coming to our Is It Cake watch party?

What’s changing?

This is pretty major. After almost single handedly killing the video store business, Netlix has announced that they will be opening up brick and mortar locations throughout the U.S. in 2025. Currently called “Netflix House,” the company has teased that the locations will offer retail, dining and live entertainment – all based around their TV shows and movies. Right now, we don’t know where the Netflix House locations will be or what exactly the experience will be like. The move isn’t totally new for Netflix, who has run pop-up restaurants and even traveling productions in the past, but we still can’t wait to see what these locations offer.

Why does it matter?

It isn’t that unusual for a company to make the move from online to IRL and Netflix has dabbled in real events over the past few years, but why are they making this move now? Between the loneliness epidemic, growing popularity of real life thrills (like sports) and Gen Z’s deep desire for community – could they be trying to capitalize off of the need for more real life spaces? Have they found it too difficult to build niche communities online? Are they trying to become the next Disney? And what does the move mean for us as marketers?

What could happen next?

For Netflix, this could really go a couple of different ways. Maybe it’s a hit and people want more locations. Or, maybe it’s a short-term test they run to see if it’s worth a larger investment. Either way, we’re increasingly seeing huge brands moving into new industries (like Disney’s TikTok activation we discussed last time) to try and connect with their target demographics. For us marketers, should we be trying to create these real life experiences for the brands we work with?

Scan-o-meter: 😲😲😲 / 5

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🎯 SPECIFIC

Cafés, Restaurants and Even Towns Are Banning Influencers

We just want to talk…

What’s changing?

Here’s the scoop: shops around the world have reportedly been closing their doors to influencers. What exactly does that mean? Apparently, a design shop and café in Brooklyn made an Instagram post banning influencers after their space was inundated by creators carrying tripods. Per the policy, visitors (influencer, or not) were requested to keep their “quick snaps” to their own tables. A Taiwanese café put out similar rules and a Vermont town even set rules around the fall foliage season.

Why does it matter?

Why would businesses not want people sharing about them on social media? Between UGC and influencer marketing, having creators share your business on social media has been a big brand strategy for years now. Is it possible that it has reached a tipping point? How many businesses are seeing a more negative impact from influencer marketing than positive? If this keeps catching on, it could be time to seriously rethink your content strategy.

What could happen next?

Let’s transport ourselves to the future of content creation. Is it highly regulated? Do creators need to rent spaces to create content? Is UGC still around? Is influencing in public completely frowned upon? How will we influence? Taking it a step further, will what distinguishes an influencer from a normal person taking a photo be clarified in some way? Will there be credentials you need to have to influence? There’s a world of possibilities and only time (and following signals) will tell.

Scan-o-meter: 🎯🎯🎯/ 5

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📅 CURRENT

Gen Z is Taking Pinterest to the Top

We love a glow up story.

What’s changing?

Are you on Pinterest? The platform just reported its highest monthly active users ever on the platform at 482 million for Q3. Surprisingly, the user growth was primarily driven by Gen Z – who also happen to be the most engaged users on the platform. Pinterest has shared that Gen Z users make up 42% of all users now and save 2x more content than older cohorts. What are they doing on Pinterest? Apparently mood and vision boarding is a big pull. We can’t help but wonder how much the detachment from a personal brand is pulling in younger users as well.

Why does it matter?

Pinterest is calling Gen Z an “emerging powerhouse” for their brand. In addition to the uptick in users, the social media platform has also seen its stock increase 17%. Basically, if Gen Z is on the platform, advertisers want to be on the platform. The “Shop The Look” feature is a gold mine for brands, with 70% of product recommendations being rated as highly relevant for users. If you’re not exploring the platform yet, it might just be time to dig in.

What could happen next?

Other social media brands are also seeing higher revenue this quarter. Both Meta and Amazon are reporting strong digital advertising revenue this quarter. Considering that, paired with Pinterests Direct Links feature (that takes users from their vision boards right to a retailer’s website) and the fact that luxury brands are flocking to the platform, it might be a bit of a resurgence for paid media. While it’s always been an incredibly important part of a marketing strategy, it could be time to reconsider where you’re advertising and if your target demo is really where you think they are. Next year will we be talking about Pins instead of TikToks? Guess we’ll find out!

Scan-o-meter: 📅 📅 📅 📅 / 5

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🌊 THE FUTURE OF INTERNET CULTURE

WAVES Season 7 has officially launched!

Catch the wave every Wednesday. 

This season, Mike and Mitzi explore topics including: the future of internet culture, ecommerce email strategies, what it takes to be a top performer at a marketing agency, creative direction in 2024 and more. Learn from top marketers and creators, including Lauren and Jordyn, founders of Centennial World and infinite scroll, Jimmy Kim, founder of Sendlane, and Valentin Ozich, founder of I Love Ugly. 

You can find the show on all podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, with full video versions and short clips on our YouTube channel!