September just happened to be a fantastic month for DMI membership as we reached the amazing total of 100,000 members and also received a recognition of Membership Organization of the Year 2020, by UK-based MemCom Excellence Awards. We're thrilled by the support and encouragement!
Still, the world moves on and the news cycle continues to swirl around the two Ps - Pandemic and Politics - and the many intersections between the two which affect the digital marketing world: one such being Google’s plan to block political ads right after the US Presidential election polls close. But we’re here to bring you some other stories of interest from around the universe.
The Fearless Woman
September Update: RBG, Uber Eats, KFC, & Instagram Heroes
One of the biggest news stories this month was the death of US Supreme Court associate justice, and feminist icon, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. An arresting tribute to her was this image of her characteristic lace collar placed on the famous ‘Fearless Girl’ statue located near Wall Street. The image appeared in a full-page ad in The New York Times placed by State Street Global Advisors (who originally commissioned the statue). This interesting story of branding and public symbols is covered by The Drum who also look at the history of the statue and the high-risk campaign that launched it in 2017.
Wash Your Hands, Don’t Lick Your Fingers
September Update: RBG, Uber Eats, KFC, & Instagram Heroes
When fast-food giant KFC had to halt their latest campaign just before its launch, they came up with a novel approach. Taking a poke at themselves and their own long-held branding, they managed to create a campaign that can be released in every market. No matter what stage of the pandemic a country is in, hygiene is an issue, and KFC is playing on that. Their age-old slogan, “it’s finger-licken’ good”, is visibly blurred out in the campaign Photo Editing Services images. In the words of creative director at KFC’s agency, Mother, Hermeti Balarin: "There's this sense of unity around the globe right now. It's the first time ever for at least two generations we've had everyone feeling the same about something. As horrible as the pandemic is, it has created a unique insight or context for everyone to actually riff off." Read more.
The Natural World - Now on Instagram
September Update: RBG, Uber Eats, KFC, & Instagram Heroes
Instagram will be 10 years old on October 6 - wonderful timing to also celebrate the most exciting event on the platform this year. David Attenborough, the 94-year old English naturalist, launched his Instagram account on September 24th saying “The world is in trouble”. People paid attention very quickly: in fact he actually broke a world record when he managed to rack up one million followers in just over 4 hours, beating the record previously held by Jennifer Aniston (by 30 minutes!). At time of writing, at 4.7 million followers, he still has a way to go to catch up with Greta Thunberg (10.5 million), but we’ll give him a week or two!
There’s No Place Like Home
There is much discussion about the new normal of working from home and how 2020 has changed it forever. The increased interest in home decor and improvements is apparently typical of any pandemic as explained in this Forbes article. In Ireland, at least, there is a discernible interest in people taking the opportunity to move from urban to rural areas. Companies like Google are still considering models of home/office hybrids while we should all perhaps be aware of how some employers might be keeping an eye on their employees at home. And there was Jerry Seinfeld’s piece on how New York is still the greatest city in the world in which to work from home.
And here's a fascinating fact: Uber Eats is now more successful than Uber’s ride-hailing service - as people have stayed home. At the end of August, Uber Eats launched an in-app CPC-based ad platform for restaurants. And their most recent spot is a splashy commercial where two inter-galactic heroes face off in a… umm... duel over their choice of takeout. Luke Skywalker and Captain Picard? That's the level at which the restaurant and food business has changed during 2020.