Magnet #15

Summer is officially over. As the back to school rush begins make time for a break & a cuppa with this week’s magnet.

Enjoy.

Social Media: LinkedIn to end Stories

LinkedIn is dropping its Instagram-style ‘Stories’ function a year after it was first rolled out. But rather than just dropping it, the site aims to replace the temporary nature of the current offering with a more permanent version.

The platform’s senior director of product Liz Li said that the company wants to “evolve the Stories format into a reimagined video experience across LinkedIn that’s even richer and more conversational”.

For LinkedIn that means allowing users to create video and mixed media pieces with tools that can be a permanent part of their professional profile, adding a more personal touch to their business-minded LinkedIn identities.

“In developing Stories, we assumed people wouldn’t want informal videos attached to their profile, and that ephemerality would reduce barriers that people feel about posting. Turns out, you want to create lasting videos that tell your professional story in a more personal way and that showcase both your personality and expertise.” Li concluded.

LinkedIn stories will stop on the 30th September.

Campaigns: Deliveroo

A new campaign from Deliveroo launched earlier this week to celebrate their on-demand grocery offering.

In partnership with Co-op, Waitrose, Aldi, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s, the new 30 second  advert takes viewers on a journey through a ‘wonderful world of groceries’, where all their favourite supermarkets can be found in one place and be delivered to doors in as little as 20 minutes, thanks to Deliveroo and its riders.

The dreamy creative shows  islands of milk waterfalls, floating bread clouds,  mountains made of hot croissants, volcanic exploding eggs and flying bananas;  highlighting  the utopia of having top supermarkets and thousands of products at the audiences’  fingertips, capturing the attention of existing customers as well as raising awareness with new shoppers in a compelling and imaginative way. 

The ad was created by Pablo, produced by Pulse Films and directed by Ninian Doffc.

Campaigns: Slinky

 Slinky is making the jump to digital and social media with a marketing push centred on crowdsourcing a new jingle. The Just Play  brand is hoping that consumers will have nostalgia for its past advertisements, including a black-and-white TV spots that play a central role in the #SlinkyRemix videos on Instagram and TikTok.

Launched on National Slinky Day on August 30th, the campaign is running on apps with predominantly young user bases that were born well after Slinky's debut, and might not be familiar with the ads being referenced. However, the brand is applying more modern tactics like influencer marketing that could help close the generation gap.

And if Slinky can tap into the creator culture that’s rife online right now, it could see more viral potential while ingratiating itself with a younger base of consumers whose purchase decisions are increasingly informed by social media trends.

Other toy marketers have taken a similar route in their bids to reach Gen Z. For example,  Nerf joined TikTok earlier this year and put out the call for a temporary Chief TikTok Officer who could help it engage fans and collaborate on marketing strategy. The brand eventually hired one of the more popular enthusiast accounts on the platform, @Nerfers101.

This campaign is an example of marketing changing with the landscape of the world around it- Slinky is an old brand, but it’s reinstating itself by using new ways to market.