Lab Weekly - 08/19/2022
Emerging toys & play trends of 2022; Plus, the latest news and must-know stats roundup
Editor’s note: Hello, and welcome back to another edition of Lab Weekly! This week, we turn our attention to the toy space to discern the emerging trends are reshaping the future of play. In the news section, we break down the latest from Walmart, TikTok, and Spotify. Let’s dive in!
The Future of Play: Emerging Toys & Play Trends of 2022
From the comeback of physical toys to the continuing popularity of digital playgrounds, the future of play is hybrid and educational
In case you missed it…
The Rise of Conscientious Consumption
From alternative meat to non-alcoholic beverages, value-driven consumers are pushing forward food and beverage innovations
Pink Sauce & Caviar Bumps: Decoding the Meme-Driven Gen Z Food Trends
And how food and beverage brands can react through distribution and marketing innovations
Outlook 2022: Southeast Asia POV
Four innovation trends shaping the future of media & technology in Southeast Asia
Paramount+ To Become Part of Walmart’s Subscription Bundle [Reuters]
Walmart announced this week that it is teaming up with Paramount to include the ad-supported tier of the Paramount+ streaming service as part of its Walmart+ subscription. This announcement came shortly after speculation arose that Wlamart is ready to jump back into the streaming content arena again after selling its on-demand streaming service Vudu to Fandango in 2020. This is an interesting team-up that boosts the value proposition of Walmart’s super bundle, which may help it better compete against Amazon Prime, which has long used Prime Video content as a customer acquisition tool. For Paramount, this partnership will no doubt help increase its subscriber base and get more eyeballs for its streaming ads.
Related: Uber is shutting down its free loyalty program later this year to focus on Uber One subscription [The Verge]; Paramount+ launches in the UK with local content slate [Variety]
TikTok Now Offers A Basic Text-To-Image AI Generator [The Verge]
TikTok is adding a text-to-image tool inspired by the likes of Google’s Imagen or OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 to help creators unleash more creativity. The new “AI greenscreen” effect allows users to type in a text prompt that the software will then generate as an image. This image can then be used as the background to a video. Although it is rather rudimentary compared to the aforementioned AI-powered image generators, it is nevertheless an interesting integration that brings the text-to-image AI tool to a mass audience. Down the road, as AI image generators become better and more widely accessible, the pros and cons of deep-fake images, especially when combined with the viral speed of meme culture and the scale of creator content, may turn out to be something that few are ready to confront.
Related: Amazon is testing a TikTok-inspired video feed in its app [WSJ]; Instagram launches payment-in-chat feature for businesses [Retail Dive]; Bumble experiments with group chats, polls and video calls for its new social networking feature, ‘Hive” [TechCrunch]
Spotify Starts Selling Live Music Tickets To Fans Directly [TechCrunch]
Spotify continues to diversify its revenue streams as it starts to sell concert tickets directly to fans. Previously, it would feature links on artists’ profile pages that redirect people to purchase their tickets elsewhere. This move came after the company expanded its old Concert Hub and added more features to make it easier for users to find information and tickets for live events nearby. It is no secret that, in today’s music industry, artists make the most money through touring, so concert ticket sales are a vital part of how fans show their support for their favorite acts.
Getting into the ticketing business could potentially help Spotify harness more power in the music industry value chain, and help it support more independent artists that already benefit from its algorithmic recommendations and curated playlists. Right now, there’s only a limited number of concerts featured on this ticketing site, likely due to the near-monopoly that Ticketmaster has on the concert ticketing market. But if Spotify could stick to this strategy, it could eventually become a one-stop shop for music artists to monetize their works, and that would be a powerful position to be in.
Related: Spotify's new Live Event Feed makes it easier to find out when your favorite artist is touring [Engadget]; Spotify is finally bringing friend activity to its mobile app with ‘Community’ [9to5Google];How Spotify built a ‘house of audio’ in Manhattan for Influencers [Marketing Brew]
Snap says its Snapchat+ subscription, launched in June, now has over 1 million paid users globally. This stands in contrast to other social media subscriptions like Twitter Blue, which has struggled to gain traction among users.
Some 19% of subscribers to premium services—a group that includes Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV+, HBO Max and Disney+, among others—canceled three or more subscriptions in the two years up to June, according to new data from Antenna, WSJ reports. That is up from 6% in the two-year stretch ended in June 2020.
Streaming platforms surpassed cable networks to claim the largest share of U.S. TV viewing for the first time in July, according to new data from Nielsen, Variety reports. For the month of July, streaming among American TV households represented a record 34.8% share of total consumption, while cable and broadcast came in at 34.4% and 21.6%, respectively.
If you find our insights valuable and would like to have a deeper conversation on technology and media innovations, or need to sound smarter in a client meeting or a pitch, please feel free to reach out to our Group Director Josh Mallalieu!
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