Doodle Inspirations – September 25
At NDP, we pride ourselves on staying on top of the industry – what’s new, what’s trending, what’s surprised us. Here are a few things that caught our attention and got us talking this past week:
Late last week, the Senate introduced a data privacy bill. The SAFE DATA Act would require companies to allow consumers to access, edit and delete data about themselves as well as would require consent before transferring “sensitive” information which could include financial account numbers, persistent identifiers, precise geolocation data and data revealing people’s race, ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation. While this is the first time a bill of this nature has been introduced on a national platform, Public Knowledge – a data rights group – feels the bill falls short on consumer protection, company accountability and enforcement. We are invigorated to see how it progresses, but do agree with Public Knowledge that the bill’s scope is limited – especially when compared to other legislation such as CCPA, CPRA and GDPR.
The only constant thing about advertising is change and Econsultancy identified 13 stats that support that mantra. Looking at US, UK and global trends, their assessment and projections cover multiple forms of traditional and digital advertising, mobile specifics and a review of the major data houses (Google, Facebook and Amazon). Examining how advertising is changing in 2020 and projecting how it will continue to change in the future, we agree that digital ad spending will overtake traditional and that mobile advertising will show resiliency when reviewed for the COVID-impact. In general, we love a good list and feel this one has some very strong points and vision.
OkCupid introduced a cheeky swag pack for influencers to remind their followers to get out and vote. Be a #VILF 2020 spins the American Pie (1990s) acronym reference. The swag bag includes yard signs, condoms, stickers, shirts and even a post card while the 40-second video provides a spoof on political ads. Additionally, if you live in New York, LA, or DC, you might encounter street art, guerilla postings or even street teams handing out additional swag. We love the simple, 3-color design that highlights multi-dimensional messaging for this dating application which has also experienced increased engagement in recent months.
Trekkies and Star Wars fans alike were excited to see Uber Eats’ new series of short films aligning with their “Tonight I’ll be Eating” campaign. This “surprise and delight” series features none other than Mark Hamill and Sir Patrick Stewart. While they are not channeling their iconic characters, these two icons “compete” not only in games, but also in providing enticing food order ideas for the viewer over the 3 commercials that will air in Australia, Canada and the US. What can we say – we love food and these two actors’ personalities.
One strange effect of COVID seems to be vanity as hair-loss product sales have increased and plastic surgeons are seeing a rise in patients. While the plastic surgery trend has been seen since early in the pandemic, the hair-loss angle is more recent with visits to product sites and search queries reached their highest in August (after reaching an all-time low in March of this year) and are roughly 30% higher than the same time last year. Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic state this timing isn’t surprising given the effect psychological and emotional stress can have on hair loss. Of all the stories we’ve encountered since working from home, this was the first we found that reinforced that self-care still matters.