25 Aug
Trendswatch | New Business Insight From The Past Week
And so, we enter our final two weeks of summer, and the news stories are as weird and wonderful as ever!
Firstly came the announcement that Elon Musk is set to launch Tesla bots (the future is truly open us!), followed by the news that PG tips are launching a new tea package especially for dogs called ‘English Breakwoof’!
In terms of trends, today I will be delving into sports streaming services, branded entertainment and cosmetics on-demand
Sports Streaming Service
‘Wagering, Betting, Fantasy and commerce’ four things that have been promised by the boss of sports streaming service DAZN.
Dazn is the first global live sports streaming service, it has expanded to over 200 countries since last year and this looks only set to increase as 15 million people around the world have now subscribed.
The company has recently struck a deal to show boxing in the UK, Japan and Germany, and is now in talks to buy BT Sports – which would give it access to premier league football and rugby! Is Dazn quickly becoming sports new epicentre?
Cracking the younger demographic has been one of the biggest problems for the sporting industry, and it may be that streaming holds the key to getting them interested in sport again.
Streaming services are all the rage for the younger generations, with most millennials and Gen-Zers subscribing to either Netflix, Prime or Disney +. By Dazn leaning into Gen-Z’s love of streaming and ‘fantasy’ it could be that the sporting landscape begins to transform before our very eyes.
Cosmetics on-demand
On Tuesday came the brilliant news that Deliveroo will finally start selling something other than food!
Boots has become the latest retailer to make its products available on Deliveroo, as the takeaway giant aims to expand beyond the standard restaurant orders.
It will start off as a trial (expected to continue) and customers will be able to order medicines, makeup, toiletries, baby products and snacks.
The on-demand grocery delivery market is booming and is becoming overwhelmed by new entrants to the arena, we’ve already seen Getir, Weezy, Fancy and Gorillas jump onto the scene recently, so it’s not surprise that the O.G’s (Deliveroo and Uber Eats) are making moves to ensure their market share is kept intact.
Branded Entertainment
This week came the announcement that Channel 4 is set to partner with the luxury Parisian fashion house Balmain, to create a branded TV series called Fracture. The series falls under the title of ‘branded entertainment’- but what does this mean?
Well, branded entertainment is when a brand is given the power to finance entertainment properties to engage a larger audience. The concept has proven controversial as some critics have suggested that a branded TV show may ‘not actually [be] that entertaining’.
However, with a world moving further online by the day, it seems that the lines between marketing and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred. We now live in a world where consumers literally pay to escape adverts, and advertising has had to become subtler as a result.
In 2021 brands have taken identities of their own, becoming almost cult like. Take Brewdog for example , who has built hotels and pub chains that are inspired by its popular drink. By creating these experiences, the brand has made the hoppy beer seem less of a commodity and more of an entity, proving that brands can sit in the ‘ecosystem of the entertainment landscape’.
Come back next week for further brand news and insights