October marked, among other things, Black History Month and the final countdown to the COP26 conference. As such, we’ve seen these events and recent topical news coverage influence the tone of many new creative social media campaigns over the last four weeks. In this edition, we’ve got plenty of new activations from social giants like TikTok and Facebook, as well as content from a number of organisations campaigning for social and environmental change such as Stamma and UN Climate Change. For a deeper dive into social media platform innovation, head over to The Social Quarterly Report or the Social Media Platform Trends report. Let’s get started. TikTok: You Have To See It TikTok, with help from Publicis Groupe’s creative Philippines Photo Editor collective Le Truc, has produced a new campaign which takes inspiration from its most popular videos from months past. The activation, titled ‘You Have To See It’, demonstrates how real-life stories posted to social media are often more unbelievable than fiction. Together, a myriad of ordinary social media users, celebrities and well-known TikTok creators relay the story of a true of viral TikTok series in which a woman (@samanthartsoe) found an entire abandoned apartment hidden behind the bathroom mirror of her own. The many conversations featured in the spot take place over dinner, at a spa, in a club and even amongst a noisy factory production line, creating humour and intrigue for both viewers who have and have not seen the original videos being discussed. TikTok: To celebrate Black History Month this October, TikTok has also created a brand new in-app campaign to spotlight the talent of prominent Black voices on the platform as they become renowned names in the categories of music, acting, dance, makeup artistry and much more. Featuring users from all corners of its Black creator community, including Dreya Mac (@dreyamac), Nife (@itsjustnifee), Benjy (@benjy_lookbook) and Ehiz Ufuah (@_ehiz), TikTok aims to highlight creativity and emphasise the huge part Black talent has played in making TikTok the platform it has become today. The content is supported by an OOH activation of the same title. The campaign also encourages lesser known creators to raise awareness of and discussions around Black History Month and share their experiences. So far, the hashtag has garnered nearly 60 million views on TikTok. Facebook Portal: Gold Star Facebook has released another campaign in its series of activations surrounding its video-calling hardware, Portal, this time focusing on the connection between grandparents and grandchildren. Portal has just begun its partnership with the charity YoungMinds, which will continue throughout the year and into 2022, which aims to underline of the importance of relationships between young people and trusted adults as part of the latter group’s mental health development. The omnichannel campaign will run on social media, TV and OOH across the UK, with ‘hyper-local activation’ in Bournemouth, where messages from grandchildren will be shown in DOOH environments.

As the retail industry readjusts post-pandemic, new research suggests that consumers aren’t necessarily prioritising in-store or online shopping, but prefer retailers that meet them wherever they are. According to Klarna’s ‘Owning Omnichannel’ report, 89% of shoppers say they use multiple channels to search and spend. One trend emerging from this omni-channel demand is live streaming (also known as live commerce), which enables retailers to combine some of the most important aspects of the in-store experience – such as interactive customer service – with the ease and convenience (plus entertainment factor) of online shopping. This trend is big in China, where live commerce sales are expected to reach $423 billion by 2022. In western markets, retail brands are starting to take notice, with some now investing in the medium to drive both consumer engagement and sales. Here are just four recent and effective examples to note. Clarins The beauty brand Clarins Group confirmed in September 2021 that it is to extend its partnership with live video shopping platform, Bambuser, announcing a long-term deal that will see it execute shoppable live streams across 10 markets including the US, Canada, and Spain. According to Bambuser, Clarins’ initial pilot program resulted in conversation rates of 30%, with live video successfully engaging consumers for an average of nearly 17 minutes at a time. Clarins’ live streaming strategy is primarily focused on skincare expertise, with sessions (hosted on its own retail websites) led by experts and featuring special guests, centred around tutorials for specific skincare and beauty topics. Viewers can directly shop the Photo Editing Services products featured, with Clarins’ approach aiming to forge “more conversational relationships with shoppers, leading to deeper, more meaningful relationships and higher long-term customer value.” In order to ramp up these meaningful interactions, Clarins is also using Bambuser’s ‘one-to-one’ video solutions (as well as ‘one-to-many’, which live-streams to a mass audience). This approach, which is like live chat but with the added element of video, serves to replicate the service found in Clarins stores – as well as the FaceTime or Zoom calls that we’ve all become used to – arguably creating a more intimate and memorable experience. Clarks Shoes While many retailers integrate live shopping solutions on their owned channels such as their website, others like Clarks Shoes are embracing the medium on social media. This year, Clarks has ramped up its efforts by executing a social-focused strategy that includes shoppable video (powered by livestream and video platform, Smartzer). Clarks’ first live-stream shopping event was hosted by Nià Pettit (@niàthelight), enabling users to browse and purchase the shoes featured without even leaving Instagram.