Friday Fives, Vol. 234
This week we’re streaming Taylor Swift until midnight, swiping up all the free samples we can find, and trick or treating ourselves to the finest spooky season campaigns. We’re also excited to chow down on some sweet Halloween treats, but until then we have some even sweeter news — our type foundry is in the news! Check out some kind words about Work Type from Dieline and PRINT until we launch officially on October 31st.
Taylor Swift is the queen of content. Everything she creates spurs a wave of new TikTok trends that dominate our screens for weeks at a time. Her latest album, Midnights, is another masterclass on viral marketing. First, Swift teased the title of every track in a series of TikToks that had fans wildlyspeculating about each song’s contents. Upon release, the Midnightsmayhem kept rolling with song after song after song receiving its own TikTok treatment. Some might say Swift is the luckiest woman in the music industry, but her fans know it’s all karma.
New Millennium, Same Aesthetics
The Y2K aesthetic is back. In reality, it’s been back on the scene for a while now. The question is, could Y2K be here to stay? The answer, like the doomsday phenomenon known as Y2K itself, is complicated. The reemergence of the iridescent palette is relevant because of where we are in history. As we were in 1999 with the proliferation of the internet and home computers, today we sit upon the precipice of a new technological age: the multiverse and all the mysteries of Web3. The holographics of the new millennium evoke a “never before seen” quality of shiny, glimmering innovation. Thematically, the Y2K look will endure. Technologically? Maybe not. As we shift into digital-first spaces we may see fewer sparkly metallics because they’re tough to render digitally. If you’ll excuse us, all this Y2K talk has us hankering for a listening party for Backstreet Boys’ Millennium.
Free product samples are a classic marketing maneuver. Who doesn’t love a free chicken morsel on a stick at their local grocery store, or one of those little pouches of hand lotion stuffed into their order from Sephora? Even in this digital age of online shopping, brick and mortar retailers are still doing well and it’s all due to shoppers’ eagerness to try out a product before buying. Whether you need to put people on the street handing out freebies, or put samples in the mail to reach people at home, the benefit of free samples outweighs the costs as long as people love your product after trying it. And if they don’t love it…you may have other problems.
The Power of Interactive Video
There are some things we just can’t put into words. The impact and future of interactive video content is one of those things. Luckily, the talented folks at Vimeo did it for us in this engaging webinar on storytelling through films that actively engage the viewer. You can learn about features like branching, hotspots, overlays, and cloud bursts. See, that last one wasn’t even an interactive video feature and you didn’t even notice. All the more reason to watch.
Halloween marketing can be so much more than scary good wordplay or ghoulish graphic design choices. Among our favorite Halloween executions this year include Kit Kat’s Never-Ending Candy Bowl, which thwarts overzealous trick or treaters who abuse the “please take one” honor system. We’re also big fans of Papa John’s Stranger Bling which immortalizes their fan-favorite garlic dipping sauce into a wearable necklace, which offers protection if you happen to be eating pizza around blood sucking creatures of the night. Happy Halloween!
The Working Assembly is an award-winning branding and creative agency.
Established in 2017, we collaborate with emerging and evolving companies for end-to-end brand building, including strategy and visual identity, print and digital design, content, and creative campaigns.
Have a project in mind? Let’s talk.
hello@theworkingassembly.com
The Working Assembly
NYC branding agency exploring the intersection of art, design, technology and culture. Partnering with emerging and evolving brands.
