CURIOSITY STOPOctober 2015

WE ARE SOCIALWe Are Social is a global agency with offices in five continents

(Antarctica is a little too chilly for our liking).

We deliver world-class creative ideas with forward-thinking brands, and have fun doing it. Our clients include adidas, Google, and Netflix.

As an international team of 550+, our passion is people. Our mission is to put social thinking at the centre of marketing.

Curiosity Stop >Introduction

Before brands did social, social was social. Platforms were handy new ways for people to flock together over mutual

interests, like knitting, or kittens, or complaining.

There is still a simple truth in this. The way we interact on social media mirrors the way we interact in real life. We talk about

stuff we love and stuff we hate. We rally around passions and injustices. We like cats.

An understanding of social behaviours, online and offline, is at

the heart of the work we do at We Are Social. It helps us to find and to tell stories we know people will want to pass on. We look

for insights to learn about how and why people communicate. We call it social thinking.

This report is a compilation of exciting social thinking that has

peaked our curiosity this month. Read on!

Charlie Cottrell - Head of Editorial

1. Shopping 3. Life Hacks

4. Food

5. Relationships

6. Dating

7. Fashion

8. Art

9. Gaming10. Travel

11. Money

12. Community

CONTENTS

Stop

Curiosity2. Sports

.@Topshop won the style stakes at Fashion Month with their showstopper, Pinterest Palette, unveiled off the runway.

Shopping > Pinterest Palette

What’s it all about?

For SS16, Topshop teamed with Pinterest to create a piece of tech which scans your Pinterest board, then reveals your unique colour DNA. Mine was all black everything, just FYI.

Using this palette, Topshop offers up matching items from their website. Great for the brand, not so great for my bank account.

The bigger picture

We’ve seen Unilever’s All Things Hair use big “social” data to create real-time content. Agile brands will start to create services and products which react, in real-time, to the content being shared on social.

Fans can capture and share the intensity of live sport, by filming their commentary with @FanCred. Altogether now: GOAL!

Sports > Fancred

What’s it all about?

Fancred reckons any sports fan could be a secret Sue Barker or Gary Lineker, which is why they’re streaming user-generated, Periscope-style footage on a social platform designed specifically for the sporting world.

The next time you tune into the match, why not share your moments of agony and/or joy with thousands of other fans?

The bigger picture

Live streaming is still a way away from having its Instagram moment, where everyone goes nuts and starts spamming each other. Live streaming can win by sneaking up behind closed doors, and high-ticket sporting events are ripe for this.

Meet the love-child of GroupOn and Tinder. Input your travel details and pair up with other travellers for discounts.

Life Hacks > Paystobesocial

What’s it all about?

Paystobesocial is an app which pairs you up with people making the same train journey, so you can nab a group discount. However, it’s not just about clubbing together to game the system and save money.

Since you have to travel with your new pals, you might make a friend and/or mate for life. Unless they bring egg sandwiches along. Then you should pretend you don’t know them.

The bigger picture

This is a great example of a wider trend that we call “Community Commerce”. We’ve seen several examples of strangers using their collective social might to gain a financial advantage. If you work for a brand that can be hacked through this kind of social thinking - you can guarantee it will be.

Know what your fast-food meal is missing? No, not extra-large fries. A chicken bucket which prints your photos! Enter, KFC.

Food >Memories Bucket

What’s it all about?

KFC is the innovator of the fast-food world, and it’s done it again with the Memories Bucket.

Snap some photos of your mates goofing around with chicken wings, then connect to the printer via Bluetooth and hit print! Like a polaroid camera, only more social.

The bigger picture

KFC are in the Curiosity Stop yet again. with another cheeky drumstick of social thinking. This is a needless and throwaway piece of innovation, but at least they are looking at what happens socially when their customers are in their restaurants.

Thanks to @TheRingCam, you can relive that special moment over and over again. Unless she says no, of course.

Relationships >The Ring Cam

What’s it all about?

The Ring Cam is a ring box fitted with a tiny camera, designed to capture the look of surprise/joy/bewilderment on your partner’s face when you propose.

The footage can be edited into an emotional video (set to Michael Bublé, obviously) and shared with friends, family… anyone who’ll watch, really.

The bigger picture

Voyeurism 2.0 is another of our key trends for 2016. Ring Cam ties right into the crazy Mukbang craze of watching other people eat (look it up, seriously) or The Guardian’s brilliant Watch Me Date.

Sisters are doin’ it for themselves! @Bumble_app is a dating site with a twist - only women can make the first move.

Dating >Bumble

What’s it all about?

In the world of online dating, men can turn hostile when rejected. Don’t believe me? Check out ‘Bye Felipe’ on Instagram.

Bumble is tackling this problem head on. If a woman doesn’t say anything to a new connection after 24 hours, then the connection is lost forever. It’s your call, ladies.

The bigger picture

Tinder has revolutionised online dating in the same way iPhones revolutionised smartphones, and now every man and his dog are after a piece of the action. Brands should learn that applying a social thinking insight like ‘men can turn hostile when rejected’ can, with a little creativity, produce a strong challenger product.

If you wanted an exclusive peek at @Burberry’s SS16 collection, there was only one place to be. Snapchat.

Fashion >Burberry on Snapchat

What’s it all about?

Forget waiting for a fashion collection to leaked out, piece-by-piece, by power-hungry journalists. Luxury brand Burberry showed off their new kit at Generation Z’s favourite home on the internet, Snapchat.

While this meant anyone could get a glimpse of the new line, the content disappeared after 24 hours.

The bigger picture

The normalisation of Snapchat continues. There’s still plenty of time to be an early mover on Snapchat, when you can get away with unimaginative executions. But before too long it’ll be as noisy as Facebook and Twitter, and you’ll be paying through the nose to watch your adverts disappear in front of your very eyes. Can’t wait.

Artist Natalie Czech speaks the language of flowers, and her bouquets are actually 400-word reviews.

Art >Critic’s Bouquets

What’s it all about?

Back in the day, hidden messages were sent using bouquets. No, there weren’t X-rated notes hidden between the stems - different flowers conveyed different emotions and gestures.

Natalie Czech has brought this into the 21st century, by translating authors’ 400-word art exhibition reviews into bouquets of flowers. She provided the authors with a key of flowers which represent emotions, and they matched each sentence up with a chosen bloom.

The bigger picture

Want my advice? Brands must start creating marketing messages using flowers, it’s the new social media! Not really. This example does show that innovation can come from looking back, as much as it can from looking forward.

Remember when laser tag was cool? No? Well it was, promise. And now it’s back, this time with virtual reality.

Gaming >Zero Latency

What’s it all about?

The problem with laser tag was that you were all too aware that you were playing in some dingy room at your local leisure centre.

Zero Latency is laser tag with virtual reality brought into the mix, so you really believe you are saving society from the brink of destruction. Now, who’s for a (virtual) slush puppy?

The bigger picture

VR is currently an experience where you put a box on your head to pretend that you haven’t got a box on your head.

We are seeing regular examples of social executions of VR experiences. How is your brand going to be relevant to a social VR experience? Has your competitor started working this out already?

Guys! Gareth Thomas has invited you round for the rugby. Don’t thank us, thank @Airbnb. And Gareth, obviously.

Travel >Rugby World Cup x Airbnb

What’s it all about?

Rugby players like Gareth Thomas and Lewis Moody put their homes on Airbnb during the Rugby World Cup, to raise money for charity.

The players offered guided tours as well as rugby pointers, with house rules including “Compulsory singing of ‘God Save The Queen’ at 8am every morning.”

The bigger picture

Online “Conscious Communities” are forming, using social to connect to causes they care about. Smart brands like Airbnb should be making it easy for their customers to care via their platform.

This one’s for that mate who’s owed you a tenner for the last three years. Just send them @paypal’s way.

Money >Paypal.me

What’s it all about?

Let’s face it, constantly badgering someone for that note you lent them ages ago is never going to work - who keeps cash on them these days?

Paypal has set up a social way to transfer money, whereby you send your friend a personalised URL stating the exact amount they owe you. All they have to do is press a few buttons, and you’re in the money!

The bigger picture

You can buy a mortgage on WeChat in China. This shows that the company has managed to make a chat app a trusted and secure platform - no mean feat. This trend is making its way out west, and Paypal.me is paving the way.

London’s answer to cigarette litter? Vote With Your Butt. No, really.

Community >Vote With Your Butt

What’s it all about?

London’s streets aren’t paved with gold, they’re lined with cigarette butts. For Hubbub’s latest project, it’s set up an ashtray box outside Embankment station, with two possible slots to choose from.

Each week, smokers are given a different question to vote on, for example: Who is the best football player in the world? Your butt decides who wins.

The bigger picture

If someone can make binning cigarette butts innovative and fun, then I don’t want to hear any moans that your brand isn’t as cool or high-budget as Red Bull. No ifs, no butts.

SHOPPINGPinterest Palette

SPORTSFanCred

LIFE HACKSPaystobesocial

FOODMemories Bucket

RELATIONSHIPSRing Cam

DATINGBumble

FASHIONBurberry on Snapchat

ARTCritic’s Bouquets

GAMINGZero Latency

TRAVELRugby World Cup x Airbnb

MONEYPaypal.me

COMMUNITYVote With Your Butt

talktous@wearesocial.net