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Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
French K.I.S.S
In a noisy world, can simplicity be the loudest voice? Amid today's relentless clutter, a quiet paradox emerged at last week's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity , where the biggest winners all shared one powerful trait — simplicity. 'If the works that won big at Cannes are any indication, simplicity is emerging as the holy grail for brands,' says Pallavi Chakravarti , founder and CCO, Fundamental, citing standout pieces like Budweiser's 'One Second Ads', KitKat's digital detox billboard, Tecate's 'Gulf of Mexico Bar' and Vaseline's 'Verified'. Marketers see this 'Keep It Simple, Stupid' — or K.I.S.S — trend as a response to today's media overload. 'There's an incredible amount of noise out there. The more layered the message, the harder it is to interpret or appreciate,' says Sumit Virmani , global chief marketing officer, Infosys. Harshad Rajadhyaksha, CCO at Ogilvy India, echoes this sentiment. 'In an increasingly layered, multi-screened and attention-challenged world, the value of simplicity is greater than ever,' he says. Achieving such clarity is far from easy, he warns. 'Brilliant simplicity takes work. But when done right, it always delivers the goods.' Lose the din Some brands have nailed this balance, proving that subtle and impactful messaging doesn't need loud pronouncements. KitKat's campaign by VML is a prime example. Their iconic line, 'Have a Break, Have a KitKat', was reimagined through billboards showing people absorbed in their device, with a barely-there KitKat wrapper or logo quietly urging a pause. No overt branding or lengthy explanations, just quiet, powerful storytelling. Marketers call it 'a masterclass in subtlety and impact'. 'The campaign celebrated the consumer's intelligence, trusting them to understand the message without being spoon-fed. It's a prime example of creativity cutting through the noise to make a lasting impression,' says Harsh Kapadia , CCO, Grey India. Stella Artois's 'Claustrobars' campaign by Grey took a similar approach. The beer brand captured a universally relatable experience — the mini-odyssey of navigating a crowded bar, carefully shielding your drink from spills and bumps. With almost cinematic realism, the ads showcased those uncomfortable yet triumphant moments: A slight grimace and an unwavering focus on the glass. The message was clear and powerful: 'Worth It'. Again, no massive logos or walls of text — just confident, understated advertising that didn't find the need to overexplain itself. The result? A campaign that struck a chord with viewers and prompted them to say: 'I feel you.' 'This kind of confidence in messaging is crucial. It makes advertising less ignorable and more impactful,' says Kapadia. 'In a country as diverse as India, where visual identity can transcend language barriers, such powerful visual advertising holds immense potential.' Loud and clear Budweiser's one-second ad, which won the Grand Prix in the audio segment at Cannes, is touted as another example of simple yet brilliant execution. The brand tapped into a sharp musical insight: True music lovers can identify a song from its very first beat. This became the basis of a bold and innovative idea — an 'unskippable' audio challenge where they aired commercials that played just the opening second of well-known songs. 'To expect sustained, undistracted focus, especially on digital, is to hope in vain,' says Shubhranshu Singh , global CMO for commercial vehicles at Tata Motors. 'Short-form content needs to be simple to be digested quickly. But when it's relevant, emotionally engaging or rewarding, it can still hold attention — even deepen it.' Virmani adds that social media has only intensified the challenge. 'Brands need to communicate value in seconds, often without sound, across screens. And complex brand messages simply don't translate.' And that's why Budweiser resonated with marketers and agency folks. Cause and effect A 'simply' powerful idea can also exceed its true purpose. Take German grocery chain Penny's 'Penny Price Packs', which converted its packaging into a prominent pricing display. Icaro Doria, Print jury president at Cannes Lions , described it as a seamless blend of print, publishing, packaging, price and positioning — all rolled into one. 'Creativity doesn't have to try too hard or be too clever to be 'award worthy',' says Mithila Saraf , CEO, Famous Innovations. 'The best work is universally appealing and profound in its commitment to a single-minded promise.' Until a few years ago, purpose-driven creativity with measurable impact set the tone. In 2023, winners such as Renault's 'Plug-Inn' (France), a peer-to-peer charging app, and Apple's 'Relax, It's iPhone – R.I.P. Leon' (USA), a humourous take on iPhone's 'unsend' feature, highlighted everyday anxieties in a relatable way. But in 2024, brand rulebooks were tossed aside. Coca-Cola's 'Recycle Me' (Print and Publishing Grand Prix) distorted its iconic logo on crushed cans to drive home a recycling message. Meanwhile, Coors Light turned a baseball-damaged billboard into commemorative cans with 'Coors Lights Out', showcasing agile moment marketing. Kapadia hopes Indian advertising can raise the game and embrace this simplicity that respects and celebrates consumer intelligence. 'On the one hand, we say our consumers are smart, yet we often try to over-explain or lean heavily on celebrity voices. Simple ideas break through everything else and make it memorable.' But Chakravarti points out the fundamental truth: 'We appreciate, applaud and felicitate simplicity more than we practise it. In the real world, agencies struggle to distil the chaos of briefs into clarity. [It's] Strange, but true.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
META vs. Pinterest: Which Social Media Stock is a Better Buy?
Meta Platforms META and Pinterest PINS are well-known social commerce providers. Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce, which essentially means using social media platforms to promote and sell products or services. It helps businesses, particularly small and medium-sized, to interact with customers directly, thereby improving reach, engagement and conversion rates. For customers, social commerce not only helps in discovering products but also complete the entire purchase journey without leaving the which cited Statista data, social commerce sales are expected to double from $570 billion in 2023 to more than $1 trillion by 2028. eMarketer expects retail social commerce sales to hit roughly $80 billion by 2025 in the United States. These data highlight massive growth opportunities for social media platforms as they continue promoting unique content created by brands, influencers and individuals. The platforms are offering shopping as an experience powered by livestreaming, Augmented Reality and/or Virtual Reality and gaming. Meta Platforms offers a social commerce experience to its users through Facebook and Instagram. According to Shopify, which cited Statista data, 89% of social media marketers prefer Facebook to drive social commerce sales, while one-third of social commerce buyers prefer to buy through Facebook. Instagram, on the other hand, is used by roughly 26% of the global population over the age of allow users to buy products shown in images and video across the app. Shopping tags and shop tab helps user discover products and purchase them in the platform. Shop tab also allows businesses to place ads. Meta is helping brands and creators to collaborate on Instagram and has expanded the creator marketplace to new international markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Japan, India and from Facebook and Instagram, Meta Platforms is taking initiatives to promote business over WhatsApp. META has introduced AI tools that help businesses on WhatsApp assist their customers and help them discover new products. Integrated AI helps businesses on WhatsApp create ads on Facebook and Instagram more Verified on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp is a popular initiative under which the company offers four subscription plans to help businesses build credibility. All plans include the verified badge, account support and impersonation protection. This boosts consumer trusts and attracts new businesses to the platforms. Pinterest provides a platform to show its users (called Pinners) visual recommendations (called Pins) based on their personal taste and interests. Users then save and organize these recommendations into collections (called Boards).The global user base, measured by Monthly Average Users, hit 553 million in 2024. Pinterest's tools, including native targeting, personas and interactive insights, are helping businesses target and reach customers. A vast majority of Pinterest searches — 96% — are unbranded, which means shoppers can discover new products, and 80% of weekly Pinners say that they feel inspired by the shopping experience on the platform. PINS is significantly popular among Gen Z, which make up 42% of the global user base. Both Meta Platforms and Pinterest shares have suffered from tech sell-off year-to-date (YTD) due to the escalating trade war situation post-U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to levy tariffs on trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico. While META shares have lost 11.4% YTD, Pinterest plunged 12.4%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for META's 2025 earnings is pegged at $25.62 per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days, indicating a 7.38% increase over fiscal 2024's reported figure. Meta Platforms, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Meta Platforms, Inc. Quote However, the consensus mark for PINS' 2025 earnings has been steady at $1.82 per share over the past 30 days, suggesting 41.09% growth over 2024. Pinterest, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Pinterest, Inc. Quote META's earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, while PINS has missed once. Meta Platforms' average surprise of 13.77% is slightly better than Pinterest's surprise of 13.24%, reflecting good quality of earnings beat on a consistent basis.. Valuation-wise, both Meta Platforms and Pinterest are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of C and D, respectively. In terms of forward 12-month Price/Sales, Pinterest shares are trading at 3.93X, lower than Meta Platforms' 6.69X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Meta Platforms dominates the social commerce domain thanks to Instagram and Facebook. The company's initiatives to offer user and business friendly features is a key catalyst. Although Pinterest is popular among Gen Z, we believe the company has lot to catch-up to improve competitive prowess against Meta Platforms has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), making the stock a stronger pick compared with Pinterest, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Pinterest, Inc. (PINS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wayfair Launches "Wayfair Verified" - A New Standard of Confidence in Home Shopping
Rigorous evaluation ensures customers can shop top-rated products with total peace of mind BOSTON, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W), the destination for all things home, today announced a new standard in home shopping with the launch of Wayfair Verified, a program designed to give customers a shortcut to the best items in the Wayfair catalog across every style and price point. This trusted seal of approval highlights the company's most trusted products–carefully evaluated and selected by Wayfair product specialists for quality and value–making it easier than ever for shoppers to outfit their home with confidence. View Video Here "We know that shopping for home products online can be overwhelming—customers shouldn't have to guess if a sofa is comfortable or a table is sturdy," said Jon Blotner, president of commercial and operations at Wayfair. "With Wayfair Verified, we do the testing so they don't have to—sitting on sofas, assembling furniture, and evaluating every detail—so shoppers can feel confident, knowing we stand behind every selection." As a seal of approval, Wayfair Verified streamlines the process for customers to shop for products that maintain a certain level of quality, rigorously evaluated and confirmed by a dedicated team of merchants and product testers. Verified products are loved by customers with high review ratings, offer great value, low return and damage rates and are only sold by trusted supplier partners. Each Verified product undergoes a five-step evaluation process: Packaging & Assembly Assessment: Upon arrival, packaging experts evaluate the product's packaging, assembly experience, legal compliance, and instruction clarity. Comprehensive Quality Audit: Wayfair product specialists inspect each product against category and class-specific criteria to ensure quality and verify the accuracy of on-site details. Qualitative Quality Review: Product specialists hand test each item for comfort, material feel, stability and overall satisfaction. Value Determination: Product specialists assess the results of all inspections–packaging, assembly and quality–against its price, to determine if products clear the very high all-in value threshold for Verified. Verified Treatment: Once an item becomes Verified, product specialists create custom product videos and other content to highlight key features of the Verified items they love, and believe customers will too. Wayfair will showcase the Verified program at Shoptalk Spring 2025, where Jon Blotner and Liza Lefkowski, vice president of curation, brands, and stores, will discuss its role in elevating customer confidence and satisfaction and driving purchase decisions. Learn more about Wayfair Verified and shop Verified products here. About Wayfair Wayfair is the destination for all things home, and we make it easy to create a home that is just right for you. Whether you're looking for that perfect piece or redesigning your entire space, Wayfair offers quality finds for every style and budget, and a seamless experience from inspiration to installation. Wayfair's family of brands includes: Wayfair: Every style. Every home. AllModern: Modern made simple. Birch Lane: Classic style for joyful living. Joss & Main: The ultimate style edit for home. Perigold: The destination for luxury home. Wayfair Professional: A one-stop Pro shop. Wayfair generated $11.9 billion in net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with global operations. Wayfair Media Relations:Karoline EtterPR@ Wayfair Investor Relations:Ryan BarneyIR@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Wayfair Inc.
