Also: Instagram says more videos will become Reels and how Facebook’s home page redesign will impact communicators
By Chris Pugh
@chrispughedits
July 25, 2022
Subway is continuing its push for the chain’s Signature Series sandwiches with a permanent offer for your skin.
The Subway Signature Series consists of Cheesesteaks, Italianos, Chicken and Clubs sandwiches.
The new menu debuted on July 12 with 1 million free sandwiches being offered to customers.
The company posted in a July 18 tweet that 7 million sandwiches have been tried by customers in the campaign with the catchphrase “Step Out of Your Sub-Comfort Zone.”
Now, the chain is offering free sandwiches for life to nine customers who get a foot-long tattoo of the Subway Signature Series logo.
Why it matters: The jury is still out if free sandwiches and tattoos will make a successful business campaign for Subway, but we feel the chain is on the right track in terms of marketing.
Getting 7 million sandwiches into the hands of customers is a big first step and a win for Subway. Now the big question moving forward is how the public will react to the taste and price point.
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Report: If you watch tobacco content on social media, you are twice as likely to use tobacco
A recent study from Keck School of Medicine’s Department of Population and Public Health Science said people exposed to more tobacco content on social media are twice more likely to use tobacco than those who don’t.
“We casted a wide net across the tobacco and social media literature and synthesized everything into a single association summarizing the relationship between social media exposure and tobacco use,” lead author Scott Donaldson, PhD, a senior research associate at the school said in a statement.
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Why it matters: The report has caught the attention of those concerned about the impact of tobacco use from social media.
“The proliferation of social media has offered tobacco companies new ways to promote their products, especially to teens and young adults,” said Jon-Patrick Allem, PhD, an assistant professor of research in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and the paper’s senior author. “Our hope is that policymakers and other stakeholders can use our study as a basis for decision making and action.”
“The proliferation of social media has offered tobacco companies new ways to promote their products, especially to teens and young adults. Our hope is that policymakers and other stakeholders can use our study as a basis for decision making and action.”
jon-PATRICK ALLEM, PHD, an assistant professor of research in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and the paper’s senior author.
Instagram moving most videos to Reels, which adds more exposure to video content on the platform
On Thursday, Instagram announced a change in its video policy, saying that any video 15 minutes or above will go to IGTV, while videos 15 minutes or shorter will go to Instagram’s Reels.
The changes are in response to Instagram’s ongoing battle with social media rival TikTok.
Why it matters: Instagram has always given Reels greater exposure than regular videos, so the change should lead to more exposure for companies on Instagram. In addition, Instagram will use TikTok’s popular feature which lets Reels users soundtrack their own video with audio from another.
That said, not everyone enjoys the idea of Instagram having similar features to TikTok.
British author Toni Tone is among those who are concerned.
How Facebook’s new changes to its home page will impact marketers
Facebook has set new changes to its home page which will allow users to sort posts by friends, pages and groups.
The changes are designed to give Facebook users more choices on how to access their content on the social network.
“When users open Facebook after receiving the update, they’ll be greeted with the Home feed. This is a tab that shows personalized content based on Facebook’s machine learning-powered recommendations. Then, by clicking on the Feeds tab, you’ll find recent posts from your friends, groups, and pages.”
Why it matters: The move by Facebook puts greater importance on creators to make effective content. Facebook’s algorithm has favored posts with likes, comments and shares. It will become even more important for creators to create engaging content since users can bypass pages altogether with Facebook’s new home page design.
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