“I’m never buying Gillette again.' How reminiscent of the backlash Nike received towards their Colin Kaepernick campaign 6 months ago.

Brands capitalising on social movements isn't a new thing; it's not enough these days for companies to stand idly by on the sidelines. Increasingly we are witnessing big brands align themselves with political causes. Nike is the perfect example of this through their powerfully driven Nike Dream Crazy ad with Colin Kaepernick, a former Football Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. While closer to home, we see ripples of this with New World and Countdown initiating the ban of plastic bags in their supermarkets nationwide. They usually have one thing in common, however - controversy.

Welcome to 2019! The year of social trends has officially begun, and who would have guessed that a stock image of an egg would have knocked Kylie Jenner's Instagram crown clean off? But on the other hand, from a year that has already seen the bombardment of Bird Box related memes, we can't really be too surprised.

2018 social trends can offer us insights into what works well and what doesn't. The new year is for new campaigns and trends, so what better way to look forward than to start by looking back at 2018 in review? Let's dive right on in.

A seismic shift in behaviour from social media

The proliferation and growth of social media has been phenomenal and has created a seismic shift in how people communicate and act. In New Zealand, Facebook alone has achieved 80% market penetration of individuals.

We now spend more time on social media than we do watching TV. We use it not only to stay in touch with people, but as a means of information, entertainment and, perhaps most importantly to business, as a way to find out about and research products to buy[1].

Have you noticed spring is in the air? Well, some days it's more like summer and then a gust of wind blows up, snow falls in the South and makes us feel like winter is coming. Either way it seems like our fair country can't make up its mind concerning weather, but what we do know for sure is that we've seen more hot topics come and go faster than a group of kids on Lime scooters. (Also if you haven't read that blog, be sure to check it out here.) So what exactly is on the menu this time round?

They're green, they're smart, they're dock free, but are they here to stay? From America to New Zealand, the new Lime scooters have crossed the Pacific and made their way to our wee land down under.

Welcome back to the Zavy blog! We're thrilled it's Friday and we're sure you are too. This here is a special blog post dedicated to how progressive little old New Zealand is by marking the 125th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage, which took place specifically on September 19, 1893 and this Wednesday just been.

In our last update, we talked about how the conversation around the NZ ban of single-use plastic bags has been dominating all things social in recent weeks and months.

And it's worth delving a bit deeper into this particular topic, because:

a) it has been, and is still, such a huge conversation on social, and

b) it's important as social marketers to understand how these conversations come about, how to monitor them, and how to leverage them.

Hey hey hey! Welcome back to the Zavy blog. It's been a minute since you last heard from us and we're back to tell you about the latest trending topics that we've been seeing on social media. Current topics and trending subjects are great fodder for what brands can post about, and concurrently are used to engage with consumers and influence their buying decisions. So without further ado, let's jump right into the 5 key social trends and topics we've identified recently.