The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and the weeks that followed have been excellent opportunities to talk product roadmaps. They have also inspired our social platform partners here at Publicis to continue innovating with new tools and practices.
Brands are looking to enhance their channels with exciting new experiences. And consumers are always on the hunt for new influencers to follow, ideas to advocate for and products to promote. The opportunity for platforms to enhance this engagement is abundant. Although there are many up-and-coming innovators within the social commerce space, the major players are the ones that can implement change at scale -– and are on the cusp of doing just that.
I've spoken in the past about how mediums, when not given the care and attention they deserve, will regress to a known format in the hands of marketers. For example: banners behaving like print, influencers becoming spokespeople and social posts looking like bland product listings. There is also the risk that players in the same segment will fall into a trap: becoming clones of one another by competing for dominance with familiar features such as stories, disappearing messages and filters.
But there's still hope for social platforms as they navigate through product puberty and grow into their full potential. All it takes is for each platform to recognize their unique magic and tap into it by optimizing what makes them different from the rest.
Here are a few updates from the major players coming out of Cannes that put their magic on display:
TikTok and Community Commerce
We're working closely with TikTok to mature the Community Commerce proposition. It's about starting with creators -- how they want to develop their narrative, act as enablers that curate the world and make an engaging "shoppertainment" experience.
It's a whole new paradigm, and we love experimenting at its forefront. Yes, it does make brands and buying tertiary to the creator and the content. But that's the most authentic way brands can elevate the TikTok experience. And our partners are keen to see how we can push culture and invent even more fun ways to shop.
Pinterest's Full Potential
Pinterest is about to unlock its full potential as the only social platform that begins from a place of extremely strong intention. There's no other platform that instills as much excitement and creative expression as Pinterest. The entire concept and the way the platform is structured opens consumers' minds to purchasing an entire lifestyle rather than just one product.
We're working with Pinterest to understand what drives and sparks that inspiration, and how to enhance its features for discovery and customer experience. When Pinterest is fully activated, we will finally have a place where the middle of the purchase funnel can be optimized.
Snap Keeps It Fun
Don't let the sad-face selfies fool you. That's just Snap's amazing filters working their magic! Snap is really coming into its own as a camera company. It's developing in many ways, but its ability to optimize the interactive shopping experience is really thriving.
Snap's lighthearted nature and camera-first approach is a natural antidote to purchase friction. Replicating the emotive thrill and spontaneity of window shopping is something brands are always looking to achieve and enhance through social. Snap is currently the best platform to give you a similar experience. It's exciting, it's fun and it's a place Snap will continue to own.
Twitter and the Power of Conversation
Lastly, Twitter is set to enter the ring, unlocking its role as a unique opinion shaper -- allowing our partners to benefit from the massive power of conversation in shifting allegiances, reducing surprises post-purchase and providing the most significant impact on seller profitability. That is a key theme going into the second half of 2022 and beyond.
Albeit subtle, conversation across commerce may be the single greatest opportunity for a sales org. Publicis is exploring that with forward-thinking brands that understand the holistic nature of developing an online commerce strategy.
All in all, creativity is strong among each of the social platforms I've mentioned. They are coming into their own as true commerce platforms.
We're excited to be at the forefront of that process.
For more insights from Publicis Commerce coming out of the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, please click here.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.