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Brain Rot.
Meet the hot social media trend that's taking over TikTok and Reels — and why brands small and large are trying it out.
by Tod Maffin (email • LinkedIn • social media)
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Brain Rot, Explained
I remember when I first saw the TikToks — in the top half was the content I was expecting: a creator talking about whatever; in the bottom was what seemed to be a completely random video of someone moving through a Minecraft world, or flipping cars in GTA5, or a slow motion video of someone cutting through a impossibly colourful cake.
Maybe you’ve seen them too. They seem to be getting more popular on short-form video platforms like TikTok, and they’re part of a category of content being called “brain rot.”
What is “Brain rot”?
In this form, these posts — sometimes also called "overstimulation" or "content sludge" videos — feature that split-screen format with two unrelated videos playing at the same time.
The idea is to grab viewers' attention in a world where people are constantly bombarded with stimulating media.
The format is said to have originated on TikTok, where users are served an endless supply of short, algorithm-driven videos.
Big Players Are Jumping In
Now, some big advertisers are starting to pay attention — like candidates in the upcoming American elections. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign is using them now.
One ad features a narrator highlighting Harris's experience, with a clip from a stump speech, and down below is a 3D animation of colorful balls rolling on a track. Another ad uses the same format, but with a spinning chrome shape in the bottom half. The campaign has spent a few hundred dollars on each ad, which have been viewed tens of thousands of times.
But Are They Sus?
404media has a great piece about this today, and it suggests that despite the effort, it might not be having the effect they hope.
It’s not surprising that the Harris campaign would cater to a very online audience, given the campaign initially being embraced with joyful memes about coconuts and Kamala’s brat summer.
But while these ads are technically copying the format of other viral social media posts, they don’t appear to be going massively viral organically, and I certainly wouldn’t say that they come off as authentic.
They read as political ads that are obviously trying to appeal to a specific audience–in this case, Gen Z and the terminally online.
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The Battle of B2B SaaS Ads
When marketing B2B software, many vendors rely on either free trials or demos to convert prospects into buyers. But which works better?
All Hail Free Trials
New research from Obility, a B2B SaaS agency, has found free trials drive more form fills per impression than demos.
The Experiment
The researchers analyzed more than 11,000 responsive paid search ads from January 2023 and August 2024.
The ads offered either a free trial or a demo.
The vendors included both Obility clients and non-clients.
The total spend on the ads was more than $20 million.
The Results
The study found:
A demo call to action generally had higher conversion rates, but the free trial call to action drove a higher click-through rate.
Specifically, for non-branded campaigns, free trial calls to action nearly doubled the click-through rate compared to demos.
When calculating conversions by 1,000 impressions, free trials nearly doubled the conversions of demos.
For non-branded campaigns, demos drove fewer conversions than trials per 1,000 impressions.
While in branded campaigns, free trials resulted in almost 170% more conversions per impression.
Source: Mike Nierengarten
The Rise of the “Longer” Short-Form Video
Short-form video is getting a little longer and consumers are here for it, according to a new report from social video analytics company Tubular.
The Shift To “Longer” Short-Form
The research found that short-form videos are getting longer on both YouTube and TikTok.
YouTube clips over 30 seconds in length are up 40%.
On TikTok, the trend is moving towards even longer uploads, with clips between 1 and 2 minutes also on the rise.
That said, super short video clips still dominate uploads on TikTok, but engagement with these clips is waning. This suggests users are favouring a new, extended version of short-form content.
What’s Trending on TikTok
When it comes to emerging content trends, viewership is up in the “Beauty” and “Music” categories. Interestingly, “Business and Finance” saw a significant rise in the app, with topics like “Home ownership at a young age” and “Viral finance tips” gaining traction.
The report also provided an overview of key trends across the major social video apps:
Instagram's engagement has skyrocketed by a third
Facebook video uploads increased by 1.8X
Comments on TikTok increased by almost 5%
YouTube viewership rose by 15%
YouTube Upgrades Shorts Thumbnails
As the trend towards longer short-form videos gains momentum, YouTube is stepping up its game for Shorts Creators by rolling out new options for customizing thumbnails.
Custom Options Still a Pipe Dream
Now, creators can select a frame for their Shorts thumbnail and apply text and filters to modify the image. You still, however, can’t upload custom Shorts thumbnails.
While Shorts thumbnail editing has been a popular request, YouTube says that these thumbnails are not as important as regular video thumbnail images, because Shorts clips are typically discovered through the full-screen Shorts feed.
The company added it is working to bring more options to the feature next year.
New Google Ads Tools
A couple of updates from Google.
Merchant Products Tab
First, Google Ads seems to be rolling out a new tab in its image assets library called "Merchant products." This tab displays images uploaded to your linked Google Merchant Center account.
Enhanced AI Image Editor
Google Ads also has a new feature in the AI image editor within Google Merchant Center feeds that lets you import product images directly into your Google Ads account. The images will be stored and accessible in the Google Ads Asset Library.
How it works:
Link your Google Ads account to Google Merchant Center.
Import images from the Merchant Center into the Asset Library.
Note that edited images will not be saved back to the product feed, only to the Asset Library.
For Performance Max campaigns, you can include up to 20 images per campaign, which may limit the number of images you can import from Google Merchant Center.
Amazon Splits $2B Global Media Account
Late last year, Amazon's mammoth global media planning and buying account, valued at more than $2 billion, went up for review, and the results are finally in.
The e-commerce giant has decided to split its media business between two industry giants, Omnicom and WPP, rather than selecting a single winner.
WPP, as in GroupM, will manage Amazon's media business in the Asia-Pacific and European regions.
Omnicom will oversee the Americas, dealing with a larger chunk of media spend overall.
Financial Overview
According to Comvergence data, last year Amazon spent $2.6 billion in North America and $133 million in Latin America. The e-commerce giant spent $1.6 billion in EMEA and another $725 million in APAC.
However, Digiday reports today, that sources close to the decision suggest cutting Comvergence estimates in half for a more accurate read on what the two holdcos will actually have to spend, as Amazon does some measure of investment in-house.
Meanwhile, IPG, the previous incumbent on all of Amazon’s business, didn’t lose out entirely — the company will retain AWS, Amazon Ads, and Amazon Business.
New YouTube Promotions Goal Drives Site Traffic
YouTube Studio added a new "website visits" goal today for video promotions, letting creators drive traffic to their sites. Over time, you can track the site visits that you’re generating on the Promotions tab in YouTube Studio.
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