 So Fresh So Clean
If social platforms were office stereotypes, LinkedIn would be the stiff, unapproachable boss — or at least it used to be. Through a brand refresh, the professional networking site is attempting to change public perception. With a warmed-up color palette, softened design elements, and a more conversational voice, LinkedIn hopes to highlight the human element of the platform’s 630 million members and those working behind the scenes. While the site will never be the go-to office gossip like Twitter or the trendy long-luncher like Instagram, its inviting new look and conversational tone have it on track to become your new work wife.
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 3D(Ads) Walk Into a Bar …
Father’s Day may have come and gone, but a good dad joke never goes out of style. What else never gets old? All things 3D. Thanks to new ad offerings from Google and YouTube, brands can now incorporate even more multidimensional models into their ads. With Google’s Swirl, brands can insert 3D assets into ads that let customers interact with 360-degree views of products directly within the advertisement. On YouTube, brands can further expand their triple-D capabilities through live-streamed 3D display ads, which users can preview, play, and pause like regular videos. Both formats allow marketers a unique opportunity to create highly interactive, engaging, and educational campaigns, so get 3D(own) to business ASAP.
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 Libra 2020
In its latest move toward world domination, Facebook recently unveiled Libra. No, not its Zodiac sign (FB is totally an Aquarius). We mean Libra, the blockchain-powered digital currency that, come 2020, will allow user transactions for little-to-no fee within Messenger, WhatsApp, and its own standalone app. Facebook hopes Libra eventually becomes a standard payment method for everything — bills, CTA rides, and the things nobody really needs at Target. While FB won’t necessarily profit from Libra transactions, it’s banking on higher user traffic as it becomes increasingly indispensable. And as on-platform purchases become more commonplace, brands with a strong FB presence stand to cash in, too.
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Let’s Get Lit(erature)
What happens when you combine classic literature with fleeting social media features? Magic. If you don’t believe us, head to the New York Public Library’s Instagram Stories, where over the past year, NYPL has uploaded entire novels — Alice in Wonderland, The Metamorphosis, A Christmas Carol, and more — to its Story highlights. The novels are bingeable on the mini-screen from start to finish, with custom illustrations in the bottom right corner. Readers are instructed to hold down to pause the image, and the illustrations move and change page by page along with the storylines.
The result of the so-called Insta Novels is a wildly successful work of art and well-deserved recognition — the project grew the NYPL’s Insta following by 75% and the novels have been read more than 300,000 times (plus it garnered plenty of praise at the Cannes Lions festival). What makes this campaign truly exciting, though, is seeing a well-known and respected institution embrace new technologies in a way that’s authentic, fresh, and on-message. So, brands, don’t be afraid to take on new forms of digital media, even if it doesn’t fit what you’re used to — if a 120-year-old library can rock IG Stories, there’s no limit to who or what social media can serve.
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