Big Things Podcast

2025 Pinterest Trends, TikTok Ban & Fastest Growing Brands (E12)

• Mitzi Payne & Mike Payne • Episode 12

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Seeing double? Sea la vie? This week we’re diving into the 2025 Pinterest Predicts report, what we’re reading, thoughts around the potential TikTok ban, Fourth Wing (dragon monogamy?), and more. 

More from us:

  • Mitzi Payne @mmmitzi 
  • Mike Payne @mmmiiike

Timestamps: 

  • 00:30 – This week’s Big Things!
  • 03:00 – What we’ve been reading (spoiler alert: dragon mates). 
  • 08:30 – Big Thing 1: Pinterest Predicts 2024 is out! These are some of our favorite trends. 
  • 16:00 – The matching trends and why people are coordinating outfits.
  • 18:00 – We have mixed thoughts on the 2025 color of the year…
  • 25:30 – Big Thing 2: The TikTok ban is back on the table; here’s what we know & what we recommend if the ban goes through.  
  • 34:00 – Big Thing 3: The WNBA was one of the fastest rising brands of 2024. 
  • 44:50 – Alex Cooper’s first product had a cool launch (hydration drinks targeted at women). 

Show notes:

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/

Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

Speaker 1:

Okay, should we do this thing? Wow, wow, wow, wow. Welcome to Big Things. I'm Mitzi and this is Mike.

Speaker 2:

And this is our show where we talk about the big things we're seeing in marketing, social media, pop culture and sports. We also cover the signals that we're seeing that could influence the future of digital marketing. Make sure you catch the show every week on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts and, of course, follow on TikTok and Instagram. Send us DMs let us know how you're feeling.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's that.

Speaker 1:

That's that. Well, today on the show, we're going to be talking about three big things that we're just keeping an eye on. The first one is that Pinterest released its 2025 trend report. We're going to break talking about three big things that we're just keeping an eye on. The first one is that pinterest released its 2025 trend report. We're going to break down some of the things that we find interesting in that and why you should pay attention to it as a marketer. We're also going to talk about the recent court ruling that tiktok might actually get banned for real this time, and the wnba was named the fastest growing brand, and we're going to talk about that too.

Speaker 2:

Action-packed episode.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Before we get into it, though, I need to give an update to the audience that I have finished Fourth Wing. I know I said I was starting it like a few weeks ago, but I finished it last night and it's mid.

Speaker 2:

Was it? Yeah, oh, that's disappointing. Like there were some parts. How many stars out of five?

Speaker 1:

Three.

Speaker 2:

Okay, if you really want the full synopsis, tune into Easy Reads podcast, mitzi's other show that probably has more attention, I don't know.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, we're going to do a recording like a podcast recording tomorrow for it, where we kind of break down the book. But yeah, I was like I had high hopes because it's a very popular book, um, and then it's being made into a show which I'm excited about, which you actually might like to watch, and I think I could enjoy watching it. I just didn't love all of it okay it's.

Speaker 2:

It's also like romantic knowing that you didn't love it. Why do you think it's so popular?

Speaker 1:

Because it's kind of spicy.

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay.

Speaker 1:

Like smutty, it's smutty.

Speaker 2:

Morgan's like absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a little smutty, for sure, and it's like there's dragons in it and like you know, like star-crossed lovers.

Speaker 2:

So is it spicy between dragons or people?

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

What? Yeah, I was not ready for that answer.

Speaker 1:

The dragons are like mated for life and they choose a mate and they're like. Sometimes they go into heat and the dragons also pick a rider that is like their rider, of like choice, and they're bonded for life. So if the rider dies, the dragon dies. So if the rider dies, the dragon dies, and if the dragon dies, the rider dies. So these two dragons that are in love pick two riders that hate each other and then they like, when they're they all like, are synced mentally, the four of them, and so, like when they're in heat, the other, the people, the humans, the riders also kind of like experience.

Speaker 2:

That it's weird, okay I'm wishing I didn't unpack this anyways, what are you reading right now? I mean, it's cute that the dragons are monogamous it is cute, honestly, that they're monogamous.

Speaker 1:

It's. You don't see it often.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And the people are monogamous too.

Speaker 2:

Even though they don't like each other.

Speaker 1:

They don't like each other at first.

Speaker 2:

Interesting and then there's a plot twist. Okay, well, thanks for that. I'm sorry you didn't love it. I'm glad you finished it. I actually was impressed that you took it all the way last night and finished the it. I actually was impressed that you took it all the way last night and finished the book.

Speaker 1:

I stayed up past my bedtime to finish it, because the kids have been waking us up a lot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm exhausted and you've been carrying the team with that because it's been my birthday.

Speaker 1:

It's my Super Bowl. It's like my daughter's birthday and your birthday within the same week.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you are the MVP for sure.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much. Tell us what you're reading.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm reading like four books right now, mostly because I've been starting books and then starting to spin my tires on them and not love them as much as I've loved some of the other books I've read this year. The one I started most recently that I'm now like cruising through is also a plot twist. It's Harry Potter. I've never read a book or watched a movie.

Speaker 1:

I know it's shocking to me. So in my other podcast we literally talk about Harry Potter in every single episode, because I've also never seen the movies, I've never read the books and people just can't get past that. It's like comes up for some reason and I'm just so surprised that you're reading it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was influenced by my sister-in-law when they were visiting recently. I was influenced by my sister-in-law when they were visiting recently, and I also already like reading fantasy books and I just think it's been around long enough and loved by enough people that I figured I must be missing something. Yeah, and it's one of those like the Harry Potter community seems to really love, and adore the books as much as the movies, so there's something going which doesn't happen often, exactly, yeah, usually they're disappointed by the movie or the show yeah, um, hopefully the fourth wing ends up the same.

Speaker 2:

That like people, that like the book, like the show or the movie.

Speaker 1:

I have high hopes because my michael b jordan's production company is behind it Okay, interesting, yeah, but I've actually been surprised with Harry Potter.

Speaker 2:

I expected it to be more dense, kind of like Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit or like Game of Thrones, but really I feel like it would qualify as an easy read.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a children's book, I think it's.

Speaker 2:

YA, just belittling me now.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm not trying to belittle you. I think it actually was written for children.

Speaker 2:

I think it's YA.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's why it's not that dense.

Speaker 2:

You don't think Game of Thrones is YA?

Speaker 1:

No, Game of Thrones has very adult subject matter but like Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit is for children kind of no, I feel like Lord of the, feel like I read, lord of the rings when I was like 12 years old. Yeah, I my I don't actually know because I haven't read it, but my perception is lord of the rings. The hobbit and game of thrones are in the same realm in terms of like maturity, and then harry potter is like the gateway drug to that realm maybe, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I'm like I've been reading it for a few days and I'm halfway through and it hasn't been difficult nice, are you um gryffindor?

Speaker 1:

no, is that it?

Speaker 2:

I think we took a quiz once with our team. I'm pretty sure I was raven's claw don't know what that means I don't know either. I just think that's what I was is.

Speaker 1:

I don't want to be a Hufflepuff.

Speaker 2:

Because they seem. And unless you want to be like the antagonist, you don't want to be Slytherin either. I think that's what the other one is.

Speaker 1:

Slytherin actually seems kind of cool.

Speaker 2:

Kind of cool in like the bad boy or bad girl kind of way, right, because that's where the one who should not be named is from, right? Anyways, I feel like the people watching probably don't care, because they read.

Speaker 1:

Harry. Potter like three decades ago, yeah and the people who actually know anything about Harry Potter are just like screaming at their headphones.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they're just cringing right now.

Speaker 1:

You don't know what you're talking about. And it's true, we don't know what we're talking about.

Speaker 2:

But I do. Since we're talking about books, I have to say the best book I read this year is also the best book I've ever read in my entire life, and I need to endorse it and give it five out of five stars and tell anyone who likes fantasy or just fiction in general to read it, and that is the Sword of Kaigen K-A-I-G-E-N. It's a one-off by an author called ML Wang. She wrote it in like a season when she was depressed no series or anything but man. That was such a good book. I've read some good books.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm very happy that you've experienced that this year.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was one that I'll read again. Nice, and then I'll just shout from the rooftops.

Speaker 1:

I think the best book that I read this year was Good Material, and it wasn't a book that lingered with me because it was so clever, but not because it was so meaningful. It was just like I liked it.

Speaker 2:

I think the most enjoyable, easy read that I read this year was Ready Player One. I'd already seen the movie a couple years ago, but I went back and read the book and it was really good.

Speaker 1:

Cool yeah, is this a book?

Speaker 2:

podcast now.

Speaker 1:

I wish.

Speaker 2:

No, you already have one of those. Should we get into the first big thing?

Speaker 1:

Let's do it so. Pinterest released a 2025 trend report. Pinterest predicts releases a report which will be tracking what's trending next year, for 2025. And it's based on things that are searched on the platform. So there are so many goodies in this report and if you work in marketing or creative work like this is the kind of report you want to dive into and really like look at it thoroughly. They did such a good job with, like, the interface of this report, how they presented everything, and it's really, really good. So I highly recommend you go take a look.

Speaker 1:

But I'm going to unpack just a few of the things that I thought were interesting in the report and I feel like you might too. So some of my favorite trends for 2025 the first one they called cherry coated and gen Z millennials will, according to pinterest, infuse cherry into their makeup menus and mood boards this year Think dark, sweet and such a vibe. So they based this trend on some trending search terms, which include cherry vibes, cherry bedroom, cherry car, cherry martini and dark cherry red, and that's up by 235%, and I'm into it. I feel like even in my Pinterest mood boards I've had like some dark cherry stuff. So if you're like considering, like creative or whatever. I feel like there's something there.

Speaker 2:

I think if you, as a person, had a tagline, it would be dark, sweet and such a vibe.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, dark.

Speaker 2:

Dark, not in your complexion, but like you have like dark elements, like your eyebrows, your nail polish. So in my complexion, I didn't mention anything about your complexion.

Speaker 1:

So my eyebrows.

Speaker 2:

Your nail polish Like the colors you choose for your nails, the clothes that you wear often Okay, but then also your sweet and such a vibe Sweet and such a vibe colors you choose for your nails, the clothes that you wear, often Okay, but then also you're sweet and such a vibe.

Speaker 1:

Sweet and such a vibe If you didn't watch last episode.

Speaker 2:

We really advocated for vibe being one of the words of the year.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

And I hold to that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, let me see if there's any of these other trends that resonate more with me, and I'll ask you the same question at the end.

Speaker 2:

Please do.

Speaker 1:

But fisherman aesthetic is another one.

Speaker 2:

I'm here for this one. Do I have to wait until the end, or can I just vouch for it now?

Speaker 1:

You can vouch for it.

Speaker 2:

I love fisherman aesthetic. I think I'm here for it. I might need to change my entire wardrobe to adhere to it. Cable knit sweaters absolutely. Fisherman sandals maybe not. Fish bag, yes.

Speaker 1:

Sardine tattoos.

Speaker 2:

Sardine tattoo. I've been I've been trying to think of an idea for my next tattoo Sardines. It is Raincoat outfit aesthetic, but not like. Not like your typical, just like Gore-Tex type material.

Speaker 1:

No, it's cool, it's like.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, something a little bit more like nature friendly. Yes, this is the new electric grandpa, the only part of the fisherman aesthetic that I hesitate with is like horizontal stripes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, me too.

Speaker 2:

I saw it in some of their imagery and I just feel like that's more sailor than fisherman.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so some of the trending search terms that have gone up are sardine tattoos, raincoat outfit, aesthetic, cable knit sweaters, fish bags, all that good stuff. So I'm into it. Okay, this one is so you. This is my coded pickle fix. This year will absolutely be delicious.

Speaker 2:

Can I get an amen, drew, my pickle buddy.

Speaker 1:

From sweet treats to tangy cocktails. The oh-so-humble pickle is about to be in absolutely everything. Gen X and millennials will go all in on pickle cakes, pickle de gallo, pickle fries and even pickle margaritas.

Speaker 2:

Well, speaking of margaritas, I wasn't thinking about a margarita. I was thinking more about like. Speaking of margaritas, I wasn't thinking about a margarita. I was thinking more about like imagine a dirty martini, but instead of the like olive juice whatever it's called, instead having some pickle juice in there, like in a gin martini? Ooh, that sounds nice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm gonna have to abstain from this trend. I'm not a pickle girly, but I'm happy for you.

Speaker 2:

Any year, any year. Pickle fries, pickle de guile, you really piqued my interest. Pickle cake absolutely not. Everything else I'm here for.

Speaker 1:

Love it. Okay, the next one I think is cool because we live so close to the mountains. This one, they're calling it Peak Travel. So in 2025, mountain ranges will become the go-to travel destination as gen z and gen x seek out treetop views and that fresh mountain air.

Speaker 2:

Gear up for your next ella vacation we need to build a campaign around ella vacation I know that's iconic. Whatever copywriter came out with that, we need to poach them literally.

Speaker 1:

so there's trending search terms around this trend. There's Atlas Mountains, Morocco. There's Portillo, Chile. There's skiing fits, mountain trip outfits All those terms are peaking in search activity.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think this is just one glowing endorsement for the province of Alberta. An extension to that Alberta is calling campaign.

Speaker 1:

You'd think we'd be sponsored by Alberta or something, because you keep on talking about it.

Speaker 2:

Well, we do work with Travel Alberta low key but this isn't sponsored. But I advocated for Vancouver and Toronto folks moving to Calgary a few episodes ago and kind of gave my winter checklist. But the biggest draw outside of anything else for Calgary or any part of Alberta really is the mountains.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we like going to the mountains. The other thing that I thought I feel like, with this trend around like mountain culture, I'm already seeing some stuff happening Like I don't know if you saw, but Skims dropped their recent collab with.

Speaker 2:

North Face. It looked cool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it looks really cool and it's basically a bunch of, like, different nude shades or shades of nude Like natural shades.

Speaker 2:

They weren't all nude, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

But like they're all like aligned with their colors of their what's it called Shapewear. So like different colors, nudes that match different skin tones, and it's all like different parkas and snow pants.

Speaker 2:

A lot of them were kind of cropped like a little shorter than usual.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but they're all in the mountains like skiing, so I feel like they're already doing like I'm seeing some like mountain ski stuff. So I actually saw that campaign and then read this report and I was like I wonder if they got like early access to that or something, because, like at the end of the day, like some of these bigger brands who invest a lot of money into these campaigns, they're not doing it just because it's cool. There's like data behind it. They're tracking behavior and part of that behavior is included in like this kind of report, like they're tracking actual searches and things like that.

Speaker 2:

So I think I think ever since the pandemic and like quarantine and all that kind of stuff, there's just been this like deepened appreciation for the outdoors and nature and stuff like that, and we've even seen some of the biggest brands in fashion being like tech brands like Arcteryx and Salomon and stuff like that and then now I think the next wave of that is like brands that are not typically outdoorsy collaborating with brands that are like skims. So yeah, it's cool.

Speaker 1:

I'm also really excited about this last one that I'm going to call out from the trend report. It's called Seeing Double. This year, coordinated outfits will be the topic du jour in the group chat. From collaborating on festival fits to aligning on date night looks, gen Z and boomers will be all about staying in sync in a chic way. So some of the trending search terms that are associated with this trend are matching nails couples, matching jerseys couples. Coordinating outfits for friends, bracelets matching and matching outfits for couples.

Speaker 2:

casual, which I'm here for how do you feel about this one?

Speaker 1:

I love matching. I'm always trying to match with you and and I've always liked matching. But when I went into, like each of these trends has like an associated mood board with them on Pinterest and I know you don't like matching with me as much, you like coordinating. But I was really excited because in the mood board they have a bunch of like outfits or people matching that are like mother-daughter, so I like that oh, okay, yeah, and elena would be so here for that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would love to do that with my daughter I can get down with matching.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes I feel like there has to be a reason like I feel like it just being a random day for no reason except that we're a couple, seems like a lot yeah, and I think like we do too much together as a couple, like we do like, do like we work together, we obviously live together, we have kids. And we like to hang out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we hang out Like we have a podcast together. So if someone saw us like in the wild and they knew all that about us and we're also matching like people would be like you guys need.

Speaker 2:

Is this unhealthy? Yeah, do you need some space? Do you need some space? Totally so I think like think at that point.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we might need to like abstain a little bit from this trend, but I'm going to go full force.

Speaker 2:

I like the idea of doing it with our kids, like you and our daughter, me and our son, kind of like our mini me situation.

Speaker 1:

I'm down for that.

Speaker 2:

OK, ok.

Speaker 1:

Cool, but yeah, go check out that Torn Report. It's really good. Speaking of Torn Reports, did you see that Pantone Color of the Year was announced?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, what did you think of it?

Speaker 1:

I mean, you know I love mousse. Mousse is literally like my favorite dessert when I was pregnant. That's the only thing I craved. So the Color of the Year, if you haven't seen it, it's mocha mousse.

Speaker 2:

And why don't you tell us your thoughts? It looks like human feces. That's my thoughts. Yeah, I also. Just I mean, we're talking about Pinterest right now and this is not sponsored, but I just feel I think I even mentioned this last episode I feel like Pantone's just kind of slipping a little bit in terms of their, like, authority on color.

Speaker 2:

I think they're maybe like behind a little bit, or they're just like drinking their own Kool-Aid, to the point that they're like we get to decide, so we're just going to decide and it is what it is, whereas like a platform like Pinterest is really based on like human behavior and interests and like search terms that are actually happening. So I think I pay attention more to a platform or a entity like Pinterest than I do to Pantone.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 2:

Pantone kind of feels like they're almost, like, entrenched in their ways and not necessarily tuned in.

Speaker 1:

Right, but to Pantone's credit, they might have data that informs the color they've chosen. I just don't know how they're getting yeah, they might.

Speaker 2:

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, but they haven't told us about that the.

Speaker 1:

The thing I also like about pantone. It's like this is the color of the year, but like this report from pinterest, it's amazing, it's really cool and I think pinterest understands there's not just like one singular trend for all people. There's like the internet and creative and marketing. It's like all about like niche and focus to your audience and tailoring and all that. So like sure, this color can be like trending on a like mass scale, but Pinterest understands is like you got to have like options to serve different use cases.

Speaker 1:

Well, no, Pinterest understands it Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think I don't need to be a hater, like I think Pantone's been an authority for a reason and like many designers around the world adhere to, like the Pantone color wheel and stuff like that. So thank you, pantone, for your service. Maybe some of my attitude around it is because it just feels kind of late, like we were just talking about that influencer lawsuit. Where they were, they felt like they were ripping off each other's aesthetic and their spaces were a lot of beige, very minimal, and I just even their aesthetic feels third wave, you know it feels like beige and tan and nude have been colors that have been trending for a while, so I just felt like it wasn't that noteworthy.

Speaker 1:

In general, I like brown. I feel like brown is like such a wave, especially like all brown. But yeah, I think they could have packaged it better. They could have like explained more of their like analysis to arrive at this place and, like Pinterest also has the added value of like so much data is coming to them, like they don't really have to do much work. They just have to like sift through what's being searched and then like apply that to the trend report, while Pantone like I don't know what they own in terms of data.

Speaker 2:

You know? I'd love to know.

Speaker 1:

I'd love to know too.

Speaker 2:

Pantone, let us know.

Speaker 1:

But also there's a lot of trend reports happening this time of year, but do not fret, ours is coming too, in January. The Scan Club trend report will be coming in january and we're kind of doing something similar where we're like aggregating all this information and signals that we've been tracking all year and kind of categories categorizing them into, like bigger trends around user behavior. So that is coming to your inbox. Make sure you subscribe to scan club so that you're the first one to get it.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I love a shameless plug. I think. The last thing I'll say about the Pantone Color of the Year, mocha Moose I think it just feels like it lacks personality and I think when you, when you identify a color of the year, you're expecting to see that in a lot of different contexts, a lot of like brands and campaigns and like embracing it, and just the even the tone of Brown just feels like it lacks something you know they could have. It could have been a little richer, which would have like worked in a lot of contexts. It could have been closer to like a camel color, like these chairs, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Just it's almost like know, when you're like you have two concepts and then you pick something that's kind of like a middle ground of both and then it just feels diluted yeah that's what it felt like to me but I get like plopped out of nowhere yeah, or it just was like a product of like a couple different ideas and then just ended up like missing the mark a little bit. You know, yeah, well I digress yeah I love the next big thing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, let's do it okay, this one's a little meaty, but it's important for people like us in the marketing space. Um, a court orders tiktok to divest ownership or face a ban. We all knew that this happened. We knew that the Biden administration had kind of set this up, but then it went to appeals court and the appeals court upheld this decision. So where TikTok and a lot of creators on the platform were hoping that, through their appeal, that this would be reconsidered, the same timeline still applies for ByteDance to either divest by January 19th from TikTok and allow an American ownership group or owner to step in, or they have to face a ban. So I think it's interesting, I think it's not over, I think it's going to end up going to the supreme court.

Speaker 2:

We've also seen donald trump, who's the president-elect, say that he will um stop it from being banned if that, if it continues on this trajectory which is interesting because donald trump was the one that originally suggested that it should be banned.

Speaker 2:

But I think the factors that we have at play in that context are him wanting to have a little bit more control over this power struggle between the US and China, because he's also said that he's going to enforce tariffs on imports from China. I think he wants to keep this as a card in his pocket, in kind of those negotiations. China has indicated, potentially, that they would consider divesting if Trump was to lessen his proposed tariffs on Chinese imports. So there's just so much more at play than simply the question of is this a national security threat, right? Um, one of the reasons that it was appealed by tiktok and its many creators was because they felt like it was an issue of freedom of speech, which I think the reason the appeals court upheld it despite those claims, is that it it just isn't like yeah obviously it's a platform that gives people the opportunity to express themselves.

Speaker 2:

But even if tiktok was to not exist in the us, those same gives people the opportunity to express themselves. But even if TikTok was to not exist in the US, those same people have the opportunity to express themselves on other channels. So it's not a censorship issue. It's just a matter of should this, is it safe for this platform to exist in the US?

Speaker 1:

Exactly Like free speech isn't hinging on whether TikTok's available to you or not.

Speaker 2:

Right um.

Speaker 1:

So that's why my guess is that it won't get banned, but more so because president-elect trump wants to use it in his like negotiations with china yeah and I also, like I know you've been talking, we talked about tiktok getting banned, potentially for like a whole year.

Speaker 1:

For a while it was like the biggest news and then it kind of died off. But the reason why it's important now is because of this recent court decision and I've been thinking about it like I, I think the like. I think sometimes we use social media every day, like for work, for personal. It's part of our entertainment, it's's how we get information, it's how we get news and sometimes we believe that these platforms are free, but they're not. The price that we pay for these platforms is our data and it's how we interact with content.

Speaker 1:

And I think there is a very like it's very feasible that if it's in the wrong hands, it could be weaponized and it could be used to manipulate people's perceptions about things and all that, and we've seen some use cases of that. So to me, as I like, considered like is it good or bad for TikTok to be banned? Like I, I don't think it's a bad thing. If it were to get banned, like I would miss it. As a user, I like tiktok. I enjoy watching content on there. I get great useful information on there, so I hope it stays around, but if it's truly a national security issue, then like it makes sense that we don't use it. And also, I've seen so much misinformation get shared on tiktok, like yeah, give, give us an example.

Speaker 1:

So I've talked about it a little bit. Well, I've talked about it with you a lot and our team and our team.

Speaker 1:

So, um, last year I can't remember exactly when, but Northwest, kim Kardashian's daughter, um, she performed in a live adaptation of the Lion King and she was simba and it went like viral. Everyone was like talking about it and critiquing it and people seemed really outraged that someone like northwest, who's very privileged, who is an epo baby, had the opportunity to be simba. And there's some people who are like outraged on tiktok and one person talked about how she had her son waiting in line to audition for the role of Simba in this play that Northwest ended up getting and she's telling the story about how she was so excited for this audition and her son was waiting in the waiting room and then they were, they were sitting there and they see Kim and Northwest walk into the room the audition room with like people who made decisions and then, and then they were told to leave. And so she's telling the story and people were going crazy in the comments, being like we knew it, like kim's just like pushing her weight around and getting northwest to like be the star and they're taking away opportunities from talented people.

Speaker 1:

It like made national news, it was like covered in all these media outlets and a few days later, like a week later, this same creator who posted that original video she, she goes on to TikTok and she's like they. I just want to say thank you to everyone who's like come through and offered their support and I we really appreciate it and I a lot of you've been asking for a video of my son and so I wanted to show it to you. And she turns her camera and she shows her cat and like this whole story was made up. It was like completely fake. She just like played the entire media landscape and just made up the story. But the like the firestorm that it created from all these people jumping in and piling on and going after Northwest, who's a child, and you know it's like is it really about Northwest or is it about their, her family? But that's like besides the point. I think it's just there's this opportunity to spread this information.

Speaker 2:

There's no accountability when this information is wrong or incorrect. Yeah, so, and that's just some random rogue creator? That's not. That's. That just goes to show that if there is the desire by another entity to manipulate information or spread things that aren't true, it's easy to do so.

Speaker 1:

Like you know, you need any person an adult who's using social media needs to have some form of like media literacy and like be able to like have discernment around content they're seeing, and all that. So I think it is comes down to like personal responsibility as a user, but I think there's also space to acknowledge that, like I want to hold space that it could also be manipulated.

Speaker 2:

Totally yeah, and it's not unheard of for the US to ban like foreign access, like they already banned foreign ownership of broadcasting licenses, so why is the idea of doing that with a platform like TikTok any different?

Speaker 1:

Totally, you know. So, in general, I don't like government getting rid of social platforms, but I'm also aware that there's a price for our access to these things.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think as users we would prefer that it continues to exist, but we also want to make sure that there's some sort of like integrity to the information that's being shared on a channel. Back to Donald Trump as well he's also been outspoken that one of the reasons that he advocates for TikTok not being banned is that it would give too much power to a company like Meta, who he obviously has issues with because they banned him from their platforms for a couple of years, but also just it would kind of further move them in the direction of a monopoly.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, in that space and after this decision was made in court, I think the same day, the stock prices for Google and Meta went like the highest it's been all year.

Speaker 2:

So what should people do to prepare in case TikTok is banned in the US.

Speaker 1:

Yes, now is a great time to diversify your platforms. Yes, now is a great time to diversify your platforms. If you're a creator or if you're a brand that you know does a lot of activity on TikTok and TikTok brings in a lot of revenue or brings in a lot of your audience, then I highly recommend you explore other platforms like YouTube, like Instagram. These platforms, like, probably aren't going anywhere. But also, I want to say one thing to think about when you're posting on social is that that is rented space. It's like you don't own those platforms. One day, instagram could go down and you could lose your entire audience, but what you will own is an email list. So if you ever want to like, think about you know what has staying power, like whatever you do on an email list building side. Like you own those emails. You can send those emails through any platform, through endless email providers. So if you're going to invest any time on anything, I'd say it's growing your email list.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and if you have a big platform on TikTok, aside from starting to invest in other channels like YouTube or Instagram Reels, think about ways that you can start to migrate the followers that you have on TikTok onto an email list and give them some form of value on that channel. And I think for any creator, it never hurts to stretch your muscles and experiment with something new. Explore a long form like email instead of just quick videos on TikTok too.

Speaker 1:

And Reels are great.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's just one more email, specifically, is one more step towards monetizing that audience.

Speaker 1:

Totally as well yeah.

Speaker 2:

Which is something almost every creator wants to do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if you're going to have like 50,000 followers on anywhere, I feel like you should have it on YouTube, where you get like paid for people watching your content.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure, big fans of YouTube over here.

Speaker 1:

Totally. We're going to move on to the last big thing. This one's kind of cool. There is a new report that comes out that named sorry. A new report from the data analytics firm Morning Consult, which tracks how consumers perceive thousands of brands every day, reveals that the WNBA is the fastest growing brand of 2024. The report also names the top 20 brands that have seen the biggest rise in purchase consideration this year, and they also analyze how it's playing across the general population and other demographics. So it's pretty cool because of all the top brands this year. It's very rare for a sports brand to have made that list and it's extra cool because it's a women's sports brand.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so some of the other brands on this list list the wnba is number one, ben and jerry's is number two, brisk iced tea is number three. Experian, which I don't really know what that is, that's number four. Microsoft Copilot, which is like some sort of AI division of Microsoft, is number five. Youtube Shorts is number six. Disney Plus is number seven, smartwater is number eight, Pizza Hut is number nine and Coach is number 10.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm surprised to see Microsoft on here, but it checks out that it's an AI product. Not surprised about Ben and Jerry's and Brisk Ice Tea.

Speaker 1:

I am.

Speaker 2:

I feel like we've been talking about Brisk being like doing interesting things on social.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they have a great Instagram.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and Ben and Jerry's has always been like a really strong brand.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but why now? Why in 2024? I don't really understand, but apparent. So this report it shows like not only like revenue growth in this space in like the brand, but also they pull a bunch of people in different like demos and income levels and they ask them like how likely you are to consider purchasing like all these brands. They like survey a million brands and these are the brands that kind of like rose to the top.

Speaker 2:

Interesting. I'm surprised to see Pizza Hut here. I feel like Pizza Hut had its moment when we were teenagers. Do you remember like the Pizza Hut lunch buffet?

Speaker 1:

Yes, my parents.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

I grew up on buffets. Yeah, like they loved buffets.

Speaker 2:

But these days, like I haven't had Pizza Hut in a long time, so maybe it's just gotten better, but I feel like the last time I had it it was like really greasy. It didn't age well, like if you had leftovers. It wasn't that good the next day.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, did you ever do dessert pizza?

Speaker 2:

No, because I've always had like Food allergies. Int intolerances like dairy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I loved pizza, pizza desserts I still do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you love any kind of dessert really.

Speaker 1:

Especially mousse.

Speaker 2:

And you had a tiramisu kick too.

Speaker 1:

I learned how to make tiramisu. It's very good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it's cool to see the WNBA here. I think, aside from it being the fact that it's sports and it's women's sports, which you already mentioned, I think it's also cool knowing that it's like a big swing from the last few years for them, because historically they've always struggled. So to go from like a struggling brand that's trying to find its place and trying to be profitable to swinging to be the number one fastest growing brand in the US, that's a huge comeback story.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's super cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's cool to see more money going into a platform like that. We know there's been some like key athletes that have moved the needle there, like Kaitlyn Clark, so I think it's only going to continue to get stronger. It's only going to continue to get more of an audience, which is awesome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and the WNBA is coming to Canada.

Speaker 2:

Say no more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so Toronto announced the Toronto Tempo, which is the first ever WNBA team to Canada, and that's cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I actually like the branding, from what I've seen so far, and I like the name too. The name doesn't really connect much to the Raptors, but I felt like the branding actually had some like sensibilities. That like felt like it was derived.

Speaker 1:

Is the Liberty? Is that WNBA? Yes, they won this year, right? Yes, I think this year right?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I think so.

Speaker 1:

They won the championship. I just love the mascot. Have you seen the mascot? No, she's got moves. There's like all these videos of her. She's like a I want to say elephant. Yeah, like who's dressed as a statue of liberty, but she's like a cute elephant, like she's like and she's sassy and she like dances and like twerks and stuff.

Speaker 2:

I have no idea. So I hope this is true, hopefully we're not contributing the misinformation. I know An elephant dressed as a statue of liberty. That twerks, you know. Maybe I'll just fact check, right now.

Speaker 1:

Well, she like dances really really well Nice.

Speaker 2:

And then YouTube shorts is on here. Disney plus is on here. We spend a lot of time on Disney plus. A lot of it is for our kids, but even there's been some great shows for adults too. Um, did you talk about coach yet?

Speaker 1:

No, I saw coaches on the list and I love to see it because I'm a big fan of coach. Like the brand they've. They've done such a good job with their like commitment. Commitment to like circular what's the term?

Speaker 2:

I think it's just like circular fashion, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but what's the term where you're like managing the ins and outs import, export, like?

Speaker 2:

I don't know.

Speaker 1:

Anyways, the cool thing about them is they're committed to like a circular, like production cycle, and so they are upcycling their old materials and creating new bags out of them, so they're a company that's been around for a long time. It's really hard to like reimagine a legacy company like that, so I think they've been doing such a good job.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they were mid for a while and now they've, like, come back into relevance. Yeah, I love coach.

Speaker 1:

I got a coach bag for my birthday. Okay, I will confirm that Ellie the elephant is a New York Liberty mascot. All right and she is a queen.

Speaker 2:

Queen Ellie.

Speaker 1:

Queen Ellie. Ellie the elephant.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, women's basketball has been fun to watch. We watched a lot of it. I feel like we watched more women's March Madness games this past year than we did men's.

Speaker 1:

Everyone did, didn't it Like break all the records?

Speaker 2:

100%. And then that trickled into the WNBA after the rookie draft and some of these, like key players, moved along to pro basketball.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, angel Reese and Kaitlyn Clark. Yeah, basketball yeah, angel reese and caitlin clark yeah, yeah, I love to see it. I also think it's really interesting like lists like this like really kind of help me see like what's the interesting opportunity for new brands popping up, like when you think about like creators starting brands or celebrities starting brands, when you see some similar like trends and like the fastest growing brands, you can see like where other people move.

Speaker 1:

Like for a while it was beauty and that was like a huge opportunity, but now it feels like snacks might be the direction really yeah, so the the summary of this report was saying how like candy brands are going to have a moment next year and like it was. Like dentists beware. But there's so much opportunity with like snacks and candies, like that's always been like.

Speaker 2:

I don't think it would be dentists beware. I think it would be like dentists prepare, because you're going to have even more business than ever.

Speaker 1:

It'll be booming.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, snacks are fun and, I think, similar to sports with snack brands. You just have so much room to play.

Speaker 1:

Maybe it goes hand in hand with sports. Maybe Because you need a snack to watch a game.

Speaker 2:

There's even been some athletes that have said, like how much candy they eat. Like DK Metcalf is like a huge NFL wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks and he's this like Thor style athlete, like he's huge, he's built, he's got like an 18 pack and he warms up with his shirt off a lot of the time. He's like this, like beast of a man. And there's like multiple media moments where they're asking him about his diet and he's just like, yeah, I eat a lot of candy, usually skip breakfast, have a big dinner, you know, and he may even have some like candy partnerships. Now I don't know if it'd be like Skittles or like Sour Patch Kids or what.

Speaker 2:

But, yeah, it's, maybe there's, maybe we're predicting something here with, like, more alignment between candy brands and athletes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what's your favorite candy brand? Hmm, I've always liked.

Speaker 2:

Skittles and Jolly Ranchers. Yeah, what's your favorite candy brand? Hmm, I've always liked Skittles and Jolly Ranchers.

Speaker 1:

Oh, like, so, like to consume yeah.

Speaker 2:

I'm thinking like brand. Yeah, I mean. One of the ones that Comes to mind quickly is Sour Patch Kids. What about you?

Speaker 1:

I mean M&. Of the ones that comes to mind quickly is Sour Patch Kids.

Speaker 2:

What about you?

Speaker 1:

I mean M&M's is so iconic, Like their caricatures of their M&M's colors and stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't really like Sour Patch Kids. I'm more of a Fuzzy Peaches kind of guy, which I guess the brand. Would the brand be Maynard's?

Speaker 1:

I don't know, yeah, yeah, I feel like the the brands to beat in terms of like brand equity and like what you see is like M&M's and Sour Patch Kids yeah, and Skittles is big really I feel like I don't see anything. Oh well, yeah, taste the Rainbow. That's Skittles. Yeah, yeah, skittles is good.

Speaker 2:

Marshawn Lynch, the big Seattle Seahawks. They all end up being Seattle Seahawks players, but he was always about Skittles, like he'd be eating, have sunglasses in the press conference after the game and just be like dumping Skittles in his mouth, being like I love Skittles and like just answering reporters questions off topic, just talking about candy.

Speaker 1:

But right, yeah, crazy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but you're. You're not really a candy guy, you're a chip guy. I'm a savory guy, more than sweet, but there's a few candies I enjoy, for sure. Live wires was another one I really liked growing up. Whenever you'd go like, get your 5 cent candies at the corner store.

Speaker 1:

I'd never liked blue candy, but I liked blue, blue live wires I always felt blue food was just gross like blue food is gross, it just doesn't seem natural you know, food dye in general is pretty gross yeah people are starting to be allergic to food dye yeah, we had a kid in elena's like um, our daughter's birthday party was allergic to food dye and I was like what can I give you? But there's lots of stuff, especially in canada, that you can have without food dies. Not to get political, but make america healthy again yeah, okay anyway.

Speaker 1:

So I also want to mention that. Um, this kind of reminded me of this new launch that I saw this week, which is unwell hydration by alex cooper. It's her first like product that she's launched and I really like Of this new launch that I saw this week, which is Unwell Hydration by Alex Cooper. It's her first like product that she's launched and I really like the launch content. I know it's like mixed reviews Because Alex Cooper and you know whatever, but I actually feel like it's an opportunity, like it's hydration. It's water essentially, but water with electrolytes and, I think, a little caffeine and vitamin B, so it's like good for you kind of vibe. So it's like good for a hangover, good for focusing at work, good for just like working out. Like it kind of like hits all of her buckets, it's like a lifestyle personality. It's also backed by Nestle, so it's like a joint venture. Um, but yeah, I like to see it. I like people entering the beverage space. Smartwater was one of the top 10 growing brands of 2024.

Speaker 2:

But Smartwater doesn't have all that extra stuff, right, it doesn't?

Speaker 1:

But it's like it's just water. I don't know why it's called Smartwater. They must have something.

Speaker 2:

It's just a brand Like, it's probably like purified in some way, or whatever. I kind of like I don't know, this is just my like instinctual reaction but I kind of like this idea of enriched water in a way like adding ingredients that people might have deficiencies in, like vitamin B. It's a little weird to be doing caffeine Electrolytes, I think makes sense. It's kind of like what's that?

Speaker 1:

that, um, we use for the kids when they have pedialyte.

Speaker 2:

Pedialyte just like a unflavored way to get electrolytes. You know, because it's. It's always been funny to think about companies bottling water, which is like a natural resource, and selling it at a crazy you know there's been some water, that has been recalled that doesn't surprise me. I don't like, like fiji water was recalled.

Speaker 1:

Really, yeah, not to. Is it because of their packaging?

Speaker 2:

like? Was it like I don't know, plastic was like microplastics in the water or something like that yeah anyways it's. It's kind of an interesting idea because there's like a value add there. It's not just like taking a natural resource, packaging it and selling it for a crazy profit. Um, but I don't know, we'll see yeah, they found bacteria in the water.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, scary stuff. Yeah, I think there's this, this has potential. I'm excited about it. I like seeing like. I like seeing creators like create products like Emma Chamberlain's coffee is really interesting to me, and then Alex Cooper doing unwell hydration, like I just like the product side of it.

Speaker 2:

So and doesn't Jake Paul have like Prime or whatever?

Speaker 1:

And that was part of like her, like campaign launch. It was like all these bought, like Waters and energy drinks, are for men, there's nothing for women.

Speaker 2:

Go off.

Speaker 1:

We'll see. I know some people like it, some people hate it.

Speaker 2:

It's easy to just be a hater, to be a hater. But, I think it's a cool, a cool attempt, a cool angle. Hopefully it succeeds.

Speaker 1:

If you could create any product and, like you, had all the money in the world and all the marketing and, like every, no barriers, what kind of product would you make?

Speaker 2:

some sort of skincare product for men? Really yeah, I think there's a gap in the market still and there's the opportunity to like work with an expert, to like create a really great product and then from there, like once you have the product out, it's really just like about being great at brand and marketing.

Speaker 1:

Nice. Yeah, I think it'd be fun.

Speaker 2:

Sweet. And then you also have the opportunity to branch out from skincare to like fragrance and stuff like that as well care to like fragrance and stuff like that as well. Um, and I like the idea of something like that, as opposed to like apparel or like fashion, because you don't have to have a million different colors and skews and things like that. It's not you don't. You're not creating inventory, um, pain points for yourself. It's just like the product is the product.

Speaker 1:

Right, I would do a snack for kids Cool, that's like healthy but like good. Or a water for kids cool, that's like healthy but like good. Or a water for kids. I was just thinking like obviously I wouldn't give our kids water that has caffeine in it, but like a better version of pedialyte almost yeah that's like hydrating yeah, or like a different marketed like bottle, like a lot of these actual products are so similar but they're just marketed and packaged differently. So something for kids that could be cute yeah, that could be cute.

Speaker 2:

I think like most water brands are like twist caps which aren't ideal for kids, like you got a toddler in you could do it in a box like juice box for sure, I think there's like a solution that hasn't been created and literally every kid is always with a water bottle. Yeah, 100% yeah.

Speaker 1:

I like it. Let's ship them We'll see or our listeners or viewers can just run with it, and give us credit at some point, free idea or work with us.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 1:

Nice.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Well, thank you very much for joining us once again. Episode 12 of the big things podcast with Mike and Mitzi. Please do subscribe on YouTube. We've been getting some momentum there lately. Youtube is a new platform for us, but shout out to all our new subscribers, make sure you check us out on Instagram and TikTok as well and, like we always say, always say send us a DM. Let us know what you think, how you're feeling. If there's anything you want us to talk about or anything you want us to say less, say less.

Speaker 1:

It's time for the gong.

Speaker 2:

See you next time bit of a double gong there yeah, just ran it twice fast. Tgif, you ready for the weekend? Yes, I'm so ready.

Speaker 1:

All right, tgif you ready for the weekend? Yes, I'm so ready. All right, I'm ready.