KIMP’s Picks 22nd November: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

Does FOMO hit you hard every Friday? Well, not anymore–KIMP’s Picks got you covered. 

KIMP’s Picks is our weekly social media round-up post. One where we bring to you all the share-worthy posts from brands and creators from around the world. This is where we shine the spotlight on the latest AI innovations, marketing masterstrokes, and social media algorithm updates. We’re your go-to source for inspiration, insights, and actionable tips to elevate your online presence.

In the Marketing Realm 

Google revolutionizes in-store shopping with AI 

Google is set to redefine the in-store shopping experience with AI-powered features. Firstly there was the revamped Google Shopping experience announced with a lot of AI-powered updates to personalize the online shopping journey. 

Now Google has announced some refinements that will bring such levels of personalization to offline shopping experiences as well. 

Powered by advancements in AI image recognition and the Shopping Graph (which includes over 45 billion product listings) Google Lens will now help shoppers in-store by offering real-time product insights, pricing comparisons, and shopper reviews. This feature is designed to help consumers make more confident purchasing decisions, particularly in categories like beauty products, toys, and electronics.

In addition to this, Google Maps is introducing product search capabilities. Therefore, users will be able to find nearby stores selling specific items. This feature, launching this holiday season, will streamline the process of locating in-demand products across local retailers.

Marketers need to be aware of and be ready to leverage tools like this to improve local visibility and drive in-store purchases. 

Google Ads recap – a year filled with AI-powered innovations 

Google Ads has experienced a transformative year, with a focus on AI-driven solutions to enhance performance and reach. They recently shared a post highlighting the key updates from 2024. 

From enhanced AI-powered measurement and data analysis tools to more flexible ad formats for advertisers to explore, tools to optimize campaign performance and so much more – a lot has changed with Google Ads. 

For brands and marketers, these updates represent a significant opportunity to optimize campaigns, increase ROI, and foster deeper connections with audiences by harnessing the power of AI and data-driven insights. 

Google Lookalike Segments 

One area that most brands struggle with is targeting – you do not want your budget to be wasted on the wrong audience. That’s where Google’s latest announcement comes in. In a recent post, Google discussed their Lookalike Segments. 

Lookalike segments are groups of people who share similar characteristics with your existing customers. By analyzing your first-party data (customer lists, website/app activity, YouTube engagement), Google can identify potential new customers who match these traits.

This helps with a better targeted reach thus ensuring the optimal use of advertising budgets. 

Holiday checklist for marketers 

With the holiday season around the corner, it’s not just shoppers who are in a state of frenzy but also marketers trying to gain the attention of these holiday shoppers. So, Google shared a handy checklist for marketers for the holiday season. This is particularly about the changes to be made to the Google Business Profile which has now become a crucial digital storefront for businesses to consider. 

The post talks about adjusting the working hours based on changes coming during the holidays. Google also encourages business owners to create posts highlighting upcoming holiday promotions and some images capturing the previous holiday sale season. Overall, this is a handy checklist for business owners looking to wrap up some last-minute holiday marketing strategies. 

Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Holiday ads receive mixed response 

‘Tis the season to be merry for holiday ads have started pouring in. And brands like Coca-Cola are the ones that consistently make headlines with their heartwarming ads year after year. However, with AI having brought in a lot of changes this past year, Coca-Cola has jumped on the bandwagon and released AI-generated ads for Christmas.

These ads do carry the charm and visual imagery usually associated with Coca-Cola and Christmas. Like the Coca-Cola trucks arriving signaling the dawn of the holiday season and Santa Claus bringing the special delivery of Coca-Cola. While this preserves the decades-old ties between Coca-Cola and Santa Claus, not everyone is happy with the ad. 

While some highlight the brand’s bold move to embrace the latest tech, many are disappointed with the lack of authenticity in advertisements like these. Given that ads from brands like Coca-Cola have become crucial components of the holiday season, such a move from Coca-Cola did not receive the warmest welcome. 

This comes as a reminder to brands to embrace AI but with caution and in ways such that their unique personality and customer sentiments are not affected. 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

The future of Search 

Google recently shared some interesting insights about the future of Search. The post delves into the need for brands to focus on creating content for people rather than for search engines and stay on top by making the most of AI Overviews. 

The post also highlights the need for using visuals in your content and prioritizing image SEO. Finally, the post also covers the need for creating content tailored to every stage of the buyer’s journey. 

In the Design Realm 

Ad design inspiration from Guinness’ holiday ad 

Just a pint of beer – but a fresh perspective. That’s all it takes to spread the holiday cheer. This is what the below ad from Guinness proves. By turning the classic pint into a snowglobe the brand manages to capture the magic of Christmas. 

The ad here works because it deploys the most common Christmas symbols like snowglobes, snowflakes, and pine trees. Hence it demonstrates how symbolism can be used to create simple yet relatable ads both in static and motion graphics formats. 

Memorability in brand mascot design 

Microsoft recently shared a post highlighting that their once famous mascot Clippit is turning 28. Makes some computer users feel old, no doubt! But what truly matters here is the memorability of this mascot. And this post also comes as a reminder of the impact of mascot designs in branding. 

Let’s face it – a lot of Windows users back then had a love-hate relationship with this mascot. But the idea was simple and the design truly was memorable. If you are used to using Windows computers since the 90’s we’re sure you instantly recognized the mascot, didn’t you? 

This memorability comes from the simplicity of Clippit and its quirky personality. These are excellent traits to draw inspiration from when you design your own brand mascot. 

Jaguar’s rebranding lands the brand in hot water

Car brands are moving toward an electric future. To embrace the future-focused approach many of them have rebranded and introduced cleaner and more modern logos to appear greener. Not all of them have been received well. And the next brand to join this league is Jaguar. 

The post here introduces the new logo. It has lost its iconic Jaguar symbol and the logo carries a more casual and contemporary feel rather than representing luxury which is the one main trait associated with the brand. 

The brand has been receiving a lot of backlash on social media for their redesigned logo. It appears like this redesign will prove to be an inspiration for designers and marketers teaching them what not to do when rebranding. 

A lot of users on social media have been expressing their disappointment. The post below from Elon Musk is just a sample of the kind of negative response that Jaguar’s refreshed identity has been receiving. 

BERO’s chic brand identity 

Looking for brand design inspiration? Then The Brand Identity is a great website to check out. Recently, they discussed the unique brand identity of Tom Holland’s premium non-alcoholic beer brand BERO. 

The design reiterates the need for leveraging symbolism in brand designs. For instance, the fish symbol on the can references Kingston upon Thames crest, a nod to Holland’s hometown and personal story.

Overall, the branding draws from traditional beer storytelling, such as crests and flags, while maintaining a contemporary aesthetic.

One of the distinct traits here is that the product was created as a premium offering, not a “consolation prize” for those avoiding alcohol. The identity captures this idea accurately by representing the elegance. 

In the AI Realm 

AlphaQubit: Google’s AI Breakthrough in Quantum Error Correction

Google AI has made a significant stride in quantum computing with their launch of an AI-powered decoder, AlphaQubit. This innovative tool can accurately identify and correct errors in quantum computers. Undoubtedly, this is a crucial step towards building reliable quantum machines.

According to Google, AlphaQubit demonstrates state-of-the-art accuracy in error detection, outperforming existing decoders by reducing errors by up to 30%.

This advancement has the potential to unlock the full power of quantum computing, enabling breakthroughs in various fields, including drug discovery, materials science, and cryptography.

Google Gemini Advanced Gets a Memory

A few months ago, OpenAI announced the memory feature in ChatGPT. The idea was to personalize the experience for users by allowing ChatGPT to capture details from conversations. Google has joined the race now by introducing a memory function in Gemini. 

Introduced in Gemini Advanced the memory feature will allow the tool to remember the user’s interests, preferences, and other crucial details. This will help optimize the responses and the overall experience for users. 

The most popular AI tools 

Statista shared a thought-provoking chart comparing the most popular AI tools used by the public in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The chart shows how some tools have become more popular and some have gone down on the list. What truly stands out is the fact that ChatGPT has continued to top the charts all three years. 

Notably, DALL-E seems to have lost its charm whereas, Google Gemini and Meta AI have continued to rise in popularity as well. 

OpenAI has announced some updates coming to GPT-4o

OpenAI has announced an update to its advanced language model, GPT-4o. The latest version boasts improved creative writing capabilities. This means that the model can now generate more natural, engaging, and relevant text. 

Additionally, GPT-4o is now better equipped to process uploaded files, providing deeper insights and more comprehensive responses. 

This update is available to all ChatGPT users subscribed to the platform’s paid tiers, ensuring a smoother and more advanced AI interaction experience.

OpenAI announces Advanced Voice for ChatGPT on desktop 

OpenAI has announced the expansion of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode to the web, offering paid subscribers a more interactive way to engage with the platform. Previously exclusive to mobile, this feature allows users to have real-time, voice-based conversations directly through their browser.

The update, available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, enables users to click the Advanced Voice icon next to the input prompt to start voice interactions. Powered by GPT-4o, the feature can interpret speech nuances, such as tone and speed, creating more natural and responsive conversations.

ChatGPT on macOS can now work with third-party apps 

OpenAI has rolled out significant updates to the desktop versions of ChatGPT for macOS and Windows. The objective here is to allow users to better streamline their workflows. 

Firstly, in the macOS version, ChatGPT Plus and Teams subscribers can now open third-party applications such as VS Code, Xcode, Terminal, and iTerm2 directly from the app. This integration is especially valuable for developers. With this integration users no longer have to copy-paste code between ChatGPT and other platforms. 

While third-party app integration is currently exclusive to macOS, OpenAI plans to extend this feature to Windows PC users soon. 

Anthropic announces Prompt Improver

Anthropic has introduced a new Prompt Improver feature in the Anthropic Console. This is designed to refine and optimize prompts for better performance with their AI model, Claude. 

Given that prompting is one of the areas that most AI users struggle with features like this one can truly enhance the experience and help users use the tool to its full potential. 

By leveraging techniques like chain-of-thought reasoning, the Prompt Improver automatically enhances existing prompts. 

Additionally, it simplifies the process of adapting prompts that were originally crafted for other AI models. This makes these prompts more effective for use with Claude. This new tool aims to improve the quality and relevance of responses, enhancing user experience and productivity.

Perplexity launches Shopping Hub to compete with Google

Tools like Perplexity shook the firm stance that traditional search engines like Google hold. With generative search becoming the norm Google has also been expanding its offerings continuously improving search. Amidst this, Perplexity has not been lagging either. A few weeks ago, there was news about ads on Perplexity. And now they have announced Perplexity Shopping. 

Said to function similar to Google’s Shopping hub, Perplexity Shopping is designed to allow users to search for products and receive detailed information including product images and pricing all without leaving the platform. 

Additionally, to enhance the experience, Perplexity is also bringing the “Buy With Pro” option that allows users to shop directly and also enjoy free shipping. This is a unique AI commerce experience, the first of its kind.  

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes

Instagram to soon let users reset content recommendations 

Do you feel that your content recommendations on Instagram are not on point? Then the below news from Meta is for you. 

Meta is testing a new feature that allows Instagram users, including teens, to reset the content recommendations they see across Explore, Reels, and Feed. This feature provides a fresh start by clearing personalized recommendations. And yes, these recommendations will gradually repopulate based on user interactions. Additionally, users can review and unfollow accounts that no longer align with their interests.

One of the reasons why Meta is working on this update is their recent work on making Instagram a safe place for teens. Accordingly, the update emphasizes age-appropriate content for teens, building on existing tools like Teen Accounts, which limit sensitive content. 

The company has also introduced other ways for users to shape their Instagram experience, such as liking or hiding posts and managing a Favorites list. 

TikTok anticipates record-breaking sales this festive season 

TikTok is predicting its biggest retail season yet, driven by a surge in LIVE shopping sessions. Accordingly, they are projecting a 58% increase in ad spend from retail and ecommerce brands in the UK for Q4 2024. 

Over 200,000 businesses are now active on TikTok Shop. Moreover, the platform also highlighted that the daily LIVE shopping sessions are up 64% from last year, and sales increasing by 93%. 

The platform’s unique approach to “discovery commerce” and real-time engagement is reshaping the shopping experience. This is because these features offer consumers a more interactive and personalized way to purchase during key shopping moments, such as Christmas.

TikTok enhances marketing with Symphony Creative Studio 

TikTok recently announced their new AI video generation tool, Symphony Creative Studio. With this, the platform aims to allow advertisers to use simple prompts, product information and URLs to instantly generate videos including those featuring digital avatars. 

In addition to this, users can also easily and quickly translate and dub videos in several languages to target different markets. This one also comes with a video editor where advertisers can boost existing videos by adding captions, music effects, and more. 

You can now eliminate background noise in calls on Messenger 

There was a time when only a few apps could handle calls over the internet. With apps like Messenger and WhatsApp introducing easier calling options the trend is now more popular than ever. Recently, X also announced the launch of voice and video calls on the platform. 

Amidst this, to keep up with the rising competition, Meta has announced improvements to the call option on Messenger. In the below post, they announced that they are adding an option to cut down background noise in calls on Messenger. Similar to the Voice Isolation option on iPhones you can now switch between Wide Spectrum and Voice Isolation options on Messenger calls as well. 

A Final Word…

In the fast-paced social media realm, staying in the loop feels overwhelming. However, there are some updates you just cannot miss. And KIMP’s Picks ensures that you do not miss them. So, stay tuned and we’ll be back soon with our next edition.