Gaming is now a key social platform according to Australians
In recent news, a new report reveals that gaming has become a vital source connection and social interaction for Australians amid the pandemic, brands are given insight into how to leverage neuroscience-backed audio for more impactful campaigns, and Reddit launches a new Predictions feature.
Gaming emerges as a key social platform for Australians
The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association’s (IGEA) Digital Australia 2022 report revealed more than 75% of Australians who played video games used them to connect with others during the pandemic. One in five (22%) players said they communicated through video games with others and more than a third of adults said they met friends through playing video games.
The report conducted by Bond University established that video games as not only a vital source of entertainment during the pandemic, but a means for connection, communication, social interaction, education and comfort.
Study reveals how brands can better grab attention with neuroscience-backed audio
New research from ARN’s Neuro Lab gives ARN’s commercial partners and advertisers the insight they need to use audio effectively within ad creative and campaigns to fuel long-term brand success by creating neurologically strong and emotionally meaningful connections with consumers. The study looked specifically at how audio affects attention, attitude, memory, engagement, and arousal in the minds of consumers and how to best use audio alongside other marketing channels.
It revealed how small changes to audio can lead to significant increases in the connections consumers have with the content and brand messaging—for example, for gender-neutral brands (ie. with no specific gender skew), a female voice can spark 15 per cent more brain activity than a male voice.
New research unpacks the rise and benefits of ‘Commerce Content’
New research by impact.com has revealed several key drivers for ‘commerce content’ and the massive revenue opportunity it presents for digital publishers and brands. The reports found that brands who use commerce content benefit from increased brand awareness (73 per cent), improved customer acquisition (55 per cent) and revenue growth (49 per cent), with the most common form of commerce content being product reviews.
The research signals to brands–especially those in the retail space–the impact this kind of content can have on consumers, with a direct link back to brand profitability.
New community guidelines release from TikTok
TikTok has released its Q2 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, which has revealed that, for April to June 2021, 81.518 million videos were removed globally for either violating TikTok’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.
To better enforce its policies going forward the company said they regularly train and guide their team on how to differentiate between, for instance, appropriation and slurs or satire and bullying, the company has also hired policy experts in civil rights, equity, and inclusion.
Reddit launches new Predictions feature
Social media giant Reddit has introduced Predictions, its first update to the site in two years. As the name suggests, Predictions will allow users to predict the outcome of an event or conversation.
The new feature is piggybacking off the platform’s Polls feature, which piloted in 2020. Polls allows users to flex their knowledge of a topic by joining in the polls. The users are rewarded with ‘bet’ and ‘earn’ tokens based on their successful predictions.