Luminary Skincare · Branding & Social
Instagram has rolled out its Trial Reels feature to all creators worldwide, allowing content to be tested with non-followers before being shared to an existing audience. The tool gives brands a new way to validate creative performance without risking reach.
New research from Kantar reveals that 67% of Gen Z consumers prioritise supply chain transparency over visual branding when making purchase decisions. The shift is reshaping how FMCG brands allocate creative and content budgets.
Adobe has integrated Firefly 4's generative video tools directly into Premiere Pro, with the addition of Brand Style Libraries that allow agencies to maintain visual consistency across AI-generated content. The update is expected to significantly speed up video production workflows.
Brand consultancies are reporting a significant shift in FMCG packaging design away from ornamental quiet luxury towards functional minimalism — packaging that communicates utility and ingredients as prominently as aesthetics. Several major food and beverage brands are already redesigning SKUs ahead of summer launches.
TikTok Shop has reached £4 billion in UK gross merchandise value, making it the fastest-growing commerce platform in the country. Beauty, wellness, and food supplements are leading categories, presenting significant opportunities for DTC brands with strong content strategies.
Meta has launched a new AI creative scoring system that predicts ad performance before a campaign goes live, based on historical signals from over 12 million creative assets. Agencies and in-house teams can now access pre-flight creative feedback to reduce wasted spend.
A comprehensive study by Influencer Intelligence has found that earned media value across Instagram and TikTok has dropped 18% year-on-year as algorithmic changes continue to suppress organic reach. Brands and agencies are being urged to renegotiate influencer contract terms to reflect the new landscape.
Unilever has published its Q1 results, crediting a 31% revenue increase in its purpose-led portfolio — including brands like Dove and Seventh Generation — to sustained long-form content investment and community building strategies. The results are expected to prompt similar shifts across the FMCG sector.
Figma's new Brand Intelligence plugin scans design files to identify inconsistencies in typography, color, and spacing, then surfaces a prioritised list of fixes against a client's defined brand guidelines. Early testers report saving an average of 4 hours per week on QA and brand compliance reviews.
WARC's latest global advertising expenditure report forecasts UK ad spend to grow by 7.8% in 2026, driven by social video and retail media. Social media will account for 34% of all digital spend, with short-form video capturing the largest share of new investment.
A new wave of independent branding studios is using AI tools to compress the persona-building and market segmentation phases of strategy sprints from weeks to days. Studios report that faster insights are enabling longer, more refined creative exploration within the same retainer structures.
Edelman's latest Trust Barometer supplement reveals that consumer scepticism around sustainability claims has reached a 6-year high, with 58% of respondents saying they distrust environmental messaging from food and personal care brands. The research suggests a shift towards verification-based communication rather than broad claims.