Google unveils Gemini
State of Play: Google has released Gemini, a new "multimodal" AI model that learns from text, audio, video, and images rather than just text like ChatGPT. This suggests AI progress will accelerate thanks to new techniques combining large language models with other AI approaches.
2024 is set to be an exciting year for AI – for learnings around navigating change, see our recent Insights piece on managing reputation in the age of AI.
Why it matters: Moving beyond the limitations of today's models would enable AI systems to better understand the real world, with big implications for digital products. It signals that despite ChatGPT's viral success, development is already moving on beyond the current paradigm, with both Google and OpenAI looking at bolder ideas to make further progress in AI capabilities.
Reddit looking to IPO?
State of Play: Social media platform Reddit is reportedly reconsidering plans to go public, with sources indicating it could list on the stock market as early as Q1 2024. This comes after Reddit previously filed IPO paperwork in late 2021 before shelving its offering.
Why it matters: An IPO could value Reddit at up to $15 billion. Its plans come on the heels of e-commerce giant Shein also filing to go public, signaling optimism about a 2023 tech IPO window. Reddit has previously made controversial moves to boost profitability, notably its API monetization, which led to a lengthy boycott among its communities (subreddits), but which may well make it more attractive to investors. If the platform does proceed with going public, it will be particularly important to watch how it develops its advertising offering.
X Wants SMEs to advertise on the platform
State of Play: Following advertiser boycotts and Elon Musk attacking major brands, X is speeding up efforts to attract smaller businesses to its platform to stabilize ad revenues. This includes outsourcing some ad sales and improving its self-serve ad platform.
FGS Global’s Capital in Context newsletter covered what the boycott at X and Musk’s reaction means for advertising on the platform and the key questions for corporates to answer before making any decisions – read about it here.
Why it matters: The loss of big brand ads and Musk's controversial leadership are raising financial stability questions. X is unusually reliant on large advertisers for its revenues, compared to the likes of Meta.
Shifting to court smaller advertisers could help offset revenue declines and help the company weather the storm to a degree, but part of the reason X was so reliant on large advertisers was that it lacked robust, granular targeting that small advertisers rely on – whether this move toward SMEs will see it rejig its advertising offering remains to be seen.
TikTok investing $1.5B to restart e-commerce in Indonesia
State of Play: After Indonesia banned social media e-commerce, forcing TikTok to close its TikTok Shop, TikTok has now agreed to acquire a majority stake in Indonesian ecommerce giant Tokopedia for $1.5 billion. This would allow it to relaunch e-commerce operations in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
Why it matters: TikTok is aiming to tap into Indonesia's rapidly growing, nearly $160 billion e-commerce market and monetize its 125 million local users. The partnership will be piloted under close government consultation to ensure compliance with regulations. The move highlights TikTok’s global ambitions and willingness to aggressively tap into emerging markets, as well as the regulatory hurdles social media giants are likely to face as they look to navigate e-commerce.
Rockstar Games releases trailer for GTA VI, breaking the internet
State of Play: Game development studio Rockstar Games released the long-awaited trailer for the upcoming iteration of its GTA series, breaking records on YouTube and triggering huge discussions among the gaming community, cultural writers, and beyond.
Why it matters: GTA is an iconic franchise at the intersection of gaming, online culture, and entertainment. When GTA VI is released in 2025, it is poised to again redefine these worlds with sprawling real-world detail and dark humor. The trailer highlights the transcendent power of some gaming franchises to break out as global pop culture phenomena and offers a master class in momentum building over a long period.
Campaign Highlight - Sun Warning Flag
What's the Campaign: German ad agency Heimat launched a campaign with German Cancer Aid to raise skin cancer awareness, introducing special "sun warning flags" at beaches to alert people when UV radiation becomes dangerous. This flag system has been adopted more widely following the campaign.
Why We Chose It: Skin cancer causes 8x more deaths than drowning, but awareness remains low. Creative advocacy campaigns have the potential to spark large-scale change through simple but visual innovation that drives easy recognition and recall.
