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FGF: Happy Holidays

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and to celebrate, the #FGF team will be taking a break. But don’t fret, we’ll be back with more tips, insights and news on January 7.

Holiday Cocktails

During the holidays, you deserve fun and festive drinks like Christmosas and Jingle Juice. Whether you fancy champagne, vodka, rum, or tequila, we’ve got a drink for you.

Here are festive drink and mocktail recipes from award-winning bartenders around the world!

Top 10 Holiday Movies

  • Home Alone
  • Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
  • The Santa Clause
  • The Polar Express
  • Elf
  • The Santa Clause 2
  • Disney’s A Christmas Carol
  • Four Christmases
  • Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

Share your favorite holiday movie DM us.

Holiday Cookies

They’re not just for Santa! Everybody loves to cuddle up by the fireplace with hot cocoa in one hand and a freshly-baked cookie in the other. Whether you go right to a chocolate cookie or you’re more of a ginger snap fan, there’s a holiday cookie for everyone. It’s all about finding the right recipe.

Here are 90 easy holiday cookie recipes.

Happy Holidays!

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FGF: Corn-based jet fuel, sustainable media, snow is not white, and more!

Part 2: Fashion, Food + Gaming and Technology

Using a combination of influencer lists and social media platform research, the US Chamber of Commerce has identified the top five individual social media influencers across nine major industries. Here is a selection along with links to their top two channels as of December 2021.

Fashion

Food

Gaming and Technology

Stay tuned to next week’s FGF as we reveal the last 3 industries!

Managing Social Media Over the Holidays

It’s easy to get caught up in all the festivities and neglect your social media over the holidays. You don’t have to be always available, but it will pay off to focus on some key strategic aspects during the holiday period.

Here are some tips:

  • Keep your audience up to date on current offers, events, and, most importantly, your holiday hours.
  • Schedule posts to ensure that your brand keeps a social presence over the holidays.
  • Start a holiday competition on social as they can generate a great deal of engagement. Caption contests are a very easy way to engage your followers.
  • Include holiday hashtags. Read an article on their importance here.
  • Update your social media cover photos to include a festive feel.
  • Give your audience offers that can include discounts but keep in mind that you’ll get noticed by your target audience by sharing tips.
  • Support charities and highlight the efforts that you and your employees are making to show the human side of your company.

Need help with your social media? Contact us!

Attending NRF in NYC January 16-18, 2022?

Book a meeting with us!
“We have a proven track record – over 18 years of creating powerful PR that resonates with consumers and the media. Our team of PR professionals will work for you curating effective PR executions to support your brand initiatives.”

Linda Farha, President, Zenergy Communications

Book a meeting – Contact us!

What We’re Reading

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: Real-Life Puss in Boots

When it comes to the cutest cat ever, meet Pisco the cat, also known as the real-life Puss in Boots. With his ginger-tinged fur and large saucer eyes, this British Shorthair looks identical to the equally adorable, animated feline from the Shrek 2 movie. Pisco is a dead ringer for the famous character and is guaranteed to melt anyone’s heart.

Pisco has become a celebrity cat in his own right, with his own Instagram account garnering over 627K followers so far.

#FunFacts

84% of marketers are targeting Millennials in their social media strategy, followed by Gen X (52%), then Gen Z (22%). Only 14% of marketers target Baby boomers.

Source: HubSpot Blog Research

#IdeasInAction: Ideas we Love

Jet Flown by United Airlines Entirely Powered by 100% Plant-Based Fuel

A United Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare to D.C. Reagan National is nothing to write home about, but the 100 people who were aboard the flight were part of aviation history. They were on the first passenger aircraft flight ever to be powered by 100% plant-based jet fuel, designed by Virent, and derived from agricultural waste like corn cobs and stalks.

Known as “synthetic aromatic kerosene,” Virent’s fuel turns plant sugars into an oil through a multistep, patented process that reduces greenhouse gas emissions when burned in flight by around 50%. United Airlines will be partnering with Virent as it hopes to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050, and with the airline’s support Virent hopes to announce commercialization of the fuel in the coming months.

Sustainable Media

New global research from Microsoft Advertising, “The Rise of Sustainable Media”, shows that over the next 12 months, 59% of consumers worldwide intend to start boycotting brands who don’t take action on climate change. There is also almost unanimous support for companies to not only do the right thing for the planet, but to also to ‘show by example’. 91% of people want brands to demonstrate they are making positive choices about the planet and environment more explicitly – in everything they do.

Here are some highlights from the report:

  • Within a year, 3 out of 5 people will start to boycott brands who don’t act on climate change
  • Almost half of consumers prepared to switch brands and services for greener alternatives
  • 3 in 10 people are willing to pay more for greener alternatives of products and services

Read the full report.

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

#FunFact: Snow is not white!

It typically appears white because visible light is white. Frozen water particles are translucent, but the sunlight’s reflection gives snow its white appearance.

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FGF: Color of 2022, crayfish concrete, NRF, and more!

Top Five Social Media Influencers in Nine Industries

Part 1: Automotive, Beauty + Business

Using a combination of influencer lists and social media platform research, the US Chamber of Commerce has identified the top five individual social media influencers across nine major industries. Here they are along with links to their top two channels as of December 2021.

Automotive

Beauty

  • Huda Kattan (HudaBeauty): Makeup artist and blogger. Instagram YouTube 
  • James Charles Dickinson (James Charles): Celebrity makeup artist and vlogger. YouTube Instagram 
  • Jeffrey Lynn Steininger, Jr. (Jeffreestar): Makeup artist and cosmetics brand creator. YouTube Instagram
  • Rachel Levin (rclbeauty101): Celebrity makeup artist and vlogger. YouTube Instagram 
  • Bethany Mota: Lifestyle, makeup and hairstyle vlogger. YouTube Instagram

Business

  • Richard Branson: Founder of the Virgin Group. Twitter Instagram 
  • Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee): Investor and CEO of Vayner Media and Vayner Sports. Instagram Twitter 
  • Grant Cardone: Business author and serial entrepreneur. Facebook Instagram 
  • Martha Debayle: Radio/TV host and founder of MKK Group. Facebook Twitter 
  • Daymond John (TheSharkDaymond): “Shark Tank” investor and founder of FUBU. Instagram Twitter

Stay tuned to next week’s FGF as we reveal 3 more industries!

Pantone’s Color of Year for 2022

Pantone revealed Very Peri as its Color of the Year for 2022, a periwinkle blue shade that was created specifically for the honor, the first time the Color of the Year is not a pre-existing hue.

Watch the video.

Attending NRF? Book a meeting with us!

“Running from one meeting to another can really take it out of you! But it’s all worth it when you can sit down and chat with someone and interact in a way that wouldn’t be possible virtually.” Linda Farha, President, Zenergy Communications

Contact us to book a meeting at NRF!

What We’re Reading

#FGFStory: Dog Running from Police Car Has Internet in Stitches

A TikTok video showing a Yorkshire terrier running in the middle of a road before a police car with flashing lights starts to follow it has attracted more than 938,000 likes and 6.6 million views. The clip is set to Inner Circle’s 1987 track, “Bad Boys.”

Watch the video.

#FunFacts

63% of 18- to 34-year-olds trust influencer opinions more than messages from brands themselves, making influencer marketing a highly effective strategy to target Gen Z consumers.

For other age groups, influencer marketing is still relevant and valuable. Influencer marketing has grown 42% over the past year — worth $13.8 billion in 2021 — with 63% of businesses planning to increase their influencer marketing budget in the next year.

Sources: Influener Marketing and Sprout Social

#IdeasInAction: Ideas we Love

Meet the Sustainable Alternative to Concrete that Caught the Eye of Dior and Louis Vuitton.

What do an American crayfish, a Japanese weed, a French fashion label, and a British designer have in common? They are coming together to create a more sustainable bio-concrete. A project, commissioned by the Maison/0 graduate program at Central Saint Martins, an arts and design college based in London, is working with Dior and Louis Vuitton to create sustainable versions of building materials for use in their luxury stores.

Your GIFt from Zenergy

Zenergy is extending a 40% discount towards the creation of a personalized holiday GIF exclusively for our #FGF readers. Contact us!

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

#FunFact: Snow is not white!

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”

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FGF: Curate your online self, LinkedIn Live, YouTube top 10, and more!

#Predictions: Biggest Consumer Trends of 2022

Analysts at GWI have put together a new report predicting the biggest consumers trends hitting 2022 using a blend of behavioral, demographic and psychographic data.

Here is a highlight of the six trends they’ve identified:

  • Pursuit of purpose – outlooks towards work and living going forward
  • Inclusive beauty – the future of beauty and the expectations around it
  • Attention economy – new media habits and preferences
  • Curated online self – how people will present themselves online
  • New wave of wellbeing – how people will improve physical and psychological wellness
  • Future of cryptocurrency – the next step for this financial phenomenon

Read the full report.

#FunFact:

60% of marketers state that their main goal for influencer marketing is to drive sales. (Source: INMAR Intelligence)

#ProTip: When working with influencers, it is imperative to think through all the interactions the consumer will have with the influencer along the buying journey.

LinkedIn Offers Live, Newsletter Tools to Select Creators

LinkedIn is enhancing its Creator Mode with newsletter and amplification tools, and by giving select users the ability to tap LinkedIn Live solutions to reach more people within the app. According to LinkedIn, users are 20 times more apt to share a video across their platform than any other form of post. Additionally, live videos garner seven times more reactions than native ones and 24 times more comments.

Need help with your 2022 social media strategy? Contact us!

What We’re Reading

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: Spectacular Coral Event This Year Spawns Hope

And Billions of Babies for Great Barrier Reef

Oceanographers enjoyed a burst of color and life flowing forth in the annual spawning of coral from the Great Barrier Reef last week. Taking place after the November full moon, researchers witnessed a banner year that inspired hope for the revitalization of the world’s coral reefs.

At the iconic reef off the coast of Cairns, Queensland, different corals synchronized the release of their spawn, which look almost like the shaking of a giant snow globe.

Watch the video.

YouTube Reveals its Best of 2021 Lists

YouTube published details of the most popular content so far this year on its platform, spanning ads, videos, creators and music. The top three ads, in order, were “Alexa’s Body” for Amazon, “#TheGOATin5G” for T-Mobile, and HBO Max’s trailer for “Justice League,” while the top creator was MrBeast, who also created the top trending video, “I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive.

Ad Spending 2021: A Record Setting Year

Led by an unprecedented expansion in digital advertising, total worldwide ad spending will set a record for growth this year, with traditional and digital posting their highest rates of increase since eMarketer began tracking these categories internationally.

2021 is one for the record books and here is how eMarketer is predicting the year will close out:

  • Total worldwide ad spending increasing 19.9% to $780.59B.
  • Worldwide digital ad spending is expected to surge by 29.1% to $491.7B.
  • Display and search ad spending are both rebounding with gusto with growth at rates 30.8% and 29.3%, respectively.

Plan your 2022 media buy now! Contact us!

#IdeasInAction: Ideas we Love

Toronto is replacing air conditioners with deep lake water to cool hundreds of buildings. 180 Toronto buildings have ditched energy intensive air-conditioning in favor of cooling by pumping frigid waters from the depths of Lake Ontario through pipes in the walls and floors. Altogether the 54 million ft2 of real estate saves 90,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power 25,000 homes. Learn more about the Deep Lake Water Cooling system of Toronto. #IdeasInAction

Your GIFt from Zenergy

Zenergy is extending a 40% discount towards the creation of a personalized holiday GIF exclusively for our #FGF readers. Contact us!

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

“The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.”

– Fred Hornaday
Poet