As philosopher Lana Del Rey once said: “Be young, be dope, be proud”…and BeReal.

With more than 50 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play—and other platforms like TikTok and Instagram replicating its features—the Gen Z photo-sharing app has had a big year.

Unlike other social media platforms, BeReal’s feed doesn’t have any ads or suggested posts, which is perhaps why brand adoption has appeared slow. However, brands on the platform told us it’s a good place to form direct connections with loyal customers and convey brand authenticity, even if it doesn’t have some of the features of other social apps.

BeMerry and bright

Ahead of the holidays, Logitech became one of the latest companies to join the app, using it to promote its annual “12 Days of Deals” campaign to a Gen Z audience.

• As part of the campaign,  Erika Priestly, Logitech’s VP of global marketing, told us the company posted pictures featuring Elf on the Shelf next to products curated for its Gen Z audience.
• The hope is to drive email sign-ups and purchases on Logitech’s website, she said.

The limit…does exist

One thing about BeReal: It doesn’t have click-through or measurement capabilities for CTAs. Priestly said that’s led to her team thinking about measurement and value beyond metrics like click-through rates, focusing on things like brand health.

Another limitation of BeReal’s is its friend limit, which means only a select number of customers can see and engage with the brand’s posts. Priestly did not share how many friends Logitech has on the platform, but said it hadn’t reached the limit.

Given its limitations, Tressie Lieberman, VP of digital marketing and off-premise at Chipotle, told us she thinks of BeReal as complementary to the brand’s other social media accounts.

Keep reading here.—KH

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Natalie Uribe is an account director at Deutsch LA, where she’s worked with clients like Nintendo, Hulu, and Bayer. Throughout her career, she’s worked at agencies including Alma and TBWA\Chiat\Day.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? Sometimes I’ve said that my work is a bit of a balancing act between two roles: a creative and a business marketing role. In my creative role, I work as part of an ad agency creative team that is responsible for developing and overseeing cool creative campaigns for my clients that people can see in the form of ads in TV, social media, and even billboards. But the other side of my job is more business marketing, where I work closely with my clients as their advertising partner, that helps them ensure that their marketing goals are maximized through creative campaigns.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? Hard to choose, but this year I’d say the work we did to launch Nintendo’s newest Switch Sports game. I played a lot of Nintendo as a kid (and specifically played a lot of Wii Sports with my sister), so this was such a fun mix of creative nostalgia to have a chance to work on.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Snickers: You’re not you when you’re hungry. I still quote this line in conversation. It’s so relatable to me. The hanger is real!

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I love and enjoy all kinds of animation. One day, I’d love to publish a children’s graphic novel—it’s still too under wraps to divulge any more.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? The incorporation of diverse cultures like Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans in mainstream marketing. We make up such a large percentage of the US, yet so often, when faced with the opportunity to include this kind of diversity beyond casting, marketers say the inclusion feels random or prefer to dismiss it. It’s refreshing and awesome when I see it pop up more often, so I’m optimistic about the future.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? The podcast Marketing School with Neil Patel & Eric Sui—it’s snackable learnings for even the shortest of commutes!

Retail Brew’s Erin Cabrey recently talked to Taco Bell CEO Mark King about how the brand fared in 2022, as well as what’s on its plate for 2023. You can read the two-part interview here and here. Read what he had to say about the chain’s Mexican Pizza relaunch below.

Because of the genius way the marketing team relaunched it all on TikTok, with Doja Cat and Dolly Parton, with the musical, and all of the things that made Mexican Pizza come to life, I think it was just a great example of what we call “restless creativity”—take something and do it in a completely new way and create a new life for it. And it not only had big sales impact, but I think it had amazing brand impact.

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Book it: 10 marketing books to buy for yourself (or other marketers) this holiday season.

Bye, bye, bye: Here are five industry trends that might lose steam in the new year.

Inspo: Check out some of the most creative campaigns from 2022.

The holiday season is one of the most significant moments for retailers, bringing in nearly $800 billion annually.

But what happens after the holiday rush? Many businesses enter a so-called “post-holiday slump,” which can pose a serious financial challenge if they’re not prepared to combat it.

Don’t let that happen to you. Check out Retail Brew’s guide for quick tips on finding sales success in the new year.

Download it here.

The Hallmark Channel has won over women viewers for years with its seasonal Countdown to Christmas programming block. In what year did Countdown first begin airing?

1. 1983
2. 1995
3. 2000
4. 2009

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Amazon owns almost everything—and that’s great for its TV shows
• What could ChatGPT mean for copywriters?
• How Cariuma aims to become ‘part of the DNA’ of its sponsors