Trend Q&A: Navigating HFSS laws and more

Influencer fatigue, marketing high-fat foods and making cryptocurrencies the norm. That and more on today’s episode. 

Want to know what’s next? Listen to the show where our experts from around the globe unpack your biggest challenges. This week, WGSN’s President and CEO Carla Buzasi takes us to London and New York. Hear from the friendly faces of our Insight and Food & Drink teams.

Watch the full episode below or read on for highlights of this episode:

Q: Having built our brand on influencer marketing, we’re now starting to worry about the effects of influencer fatigue. Is this a genuine issue? And where do we go from here? 
“The pandemic exacerbated how people are increasingly tired of the hyper-manicured artificial look. So this ‘diet tea’ era is over and we’re seeing a shift towards TikTok. Learning is a big thing on the platform – people actually rally around creators that teach them something and the video-first format means you can’t overlay the manicured look, but there’s also an expectation that you’ll be dynamic.”
– Joe McDonnell, Head of Insight, WGSN
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Q: What do we need to know about the UK’s incoming law about restricting the marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS)? 
“The HFSS laws are designed to tackle the sale and advertising of less healthy foods, such as chocolate and crisps, to curb the rising obesity levels in the country, especially among children. For retailers, this means store entrances, aisle ends, checkouts and online equivalents must be HFSS-free zones by October 2022, when the laws come into play. Bulk promotions on pre-packaged items such as multi-buy offers will also be restricted.”
– Tom Gatehouse, Strategist, WGSN Food & Drink
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Q: Looking at payment options, should we realistically consider cryptocurrency for future spend? 
“In August 2021, cryptocurrency topped $2tn worth of market value for the first time and in November 2021, Collins Dictionary named “NFT” its Word of the Year. NFTs can only be purchased with cryptocurrency, so savvy brands will get ahead of this metaverse movement and embrace Web3 by installing a cryptocurrency payment method, or even establishing a crypto reward system that gets customers more acclimated as cryptocurrency becomes adopted at mass.”
– Quentin Humphrey, Strategist, WGSN Insight
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