The real PM battleground, Reel talk from Instagram, and greasy spoons make silky tunes.

How the PM candidates are using social media in their campaigns

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are battling it out in the swing seat of social media as the campaign for new Prime Minister ramps up. The candidates have taken very different approaches to win over the key political battleground, creating a war between Regular Rishi - nothing elitist or upper class about that guy - and Trustworthy Truss - been there, done that, deserve a job.

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Masterminded by Cass Horowitz, Sunak’s new strategy is so slick that you’ll slip right off it and so glossy that you’ll watch yourself fall.  It uses a lot of fancy graphics, clever taglines, candid, ‘off-the-cuff’ footage and parody to turn Sunak - sorry, Rishi - into a relatable candidate who is as much one of us as he is one of them. 

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A point that is reinforced by the origin story video that he used to launch his leadership campaign on Twitter, in which he walked about how his mother came to the UK in the early 1960s ‘armed with hope for a better life’.

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Meanwhile, Truss’s strategy, led by Reuben Solomon -  the former head of digital at the Conservative party - focuses on her merit for the role as a skilled politician. It’s safer, more posed, generic, and showcases her time and success as a foreign secretary, with very little about her background or personal life. 

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In many ways, it plays more strategically towards the Conservative party membership, who don’t necessarily need to like their leader, but they do need to respect them.

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Instagram merges all videos in Reels format

Instagram has announced that it is merging videos and reels on the platform. In the coming weeks, all new videos shorter than 15 minutes will be shared as reels, as it moves to have only one video format on the platform. 

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“Since reels offer a more immersive and entertaining way to watch and create videos on Instagram, we’re bringing these creative tools and the full-screen experience to your video posts, too,” it wrote; while head of Instagram Adam Mosseri added; “It’s no secret that we’ve been trying to make Instagram do better by video. We want Instagram to be simple and easy to use, so videos moving forward are going to be reels.

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As well as merging reels and videos into a single format, Instagram will also be expanding its remix features, adding more reel templates and introducing a dual camera, all designed to coincide with the shift.

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The merging of formats will also mean that, if you have a public account, your new videos (reels) will be eligible to be recommended and seen by more people on Instagram and will be consolidated under a single tab on your profile page to create one home for all videos content.

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Spotify Greasy Spoon

There are few pleasures in life quite as satisfying as a Full English breakfast and Spotify knows it. 

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The music streaming service opened a pop-up greasy spoon cafe in Shoreditch, named ‘Greasy Tunes’ (clever), in the hopes of bringing fans and creators closer together. Guests were invited to listen to interviews, podcasts and performances from established artists, as well as up-and-coming stars, all while tucking into English breakfast at its best.

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They also received a “Greasy Tunes” playlist after visiting the cafe, which showed artwork by up-and-coming illustrators and painters through an exhibition on the walls.

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“With the new generation of listeners turning to audio more than ever, the audio streaming platforms today face a new challenge - understanding and connecting with Gen Z audiences. We know that Gen Z are looking for more than just a lean-back listening experience: they look for brands that allow for lean-forward engagement and emotional connection,” said head of consumer marketing for Spotify UK and Ireland, Olga Puzanova.

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According to Spotify’s Culture Next Trends Report, Gen Z played 16 billion more minutes than millennials in 2021, with more than 70% of them using audio to better understand themselves.