Arms are heavy, pasta sauce is ready 🎵

Hi folks,

Eminem has been busy in the kitchen preparing a new release – “Mom’s Spaghetti” is now available in a jar. Stick it in the fridge alongside Kelis’ milkshake, drop it like it’s hot sauce, and the whipped C.R.E.A.M.

Scroll down to read about pre-owned luxury, protein, and a real-life Pokédex.

Stats to power your week

🛍️ As November rolls around, Black Friday and the potential deals to be had may be on your mind. It may come as a surprise, but Gen Z are the generation most likely to shop in-store on Black Friday this year, with 40% planning to shop mostly or exclusively in-person. So experiential pop-ups might just be a crowd-pleaser. GWI Zeitgeist 

🎄 Baby boomers may be the generation least likely to plan to shop in-store this Black Friday, but brands may be able to tempt them into stores this holiday season with a bit of festive cheer. In the US they’re 59% more likely to enjoy listening to holiday music, so tactical Mariah Carey deployment does matter. K-Pop loving Gen Z, though, may need something more contemporary. GWI USA

📱 Following in the footsteps of Shein, Temu is the latest Chinese shopping app to break out. But how exactly are the two platforms different? By comparing current Temu users with consumers who used Shein when it broke through, we get some good clues. Compared to their more fashionista counterparts on the other app, Temu users are much more likely to be over 45, live on their own, or be unemployed. GWI Zeitgeist (UK)

💰 The last few years have brought a lot of challenges, and as a result Americans’ priorities are shifting. With economies around the world being unstable, it’s no wonder a focus on making money has grown the most in importance over the last year (+9%). GWI USA

🥩 Food preferences are always changing, but the biggest change in preference since 2020 in the US is the number who say that high protein qualities in food are very important to them, moving from 9th place to 3rd place this year. It’s now even more important to Americans than finding “healthy versions of products”. GWI USA

What’s on our radar

Forget Y2K, “Gen X Soft Club” is the new nostalgia aesthetic en vogue. For best results: put your leathers on, pop some Moby on a Walkman, and take a moody stroll through the neon-lit streets of an unspecified metropolis. 

Tinder has introduced Matchmaker, a feature allowing friends and family to vet a user’s dates, and adding a whole new meaning to setting up your friend's love match. 

Companies like Meta and Character.AI are calling for professional actors to help them create life-like avatars with expressive personalities. And a new startup is paying users to come up with virtual influencers (or “Entities”). 

AI is for kids too: Amazon is indulging their curiosity with a new feature, “Explore with Alexa”, while a London product studio has created a real-life Pokédex.

Joining Lapse and Wizz in the viral Gen Z app bandwagon is Daylyy, a new photo-sharing platform. As with BeReal it’s keen to promote its lack of filters, but our research suggests this won’t be the main pull…

The latest meat trend is offal. Tough times call for cheap cuts, and we see similar patterns in our research – the number of premium meat buyers in the UK is down 11% since 2021.

Chart of the week

Among pre-owned shoppers, the opportunity to find unique, rare, vintage, or timeless pieces is the top factor when browsing secondhand luxury goods. Companies selling pre-owned goods could benefit from highlighting these differentiating qualities in their messaging, as secondhand consumers are more likely to be on the lookout for something that matches their interests over a good deal.

There are generational differences to bear in mind though. Gen Z stand out for wanting to curate a distinctive wardrobe and express their personal style, whereas for Gen X it’s about saving some cash. 

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