With recent campaigns from brands like Instagram and Subway, you don’t want to miss the latest marketing and advertising news this week. Catch up on it all in our Weekly Must Reads.

Instagram’s New Brand Campaign

In a new brand campaign video, Instagram declares that your identity is “yours to make.” The ad explores how many young people see the world through the lens of their Instagram account, staying hyper-focused on what their friends or idols are sharing. However, in the video, Instagram encourages their users to take a different approach and use their platform to shape and communicate who they truly are.

For Instagram, the campaign and message couldn’t come at a better time. Just last week, the Wall Street Journal released a report of Facebook’s own internal research, which found that Instagram made 32 percent of teenage girls feel worse about their bodies. According to a spokesperson for Facebook, the findings demonstrate the platform’s commitment to understanding the challenges its users face, and “informs all the work we do to help those experiencing these issues.” Find out more about the report and Instagram’s campaign here:https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/instagram-ad-says-identity-yours-make/2367981

Gatorade’s Social Squad

Gatorade is the latest brand to dip its toes in the TikTok water. The sports drink brand recently partnered with nine athletes to form its new Social Squad, a group of sports-focused TikTok creators with impressive athletic skills and highly engaged followers. These creators have already started posting videos playing their favorite sports, giving tips, and encouraging followers to participate in fun challenges. Each Social Squad member’s videos will also be cross-promoted on Gatorade’s own TikTok account.

Earlier this year, Gatorade first launched another sports-focused video series, “Skills & Drills,” with the video platform Hudl. The series featured advice for young student-athletes from various sports stars, including Jayson Tatum and George Kittle. Learn more about how Gatorade is taking their video strategy to the mainstream TikTok platform here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/gatorade-recruits-student-athlete-creators-for-tiktok-sports-series/606610/

Eat Fresh with a Brand Refresh

This summer, you may have noticed some new changes to your neighborhood Subway shop. Subway launched a brand refresh some months ago, which included a revamped menu with new ingredients and sandwiches along with a “never-ending” new commercial featuring high-profile athletes like Serena Williams and Tom Brady. The brand also launched an update to its smartphone app with a more user-friendly dashboard and streamlined mobile ordering process.

The refresh is already paying off for Subway, as August 2021 was the brand’s best sales month since 2013. The top-performing stores saw a 33 percent sales increase over August 2019. Thanks to these improvements, Subway is expecting to outperform its original 2021 sales projections by more than $1 billion. Dive deeper into the brand refresh here: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/fast-food/subway-sales-skyrocketed-after-unprecedented-menu-update

Lil Nas X’s Savvy Album Strategy

Lil Nas X has been stealing the spotlight since “Old Town Road” became a smash hit in 2018. Lately, though, the young star has become nearly as well-known for his advertising skills as his musical abilities. He’s trolled Nike with his “Satan Shoes,” framed his album launch as a pregnancy announcement, and starred in several high-profile commercials with brands like Uber Eats. The effort is already proving successful – the lead single from the album, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” has already reached just shy of one billion streams on Spotify.

Though he’s just 22 years old, Lil Nas X seems to have cemented a spot for himself in the future of both the music and advertising industries. Catch up on all of the hip-hop singer’s most noteworthy marketing stunts here: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/09/23/lil-nas-x-advertising-s-new-golden-child-here-are-his-6-best-stunts-yet