Skip links

Convosphere | Social Intelligence Digest | Edition 3

Brands reveal secret recipes

Miss eating out? You’re not alone. The good news is that the mass closure of restaurants has encouraged many of us to get creative in the kitchen. Online recipe sharing has reached an all-time high and it’s not only consumers who are posting tips and ideas. Some of the most established fast-food brands and restaurant chains have disclosed the once-secret recipes of their top-selling menu items, from burgers to biscuits. But as amateur cooks grow increasingly confident, do these brands risk cannibalising their customer base? Will we continue to make our favourite dishes even as the restaurants open up again? Considering eating out is often quoted as one of the things we miss the most in times of isolation, it seems these brands can rest assured it’s worth the gamble.

 

Korea’s children pay a virtual visit to the president

Although most parents will be aware of the alleged negative effect of excessive screen time on young minds, the curfew has seen many mums and dads adopt a more laissez-faire approach when it comes to their kids’ tech use. Helping to ease parental guilt, recent reports suggest that recreational screen activities actually come with a range of benefits, such as improved cognition. In Korea, parents of keen gamers had another reason to encourage their child’s passion as the country celebrated Children’s Day on the 5th of May. With pandemic safety measures preventing schools from going on their annual visit to the presidential headquarters, the country’s head of state and first wife decided to create a Minecraft version of it, welcoming future generations to a guided tour around the Blue House.

 

Boredom sparks TikTok creativity in India

Social media usage behaviours have been greatly impacted by the coronavirus, with cross-market data indicating a huge spike in activity. In India, TikTok has been able to ride the lockdown wave as the country’s top influencers appear unable to resist the unadulterated fun of the platform. Despite initially branding the Chinese media app “cringe-worthy”, India’s social elite are now busy creating videos to share with their followers. With a total of 500 million downloads (compared to 180 million in China), India is now officially TikTok’s biggest market.

New tech ensures fair reach of rice in Vietnam

In the last Social Intelligence Digest, we reported on the Korean potato stockpiling frenzy sparked by a tweet. This month, we turn to Vietnam where concerns about citizens’ access to food have resulted in the distribution of so-called rice ATMs. Facial recognition technology will ensure only those in need have access to the ATMs, which will help prevent overcrowding. Offering a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy pandemic-related news, Vietnam has recorded zero Covid-19 attributed deaths and only a few hundred cases thanks to a range of safety measures. In our latest blog post, we report on the country’s TikTok-ready hand-washing campaign that went viral in a matter of days.

Infographic of the month

As true data nerds with a penchant for eye-catching visuals, we had to share this infographic which shows the impact of Covid-19 on media consumption by generation.

We’d love to hear your opinion and experience of Social Intelligence!

If you want to contribute, please click through to our survey. It only takes a few minutes to complete and the insights will be used in our new eBook.

Want to find out more about our global and multilingual social listening services?
Contact us today.