Happy Friday! This week, we examine the onslaught of catchphrases and new slang coming from everyone’s favorite short-form vertical video platform. But first…

📡ON OUR RADAR

• NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, once a modest idea, has flourished into a cultural phenomenon, showcasing musicians in an intimate setting. The brand serves as a masterclass in crafting compelling brand narratives, demonstrating the impact of authentic, unfiltered storytelling in building connections across diverse audiences.

• Google and Yahoo! are taking names and cleaning inboxes with their new rules for bulk email senders. While an empty inbox is an elusive dream for most people, many brands are optimistic their messages will catch more eyeballs (and dollars) with less competition from junk mail and phishing scams.

• Just in time for Valentine’s Day, dating apps are looking to stand out in the market. This week, Tinder made a bold move into fashion with the announcement of its first line, signaling broader ventures for the popular dating app. Meanwhile, Hinge released their first user data report, revealing statistics about the struggles faced by many Gen Z’ers in the current dating landscape.

💡ON OUR MINDS: Everyone’s Got a Buzzword

• As the intersection between TikTok and business continues to grow, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to ignore the wide-reaching slang erupting from the app.

• From “girl dinner,” to “beige flag” and “the orange peel theory,” TikTok terminology is quickly becoming a language of its own, driven largely by small creators hoping to name a common experience or phenomenon.

• Where influential terms were once coined by celebrities, books, and movies (e.g., “catfish,” “gaslight”), the rise of TikTok terms marks a democratization of this kind of trend-setting—and at a new pace.

• The breakneck speed at which viral appears on the scene and then goes out of style makes it difficult for individual human beings, much less entire brands, to keep up.

• In the words of Gen Z consumer trends analyst Casey Lewis, “Gen Z are nothing if not marketing geniuses,” and TikTok slang is exhibit A.

🥊QUICK HITS:

In case you missed these reads.

• AI is everywhere, including the big game. Microsoft’s first Super Bowl advertisement in four years will showcase their new AI assistant.

• Bluesky, a rival to Twitter (now X), has ditched its waitlist, but it remains to be seen how inviting the world to join the decentralized social app will play out.

• Sports media giants ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery are set to launch a sports streaming platform in the fall, consolidating offerings from 15 networks and major sports leagues.