Imagine Snapchat with no filters and the rawness of Twitter rolled into one. Now, add a two-minute time limit to the single post allowed per day—that’s BeReal.

How it works: Users have two minutes to upload a front-facing and back-facing photo after receiving a notification prompting them to post, and photos posted after the window are marked “late,” which other users can see.

BeReal has skyrocketed this year, reaching 3.3 million downloads globally in Q1 of this year, a 390% jump from Q4 of 2021, according to data.ai. It sits in the No. 1 spot for free apps in Apple’s App Store.

BeReal champions steering away from influencer culture and prohibits advertising, but some brands have gotten creative, especially with real-time posts.

• Chipotle has posted promo codes for free entrées (which were gone in about 30 minutes the first day and subsequently ran out almost immediately) to its then-2,000 friends on the app, its director of social and influencer told Retail Brew in May, though its following there pales in comparison to its 1.1 million followers on Instagram and 1.7 million TikTok followers.
• Trident, PacSun, and Love Island, among other brands, have hopped on the trend of posting BeReal-style photos to Twitter.

Why it’s growing

• Its signature two-minute time limit is similar to the formats other popular apps have used. “A creative constraint is essential—think Twitter’s 140 characters, or Vine’s six-second loops—and BeReal’s two-minute countdown timer has inspired similar ingenuity,” according to Platformer.
• Its popularity among college students and young adults is likely a result of Gen Z’s interest in authenticity on social media and the app’s campus-ambassador program.

Though brands can’t have a formal presence on the app through advertisements, “posting behind-the-scenes snapshots from meetings, shoots, or everyday office life can help customers view the brand in a different light,” according to Amber Coleman, a new business manager at luxury digital marketing agency Verb Brands.

Zoom out: BeReal joins a growing trend of authenticity on social media, like “Insta casual.” Other apps, like Poparazzi, eliminate the ability to take selfies entirely. Time will tell whether brands can keep up with Be(ing)Real.—MB

The go-to app for dance trends and extremely targeted relatable content is eating up more than just countless hours of time and attention.

How? TikTok has also engaged in “excessive data-harvesting” practices with “permissions and device information collection [that] are overly intrusive and not necessary for the application to function,” according to a report by cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0. Though its research doesn’t include industry-wide comparisons, experts suggest that similar social apps like Facebook and Instagram could be collecting just as much data.

TikTok, however, has attracted added scrutiny due to perceived connections to China, where its owner, ByteDance, is headquartered.

Big picture: The firm’s most recent report builds on a string of privacy controversies for TikTok, which has exploded in popularity among users and advertisers in the US over the last few years. Last fall, TikTok said it reached more than 1 billion monthly active global users, and the app is projected to bring in as much as $12 billion in advertising revenue this year.

• The research team reviewed the app’s source code on Android and iOS.
• The findings show that the app collects data, including what other apps are on a device and “at least once per hour” location updates. The app can also obtain access to a user’s contacts if the user allows it to. If they do not, the app repeatedly requests permission until the user consents.

TikTok has previously said it “physically stores all data about its US users in the US, with backups in Singapore.” While the report “could not determine with high confidence…where user data is stored,” it observed an IP address “resolving to China.” A report from BuzzFeed last month found that US user data was “repeatedly accessed in China.”

Keep reading here.—JB

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Nick Warner recently joined Amazon Prime Video as senior creative marketing manager, comedy.

Describe your career to date. I began at Lionsgate working on the theatrical marketing team, working on the marketing campaigns for films that include The Hunger Games franchise, La La Land, John Wick, Wonder, and A Simple Favor. Next, I was the director of originals marketing at Starz, working across the strategy and creative (trailers, key art) for their originals series marketing campaigns, which included Outlander, American Gods, P-Valley, BMF, and Heels.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? John Wick—I used to work at Lionsgate, and the marketing campaigns for all three films were a dream to work on. We pushed classical music in our trailers, pushing the elegance of the films and the marvelous fight scenes unlike any action series. We truly found ways to cut through the clutter of all the other action films to present how unique these films were while also keeping a witty tone with the heart of the film being about a dog’s revenge tale.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I just completed my first half-Ironman and love competing in triathlons!

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Recently, I would say Wandavison. It was the next phase in the Marvel MCU after Endgame, and they did an excellent job teasing the different decades in the series with the black-and-white-inspired posters and trailers. From TikTok, to Twitter, to ESPN, they were advertising in all the right places and did an excellent job keeping the plot mysterious but still interesting enough (which is really difficult in entertainment marketing).

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? Trailer Geeks and Teaser Gods.

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Easy as 123: This infographic shows how students and parents are using Reddit to inform their back-to-school purchases.

Team effort: Why Doja Cat and JBL are the “new model” for successful brand-celeb partnerships.

Sum it up: Want to freshen up your LinkedIn summary and bio but don’t know where to start? Check out these 15 examples for inspo.

Better data = better engagement: With PwC’s Customer Link, you can use a rich data fabric and privacy-first approach to help sharpen your audience targeting, build stronger relationships, and drive better engagement with your ideal prospects. Start here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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The Pillsbury Doughboy is one of the most recognizable brand mascots. Which agency created him?

1. BBDO
2. Leo Burnett
3. McCann
4. J. Walter Thompson

Keep scrolling for the answer.

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