Michaels : Social Listening April – September 22, 2017 Ongoing, Emerging, and Testing Trends

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Social Listening: Trends Overview All ongoing trends saw an increase in conversation volume from August to September by at least 58%. Bolded titles are trends provided by Michaels Trends team; non-bolded reflect terminology and most relevant items identified by Zimmerman Social Marketing Analytics team. Emerging Trends: •  Paint Pouring/Dirty Pour/Fluid Painting/Acrylic Pour – Mixing Ratios, Storytelling, Incorporation of Music •  *New* Lava Beads/Aromatherapy Jewelry – Crystal Healing, Glass Beads, Gem Stones •  *New* Hygge – Everything ‘cozy’ feeling, coffee, bedroom •  *New* Drinking/Spirits/Cocktails/Games - Champagne, Drinking Games Testing Trends: •  *New* Wood Burning – Home Décor, Gifts •  *New* Punch Needle Embroidery – Floral Embroidery, Gucci Embroidery •  *New* Cross-Stitch – Needlework, Wall Art, Handmade Unframed Cross Stitch •  *New* Healing Crystals & Pendant Crystal Necklaces – Swarovski Crystal, Rose Quartz., Crystal Quartz •  STEM and/or STEAM – Hands-On STEM Activities, Educational Games, Summer Camp, Kids Apps, Girls Scouts SOURCES: •  Social Listening Tool: Brandwatch, US & Canada •  Sources: The social listening for this report was pulled from Blogs, News, Forums, Videos, Twitter, Reviews, Facebook, and Instagram. Brandwatch

does not pull Pinterest data.

Note: Highlights are not reflective of every input provided, only observatory that could be derived from overall results of the research.

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Social Listening: Methodology •  Related Keywords: Queries utilized top 20 Pinterest searched terms for each trend identified by Michaels. Zimmerman Social

Marketing Analytics team conducted independent research to best capture other potential terms associated with each trend. Zimmerman and Pinterest search terms aligned for social listening query building.

•  Implication of Related Keywords: For trends that carried over from the last report to this report, the query building did not

vary as we expanded beyond just the trend terminology in the August 2017 report. •  Conversation Growth: Any references to percent growth from the last report is specific to changes from August to September.

Percent increase is shown for trends that carried over from the August 2017 report. All trends that carried over increased in volume by at least 58% except for STEM/STEAM.

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Social Listening: Executive Summary •  Ongoing Trends: ‘Slime’ and ‘Kawaii’ accounted for the majority of social conversation, with ‘Slime’ increasing over 125% from

August to September with 2M mentions from April to September. ‘Kawaii’ generated 2M mentions and had the highest percent of positive sentiment and lowest percent of neutral sentiment among all the Ongoing Trends evaluated. Other than ‘Slime’ and ‘Kawaii,’ ‘Farmhouse’ and ‘Unicorn Parties’ had the highest positive sentiment. ‘Squishies’ had the highest negative sentiment from the Ongoing Trend list.

•  Emerging Trends: Strong conversation volume for ‘Lava Beads’ and ‘Hygge.’ Since the last trend spotting analysis ‘Paint

Pouring’ has shown slight growth from 1.3K to 2.3K mentions through September. ‘Hygge’ and ‘Drinking’ showed the highest positive sentiment whereas ‘Lava Beads’ had the highest negative sentiment. ‘Paint Pouring’ conversation remained consistent from April to September. ‘Drinking’ conversation volume showed a low trend line with a slight peak in May.

•  Testing Trends: ‘Punch Needle Embroidery’ held a strong trend line with exceptionally high mentions, yet mostly neutral

sentiment. ‘STEM/STEAM’ had irregular peaks, with spikes trending up in July from news releases of STEM/STEAM initiatives and decreased in volume by 97.3% from August to September. ‘Healing Crystals,’ ‘Wood Burning,’ and ‘Cross-Stitch’ showed recent small growth towards September. However, ‘Healing Crystals’ generated the second highest conversation volume from the grouping. Whereas, ‘STEM/STEAM’ mentions generated the highest percent of positive sentiment of the trends evaluated. ‘Wood Burning’ and ‘Punch Needle Embroidery’ saw the lowest percent of negative sentiment among the Testing Trends.

Note: Highlights are not reflective of every input provided, only observatory that could be derived from overall results of the research.

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Social Listening: Volume & Sentiment Ongoing Trends Volume Positive

Sentiment Neutral

Sentiment Negative

Sentiment

Volume % Change (Aug – Sep)

Slime 2M 48% 33% 19% +125.5% Painted Rocks 152K 40% 48% 11% +58.3% Unicorn Parties 52K 48% 37% 15% +73.3% Farmhouse 194K 59% 35% 6% +61.6% Squishies 364K 43% 32% 24% +80.2% Kawaii 2M 65% 25% 10% +120.3%

Emerging Trends Volume Positive

Sentiment Neutral

Sentiment Negative Sentiment

Paint Pouring (+77%)

2.3K 46% 50% 4%

Lava Beads 961K 47% 43% 10%

Hygge 201K 57% 39% 5%

Drinking 58K 49% 43% 7%

Testing Trends Volume Positive

Sentiment Neutral

Sentiment Negative Sentiment

Wood Burning 71K 40% 56% 5%

Punch Needle Embroidery 570K 46% 49% 5%

Cross-Stitch 89K 35% 58% 7% Healing Crystals 109K 55% 38% 7%

STEM/STEAM (-97.3%)

54K 59% 34% 6% Percent Change emphasized in color, Green = Increase, Red = Decrease

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Overall Trend Line: Emerging, Testing

The information presented on this slide represents the trend-lines for emerging and testing trends.

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Trend Line: Emerging Trends

The information presented on this slide represents the emerging trends conversations.

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Paint Pouring

Drinking

Hygge

Lava Beads

10K total mentions of sterling silver and glass beads.

360 total mentions stem from cocktail recipes, specifically gin.

5.8K total mentions regarding beads in braids and crystal healing.

9.3K total mentions of micro beads and DIY blouse designs.

349 total mentions of Hygge relating to cozy, love, and #homedecor.

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Trend Line: Testing Trends

The information presented on this slide represents the testing trend conversations.

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Cross-Stitch

Healing Crystals

Punch Needle Embroidery

STEM/STEAM

Wood Burning

3K total mentions about floral embroidery and Harry Styles wearing Gucci dragon embroidered pants.

1.4K total mentions regarding floral embroidery, end of summer looks, and thread embroidery.

5.9K total mentions surrounding Gucci’s new embroidered fashion pieces.

4.1K total mentions related to London Fashion Week embroidered pieces.

802 total mentions. The Girl Scouts added 23 badges for STEM activities.

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Social Listening: Upward Trends

The information presented on this slide represents the top topics related to the emerging and testing trends. Bullet points correlate to conversations that stand out, not all conversations populating on the topic cloud. The colors of the topic clouds correlate to the sentiment. Green is positive, Grey is neutral, and red is negative sentiment.

•  #HandmadeJewelry – 58K total mentions of #handmadejewelry in relation to #bohochic, #bohemiamstyle, #customjewlery, #oneofakind, and #bling. Posts feature bracelet/ring stacking and handmade DIY projects with lava and glass beads.

•  Crystals – 80K total mentions of rose quartz, clear quartz, black tourmaline, and white crystal.

•  #CrystalHealing – 91K total mentions related to phrases – energy, peace, protection, and geology. Specific to turquoise, rose quartz, jasper, and citrine.

•  Beautiful – 81K total mentions calling beads/crystals ‘beautiful.’ Most mentions showcase imagery of handmade bracelets, designs, and jewelry collections.

•  Floral Embroidery – 18K total mentions of fashion pieces with floral embroidery. Women dresses and Gucci stood out from the social conversation.

•  Black – 2.3K total mentions of black utilized in embroidery for apparel. •  Summer – 33K total mentions directly related to London/New York Fashion Week

apparel pieces. •  Material – 20K total mentions of apparel material best for punch needle embroidery.

EMERGING: LAVA BEADS

TESTING: PUNCH NEEDLE EMBROIDERY

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Social Listening: Sample Conversations

Sample posts on this slide represent the current conversation for emerging and testing trends.

Thank You.