Trends and Topics in Print Media

Every Monday morning, a team of Access media mavens gathers to read the latest trends and topics covered in print media (yes, we still read print media!). The team shares these insights agency wide to ensure we’re all informed and equipped for the week ahead. Every week, we’ll share learnings from the consumer, business and tech spaces here on the Access Point.

This week, we learned about the latest and greatest in beauty and booze, and how delivery services are adjusting to the chaotic holiday season.

• “Be Yourself”, But in Makeup

Eyeshadow palettes have become a status symbol among Gen Z’ers as teenagers flock to wait on extensive digital check-out lines to purchase collections touted across social media by their favorite influencers. Beauty influencers are capitalizing more and more on the trend which has led several of them, such as James Charles, to multimillion-dollar pay-outs by major industry brands. Palettes have also become a way for teenagers to showcase which influencer’s “side” they’re on in the seemingly never ending feuds among beauty bloggers (Sanam Yar, The New York Times).

• Clear Cocktails Make a Stir

One of the latest trends in the adult beverage scene: bartenders are creating clear versions of classic cocktails (such as the Bloody Mary or piña colada) using a variety of techniques that remove solids from the liquid. Owners of bars and restaurants are saying that the idea is to give even the most cocktail-savvy drinkers something completely unexpected; however, many remain unimpressed and are of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality (Charles Passy, The New York Times).

• Delivery Dilemmas

Cargo bikes are replacing delivery trucks this holiday season to account for a more eco-friendly delivery method that also doesn’t commandeer street space in New York City. As many as 100 pedal-assisted cargo bikes operated by brands such as Amazon, UPS, and DHL are being dispatched to account for the surge in online shopping over the past couple of years. Cargo bikes are already a popular method used by delivery services across Europe, and their use has proven to be a much more efficient means of transporting goods in dense urban neighborhoods (Winnie Hu & Matthew Haag, The New York Times).