TWIS: If I had a Delorean, I would probably only drive it from time to time
Hi Strat Pack,
Happy Friday! Why do the shortest weeks always twice as long. So let's start on a high note. Donté Colley’s emoji dance videos are exactly what the Internet needs right now. And OMG yes they are. Watch all of them. Project them in your next meeting. Share the joy.
On an unrelated note, it was fucking freezing this week. And it's expected to be fucking freezing next week. Good thing the Infatuation recently released Restaurants That Are Extremely Close To Subway Stops For When It’s Too Cold To Walk Outside. If you want to hang out before April, I'll be at one of these.
Alright guys, stop messing around eating and dancing all over the place, let's jump right in.
The one thing to read this week
1) The worst of times, the best of times. (Or how I got made Head of Strategy and all I got was this lousy industry landscape) [BBH Labs]
Instead of a multi-year marriage between client and agency, long term brand building responsibility has seemingly been handed over to the logo, creatives are increasingly being told to tell a thumb stopping, emotionally engaging story in 3-6” vertical mobile film, the programmatic revolution increasingly looks like Brexit with lots of overpromise and plenty of under delivery, ad fraud seems ripe within the digital ecosystem with fewer and fewer pounds going towards actual comms, media agencies have been found out for not being transparent so brands are building teams in-house.
How fucking depressing.
How fucking exciting.
What a time to be a strategist. How we work and what we make is ripe for disruption, ripe for some leadership and absolutely begging for someone to make all of that complexity simple again. The world isn’t going to get any easier or the landscape less complex. It’s getting more difficult to find simplicity. What a time for strategists who want to think about things, fix things and make things.
BONUS ARTICLE: The ad industry's broken business model is breaking talent [Campaign US] Wow, that was a downer. Let's keep going.
2) Hold my beer. I'm going to make the case for data [Campaign UK]
This is a 3 minute highly enjoyable read. The current state of "data" is frankly a shit show. But it doesn't need to be this way!
The problem with data boils down to two things: lack of relevancy and restriction. Relevancy is about showing people interesting stuff, not a load of irrelevant information packaged in an impenetrably complicated document that has no use in the strategic and creative process. Restriction is about understanding that the majority of data does not equal the truth or fact; it represents an interpretation of information.
Data can play a role in fueling curiosity and finding space for difference. A pithy insight such as "kids spend more time indoors than prisoners" is a creative wet dream for Persil. Just 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful" was gold dust for Dove.
Hot Take Alert
3) Stop Wasting Your Money On Instagram Influencers. They Suck. [Medium]
There are plenty of hot takes about influencers. This happens to be one of the more well written ones. 6 minute read, worth your time.
I’m going to rip this band-aid off right now.
Instagram influencers are the best way to piss your money up a wall.
Instagram influencers are the best way to blow your whole marketing budget.
Influencer Marketing works for some products, with some brands, in some categories, But far more brands just throw money away and only receive vanity metrics in return. Clicks. Views. Likes. Shares. Who gives a fuck? The only metrics that should matter to you are these: Acquisition. Activation. Retention. Revenue. Referral.
So what do we do? Collaborate.
Don’t sponsor posts – work with people to make good, solid content that people will enjoy, that connects them constructively your brand and provides influence through positive associations.
4) New Logo and Identity for Slack by Pentagram and In-house [Brand New]
Sometimes a logo is just a logo OR: Stop trying too hard.
I'm not going to sugar coat it. I do not like Slack's new logo. I think it looks like a damp pinwheel. Or that windmill that Don Quixote kept tilting at. The point is, I don't like it.
They're walking away from the hashtag (or "octothorpe" as the bourgeoise pigs at Pentagram like to think of it) but keeping it in spirit, and building it out of little speech bubbles. Cute idea. But it just falls apart in execution. The idea works in the print and OOH work but until reading this article, I had no idea they were speech bubbles.
5) Platform Roundup
2019 lineup: Your essential Twitter marketing calendar [Twitter] It's January, so if you're like me, then your account human is asking for a calendar of the top events going on in the world. FINALLY Twitter just made one for us. Shockingly useful
Squad is the new screensharing chat app everyone will copy [TechCrunch] The new app all the teens are using. With Squad, you fire up a video chat with up to six people, but at any time you can screenshare what you’re seeing on your phone instead of showing your face. You can browse memes together, trash talk about DMs or private profiles, brainstorm a status update, co-work on a project or get consensus on your Tinder swipe. It’s deceptively simple, but remarkably alluring.
Your top plays for the Big Game on Pinterest [Pinterest] Pinterest might not be able to use the phrase "Super Bowl" but I sure as shit can. 80% of Pinners planning a party for the Super Bowl said they will use Pinterest to help plan their game day parties. See what they're looking at
On Average, You’d Have to Pay Someone $1,000 to Stop Using Facebook for a Year [NY Mag Intelligencer] According to a research study published in PLOS One, on average, participants would need more than $1,000 to deactivate Facebook for a full year. College students valued Facebook even more than the average participant, requiring over $2,000 to forgo the service. Go figure.
WhatsApp Tries To Curb Misinformation, And Annoying Aunts And Uncles [NPR] According to Facebook, "the move is not just about curbing the spread of misinformation. It's also about curbing more digitally enthusiastic friends and family members on the app." The cynic inme sees this as another way to keep people from abandoning the platform because they're too fed up with it. Smart.
6) Volvo revs up Super Bowl 'anti-commercial' with mobile contest [Mobile Marketer]
Guys. Everyone is starting to drop their Super Bowl stuff and I'm sure you've seen it elsewhere, which is why we're not doing a Great Work whiparound this week. But I really like this work, it builds on Volvo's success in 2016(15?) with "The Greatest Interception" of forcing their way into THE BIG GAME.
The "S60 Longest Drive" contest kicks off at 6 p.m. on Feb. 3, just before kickoff in the championship game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. It challenges smartphone and tablet owners to keep their eyes on an image of a car for as long as possible. Three winners who keep their eyes on the car the longest will have a chance at a Care by Volvo subscription to the S60.
That was fun! Thanks for sticking with us this week.