This Week in Strategy: The guy who invented throat lozenges died last week. There was no coffin at his funeral

Hi Strat Pack,

How may times have you watched the Top Gun: Maverick trailer so far? I've watched it twice and I think my favorite part about it is that it appears to be the exact same movie as Top Gun: The Original. It's got motorcycles, it’s got volleyball, an overly sexualized female intelligence officer, an old grizzled Top Gun commander (hi Ed Harris!) and Tom Cruise even gets inverted. What a ride. Movie of the summer 4shore.

A question for you! A lot of us get summer Fridays (I don't but that's a different issue). Which means you're probably not getting as much value out of This Week in Strategy as you could. So the question.....

Would you prefer that we publish on Thursdays or Fridays only through Labor day? Please let me know here this will literally take 15 seconds to do. Your feedback is important!

Alright, stop messing around trying to figure out what Goose looks like now (Spoiler alert: not great) and let's jump right in.

The one thing to read this week:
1) The battle for brand purpose: it is not CSR [The Drum]

Holly Tucker MBE, founder of Not On The High Street recently delivered some ‘sage’ advice for brands at her keynote at MAD/Picnic. The resulting soundbites have snaked like demonic whispering tendrils through social media, finding sycophantic agreement on LinkedIn and confused disbelief on #strategytwitter. For those that missed it, here’s a few choice quotes:

"[Consumers] want to know everything about brands – engage with them, converse with them, eat with them, listen with them, visit them and know what the brand stands for. They want to get to know their circle and join a community of like-minded customers."

"[Customers] buy experiences, not products. People want to share with their friends what they did, not what they got."

I’m not sure when brand purpose became a spiritual black hole, with meaningless platitudes orbiting the event horizon, beaconing marketeers towards its gaping maw with siren calls promising Millennial and GenZ engagement. But here we are, desperately searching for a greater meaning in an industry that needs to dial down the bullshit and start having honest conversations with itself.

Let’s start with the easy stuff. Consumers do not want brands to eat with them, listen with them or visit them. They don’t want a stalker with a logo ruining their dinner, sharing its playlists and appearing at the front door like a middle aged Jehovah’s Witness in skinny jeans. And I’m pretty sure when people shop at Not On The High Street, they’re looking for an apron with ‘gin o’clock’ written on it rather than the ‘experience’ Holly would lead us to believe.

And that’s ok. Because brands don’t always need to be more than a vehicle for commerce. And if they try to be, commerce will nearly always get in the way.

I’m not saying that businesses shouldn’t be responsible for their societal and environmental impact, but that goes beyond brand. Because most people don’t really give a toss about a brand’s supposed good intentions or liberal ethics - they care about value and availability. They care about 24hr delivery. If they cared about social equality they wouldn’t shop at Amazon.

Businesses must strive to deliver great products and customer service and do so in a socially and environmentally conscious way. We, the consumer should expect that the brands we consume are doing the right thing. But when a brand uses liberal ethics and ideals as a marketing strategy, pushing a moral code in order to push product, it’s as thin and fragile as a skin graft.

Purpose for me, has always been about a brand’s role in people’s lives. Based on product truths, values upheld by behaviour, the shaping and interpretation of that brand by mutual agreement with the customer. Purpose is not about pursuing audience approval by aligning with a fly-by-night morality that fits the zeitgeist. Purpose was never about changing the world; it was about changing the customer’s world.

I don’t need my kitchen surface cleaner to come with storytelling. I don’t need to join a community of other ‘like-minded’ people who like olives.

Brand Purpose used to be important and valuable. Stop fucking it up.

2) Why More Brands Aren’t Helping Out With the Humanitarian Crisis on the US Border [AdWeek]

If there’s such a desperate need for basic supplies like bedding and toiletries, why aren’t American companies that make those goods stepping forward to donate them? It’s a reasonable question to ask. After all, legion are the stories of brands going to impressive lengths to assist with any number of humanitarian crises in the country.

It may come as a surprise to civic-minded citizens, but the obstacle standing in the way of ameliorating this 21st-century problem is a 19th-century law. The Antideficiency Act, which has been on the books since 1870, prohibits federal agencies from spending monies that Congress has not allocated, a prohibition that includes “accepting voluntary services for the United States, or employing personal services not authorized by law.”

Translated to everyday circumstances, it means that CBP cannot accept donated goods, either.

Since the doors to government shelters remain closed to donations, a number of companies sensing the need for intervention have gotten involved in other ways—notably, quiet ones that are not announced in press releases. A number of NGOs with longstanding experience in helping immigrants have received donations of late from brands. Some of them are household names, most of them are not.

Save for a few examples like Highlights for Kids & Dr. Bronner's, there’s hardly been a clarion call for shelter reform from the brands of America, through press releases or public statements about the crisis itself or announcements of the fiscal support brands are giving to NGOs. Why, for example, has Procter & Gamble not been more public?

Given the thin line that often separates altruism from opportunism, brands might not want the limited help they can provide to be seen as exploitative. And it's a fair point. Talk to people close to the immigration issue, however, and another reason emerges for why more companies have not gone public with statements about immigration or simply chosen not to get involved on any level: There are solid—if hard to discuss—reasons to steer clear.

Brands are probably asking themselves the question: Is courting controversy worth it? Even if a company accepts the argument that migrant children in need and in detention centers are an issue that supersedes politics, their customers may not accept that argument—and it’s hard to find a topic as polarizing right now as immigration. An issue like helping out immigrant kids might not be as touchy an issue as it is were it not for the uncompromising stance that the White House has taken.

But then again brands might be missing out on on a chance to look good. Younger consumers are also willing to punish brands that shrink from taking stands, as was recently demonstrated when employees of Wayfair walked out to protest the company’s sale of $200,000 worth of furniture to a contractor that runs shelters for migrant children. (Recently, one advertising agency, Ogilvy, felt a similar sting after staffers learned of its relationship with CBP.)

3) Swimming With Confidence in the Sea of Self-Doubt [Muse by Clio]

When you share an idea, you drop a little piece of you out there. A small part of you leaps from the sanctity of your self and leaps into the ocean of self-doubt, waiting to be picked up by a kind sailor. For that brief moment, you're swimming, lost in a sea of hope, not knowing if the gloom of despair is going to suck you under. You can get rescued, gleefully pulled onboard the ship of ideas. Or you can be discarded to the deep. The dark trench from where ideas don't return.

So what. We all have shit ideas, don't we? We've all suggested things that even we'd admit were wrong. Get over it. "Man up." The problem is, once you've drowned a few times, you stop trying to swim. And when you stop trying to swim, you end up sitting on the sides. You become the dad at the swim race instead of the effervescent kid trying to do the butterfly with all their might. Then you get told you don't speak up in meetings. Then the cloud of self-doubt and internal pressure ramps up even more.

Creativity is all about confidence. In an industry that is all about talent and new ideas, let's encourage those brave enough to swim. When you see the spark in someone's eyes, draw it out of them. That strange sound we all know, the intake of breath as someone is ready to speak, hear it and give time to it. Make room for it. Drop your cynicism.

Approach your next moment with some life rafts at the ready. Be open to new ideas coming on board. Be the person in the room that helps build confidence rather than let it drift off. You never know what you might find or what great talent you may be helping to grow.

4) Behind Every Clean Process, Is A Mass Of Messy [Rob Campbell - Musings of an Opinionated Sod]

I appreciate the importance of some sort of process … some sort of systematic thinking in terms of approach … because ultimately we are in the commercial creativity business, so we need some guide rails to ensure we’re heading in the right direction, even if I am removing any specific destination.

Where things go wrong is when people care more about the process than what the process is supposed to create. Where systematic thinking goes from direction to dictation.

But here’s the thing … For all the processes talked about, for all the proprietary tools hyped, the system agencies tend to end up adopting – even when they’re hidden inside a beautifully constructed, clearly planned out, client facing framework – is this:

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This is not a criticism.

To get to somewhere new … somewhere interesting and intriguing … you have to take a leap of faith at some point, even in the most well-organised, well thought-out of processes. Some people don’t like admitting that. Some people don’t want the pragmatism of creativity to overshadow the ego of their process. Some people don’t even want to accept creativity rarely follows a straight line through the entire process.

And yet it is creativities ability to solve problems in lateral ways that makes it so valuable and powerful, which is why for me, those who are comfortable with uncomfortable are the ones who create the most enduring ideas for brands, business and culture.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s always some element of process in any development of creativity – whatever form that manifests – but there’s also messiness and chaos and to remove that, not make room for that or go around that is either a lie or an act against the incredibly infectious possibilities of creativity.

As Martin and [Rob] said at Cannes, chaos creates what order can’t.

5) Quick Hits: A few articles that are concise, important, interesting, impactful, and I'm not going to write long descriptions for them.

  • Please steal these 42 useful random questions about planning advertising... [Shane O'Leary - LinkedIn] We've all been in the midst of a planning brain freeze, staring at a blinking cursor and unable to really get to the crux of a business/brand problem. It's a lonely feeling. But it's not as lonely when you have the collective questioning power of all the best planners you've ever worked with in your pocket. This would be the one thing to read this week if if was possible to summarize the 42 questions. But it's not and you would almost certainly stop reading if I just copy/pasted the entire article. Click through and save this article

  • From Old Navy to Madewell: How sub-brands grow up to eat their parents [RetailDive] Some stores began as a way for retailers to expand their customer base. Then they took over. The theory is often sound: create a new brand to better compete with rivals, which often includes emerging businesses that are disrupting your offer. But the result can mean that your customers drift to that new entity, especially if it was developed as a cheap alternative, and subsequently abandon the original.

  • Amazon is turning advertising into its next huge business — here’s how [CNBC] This article is 75% consumer facing and 25% industry facing, but still a super interesting (and useful) reminder of how strong Amazon's grip is on our data. And this piece is a great reminder that it's becoming increasingly clear that Amazon wants to flex its muscles and take on the Duopoly in a real serious way.

  • Rebranding CMOs as growth officers doesn’t help market marketing [MarketingWeek] Taking ‘marketing’ out of the title means the C-suite might continue to overlook the value of marketing. It’s almost like admitting marketing is a dirty word. It’s almost as if marketers are admitting defeat and confirming the suspicions of shareholders, analysts, and even their colleagues in finance and other departments, that marketing doesn’t have any real impact on business performance. And dressing the CMO up as a CGO could actually create more of a void between what marketing does and the business outcomes it delivers.

  • Ford unveils its latest pickup truck built for a smartphone [TechCrunch] Spoiler Alert: It's an emoji! Happy World Emoji Day! It was Wednesday. Ford staff sifted through message boards, investigated texting influencers and watched social media feeds to understand customers’ needs, according to Craig Metros, Ford North America design director. “People want a truck emoji that’s fresh, stylish, carries their ideas, and ‘tows’ the line on what a truck means,” Metros said. “The end result is a modern icon that should give all truck fans a smiley face emoji.”

  • IAB: 48% of consumers shop disruptor brands [Mobile Marketer] Eighty-four percent of these shoppers are under 54, and they are also likelier to have a household income of more than $75,000. Take this with a grain of salt. The IAB has an agenda and has been pushing their DTC brand agenda for over a year. To me it speaks to the fact that people are not promiscuous shoppers more than anything else and eCommerce is constantly closing the gap between metal & physical availability. But don't take my word for it...link to the full report here

6) Department of Great Work
It really feels like everyone is working for the weekend! Not a ton of new stuff this week!

  • ‘People Do Actually Care for Each Other’ [Little Black Book] Really beautiful work for Travelers from TBWA that absolutely destroys category norms of wacky comedy spots heavy on policy and promotion.

  • National Geographic Is 'Live-Tweeting' the Apollo 11 Mission [Twitter] Friends of the newsletter know that I love Space. This is a wonderful use of Twitter full of beautiful and insane media.

  • China Airlines and Leo Burnett rack up global viral winner [More About Advertising] It makes travel sound absolutely dreadful...You might come home chubbier, broke, pregnant or...haunted? But I love it. (China Airlines is Taiwan's national carrier)

  • Apple Scores A Pair Of Primetime Commercial Emmy Nominations [Shoot Online] I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know there were Emmys for Outstanding Commercial. No, actually I'm not embarrassed. Check out the full list of nominees:

  • Oscar Mayer renting out the Wienermobile on Airbnb for three summer nights in Chicago [The Drum] Is it a little derivative of the Taco Bell Hotel? Sure. But they're leveraging an iconic brand asset (smart!) and the positioning is pretty lever. The Airbnb headline is "Relish a stay in the real Oscar Meyer Weinermobile" so clearly they're not taking themselves too seriously.

  • Diesel celebrates losing followers over its Pride Collection [AdAge] Diesel has not only been celebrating Pride Week in Europe—it's celebrating the fact that people stopped following it because of Pride. "Diesel decided to celebrate the followers’ departure. Because followers are important. But love is more important." From Publicis Italy

  • Penguin celebrates dog-eared delights in new Happy Reading campaign [It's Nice That] The campaign consists of a series of posters featuring the most evidently well-loved books. Every copy is creased, bent, torn and dog eared, with scribbled notes in the margins or parcel tape barely holding the pages together. Done in-house

7) Platform Updates
Next time you're complaining about shitty instagram influencers or Twitter trolls, consider this: Subway Platform Flash Flood Knocks Man To The Ground (get it! Because they're all platforms!)

  • What Instagram removing likes may mean for influencers and our self-esteem [Dazed Digital] The general consensus is that it's a good thing for literally everyone except for influencers. And I'm ok with that. My hope is that it forces better quality content versus and eliminates or reduces those goddamn bots.

  • Study: Consumers like chatbots but prefer human interaction [Mobile Marketer] This reminds me of Sherry Turkle's notion of Better than Nothing vs Better than Anything (From her excellent book "Alone Together") and speaks volumes about the increasingly sad state of customer service.Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they have a good customer service experience with an online chat platform compared to 16% of respondents who said the same thing about chatbots.

  • How YouTube stars are using Instagram’s IGTV as a testbed [Digiday] It's a 'low pressure alternative'. Because of that pressure to produce higher quality videos for YouTube, IGTV stands in contrast as something of a release valve. It’s an opportunity to upload the more intimate, informal content that had been closely associated with YouTube and led viewers to feel like they were close with creators

  • Twitter launches its faster, cleaner design, including new color themes [TheNextWeb] The design is rolling out gradually now, but if you don’t have it yet, you can go ahead and try it by clicking on your avatar and selecting “Try the new Twitter.” Be warned: once you switch, you can’t go back.

  • Twitch tops livestreaming platforms with 70% of hours watched [Mobile Marketer] Gen Z amirite?! Most of Twitch's viewing time was centered on the platform's top 5,000 streamers

  • Instagram will test a feature that allows users to shadow ban their bullies [The Verge] It hides their comments from everyone but themselves. The company also separately announced today that it’s rolling out a new feature that’ll leverage AI to flag potentially offensive comments and ask the commenter if they really want to follow through with posting. (From last week I know, but ICYMI!)

  • 86% of delivery app users stop engaging within 2 weeks [Restaurant Dive] This one really surprised me because I'm a jaded New Yorker and I don't know what I'd do with myself without Seamless. Also interesting: a recent survey of 2,000 QSR and fast casual customers indicated that a whopping 83% of them would pay as much as $5 in delivery fees.

As always, the full archive is available here. Was this email forwarded to you? Want to start getting this on a weekly basis? All I need is your email, everything else is optional.Thanks for sticking around as always. See you next week!

Jordan Weil