Last Week in Strategy: What happens if you fail to pay your exorcist? You get repossessed!!!
Hi Strat Pack,
This is the first time I've missed two Fridays in a row since the newsletter came out. I'm not proud of it. But like, shit's fucked up in the world man. I'm sorry. Then again, this is a free service, and free services can be unreliable. What can I say. At least I'm not selling your data. Yet(?)
Quick Update on the publishing calendar for the next few weeks. We will return to a normal publishing schedule this Friday (11/20), but then I'm taking next week off for Thanksgiving. Back in December!
I know I often say things like "what a roller coaster of a week" but holy shit these past two weeks really were. All last week, the US election results were looming like a Sword of Damocles on top of all of our fucking heads. Then on Saturday, it was like this weight was lifted and NYC was about as happy as I've ever seen it. It was so incredible. I was in the park, and people would just break into cheers every ten minutes or so.
Here's a hot take: as of this writing, Trump had something like 73 million votes. That's 73 million people that are either openly racist and bigoted, or they just don't give a shit about a life that doesn't look or act like theirs. And that's frankly disgusting. What a position of privilege to be able to say "well, I don't care that he's explicitly endorsing hate groups and radicalizing entire groups of people to think of others as less than human and bring violence to them because I like what he's doing on the trade war." [ED Note: I don't like what he's doing on trade.] No that's not a well written sentence and I'm not revising it. It's looking more and more like Biden is going to pull this off but there's an extremely non-zero possibility that Trump and his ilk have damaged our republic beyond repair.
A decent number of my subscribers are not US based, and I'm curious - what do you think? What is your press saying about the elections? Are they saying Joe Biden won or that Trump hasn't conceded? Or are they even talking about it at all? Oh by the way, American COVID-19 cases are now above 150,000 per day, so, you know at least we're #1 in that?
But let's try to keep this positive. Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? If you don't, I'm sure I can find that brand manager who hasn't had time to update his Ice Bucket Challenge slide to Ocean Spray yet. Anyway, it worked! Six years ago (I also can't believe it was 6 years ago) the challenge raised over $200 million for ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. And it worked! Stage Two trials just concluded on a drug that shows measurable improvements in both slowing the progress of the disease and increasing lifespans. So,Yay! Positive things coming from a dumb internet fad we all did six years ago. It's not all bad!
Speaking of not all bad, let's talk about esoteric facts I love that will impress absolutely nobody. For literally my entire life, the United States Postal Service has used one type of mail truck. It's as ubiquitous as it is nondescript. It's called the Grumman Long Life Vehicle and was manufactured between 1987 and 1994. And now it's being replaced by a Mercedes Metris. That was all background for this fun fact: You know how none of these postal trucks have a license plate, but instead a number, that you can see above the windshield?
Well, the first digit of that number tells you how old the LLV is! The first digit will be be either a 7,8,9,0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, corresponding to the years 1987 to 1994, when the LLVs were built. So, if you see one with a 7, you know that’s one of the oldest, a 33 year-old truck from 1987. If you see one with a 4, you know it’s a comparative baby, delivering the mail for only 26 years.
This truck from the LLV wikipedia article was built in 1992.
Try impressing someone at your next cocktail party (remember cocktail parties?). You probably won't! But as a person who loves arcana I thought this was weird and cool and I hope you do too.
Alright stop messing around stalking your neighborhood mailman. Let's jump right in.
The one thing to read this week
1) The Future Of Advertising Is A Creative Leader On Top, Not MBAs Or Financial Executives [Forbes]
In most advertising agencies, the creative team now takes its direction, ultimately, from a chief executive with a background in business or finance or client services – in other words, someone who has not write a line of copy ever, in their lives, and who is not familiar with how their company’s products are invented.
“Creative” is not a department. It’s permeates everything between the agency walls and under its roof. The creative department is not the only people with ideas, of course. They can come from other departments, but that’s not the norm.
It needs to be at the forefront of everything an agency does and the only way to do so is to have a creative leader at the helm of the company.
Having a CEO with a creative background is a must — it’s a clear, emphatic statement about what’s most important to that organization and what’s the agency stands for above all else. When you have a finance CEO, you get procurement-led communications. With a client-service CEO, you get "give the client what they want" agency. With a creative CEO, you get “give the client what they need agency.” idea-led communications.
For years the advertising business lost its way by focusing on client relationships. These are not enough anymore. Advertising need to get back to understand that at tough economic times ideas drive agency revenue.
The corporatization of the advertising industry and the killing of entrepreneurship is at the heart of the current crisis between clients and agencies. As the quality of the work got bad, clients began shifting work in-house and change from AOR agencies to project work. They cut spending and fees.
The way to regain client trust and respect is to set the agency leadership pyramid on its head. Agencies need to go back to appointing creative people as CEO. I believe that, creatives with the right skills, are capable of leading an agency or, have at least an equal voice in determining the future of individual agencies and the industry at large.
Having a leader with creative chops is more than just about producing great work – it’s about changing the face and the priorities of the agency and the industry. Some of the most talked-about and successful agencies in the last couple of decades have been run by creative people: Droga, Chiat, Goodby, Wieden, Bogusky. CEOs with a creative background have a different perspective. They believe in inspiration, not rationalization. These are people who are making decisions about the effectiveness of an idea, not the efficiency of an idea. Their leadership is not based only on quarterly results.
First-hand knowledge of making ads is a game changer for agency leaders. Coming from the side of actually making the content that consumers interact with, gives these leaders a different kind of appreciation for the craft. It adds more of an understanding of what goes into the work and how to put the creative at the heart of the agency agenda.
It will also mean that the dwindling top creative talent, and the migration to the social media platforms and the management consultancies, would ease. Top talent will be attracted to agencies led by CEOs with creative background.
Agencies need to make money. This is a business after all – not an art class. They need to have rigor and structure. And, that requires skills that don’t always come naturally to a creative-minded person, and they certainly aren’t taught in ad school.
However, that being said, creatives can learn business skills better than their more buttoned-down counterparts can learn to come up with great ideas. It's easier to teach a creative mind how to thing logically and analytically than to teach an analytical mind to think creatively.
2) This Checklist for Successful Nudges [Behavioral Insights Team]
From the eBook "The Little Book of Green Nudges" and a very big hat tip to Richard Shotton on Twitter
We often view our job as advertisers as driving action - causing a sale, moving people down the AIDA-DAGMAR funnel, etc. It feels like over the last year we've really slowed down conversations about building System 1 Memory structures. I don't know why. Maybe it's too cerebral and esoteric.
That's why I love this. Because at its essence, advertising is about nudging people. Not to get them to take action. To plant the seed so that they choose to take action themselves. Just like inception but much lower stakes. Usually.
3) Special Feature: Department of Self Care
Do yourself a favor and get a flu shot!
Feeling bad about feeling bad can make you feel worse [UC Berkeley News]
A new study from UC Berkeley found that people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health. The results suggest that people who commonly resist acknowledging their darkest emotions, or judge them harshly, can end up feeling more psychologically stressed.
By contrast, those who generally allow such bleak feelings as sadness, disappointment and resentment to run their course reported fewer mood disorder symptoms than those who critique them or push them away, even after six months.
“It turns out that how we approach our own negative emotional reactions is really important for our overall well-being,” said study lead author Brett Ford, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. “People who accept these emotions without judging or trying to change them are able to cope with their stress more successfully.”Is Your Brand Ready for 'Cocoon Culture'? Get Comfy [Muse by Clio]
Cocoon culture is here. Brands should connect with it properly if they want to get through the winter feeling good, too. There are three themes underpinning it all:
Bring on the comfort
We have a deep desire to wrap ourselves in cotton wool, comfort and the familiar this winter—from the clothes we wear to the products and ingredients on our skin, we want to feel soothed and safe. Nostalgic cues are reminding us of when life was happier and easier.
Simple pleasures
We can still find joy while we cocoon, meaning small inexpensive items to lift our mood are important. We need to all make sure we're treating ourselves with the little things to keep our mood buoyed, especially those we can do together.
Look up and out
Tonally, brands should bring the joy or serve as a reminder that there will be normal times again over the horizon and to keep striding towards it. Have a lovely hibernation. See you after the cocooning in the spring.
4) Department of Great Work
Before jumping into great work, I want to share my thoughts on just two bonkers (in a good way) TV spots I saw back-to-back this morning: this Fisher Price spot and this d-CON mouse bait commercial. Neither creative campaign came out after we all went into Covid lockdown, but I do appreciate that we seem to be embracing the weird/quirky
FedEx Guy Overcomes All Obstacles as He Trains for the Holidays [Muse By Clio] Maybe it's because I was *so* disappointed by The Floor is Lava (yes I'm linking to the Italian Trailer which is so much better than the US trailer, which, like the show, is steaming hot trash). Or maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of American Gladiator (it's on Hulu), but I just love this spot. This take on Ninja Warrior plays off a lot of FedEx guy memes in a really good way. And apparently we should all do our Christmas shopping very early this year. From BBDO New York
Tesla Tequila is already sold out, despite the hefty price tag [Mashable] Is this great work? Who knows anymore. I think ultimately yes. It's a smart way to own another hype cycle and keep yourself top-of-mind. Creating brand affinity, when you already have high brand awareness. Tesla Tequila started as an April Fools' joke, with Musk announcing it with a single smiley under that joke's Twitter thread from 2018. It's far from Tesla's first non-car product; the company has been selling a bunch of clothing and lifestyle products, including stuff like t-shirts, hats, toys, and portable batteries. Musk's Boring Company has also had great success selling very odd items such as a flamethrower.
don't worry Eric, we have €9.99 fares next time you're in Europe [Twitter] RyanAir capitalizing on the moment (this was two days after the election, when the numbers were starting to swing in Biden's direction. I think it's just clever. And doesn't really risk that much politically, as something like 90% of Europeans disapprove of Trump.
Why Beats By Dre is challenging your love of Black culture with your treatment of Black people [FastCompany] Naomi Osaka, Bubba Wallace, Lil Baby and more stars press us to reconcile one of the longstanding conundrums of our culture. The ad represents Beats’s ambition to get back to the kind of edgy, culturally relevant, stylish AF advertising of its heyday last decade. One of the pillars of brand trust is consistency. You can’t just change a brand’s personality, voice, or tone overnight. Luckily for Beats, it’s also tough to erase a strong foundation in a few short years, as the sheer quality of talent behind this spot can attest. Created with agency Translation.
Citi launches “True Name” feature with Mastercard to allow trans and non-binary people to use their chosen name [CNBC] True Name aims to help members in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary people, by allowing them to have financial products with their self-identified chosen first name. This new feature can play a part in reducing the discrimination many members of the trans and non-binary communities face when purchasing items with a credit card. “Since introducing the True Name feature, we’ve received incredible feedback from our partners and allies within the transgender and non-binary communities on how the capability has eased a major pain point in their lives,” Cheryl Guerin, EVP of marketing and communications at Mastercard said. In partnership with Publicis
Childline and The Gate stop kids in their tracks with stop motion storytelling [Creative Brief] ‘Nobody is Normal’ is a beautiful piece of creative work, a stop motion animation, that conveys the vital message to children; that you are not alone. ‘Nobody is Normal’ is a beautiful piece of creative work, a stop motion animation, that conveys the vital message to children; that you are not alone and no matter how you feel inside, there is always someone you can talk to. The strength of this film comes from a stop-motion animation which uses the language of creativity to break the silence that often surrounds anxiety and mental health issues amongst young people. According to Childline, over the past few months counsellors have heard from children who are struggling with their body image, sexuality, gender identity and mental health. Issues, which according to the charity’s data, have spiked during the coronavirus lockdown. From creative agency The Gate
5) Platform Updates
"Overtargeting, The Scourge Of Marketing" [Forbes] Targeting and retargeting ads to people who already know the brand, visited the brand website, or even purchased from the brand before are like hitting up the 1% for more repeat sales, while missing the other 99% that do not know the brand, have not visited the brand website, and have not bought from the brand before. That pool of “potential customers” is nearly 100 times the size of the pool of “existing customers.” It’s really really hard to squeeze more sales out of the 1%.
Instagram redesign puts Reels and Shop tabs on the home screen [TechCrunch] In case you've been living under a rock...The redesign, which makes Reels the main button in the app, is an aggressive attempt on Instagram’s part to direct users to its short-form video feed, which has so far seen only a lukewarm reception from reviewers. Critics have said Reels lacks competitive features, contributes to Instagram’s bloat, feels stale and features a lot of recycled TikTok content. At best, it’s been deemed a shameless clone. In the redesigned app, both the Compose button and the Activity tab have been relocated to the top-right of the home screen, while the center middle button now belongs to Reels.
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!