31st May 2020
Exit Strategies Are For Governments, Not Brands. ‘…after punting the notion of ‘exit strategies’ over to a group of strategists, it seems that this might not be the wisest mindset with which to approach the coming months…. Brands may want to think about this less in terms of an exit strategy, and more in terms of a moving-forward strategy…and to move forward, most businesses are at a crossroads: to either return to business as usual and start recovering from the hit or invest in adaptation to ensure they survive as the situation continues to change.’
So, Twitter has ‘appended a fact-check’ to Donald Trump’s tweets. Lots of different perspectives on how this may play out; but overall it shines a spotlight on the 1996 Communications Decency Act which, according to Jeff Kosseff’s book, included the Twenty-six words that created the internet; “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
Nike, feat LeBron James et al. We are never too far down to come back.
The Contagious webinar this week was on the subject of Ask Heretical Questions. Some interesting case studies included : 1) Gazeta.pl ends 27 years of objectification of women as it published a final, more progressive, issue on International Women’s Day – buying Poland’s oldest porn magazine, to shut it down 2) Domino’s branded potholesappeared after the pizza company took to road repair 3) When Burger King cut artificial preservatives and created a gross new ad to show it off 4) ‘No Luxury’: a book containing tampons was a runaway hit 5) Transavia Airlines launched a snack that doubled as a plane ticket and 6) This celebrity sponsorship idea involving Neymar, cut-through by not featuring him at all. This was Neymarless.
From TechCrunch. ‘JD.com, the online retailer that is Alibaba’s long-time nemesis, announced Wednesday a strategic partnership with Kuaishou, the main rival of TikTok’s sibling in China, Douyin. The collaboration is part of a rising trend in the Chinese internet where short video apps and e-commerce platforms increasingly turn to each other for monetisation synergies.’
The rise of TikTok and understanding its parent company, ByteDance . ‘ByteDance is arguably the most serious competitor to Google, ever.It reaches consumers in the two largest middle classes in the world, China and the US, at a scale larger than any other digital advertising company. Like its Chinese counterparts, its seen success with monetisation models beyond just advertising, which US-based competitors have struggled with to-date.’
An interesting, but intense, interface to play with as we come out of lockdown – Human Online. ‘Experience presence and heartfelt connection. Connect with people from all places and backgrounds. Slow down and share a moment in silence.’
Nice piece from NoTosh. There is good to be found. ‘In a client meeting this week, a principal referred to the current situation as “Beautiful COVID.” The reference was intended to be tongue-in-cheek but it got us thinking… might COVID have presented us with new opportunities to celebrate what is good?’ Particularly like the rise of caremongering vs. scaremongering.
In this short film, WWF India shows how animals won the lockdown but also urges co-existence with nature, once it lifts.
An older piece from autodidactic Eliezer Yudkowsky, but really relevant today. Expecting Short Inferential Distances – the expectation and impediments that can often exist when experts seek to explain themselves. ‘Oh, and you’d better not drop any hints that you think you’re working a dozen inferential steps away from what the audience knows, or that you think you have special background knowledge not available to them. The audience doesn’t know anything about an evolutionary-psychological argument for a cognitive bias to underestimate inferential distances leading to traffic jams in communication. They’ll just think you’re condescending.’
The Ha Ha Scroll. The rise of the anti-anxiety Instagram cartoon.
Durex looks for lasting change in new campaign. ‘While the world searches for normality amid the pandemic, the contraception brand is beckoning people to leave some outdated norms in the past.’
Some nice pieces on Vimeo this week – 1) A Red Bull Film : ‘With little change to the landscape of Alaska since her first trip 10 years ago, big mountain skier Michelle Parker returns to test her skillset in the mountains’ 2) ‘Nenad Bach is a world-class musician that decided to stop performing publicly after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2010. In the wake of his diagnosis he discovered that playing ping pong helped to alleviate his symptoms. Now he’s attempting to help millions of others do the same‘ 3) Some very cool and clever camera work here – Always (Director’s Cut; Waze & Odyssey, George Michael, Mary J. Blige & Tommy Theo)
From Nerdwriter. ‘After more than 40 films playing supporting roles, this is how Humphrey Bogart became a legend.‘
Yesterday, was World MS Day. For personal reasons, I consider multiple sclerosis to be a particularly valuable and worthy charity. If you would like, you can donate here.