26th January 2018
What makes a good TED Talk? This perspective from Helen Walters, TED’s Head of Curation – ‘The most important quality of a TED talk is that speakers come to the stage prepared to discuss a single idea worth sharing – not a body of work, not a few different ideas, definitely not some kind of self-serving shill. It’s one idea the audience can walk away with.’ And just in case you haven’t see it, here is my TED talk, from a couple of years back- How Street Wisdom Changed My Life.
From a review of Hit Makers, on thinkgrowth.org. ‘A book about what makes certain things “go viral”— a song, a painting, a story — may not seem, at first pass, to be a book about diversity. And yet it can’t avoid it. The science of what humans like, after all, is also a science of what we do not like. This is what the science of popularity reveals about the challenges of diversity.’
We now see smartphones as dangerous for young minds. Can Apple do something about it? This from The Monday Note – ‘There’s another, more important reason for Apple to take on tech addiction: because it would probably do an elegant job of addressing the problem.’‘I do think this is their time to step up,’ says Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google who now runs Time Well Spent, an organisation working to improve technology’s impact on society. ‘In fact,’ Mr. Harris added, ‘they may be our only hope.’
Nice piece from friend of The Filter – Brand Learning, on why brands should always tell the truth. ‘We believe that purpose should act as a guiding direction for a brand’s customer experience and also their employee experience. By using purpose as a guiding light for the entire end-to-end customer experience, a brand can achieve consistency which will stand up to scrutiny, an inevitability in our connected world.’
Interesting to see that this is having an impact. ‘With its emphasis on transparency, the jobs site Glassdoor aims to upend corporate power dynamics. Improving workplace culture, one review at a time.’
A compelling and powerful plea for pithiness. From BBH Labs – ‘Forget ‘Manifestos’, brand ads should be as short as possible.’ ‘I’ve got a few problems with brand ‘manifesto’ ads. With a couple of notable exceptions, they are just strategy set to a mood film. They over explain something that didn’t need explaining. They veer into topics unrelated to the product. They try too hard to be liked. Most off all, I hate that they are all long.’
Millennials are on their way out. By my reckoning, the first cohorts of Generation Z are 14, which means they are soon going to be the ones we will talk endlessly about. Probably a good idea to understand what makes them tick, and this report from Global Web Index, should help.
Sonic Logos have had a considerable impact across TV and Radio advertising, witness the Intel and McDonalds examples, both of which are instantly recognisable. With the rise of voice tech, this tactic will be going to another level entirely. ‘If music creates emotion, we see that brand favourability increases and brand consideration increases – metrics that really apply directly to ROI. When it comes to experiences, brands are realising that emotional connection is more important than ever.’
The BBC’s rather edgy new trailer for the upcoming Winter Olympics. ‘The Fearless Are Here’.
This is a properly wonderful new short film from directing duo ‘Us’ – ‘Cautionary Tales’. Make sure you watch the credits.