28th September 2018
Nice interactive report from Campaign – The Future Of Brand Experiences. ‘Consumer demand for experiences, shows no signs of abating, as brands turn to live campaigns to inspire, engage and provoke.’
A crop of dating simulations, where the goal is to reach a ‘virtual happily ever after’ have recently become hits. Are they a substitute for human companionship or a new type of digital intimacy? This is – Love In The Time Of AI.
An excellent Google Firestarters event took place recently, celebrating Google’s 20th birthday, incorporating an excellent line-up including the irrepressible Rory Sutherland; and Simon Andrews of The Media Kitchen. In a session looking at the friction between ‘Planning’ and ‘Performance in the communications process, Tom Roach’s presentation (from BBH Labs) was standout – ‘We’re in danger of forgetting the value of brand in business. It is so terribly wrong that it has become such an ‘either/or’ debate. Too much focus on performance marketing can detract from the fact that all marketing is about performance.’
Meet Nesta’s New Radicals 2018, in association with The Observer – 50 radical-thinking individuals and organisations changing the UK for the better. Some really inspiring stories here.
From The Drum. ‘Are we in the midst of the golden age of crafted animated advertising? Habito’s visceral depiction of hell and heaven is more reminiscent of a messed-up episode of Rick and Morty than a daytime TVC for mortgage sales, while Mini’s latest commissions proudly celebrate the beauty of stop motion from under the sea and up above in space.’
If you are not aware, worth checking out the Strands Of Genius newsletter from GeniusSteals.co. An especially impressive missive this week with its focus on Mental Wellness. Selected stories include – ‘Is There a Link between Creativity and Mental Illness?’, ‘Why Instagram Is The Worst For Social Media Health’ and ‘The MHL aka The Mental Health League.’
It’s a year since Mark Zuckerberg announced, at the Oculus Connect Event, that he wanted to get one billion people into VR. Well, it’s been disappointing progress since then with slower than expected pick-up, but now, Oculus hopes its $399 headset will (finally?) bring virtual reality to the masses. Meanwhile in the travel sector, Alaska Airlines hopes to make long flights more bearable with VR movies.
If you can’t get to the Future Of Storytelling Summit in New York, next week, it is still possible to pick up on some of the excellent content via their websites, social and newsletter. From their Vimeo channel, Vivienne Ming’s piece – SuperHuman(ity): Optimizing Human Potential, is one such example. ‘ While she believes technology can help us be our best selves, she also cautions of a future where some people are augmented and others are not.
From The Economist’s 1843 Magazine. Why fashion struggles to have new ideas .’ The cool kids are dressed in Nineties clobber. The catwalks are filled with aristocratic throwbacks. Why does fashion struggle to make things new?’
Here is Street Wisdom’s short film summary of the very successful 2018 #WorldWideWander weekend, which included 50 events in 20 countries (I pop up in the film at 1.05 in…).