24th June 2016
Google have a deceptively simple, 3 stage process, to help them come up with ideas : 1.Get to know the User 2.Think 10x (think big,more efficiently) and 3.Prototype (make it happen). This is How To Brainstorm Like A Googler.
I delivered a TED talk at TEDx Royal Tunbridge Wells a few weeks ago on the subject of How Street Wisdom Changed My Life. If you are interested, more information on the rather wonderful Street Wisdom can also be found here.
@econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital agencies report has been released. In this rapidly changing landscape, the top 3 are – IBM iX, Accenture Interactive and Sapient Nitro. As you can see, a big recent change has been the movement of consultancy firms into the digital agency field.
The wonderfully enlightening (and free) Google Firestarters events have now been going for 5 years and close to 40 sessions. I have been to quite a few, met some very interesting people and learnt a great deal. The next one is this coming Tuesday – focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
And still with robots, this is a rather daunting interview with Nick Bostrom in The Guardian – Sentient Machines are a greater threat to humanity than Climate Change.
How the Alligator Pear (or Avocado) went from obsure delicacy to the US’s favourite fruit. ‘It is a story of a desperate renaming, a PR Hail-Mary, and of the changing nature of the Super Bowl. It is a tale best enjoyed with a squeeze of lime and generous sprinkling of cilantro.’
Are Brands losing their Magic? From @inseadknowledge – ‘In the digital world, a product’s substance is more highly valued than the stories woven around it’ . Not sure I agree with this, I would say the power of branding is on the rise in a mobile world, where people are less inclined and less able to take a lot of time, making decisions. But it is an interesting perspective nonetheless.
In an era of simplified and homogenised emotions (see emojis), I love this piece from @nymag – ’10 extremely precise words for emotions you didn’t even know you had.’ How about amae, l’appel du vide and awumbuk?
The once terrifying and now (thankfully) retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch on how he was so effective. Bone chilling. (short video).
And finally, what do you think the Word of the Year for 2016 is? ( as decided by the American Dialect Society). Turns out it is ‘They‘. ‘This word won as it was recognised for its emerging use as a pronoun to refer to a known person, often as a conscious choice by a person rejecting the traditional gender binary of ‘he’ and ‘she’.