Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 136
July 30, 2018
Amazon Rules, Facebook Struggles And More On This Week's CTRL ALT Delete Segment On CHOM 97.7 FM
Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what's going on in the digital world. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
A brutal week for Facebook and the public markets. About $120 billion wiped from their public valuation with a drop of close to 20%. User growth has all but stalled in Canada and in the US, and investors seem scared by it's "ok" growth (which is still a staggering number). Is this the beginning of stagnation or of a shrinking value in Facebook?
For everything bad that happened to Facebook on the public markets, Amazon was looking more invincible than ever. While looking at their numbers, it would be easy to dismiss the fascinating reality that Amazon now has an advertising business worth over $2 billion dollars... and it grew by over 130% in the first quarter of 2018. With that, advertising is going to become a much larger beast in the Amazon jungle, and - by the looks of it - consumers are going to be ok with it.
Do people pay for music? Who is the biggest when it comes to streaming music? Spotify hits 83 million paid subscribers. Total monthly users? 180 million. This is the classic example of dollars to digital dimes (in terms of artists - and record labels - making any substantive dollars in streaming), but it just goes to show you how far consumers have come in adopting streaming services.
App of the Week: Sharezie.
Tags:
advertising
advertising agency
amazon
app of the week
brand
business blog
chom 977 fm
chom fm
ctrl alt delete
ctrl alt delete with mitch joel
digital marketing
digital marketing agency
digital marketing blog
digital media
facebook
guest contributor
i heart radio
marketing
marketing agency
marketing blog
mitch joel
mitchjoel
mobile
montreal radio
morning show
mornings rock with terry dimonte
radio segment
radio station
sharezie
six pixels of separation
smartphone
social media
spotify
streaming
streaming services
technology
July 29, 2018
They're Ruining Amazon... Please Don't Let Them!
The Internet is the Wild West.
This was the narrative for many years. Going back close to twenty years, settlers (like me) would spend countless hours trying to convince brands about the pending gold rush. And, yes, it worked out. There's gold in them thar Hills! Yes. Yes there was (and still is). In those very early days as search engines, websites and the earliest days of eCommerce came online, there was opportunity everywhere. Tons of industries had yet to be populated and dominated online.
It was exciting times... and dangerous times.
For every Bezos, Brin and Thiel, there were countless others who were working in the shadows trying to game the system. And, without rules, laws, ethics and transparency in place, they benefited to the tune of millions (billions?) of dollars. Back then, I was busy building the sales and advertising channel for a meta-search engine in the BG era (Before Google). From that perch, you could see the gaming of the system and fraud and terrible side of human beings who would do anything to do something as petty as getting a notch or two ahead of their competitors in a basic search result.
The cat meets the mouse.
As this new digital land grab was happening, it became a constant battle. Whatever gaming of the system and fraud was being done, required the programmers and strategists to develop countermeasures. Every action and reaction would affect the entire ecosystem. There were always unintended consequences, so while the bad actors were being punished (or not even caught), often the good actors were being punished as well. It was rough going. Not much has changed. You can run down the line of digital inovations since those first websites and early platforms were developed, and the bad actors are always front and center. From Facebook manipulation to programmatic problems and beyond. With that, the lessons of the past and the failures of others act as a buffer for the new players to learn from and get it right (from the onset). Right?
Welcome to the jungle... Amazon's jungle.
The headline says it all for this Wall Street Journal report: How Sellers Trick Amazon To Boost Sales. It's a simple scam: somewhere in Bangladesh empoverished individuals just trying to survive, shuffle into a non-descript building and spend countless hours clicking on pre-defined and specific links on Amazon. The business model is simple: Someone is paying them to create a false sense of popularity. Amazon's algorithm then kicks in and ranks these products higher.
That scam is about as old as the first website.
Smart algorithm? The most brilliant minds in technology and retail? The first company to trigger the trillion dollar business valuation (maybe)? And, yet, they haven't figured out how to build an algorithm based on anything but what links someone is clicking on, and then automating the process of rank based on that? Even the infamous search algorithm for Google (PageRank) was (partially) created, developed and iterated on because of this very basic predatory tactic. Nearly twenty years later, and this trick still works?
It's not just click farm tactics.
Services to game Amazon rankings go well beyond the clicking of links. Just graze through the WSJ report to see how pervasive the problem is. Amazon's defense is, as expected... it's just a small handful of bad actors that are not really having a significant impact on the users experiece or on overall business plans.
Is this tough to fix?
What if the amount of times a link is clicked has no bearing on the popularity of a product? What is ranking is defined by purchases, multiple purchase, positive reviews, positive reviews that can only be posted by verified accounts (legitimate credit cards? multiple purchases?). Again, not stating anything new here, but shifting how something gets ranked to more pragmatic models instead of simply clicks and searches seems like the obvious fix? Ensuring that people are really who they say that they are seems obvious too? I'm not naive, if a brand locks anything down, there are enough bad actors who will find the loophole. Still, there are some obvious ways to not fall prey to tactics that others have already solved for.
We often say "what's old is new again." It's somewhat tragic that we have to include the scammers in this as well.
Tags:
advertising
algorithm
amazon
brand
business
business blog
business model
business strategy
consumer review
creativity
ctrl alt delete
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
disruption
ecommerce
facebook
google
innovation
jeff bezos
leadership
management
management thinking
marketing
marketing blog
media
meta search engine
mitch joel
mitchjoel
pagerank
peter thiel
programmatic
retail
search engine
sergey brin
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
technology
user experience
wall street journal
wsj
The Creative Curve With Allen Gannett - This Week's Six Pixels of Separation Podcast
Episode #629 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.
Everybody is curious about creativity and the creative process. Are some people just more creative than others? Is there a true difference between those who use the left and right parts of their brain? Can creativity be learned and turned into a business process? Allen Gannett is the founder and CEO of TrackMaven, a marketing insights platform whose clients have included Microsoft, Marriott, Saks Fifth Avenue, GE and more. He has been on the "30 Under 30" lists for both Inc. and Forbes. He is a contributor for Fast Company where he writes on the intersection of technology and human nature. Previously, he was a co-founder and General Partner of Acceleprise Ventures, the leading SaaS startup accelerator. He was also once a very pitiful runner-up on Wheel of Fortune. Now, he's an author. His first book, The Creative Curve, overturns the mythology around creative genius, and reveals the science and secrets behind achieving breakout commercial success in any field. Enjoy the conversation...
You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #629.
Tags:
advertising
advertising podcast
allen gannett
brand
business blog
business book
business conversation
business podcast
creative process
creativity
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
digital marketing podcast
disruption
fast company
forbes
ge
human nature
inc magazine
innovation
leadership book
leadership podcast
management podcast
marketing
marketing blog
marketing insights
marketing podcast
marriott
microsoft
mitch joel
mitchjoel
non fiction book
podcast
saks fifth avenue
science
six pixels
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
technology
the creative curve
trackmaven
July 27, 2018
Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #422
Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO, Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".
Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:
The Tyrant and His Enablers - Longreads . "If you're a fan of Shakespeare, you may find this analysis of his historical plays relevant to modern events. 'Why do large numbers of people knowingly accept being lied to?' it asks. Why, indeed." (Alistair for Hugh).
St. Louis Uber driver has put video of hundreds of passengers online. Most have no idea. - St. Louis Post Dispatch . "Oh, to be a philosopher in the modern age. Technology, it seems, keeps throwing us curve balls, forcing us to renegotiate the edges of privacy, fairness, free speech, and more. Here's a great one for the next time you're getting a room excited about the two-edged sword of innovation." (Alistair for Mitch).
Uber and Lyft Are Overwhelming Urban Streets, and Cities Need to Act Fast - StreetsBlog NYC . "You know how Uber and Lyft was supposed to reduce car ownership and make urban driving more efficient? Well, it turns out that ridesharing *increases* congestion, car ownership, basically because of all the time Uber drivers spend driving around empty." (Hugh for Alistair).
The Book Is A Time Machine - Public Books . "Love it." (Hugh for Mitch).
Why Monocle shuns social media in favour of going swimming with its readers - The Drum . "I love magazines. I used to buy them. Stacks of them. Until very, very recently. I've all but given up. Sure, I pay for content (and subscribe to a lot of magazines and newspapers), but it's all digital now. I miss that feeling of a fresh and new magazine. Including the ads. I love the whole package. I still get that feeling (only a little) with every issue of Monocle. It's more about the design than the overall content (I gloss over much of the articles... just not that interesting) , but the magazine is a thing of beauty. The company shuns social media. Which seems like madness. It's working for them..." (Mitch for Alistair).
The Importance of Indie Bookstores Today, Tomorrow, and Always - Signature . "I still buy a ton of books (sorry magazines and newspapers!). That being said, I buy every book on either Kindle or Audible and, if I like it, I buy a physical copy. I'm not sure how sustainable that is in the long term, but it's how I deal with my books in the here and now. I can't walk by a bookstore and not go in. Big chains? Sure. I have a softer spot for the indie books stores. So much fun to roam and read. I am not alone..." (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
Tags:
advertising
alistair croll
amazon
amazon kindle
audible
book
brand
business blog
content
content marketing
design
digital content
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
disruption
facebook
free speech
history
indie bookstore
innovation
kindle
link
link exchange
livestream
longreads
lyft
magazine
marketing
marketing blog
mitch joel
mitchjoel
monocle
newspaper
privacy
public books
ridesharing
signature
six pixels of separation
social media
solve for interesting
st louis post dispatch
streetsblog nyc
subscription
technology
the drum
tilt the windmill
twitter
uber
uber driver
urban
william shakespeare
Brands Need To Go Where The Wind Blows - The Growing Trend of Instagram Flop Accounts
"Young people don't care about news."
Because it's all fake news anyways, right? It's such a blanket statement. We hear this rhetoric all of the time. Blanket statements like, "young people don't care about the news" and that sort of stuff. Young people don't watch ads. You people don't want ads. Young people don't drive cars anymore. Young people don't want to buy homes. It goes on and on. There's a reason to be taken by the article, Teens Are Debating the News on Instagram, in The Atlantic yesterday. Who would have thought? Plus, if you've never heard of flop accounts, it's time to wise up (I had not).
If you're a brand, and you want to target the younger news audience demographic, what's the Instagram play?
That statement above... I don't think it is a marketing and content strategy that I would have ever offered up to a client. It seems silly for a brand to play in a channel that they're not serious about, speaking to a group that they may not really understand, on a platform that is different from how they're used to advertising, but consider this... for a moment...
"Teenagers who are looking to talk about big issues... they've turned to Instagram. Specifically, they've turned to 'flop' accounts--pages that are collectively managed by several teens, many of them devoted to discussions of hot-button topics: gun control, abortion, immigration, President Donald Trump, LGBTQ issues, YouTubers, breaking news, viral memes... as flop accounts grow by the thousands as teens seek refuge from the wider web, many of the internet's worst dynamics have begun to duplicate themselves on Instagram. Some flop accounts are rife with polarization, drama, and misinformation. All the while, an increasing number of teens are turning to these types of accounts for news, seeing them as more reliable and trustworthy than traditional media."
And, like that, a new form of news becomes a trend and (potentially) the norm for our future adults?
Brands can easily make the wrong play here. Brands can put their noses in this and get burned (it has happened before). The idea of how to advertise to this audience is less interesting, then how this demographic has chosen, engaged and pushed a media format (that many considered dead and gone) back to life. It's unique. It's different. It probably looks nothing like how previous generations got their news and debated it, but here we are.
Instagram is the new newsstand?
It's not really the news, though. It's a meme, an interpretation, an attack, a moment of making mainstream ideas more woke (as the kids call it). With that, brands should go ahead and dig deep. Find these flop accounts, follow them, and see what the triggers are. There are countless lessons about marketing, communications, advertising and the social commentary that goes along with this news format. In a word: fascinating. Watching young people pick apart the news with raw discourse (and, make no mistake about it, it is very, very raw) is terrifying at first blush, then evolves into a moment that we can all hope for: awareness. Young people are paying attention to the news... they're discussing it... and, yes, they're tearing it apart (seems like good news, doesn't it?). With that, the bigger brand lesson is that advertising can stay where it is (like it has always done). The other option is to (at least) embrace the ethos of what is being discussed in this The Atlantic article. If your brand isn't going where the real audience is, then you can't complain about campaign efficacy. As painful as that may be. Things continue to be messy for brands looking for an audience. This proves it.
Do you want your brand attached to this? That's the bigger question.
Tags:
advertising
audience
brand
breaking news
business
business blog
business strategy
content
content marketing
creativity
ctrl alt delete
demographic
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
disruption
fake news
flop accounts
innovation
instagram
leadership
management
management thinking
marketing
marketing blog
marketing strategy
media
memes
mitch joel
mitchjoel
news
news audience
newsstand
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
technology
teens
the atlantic
traditional media
viral marketing
viral memes
youtube
youtubers
July 25, 2018
Direct Is The New Disruption
Whatever industry you serve, direct is the new disruption.
It used to be that brands would work with their agencies to speak to media properties and engage in other marketing and sales opportunities. Digiday had (another) fascinating piece this week, Amazon advertising is working directly with brands now, cutting out ad agencies. From the article:
" Amazon has always had a robust direct line to brands via an application programming interface for Amazon Marketing Services , the part of its ad business that includes self-serve Amazon ads. But working directly with big brands for bigger media buys, without agencies in the process, is a new phenomenon for Amazon. The company is increasingly sending its burgeoning sales team to directly meet with marketers and chief marketing officers, according to people familiar with the matter. It's especially well-received by marketers because Amazon Advertising has long been touting itself as simply one part of an overall 'Amazon strategy' for advertisers. That means that brands should, or so the pitch goes, be thinking about everything from online Amazon stores, shipping, logistics, review management -- as well as advertising."
It's not just Amazon.
It could be eye glasses, shoes, mattresses, search engines, online social networks, etc... It's happening everywhere. It's obvious, but (still) brands are thinking that their real competition is their traditional competitors (or some kind of technological disruption). When margins shrink and innovative new products are no longer right around the corner, businesses backs get pushed against the wall. They look for ways to maximize profits while cutting expenses. Technology is a driver, but it really just created a stage where middlemen, agencies and the in-betweens are getting squeezed out, commoditized and pushed to the side.
It's not just services, either.
Oreo (yes, those yummy cookies) partnered with Amazon to create a three-tiered subscription box offering earlier this year. It's a smart play on many fronts:
It gets consumers to regularly (monthly!) eat and think about Oreos.
It enables Oreo to bring flavors not available at local retail (or in the consumer's region) into their home.
It enables Oreo to test flavors, new package formats and more to see what might stick.
It creates a sensible frame of brand repetition in the consumer's mind (are subscription services the new commercial that keeps being repeated?).
It gets Oreo into the ecommerce game.
But MOST importantly...
Oreo is now selling directly to their consumers, and has permission to communicate and engage with them (regularly). That cuts out the food stores and pharmacies and everyone else who used to be the retail gatekeeper between Mondelez (the company that owns Oreos) and their consumers. Sure, subscription boxes are not the be-all and end-all for brands (many businesses screw up their subscription box in a royal kind of way), but the concept of selling directly to consumers (which is nothing new) is becoming easier and easier for brands today. That's a major disruption.
Do you really know where the disruption is coming from?
In the marketing industry, the current narrative is deceiving. Most editorials on the future of the agency business focus on the big consulting agencies and specialized/smaller boutiques, as being the main disrupters of the agency space. It seems to me, like it's more internal brand teams (brands building their own, internal, teams) that are swiping away at a lot of the business that was traditionally given to agencies. And, yes, if a brand builds an internal team, that feels like a pretty "direct" business... not to mention when the media partners (see Amazon above), Google, Facebook, etc... are also working directly with the brands. Take a serious step back from your work today. Think about the real disruptors in your industry. Is it the big tech thing-a-ma-jig? Is it the startup in the garage? Really?
It seems like the answer is clear: direct is the new disruption.
Tags:
advertising
amazon
amazon advertising
amazon marketing services
brand
business
business blog
business strategy
chief marketing officer
com
communication
consultant
creativity
ctrl alt delete
digiday
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
direct brand
disruption
ecommerce
facebook
google
innovation
internal team
leadership
logistics
management
management thinking
marketing
marketing blog
media
media buy
mitch joel
mitchjoel
mondelez
online social network
oreo
retail
retailers
search engine
shipping
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
subscription box
technology
tv advertising
tv commercial
July 23, 2018
The Best Business And Technology Summer Reading List On This Week's CTRL ALT Delete Segment On CHOM 97.7 FM
Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what's going on in the digital world. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
The Best Business and Technology Books for summer reading (in alphabetical order)!
Bad Blood - Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. The bizarre rise and fall of Theranos and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes. She was widely regarded as the female Steve Jobs. A $9 billion dollar business valuation on the promise of changing how blood tests works, and what we're left with is this amazing indictment of incompetence and lies.
Conspiracy - Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday. A story that is truly ripped from the headlines. Still, this saga is so bizarres, that it makes it hard to believe that it isn't a work of fiction.
The Excellence Dividend by Tom Peters. Legendary business thinker and management guru, Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence) is back with an amazing journey through the soft skills of business today that will have a hard impact on your bottom line tomorrow. Here's my conversation with Tom:
Frenemies by Ken Auletta - a deep dive into the world of advertising and media by the famed New Yorker columnist.
Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss with Tahl Raz. an incredible book about negotiating that I am very reluctant to share (so much smart advice in here) from one of the world's top international hostage negotiators for the FBI. Here's my conversation with Chris:
When by Daniel H. Pink. Is there a science to when you should do certain things at work (like look for a new job, book a meeting or have a brainstorming session)? Most of this business stuff we run via gut or by simply scheduling it in... that's a big mistake. This book explains why. Here's my conversation with Dan:
App of the Week: Audible.
Tags:
advertising agency
app of the week
audible
bad blood
brand
business blog
business book
chom 977 fm
chom fm
chris voss
conspiracy
ctrl alt delete
ctrl alt delete with mitch joel
dan pink
daniel pink
digital marketing
digital marketing agency
digital marketing blog
digital media
elizabeth holmes
fbi
frenemies
gawker
guest contributor
hulk hogan
i heart radio
in search of excellence
john carreyrou
ken auletta
management
marketing
marketing agency
marketing blog
mitch joel
mitchjoel
mobile
montreal radio
morning show
mornings rock with terry dimonte
negotiation
never split the difference
peter thiel
radio segment
radio station
ryan holiday
silicon valley
six pixels of separation
smartphone
social media
startup
steve jobs
tahl raz
technology
technology book
the excellence dividend
the new yorker
theranos
tom peters
when
July 22, 2018
The Startup Playbook With Rajat Bhargava - This Week's Six Pixels of Separation Podcast
Episode #628 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.
He's had many exits as a startup founder (over five!). This includes two IPOs, two trade sales and more. He's been in the technology and services space for a long while (and he's seen it all). Maybe you have heard of some of his companies... but maybe you haven't. Rajat Bhargava doesn't care that much, because he likes to build companies (not, necessarily, sexy big brand name companies). It's hard to have a beautiful house without plumbing... the saying goes. This graduate of MIT (with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) isn't just a successful entrepreneur, but he's also an investor. With over twenty years of experience (he's currently the CEO of JumpCloud), Rajat and his business partner, Will Herman, decided to distill their knowledge, wisdom and mentoring startegies into a book. The Startup Playbook is a great read from these two business veterans. If you're in a startup, thinking of launching one, or if you're trying to get your bigger company to think like a startup, this book is for you. Enjoy the conversation...
You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #628.
Tags:
advertising
advertising podcast
brand
business blog
business book
business conversation
business podcast
computer science
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
digital marketing podcast
disruption
electrical engineering
entrepreneur
founder
innovation
investor
ipo
jumpcloud
leadership book
leadership podcast
management podcast
marketing
marketing blog
marketing podcast
mentor
mentoring
mentorship
mit
mitch joel
mitchjoel
non fiction book
podcast
rajat bhargava
six pixels
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
startup
startup playbook
technology
will herman
July 20, 2018
It's Pretty Simple: Make Better Ads
If only it were that simple.
But, it kinda is, right? For over two decades, I have repeated the same mantra: people don't hate advertising. People hate crappy advertising.
Unfortunately, the world is littered with too much bad advertising.
Customers can't see the forrest from the trees.
Is bad advertising the reason we're seeing the rise in subscription and streaming services like Netflix and Apple Music? It may be part of the opportunity that Netlfix and Apple have capitalized on, but it's not the core reason. The core reason is that advertising - for the most part - is created as a group effort. Group brainstorms or voting on creative by group has rarely (maybe never?) delivered anything that wins in the market. And, if we're going to acknowledge that advertising is an art form. And, make no mistake about it, advertising is one of the toughest art forms that we have in the world, if you think about it. The role of advertising is to interrupt a consumer's experience and plant something on them that is both memorable and makes them want to take (some kind of) action over whatever experience they were engaged with before being interrupted. That's a tough ask. Consumers don't seek out advertising in the same way that they do with other art forms (music, TV show, a podcast, a magazine, etc...). That makes the creation of it an even tougher ask. The history the advertising industry is (sadly) littered with brilliant (but burned out) individuals, because of this unique stress.
It's a tough job, but it's a satisfying one (when done well).
On the other side of this advertising paradox, are these publishers. Think about it. Over the past few years we've seen the music industry suing their listeners (Napster much?). We've seen the newspapers suing the ad blockers. We've seen ad blockers allow brands to get their ads through (but only if they pay the blockers). We've seen Facebook throttle the content of brands, even though their consumers have "liked" (and/or agreed to get) this content... and it just keeps going on and on.
So, what exactly is going on?
If the better brand publishing experience is less ads. If brands are being pushed to create more content and less ads. If publishers want more native advertising. If subscription services are running ad free. If all of this (and more) is happening... and it is... what's a brand to do? Don't kid yourself, being great at content marketing is a tough, long-term strategy that takes a myriad of talent skill groups and a lot of money to make effective. One YouTube video does not offset a strong advertising campaign, in terms of effect. Some might argue (my hand's raised here), that getting together a great YouTube channel that resonates and builds an audience is a multiple tougher than pulling together a great ad campaign. Yet agencies, publishers and even brand leaders are pushing for this.
So, what choice does your brand have?
Make better ads. Make the best ads. Build the most creative teams to get the best insights, and push that creativity for all that it's worth. Don't annoy. Don't interrupt. Be strategic. Be in the right spaces for the right audiences (technology has certainly delivered on that promise). BUT... and here's the big BUT... don't blow it with junky creative that is me too, derivative, uninspiring and unoriginal. It will only drive to one result: underperformance (and being totally ignored). We beg our teams to do great work. We beg our C-level suite to lead us to incredible new heights. We beg our agency partners to bring the best insights and innovations. Why do we still (and continually) settle for bad ads?
Make better ads. They will work. They will be enjoyed by consumers. You consumers will want more. You got this.
Tags:
ad
ad blocker
advertising
advertising campaign
advertising industry
apple
apple music
art
brand
brand experience
business
business blog
business strategy
consumer experience
content
content marketing
creative
creativity
ctrl alt delete
customer experience
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
disruption
facebook
innovation
leadership
magazine
management
management thinking
marketing
marketing blog
marketing strategy
media
mitch joel
mitchjoel
music
music industry
napster
netflix
newspaper
podcast
six pixels group
six pixels of separation
streaming
streaming services
subscription services
technology
tv
youtube
youtube channel
Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #421
Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO, Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".
Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:
Embracing the Kobayashi Maru- Why You Should Teach Your Students to Cheat - Gregory Conti and James Caroland . "As any Trekkie will tell you, the Maru is an unwinnable game that Kirk decided to cheat at. I've been working on a new book -- Just Evil Enough -- that preaches a similar gospel: You need to be subversive to get a better return on your efforts than everyone else. Here's a convincing argument for teaching students to think slightly evil, even when they're trying to do good." (Alistair for Hugh).
These Gloves Can Teach You to Play the Piano. And Maybe Heal Your Brain - FreeThink . "Last week was Startupfest, which has become a global international event in Montreal now. And one of the speakers was Thad Starner, someone I've idolized for decades. A pioneer of wearable computing, he worked with Sergei Brin on Google Glass and constantly pushes the edges of human-computer interaction. Backstage, he pointed me at a recent research project: Gloves that can teach you to play piano--and maybe help people recover from a stroke--through vibrations. Amazing to see what science pushes up against." (Alistair for Mitch).
"I was devasted" - Tim Berners Lee, The Man Who Created The World Wide Web, Has Some Regrets - Vanity Fair . "Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, is now trying to save the web from itself." (Hugh for Alistair).
Bad Romance - To cash in on Kindle Unlimited, a cabal of authors gamed Amazon's algorithm - The Verge . "Intrigue and conspiracies in the land of self publishing kindle romance authors!" (Hugh for Mitch).
Have the Tech Giants Grown Too Powerful? That's an Easy One - The New York Times Magazine . "In a word: Yes. Still you need to scratch deep beneath the surface here (as this article does). I believe that we are in unchartered territories. When the head of Amazon is now worth more than $150 billion (that's wealthier than any human in modern history), we - as a society - should be asking tougher questions of these companies. And, if indeed these companies are too powerful, do we use traditional rules of law to adjust? That doesn't make much sense, does it?" (Mitch for Alistair).
Amazon's Curious Case of the $2,630.52 Used Paperback - The New York Times . "Guess what's happening here. Two options. Option number one: this is the best (and rarest) book our world has ever seen. Option number two: the algorithms are at play here. Algorithms are supposed to solve many modern day issues, right? If they can't get this pricing done, how confident are you feeling about their ability to handle things like your personal finances, insurance, healthcare and more?" (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
Tags:
advertising
algorithm
alistair croll
amazon
author
brand
business blog
content
content marketing
digital marketing
digital marketing blog
disruption
education
facebook
freethink
google
google glass
gregory conti
innovation
james caroland
jeff bezos
just evil enough
kindle unlimited
link
link exchange
marketing
marketing blog
mitch joel
mitchjoel
pricing
science
science fiction
sergei brin
six pixels of separation
solve for interesting
star trek
startup festival
thad starner
the new york times
the new york times magazine
the verge
tilt the windmill
tim berners lee
twitter
vanity fair
wearable
wearable computing
Six Pixels of Separation
- Mitch Joel's profile
- 80 followers
