20th May 2016
Visa’s Shiv Singh on the Digiday Podcast. ‘Digital is not that accountable. If I were to have a heart-to-heart conversation with my CFO or CEO, I’d be embarrassed by how blurry and foggy the entire digital media ecosystem is. If you think of the conversations we’ve been having in our industry about ad viewability, fraud, different platforms having their own networks, all of this creates more confusion, makes it much more difficult to know, when you spend a dollar, what you’re getting back in return.’
From the entertainingly pugnacious @markritson in @marketingweek. ‘Your portable toilet business has nothing to learn from Steve Jobs, and if a consultant even mentions Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs you should kick them out of the door.’ Here are the 7 unmistakable signs of a sh*t brand consultant.
The inexorable rise of eSports. ‘Real’ sports fans have, on the most part, looked down their noses at eSports, but with some 134 million people around the world watching competitive video gaming live, and revenues set to reach $1.9bn by 2018, it’s about time we got our heads round the world’s fastest growing sport.’
All brands have a clear idea of their audience: identifying, understanding and segmenting customers underpins every marketing strategy. But how much effort is spent uncovering a brand’s ideal target context – the times, places and moments when a message will resonate best? The fundamental attribution error refers to the widespread, but mistaken, belief that people’s character is more important in explaining their behaviour than the context of their decision.
Familiar with the Quarter Life Crisis? If not, you are (like me) almost certainly too old. This is what it is about – ‘For millennials, an unforgiving job market, impersonal hook-up culture and the pressure to be Instagram-perfect.’ Welcome to Quarter Life Poetry.
Vine on the decline? ‘Once a social media darling, Vine is falling out of favour. After analysing 9,725 Vine users with more than 15,000 followers, influencer marketing company Markerly found that 52 percent of them have exited the platform since Jan. 1. Instead, they have moved to Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat for different reasons.’ Unsurprisingly, the main reason is to do with money.
Sad, but compelling. Unearthing the Secrets of New York’s mass graves.’New York is unique among American cities in the way it disposes of the dead it considers unclaimed: internment on a lonely island, off-limits to the public, by a crew of inmates. Buried by the score in wide, deep pits, the Hart Island dead seem to vanish — and so does any explanation for how they came to be there.‘
Is it time to give up on sex ? From @newstatesman. ‘A baby grown from a flake of skin or from the genes of three parents – the future of reproduction is mind-boggling.’
Nearly at the halfway mark, here is the irrepressible @copyranter taking look at the worst ads, so far, of 2016. ‘It’s time to give sponsored content architects and native advertising scribes a break, even though the stuff you create continues to be completely useless. This week is about “traditional” ads — terrible,appalling, dreadfully offensive traditional ads.‘
Hundred mile an hour wind – One ; Man – Nil. Just another wonderful day on the summit of Mount Washington. …..and it’s been a while since we had an optical illusion. This one was proving pretty popular (and frustrating) this week. The Brick Wall illusion – once you see it, you can’t un-see it.