Five things on Friday #245

Things of note for the week ending Friday, January 12th, 2018.

Howdy.

Did you know, if you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

So y’know, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

Shall we crack on?

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1. THE ONE QUESTION DEBATES

In London at the end of February? This might be of interest to you.

The consistently fantastic One Question is putting on an evening of debate next month that will take on the question ‘What does brand really mean?‘

Taking place at the rather lovely Soho Hotel, the evening is a slightly different take on its original concept with, instead of individual and multi-industry responses to the one question, a five-person debate focused in and round one industry. And for this first one, that industry is going to be Marketing and Advertising.

Reps from Pepsi and Sony are already confirmed for the panel with more being announced as we lead up to the event.

Tickets are £50 + VAT (before going up to £75 from Feb 1st onwards) – and are on sale NOW.

I’m going so fingers crossed I’ll see you there.

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2. YOU GOT NO FEMALE SPEAKERS? 

Rubbish!

Here’s 50 from The Dots and The Drum.

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3. ARTWORK PERSONALISATION AT NETFLIX

This is super interesting. Netflix has lifted the lid on how it ensures when recommendations are made, you get the right artwork that pushes you over the line.

There are many roads to Good Will Hunting but your jumping in point(s) may look very different, for example.


Covering off the what, the how, and the testing of both (and more) this is a really compelling and enjoyable read.

Good job, Netflix.

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4. THE STRANGE BRANDS IN YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED

It begins:

“It all started with an Instagram ad for a coat, the West Louis (TM) Business-Man Windproof Long Coat to be specific. It looked like a decent camel coat, not fancy but fine. And I’d been looking for one just that color, so when the ad touting the coat popped up and the price was in the double-digits, I figured: hey, a deal!”

“Several weeks later, the coat showed up in a black plastic bag emblazoned with the markings of China Post, that nation’s postal service. I tore it open and pulled out the coat. The material has the softness of a Las Vegas carpet and the rich sheen of a velour jumpsuit. The fabric is so synthetic, it could probably be refined into bunker fuel for a ship. It was, technically, the item I ordered, only shabbier than I expected in every aspect.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of such a story but it is the first time I’d read about it happening via The Atlantic.

And of course, The Atlantic keeps digging.

Savvy salesfolk picking goods from supplier they’ll never know, to ship products they’ll never touch, to consumers they’ll never meet.

It’s a huge market apparently.

Go see.

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5. THE FACEBOOK NEWSFEED APOCALYPSE

Even if you only barely touch the digital marketing industry, you must – I’m hoping – be aware of the most recent announcement from old Zuckerface himself regarding Facebook’s next evolutionary step in what it will and will not shove into its users’ eyeballs.

The full update is available for your perusal (of course) however the main things to take away are:

  1. If you’re a crap publisher/content creator who specialises in creating cruddy content that does stuff like ‘Like if you agree, comment if you don’t’ – your days are numbered.
  2. If you’re a crap publisher/content creator who makes/publishes stuff that people just don’t enjoy, talk about, or interact with – your days are numbered.
  3. Organic reach is actually over (it’s OK, we’ve only been saying this since 2014).
  4. Facebook is still hawking LIVE – this is hilarious.
  5. If you keep tabs on your month-on-month numbers and you see a dip this year. It ain’t you, it’s Facebook.

The whole thing is worth a read and you should really read up on it – even if it isn’t something you touch day to day (LIES), at least have a basic understanding of how the platform that you spend your life consuming actually works.

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PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

Only the essentials. 

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THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES: 

B O N U S. I said B O N U S.

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YAY! YOU MADE IT! CHECK YOU OUT! YOU SEXY MOFO. DAYAM. WOO. 

And here we are, once more, at the end of another Five things on Friday. This time, on an actual Friday.

Trebles all round.

I’m going to end this week’s edition with the best three words I learnt in 2017. Those three words are: ‘And that’s OK’. Try it next time someone is telling you that so and so is angry about this, or someone else is having an ansty opinion about that, or even if someone close to you is having a hard time and getting upset… Y’know what, you’re upset – and that’s OK. That person is angry, and that’s OK. That person wants to say something that means something to themselves – and that’s OK. Accept it. Live in it. Breathe it in, breathe with it – and let it out. You might not like it at first…

And that’s OK.

Until next time, fam.

Whatley out, x. 

Five things on Friday #244

Things of note for the week ending January 7th, 2018.

Howdy.

Did you know, if you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

So y’know, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

ONWARDS!

For now, here’s a taster of what you would find within.

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1. RUSSELL HOWARD + JOHN OLIVER 


I had no idea these two were mates.

And, because they are, this chat between the two is really great watching.

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2. OOO AHH, OGILVY TRENDS WEBINAR

Remember that Ogilvy Key Digitial Trends document I was wanging on about last year? Well, with around 90k views and counting, my esteemed friend and ex-colleague, Marshall Manson and I are getting together on Jan 11th for a couple of free webinars that YOU dear reader can join (hopefully covering enough timezones that mean no matter where you are, there’ll be an option for you).

8am – 9am GMT, register here.
4pm – 5pm GMT, register here.

If you want to join the webinar, you must must must register. To manage expectations and stuff, what you’ll see is the same old deck linked above (except in a higher res and the occasional gif) with the added bonus of being able to hear Marshall and I chat about the thinking behind it all. Oh, and you can ask questions using the webinar interface as well as on the hashtag, #OgilvyTrends2018.

See you there!

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3. YOU SHOULD ALL BUY THE POLPO COOKBOOK

A couple of weeks before Christmas the lovely folk at Google invited me and a few other agency people to a lunch at Polpo at the Ape & Bird. The goody bag at the end of said meal contained this beauty:

It has sat on my kitchen side for the best part of a month until, this weekend – in fact, yesterday – I decided to open it and start seeing what I could make.

AND HOLY HELL WOW WHAT AMAZINGNESS LIES WITHIN.

LOOK!

More photos.

The main thing to take away from this is that the dishes made (also made a chili prawn thing but I ate them all before I remembered to take any photos – oops) were just so darn easy. Literally spent less than 20mins on the pea/prawn thing. AND IT WAS SO GOOD.

Anyway, I managed to get through this whole thing without telling you how much I am a fan of Polpo (and have been for years) and that Russell Norman is a top bloke too.

So yeah - buy the book.

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4. THE SECTION OF MY 2017 BESTS

When I started drafting this section I had a great vision of writing a huge list of all my 2017 bests.

My plan was to start off with the always fantastic Hype Machine Zeitgeist playlist (maybe put this on before clicking the next link) but then I tweeted most of it. So instead of doing that, here’s that list, but with added context:

BEST MOVIE – BLADERUNNER 2049

I saw this at the IMAX in Stockholm with a couple of pals and it just completely and utterly blew me away. I think it’s probably going to be the only Blu-ray I buy this year purely because, when I watch it again, I want it to be as pure and as perfect as it was when I first saw it. And pumped through the surround sound so loud that the neighbours complain.

This film was BEAUTIFUL to look at, INCREDIBLE to listen to, and SUBLIME to experience. If you disagree, tell me. But don’t expect a reasoned response back.

BEST VIDEO GAME - HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE

I’ve covered this in previous editions (for most detail, see item 2 on issue #241). Hellblade is a PHENOMENAL game, with a strong female lead, great design choices, and above all, a deft grasp and representation of the mental illness its protagonist suffers from.

Honourable mentions to Horizon Zero Dawn (wow) and a late contender, Mario Odyssey (just pure fun).

BEST SONG – BEAR CLAWS, THE ACADEMIC

This song first came into my head after I featured it in a FToF a while back for having a super music video that took advantage of the delay feature on Facebook Live. You remember it. Anyway, it became my most played song on Spotify. Meaning, by default, it was my best song.

BEST STREAMED THING ON TV

1. THE OA
2. 13 REASONS WHYY
3. STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

A bunch of people I told about The OA told me it was pretentious guff and that I had no idea what the hell I was talking about. To those people, I say you know nothing. I thought it was courageous, unique, and compelling.

13 Reasons Why I saw at an interesting time in my life and it utterly destroyed me at the end. Please watch it.

Star Trek: Discovery isn’t really Star Trek but nor is it not Star Trek like Nu-Trek, it’s something different – and it’s actually great.

BEST REAL THING ON TV – WOULD I LIE TO YOU

Consistently the funniest thing on TV, Would I Lie To You (or ‘WILTY’) never fails to amuse. It is quintessentially British and relies on wit, wordplay, and absurdity to keep it moving. Three things that I adore.

If you’re not watching it, you’re missing out.

BEST NEWSLETTER – WEB CURIOS

Matt Muir is a great wordsmith. Counter that with a healthy disdain for all things ‘advermarketingpr’, as he calls it, and you have about 1/6 of what makes up one of the best things I read every week.

A very well deserved second place to Jed Hallam and the ESSENTIAL music newsletter, Love Will Save The Day. I listen most weeks and I am never disappointed.

I could link you but if you read this often you’re probably subscribed already and if you’re not, well, you know how to use Google.

….

On that note, I am tired. It is late. And I need to get this finished. The rest of the list is here – any questions, email me.

Ha.
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5. THIS WEEK, IN INDUSTRY LAND

Here’s a bunch of links to do with the work I do. All are interesting. Some more so than others.

  • ‘Diageo halts Snapchat advertising over age concerns‘ – was the headline. But, to be fair, the real headline should read ‘Diageo halts Snapchat advertising after realising it couldn’t get away with it for much longer as the ASA had started paying attention and we all know Snapchat is a) for the kids and b) fairly light when it comes to audience data.
  • BBH on EXCELLENT form here: ‘Have we lost the ability to make what we make interesting?‘
  • On a related note, the Chinese shoe company hair-on-Instagram trick is as genius as it is telling of the disease that has gripped digital marketing.
  • Speaking of awful digital marketing, this piece ‘Towards a bra-free Instagram experience‘ is gut-wrenching. Glad the campaign for real beauty is had such a long-lasting impact, you guys. Side note: when I get time, I’m adding ALL of this is Instagram Ads Are Awful.
  • The ASA is investigating the tea-bagging tweet from Poundland. There’s a line I never thought I’d write. I started forming an opinion about this when it first happened, and then I thought ‘Y’know what, they’re in it for the angry tweets – I can’t be bothered’. Reading that headline, above, though, did remind me that the ASA is mainly utterly useless when it comes to social media advertising. Will it be April when we find out that the ASA thinks the tweet should be deleted, do you think? Sigh.
  • Not quite industry-related but still something that I think belongs in this section: Mark Zuckerberg has said that his ‘thing’ for 2018 is to ‘fix’ Facebook. There are a few things here. First: if Facebook needs fixing – and if Mark Zuckerberg SAYS that Facebook needs fixing – then Facebook is BROKEN. This is a BIG DEAL. Second, previous ‘things’ from MZ have been stuff like ‘meet more people’ and ‘build an AI assistant for my home’. Like, a side-project or something. One can’t help but wonder ‘Dude, if your SIDE PROJECT is fixing Facebook, then what in the actual hell is your day to day?!’. AMIRITE?
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PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

Only the essentials. 

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THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES: 

Bo-nus, ba-ba-ba-ba-bo-nus.

Last thing: in the final edition of last year, I told you about a play that my friends Emma and David were trying to crowdfund. Well, with no thanks to me (I forgot to link the damn thing) they’ve funded! So please do support them and go see the show. It’s on until the end of Jan. So y’know, do a nice thing.  

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YOU ARE NOW AT THE END AND MAY SOON CLOSE YOUR EYES TO SLIP INTO THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF CONSIDERING WHAT 2018 MIGHT BRING TO YOUR LIFE. 

Thanks for reading, gang. A bit of a hodge-potch this week (it’s my first week back on the horse – give me a break).

Hi to all the newbies etc. I hope you all have a productive and awesome week.

See you next Friday. Ish.

Whatley out x.

Five things on Friday #243

Things of note for the week ending December 15th, 2017

Hello!

If you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

So y’know, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

ONWARDS!

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1. #OGILVYTRENDS2018

And about time too.


Hello. Here be the fifth edition of the annual Key Digital Trends document from yours truly and my dear friend, Marshall Manson.

You can read the whole thing on Slideshare right here but the resolution is borked* so I’d probably download button when you get there and read the whole PDF in high-res thereafter.

A couple of things that are fresh in my mind and related to the above. The AR trend up front? Since we published the Star Wars stickers have rolled out on Pixel 2 - and they’re amazing. And then Snap launched Lens Studio – a tool to allow you build your own AR integrations. So yeah, we’re super confident on that one.

Finally, last year Marshall snuck in a tribute to my newborn (slide 81). This year, as it’s Marshall’s last year with us at Ogilvy, he snuck in a valedictory note – with some very kind and supremely humbling words about yours truly.

Marshall, I know you’re only a recent subscriber to this newsletter but I would like to take this moment, sir, to say thank you.

For your guidance, your mentorship, and your friendship – I learn from you every day.

We joke that the growing success of this trends presentation (50k views in three days – say whaaaat?) has become a rod for our backs (how do we top it next year?!) but, and I say this with my hand on my heart, it is singularly the thing I look forward to tackling most – year in, and year out. The challenge of it, the writing of it, the debating of it. Five years of these and I think grumpy-cat-gate is the closest we’ve come to having an actual argument. Ha.

Thank you, my friend. Good luck with your new gig, and happy new year.

…

*we’ve raised it with Slideshare and apparently it’s a known bug and they’re looking into it.

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2. HOW TO PARTY IN YOUR 30s

Annie Mac.

Confession: I don’t think I’ve really got Annie Mac (until very recently).

I listen to Radio 1 when I’m in the car. I hear Nick Grimshaw. He’s alright. Clara Amfo – amazing (Clara did a thing for Ogilvy a while back and was just fantastic). Alice Levine, hilarious. But Annie Mac? No, never got it.

But, and I can’t remember why, I happened to be listening to her actual show (that might’ve had something to do with it) and it was great. The music, her enthusiasm and knowledge – anyway, at that point I realised that I’d only ever really heard her appear on other shows. The depth never really came across…

Anyway – Refinery 29 interviewed her. And it’s ace.

So read it.

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3. FOR ITEM THREE THIS WEEK, I WILL COMPRESS WHAT SHOULD’VE BEEN LAST WEEK’S FTOF

Aka - stuff you would’ve read about last week and it would’ve been cool but instead you’re reading about this week and it’s now just a bit passé.

READY?

LET’S GO!

That was the quite the download…

And breathe.

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4. HERO. 

For the uninitiated, Twitch is a [mainly] video game streaming site where gamers can stream their gaming antics and, if popular enough, make money from the advertising served against. There have been a few cases of nefarious usage before however this one, while not completely above board, is so super awesome I just had to include it.

LOOK.

Amazing streamer, AJ Lester, streamed an entire UFC match while pretending to play it. Hero. Bashing buttons, shouting – it was hilarious. I say ‘was’ because I don’t think you can watch it anymore BUT do, definitely do, go read about it.

Legend.

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5. GOODBYE, EVERY FRAME A PAINTING

I first referenced Tony Zhou’s work in FTOF #177. The ongoing Vimeo series, Every Frame a Painting.

If you know it, then you’ll be sad to know that Zhou has brought the work to a close.

If you’re new to it, then I envy you (you have a lot of catching up to do).

The former, go read.
The latter, go watch.

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PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

Only the essentials. 

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THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES: 

Bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-nus.

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SO LONG 2017, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH. 

Team, you are all brilliant.

I’m signing off now, for the rest of the year. All being well, your next edition of Five things on Friday will arrive on (or around) January 5th, 2018.

If you’ve been here for a while then you may have detected that 2017 hasn’t been the easiest year for me. However, again – if you’ve been here a while – one would hope that you’ve detected a lift in my spirits. And they are indeed, lifted.

Those of you I owe email replies to, expect them over the coming days (if you’ve never replied to this email before – then why not do that today?) and if you’re new here, reply and say hi. Because why not?

Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year.

Sincerely, reader, I hope your year has been kind to you. As a dear friend said to me once, everything will be OK in the end. And if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.

Whatley out, x.

Five things on Friday on Saturday #242

Things of note for the week ending Saturday December 2nd, 2017

IMPORTANT NOTICE: if you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

Shall we?

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1. VOYAGER 1 IS ALIVE

This is CRAZY awesome.

Voyager 1, the farthest man-made object from Earth (current location: interstellar space), just fired up its thrusters for the first time in THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS.

The results of the request took 19hrs and 35mins to transmit back to Earth (quite the long distance call) but the damn thing still works. Incredible.

Please, go and read more - via the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at NASA.

This is actually rocket science.

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2. HOW TO SURVIVE THE MEDIA APOCALYPSE

HINT: it ain’t ‘pivot to video’.

Try pivoting to readers instead. That’s what this piece from The Atlanticproposes as its solution to the ongoing demolition of the media landscape. You know when Buzzfeed have to make lay-offs, things aren’t looking great all around.

“2017 has been a uniquely miserable year in the media business, in which venerable publications and fledging sites, divided by audience age and editorial style, have been united in misery. At Vanity Fair, the editorial budget faces a 30 percent cut. At The New York Times, advertising revenue is down $20millionannually after nine months. Oath, the offspring of Yahoo and AOL’s union, is shedding more than 500 positions as it strains to fit inside of its Verizon conglomerate. Meanwhile, almost every digital publisher seems to be struggling, selling, or soliciting, whether it’s the media company IAC exploring offers to offload The Daily Beast, Fusion Media Group offering a minority stake in The Onion and former Gawker Media sites, or Mashable selling for a fifth of its former valuation. So many media companies in 2017 have reoriented their budgets around the production of videos that the so-called “pivot to video” has becamean industry joke. Today, the pivot seems less like a business strategy and more like end-of-life estate planning.”

There are three main trends covered. Too many publishers, not enough cash, and the ‘Trump-effect’.

You should read this piece.

It’ll make you sound smart at dinner later.  

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3. MESSAGES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE ARE CHANGING HOW WE GRIEVE

This week’s edition of ‘The future is effing weird, you guys’.

I’ve read this article twice and can’t find one section suitable to lift and shift into this for your consumption.

My advice: just read the damn thing.

As someone who regularly emails his children to inboxes that they won’t know exist for many years to come, this has really made me think about the impact those messages might have should my light go out before they read them.

Also, you may need tissues. 

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4. VANITY FAIR ON THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSEThis is a phenomenally great interview and overview of the Marvel Studios goliath that now dominates our cinema screens every four or five months.

Because I’m a geek for this stuff, I’m often (well, not often these days – people have heard it all) found to be exclaiming to people that IRON MAN was never EVER ‘the coolest superhero ever’. Think about it. Think back. Before the movie, your average person in the street would struggle to name him. ‘What? Is he a robot? Why is red and yellow? Looks rubbish’ – they would’ve said to you. 2008’s IRON MAN movie was SUCH a huge risk. To think that the culmination of all of that is just around the corner – some 22 films would’ve gone into a huge story-telling arc, based upon the success of that one gamble.

This doesn’t happen often. And one person pretty much made the whole thing happen. Vanity Fair went to talk to him: Kevin Feige.

PS. In case you’ve been under a rock this week: the INFINITY WAR trailer dropped. Worth watching for the 58th time, I’d say.

PPS. This is the best photo ever of the leading women of the MCU.

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5. UNUSED FLAKE AD IS MENTAL

I downloaded this earlier this week because I thought there was no way in this world that it would stay up but – as I type this to you now – it is miraculously still live.

Six or seven years ago, Cadbury’s (or should I say, Cadbury’s ad agency) commissioned the AMAZING Jonathan Glazer (you’d know his work: Under the Skin, Sexy Beast – the Guiness ad with the surfer) to make an ad for FLAKE.

The OUTSTANDING output was this 2mins of mental brilliance.

FOR SOME REASON, Cadbury’s said no. Can’t think why… 

Can you imagine that turning up as an ad in the middle of Corrie?

Brilliant.

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PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

Only the essentials.

The full list of all sexual misconduct accusations made against Donald Trump. 

It’s the only one here for a reason. Read it. 

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THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES: 

Big up your bonus self.

Until next time…

Whatley out.

Five things on Friday #241

Things of note for the week ending Saturday, November 25th, 2017.

Did you know…  if you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

So y’know, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

ONWARDS!

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1. OK GO, BACK AT IT AGAIN

With a cool new vid.

Touch/click/hit to play in YouTube.

1 band. 567 printers. And a lot of [recycled] paper.

Not as great as previous efforts but still – so very OK GO.

Worth a watch.

via.

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2. HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE

The above-named game is my GAME OF THE YEAR bar none. You play a Viking woman who suffers from psychosis, fighting her way to save her husband’s soul from hell itself.

It is a PHENOMENAL game.

Here’s why.

First: it LOOKS amazing.

All in-game shots, taken with photo-mode, on the PS4 Pro.

Second: the design choice regarding your save.

Today’s gamers are used to running, jumping, shooting, dying, respawning, trying again… And Hellblade has the same feature. Except, when you die in the game, a darkness appears on your arm. Every time you die, the darkness increases. Should the darkness grow enough and reach Senua’s brain, all progress is lost.

The game never tells you how many deaths it will take for this to happen. The game never tells you how close you are to losing everything. The game never tells you a damn thing.

AND SUDDENLY: DEATH. MATTERS. IN. A. VIDEOGAME. 

Honestly, as I was nearing the end of the game and lost two live in quick succession I had tingles and cold sweats all over. Thrilling and brilliant.

Third: the game itself was a gamble by its creators, Ninja Theory. They wanted to create a new AAA title, sell it at a non-AAA price, and keep it independent in the process – owning the IP and not having to bow to the whims of any profit-driven publishers (looking at you EA/Star Wars Battlefront). And the gamble paid off.

If this is of interest, you can read more about that here.

Finally: the way the game handles the mental illness of the lead character is so deftly handled – with its care and intensity – is to be applauded. To understand this, as well as a few other bits mentioned above, you should definitely take 10mins out of your day and watch this video from the team at Ninja Theory (feat: the actress playing Senua, as well as details around the money the game for mental health awareness day a month or so back).

Like I said: it’s my GOTY. It’s on PS4 and Steam. And it’s all of about £25.

This game is important.

PLAY. IT. 

Bonus: my mate Phil’s one line review had me in fits. 

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3. DID YOU RETWEET THE ‘STORY’ ABOUT TORY MPs VOTING ON ANIMALS NOT BEING ABLE TO FEEL PAIN OR EMOTION? THIS BIT IS FOR YOU.

First and foremost: it was untrue.

Here’s how you were led astray.

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4. 35 THINGS LEARNED FROM THE LOGAN DVD COMMENTARY

This is either up your street or it isn’t.

I thought Logan was an ace film. I also happen to have a penchant for a decent DVD commentary. However, not really buying DVDs anymore nor having the actual time to watch them (twice), means I just read the cliff notes. This is one of those notes and, as you may have guessed, it is right up my straße.

READ ME.

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5. AUTHENTIC BRANDS JUST SELL YOU STUFF

This is a[nother] good read from fellow planner and, going by his current rate of two for two, decent writer of things, Neil Simpson.

Challenging the over-use of the A-word, it challenges brands to be a bit more open about what it means to a) be authentic and b) admit to themselves that their sole purpose to exist is to sell things (not make the world a better place by x, y, and z – for example).

I liked it – you might too.

Interestingly, it also reminded me of the BITELondon conference I went to a week or so ago. The closing keynote speaker was Alain de Botton (on excellent form) and, during the Q&A, I asked him about how, in the route to re-shaping and reforming capitalism (the theme of his talk – and book, which I have next to me) do brands settle the conflict between just being around to SELL STUFF but also DO GOOD via an over-hyped brand purpose. This question itself was driven by something I had seen about some lofty brand purpose BS from a toilet cleaner about how it believed the world would be a better place if everything was sparkling clean – (toilet cleaner isn’t going to help war-torn Syria, so stfu). I digress. AdB tabled the suggestion that there was nothing wrong with brands being modest in their reasons for existence.

And that part I wrote down.

I really like the idea of a ‘modest brand purpose’. It keeps things pointy, clean, and simple. I am yet to employ the thinking on any brands I work on (yet – it’s not often you get to [re]write a brand purpose) however I think it’s a thought that should fly. Why not clip the wings of a brand purpose? You can’t boil the ocean with seven words in the middle of a ven diagram, but I’m damn sure you can boil an egg.

Food for thought.

Cheers Neil.

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PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

Only the essentials. 

__________________________

THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES:

Wicked ah wicked, bonus is massive –

__________________________

YOU ARE NOW NEARING THE END. 

Tip of the week: a year or so ago I decided to try and see SUICIDE SQUAD at the cinema. I felt that, as a writer and general fan of all/most comic-based stuffz, I owed it to myself (and others) to see it and share my opinion on it.

I will not be doing the same re: JUSTICE LEAGUE.

You shouldn’t either.

That is all.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND Y’ALL xxxxxx

Whatley out.

Five things on Friday #240

Things of note for the week ending Friday, November 17th, 2017.

True fact: if you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100% guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com.

So y’know, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

In the meantime, shall we?

______________________

1. BOTS AND STUFF

This week, in short list of short things number one: we did a BOT THING. Which basically went along the lines of:

  • We built a bot for (pretty ace trade mag) The Drum.
  • The Drum filmed a short-film about bots (a ‘botumentary’ – I’m sorry).
  • The Drum then launched said film and bot at Ogilvy’s HQ on the southbank.
  • We did a panel discussion about bots + interesting tech for the future.

If any of the above is of interest to you then here are a truck load of links to sate that botty (not bitty) appetite.

Lovely stuff.

Are we done? I think we’re done.

NEXT!

______________________

2. FANCY A TOUR OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION? 

Yeah, course you do. This video is from a couple of years ago but it only hit my radar this week and I just love it.

Suni Williams is wonderfully endearing.

Give it a watch.

Bonus space thing: this is ace. 

______________________

3. YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHO WON TWITTER THIS WEEK. WELL WONDER NO MORE BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU. 

Drum roll, please… 

…

…

…

This week’s winner of TWITTER is….

…

..

…

..

…

DONCASTER CITY COUNCIL!

YEAAAAAAAH!

WOOOOO!

What?

you didn’t know?

Guys. Get your eyes on this gift of a Twitter thread.

AND THEN WRITE ME AND TELL ME HOW RIGHT I AM.

THANKS.

______________________

4. A GREAT TIP FOR UNSOCIABLE PEOPLE

Via.

______________________

5. TREND SEASON IS UPON US! 

I know this because Marshall Manson and I are currently putting together our own ones for the big O right about now (#OgilvyTrends2018 – it’s a thing that is happening – publishing second week of December with a free to attend (oo – ahh) webinar on Jan 11th – I’ll post it all here when it’s all confirmed etc).

ANYWAY.

The other thing about TREND SEASON is that you/we/I get to read all the other trend documents that go early.

A few hit this week and there are two that I want to call out:

The first is all about voice. It’s called ‘Speakeasy 2017‘ and it’s actually a pretty decent, if chunky, read. I use voice (in relation to tech) more and more every day – but I’m still not entirely convinced that it’s THE FUTURE that everyone and their sister seems to think it is. I’m on the ‘it’s all hugely situational’ fence. I’ll have more in my own trends piece next month but for now, go read the Speakeasy one. Like I said, there’s a lot there.

Good for stats and stuff

The second one I wanted to call attention to is only really a preview of one to come but – BUT – the ‘overview’ pretty much says the trends to keep an eye on are:

1. Things are getting more visual.
2. Exploration: Using tech to find new stuff.
3. Disappearing devices (Interfaces everywhere).
4. Bots.
5. Data.

And I’m a bit like – yeah, and?

Have a look for yourself and let me know what you think. I can get a bit spiky on this stuff because I know just how much work goes into the good ones. Bad ones make me growly. Grrrrr.

______________________

PRE-BONUS ESSENTIAL READING: 

This section is dedicated to all the stuff I’ve found/read/shared about everything that I’ve been thinking on since the last time we spoke.

Essential reading.

Thank you for the feedback on this new section; it is indeed here to stay. 

______________________

THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS-SHAPED BONUSES: 

Not as big as last week. Promise.

GOOD LUCK! 

On that last one. I’ve thought about it a lot since seeing it. Yes, the similarities are remarkable. Yes, it could be plagiarism. My money is on it not being a rip off at all. Just sheer and utter coincidence.

The people that come up with this stuff take it seriously. If they wanted to use this book, they would’ve approached the author and bought the rights. If the hundreds – and I mean hundreds – of people that worked on this ad all colluded to make a copy of a kids book, that’d just be mental.

I can imagine the sick punch in the gut the team would’ve had when they saw the video, comparing the two pieces. And they would’ve been gutted.

Now, I could be wrong. I could easily be wrong. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a creative team has ripped off something they’ve seen elsewhere (i miss this blog, btw) but for a client this big? On a campaign this big? At Christmas? Far too risky. Far too stupid. Far too far.

We’ll see.

______________________

HURRAH! YOU MADE IT! 

Look at all the nice things that people said about the newsletter last week!

____________

“Subscribe to @Whatleydude 5 things of a Friday if you want to seem knowledgeable but are too lazy to put the work in yourself”

“My favourite newsletter of the week friends. Sign up and learn about the best in film, tech, issues and more. For real. Get it in your eyeballs.”

“Never on a Friday. Never just five things. Never boring.”

“It’s too long!”

“Quality as always…”

“If I at all seem like I’ve interesting stories or up-to-date news, it’s because of the FTOF newsletter.”

“The task: Stress test new on-board WiFi The brief: Literally, break the internet The challenge: Open all the tabs from @Whatleydude’s FTOF newsletter and see what happens next This could a) go really well b) end very very badly”

“It doesn’t always come out on Friday, or even weekly, but, well…life. But whenever it arrives, it’s always appreciated.”

____________
I’ll be honest, the ‘using your newsletter to test our new on board wi-fi’ one is my favourite – by miles. I mean, I obviously love the others too (you know who you are) but dude, that’s awesome.

Big love, and thank you for reading.

IT’S OFFICIALLY THE WEEKEND!!!!

Whatley out x

 

Five things on Friday #239

Things of note for the week ending Saturday, November 10th, 2017.

Hi. Read the below. Then read on.

If you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100%guaranteed to get MORE STUFF (eg: a proper intro and probably some more gifs) than reading it here on whatleydude.com

 SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Onwards… TO THE THINGS!

1. THE GIRL THAT GAVE ZERO F***S

An old drinking/industry pal of mine (and much-missed hostess of the top-secret underground dance venue ‘Club IAB’ – if you remember it, were you even there?), Amy Kean, has written a book.

Not just any book, mind. No no.

In her Kean’s words, TGTGZF is ‘A fairy tale of everyday bravery and beautifully illustrated feminist handbook for the modern day’.

And it looks lovely.

It’s on UNBOUND* right now, about 40% backed already, and you can secure your copy (and more) from £20 and up.

Go see.

*It’s like Kickstarter but books. See? 

2. PAYMENTS ARE COMING TO FACEBOOK MESSENGER (UK)

This is kinda live already for me. Ish. But yeah, very soon (like, in the next few weeks or so) those of you in the UK will be able to send money back and forth to your friends via the medium of Facebook Messenger.

As reported by the BBC:

The service was launched in the US in 2015. The social network says it has been widely used to split restaurant bills, pay babysitters and simply send gifts. It says most users

“Facebook has chosen the UK as the first country outside the US to get its Messenger payments service. Later on Monday, local users will be able to send each other money in a message.send less than $50 (£38).

The company says the service is coming to the UK because it has so many “mobile-savvy consumers”.

Facebook is collaborating with all the major banks and credit card firms to launch Messenger payments, which will require both the sender and recipient of money to register their payment cards.”

As I intimated above, this doesn’t seem to be completely live yet but you can check on your phone right now and see if it is.

> Open Messenger
> Open a one-to-one chat (not a group chat)
> Hit the blue plus icon on the bottom left
> And see if you get something like this:

> Hit that payments button, see if it works.
> And then let me know how you get on

Woo.

Money!

3. THE CHARLATANS GO MOBILE

Cheers to Graham for the tip-off on this one.

Indie Brit band, The Charlatans, have launched this fancy mobile website (open on mobile – it won’t work on desktop) that emulates your phone screen (your iPhone screen) to give you a new way to experience the huge back catalogue of work that they have at their disposal.

This is really nicely done.

I’ve had a play with it and there’s TONS of content in here. If you’re a fan, you probably know about this already. If you’re not, go play and see how a nice bit of EXPLICITLY MADE FOR MOBILE CONTENT can actually be done really well.

More reading.

Side note: it reminds me of this vertical movie/mobile takeover video from awesome J-Pop group, Lyrical School (any excuse to play this anytime, honestly).

4. AISLING BEA

I don’t have too much to add here save:

Aisling Bea writing about her father’s death when she was three years old is one of the most moving things I’ve read this week.

Read it.

5. THIS WEEK IN ‘BLACK MIRROR EPISODES ARE LITERALLY HAPPENING IRL ALL AROUND US’

WIRED reports:

“On June 14, 2014, the State Council of China published an ominous-sounding document called “Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System”. In the way of Chinese policy documents, it was a lengthy and rather dry affair, but it contained a radical idea. What if there was a national trust score that rated the kind of citizen you were?

Imagine a world where many of your daily activities were constantly monitored and evaluated: what you buy at the shops and online; where you are at any given time; who your friends are and how you interact with them; how many hours you spend watching content or playing video games; and what bills and taxes you pay (or not). It’s not hard to picture, because most of that already happens, thanks to all those data-collecting behemoths like Google, Facebook and Instagram or health-tracking apps such as Fitbit. But now imagine a system where all these behaviours are rated as either positive or negative and distilled into a single number, according to rules set by the government. That would create your Citizen Score and it would tell everyone whether or not you were trustworthy. Plus, your rating would be publicly ranked against that of the entire population and used to determine your eligibility for a mortgage or a job, where your children can go to school – or even just your chances of getting a date.

A futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control? No, it’s already getting underway in China, where the government is developing the Social Credit System (SCS) to rate the trustworthiness of its 1.3 billion citizens.”

Not at all concerning in any way, shape or form.

It’s totally worth reading the whole WIRED piece, btw. They’re calling it ‘Gamified obedience’ – yeah, that shiver that just went down your spine. I had that when I read it too. Eesh.

For reference – here’s the wiki for that Black Mirror episode.

Dark.

BONUSES: 

So yeah, about this section. It’s bloody massive this week. Blame me for taking a couple of weeks off. I’m really sorry for what I’m about to do to the tabs in your browser.

They may explode…

GOOD LUCK!

HOLY HELL YOU MADE IT TO THE END.

YOU BEAUTIFUL PERSON. 

Hello to the fifty-odd new people that signed up over the past fortnight – I hope this newsletter has fulfilled all your dreams.

The existing reads, you’re all lovely too. Obvs.

If you enjoyed this week’s edition, send it to a friend or, better yet, RT this with an endorsement.

I hope you have a gorgeous weekend,

Whatley out x

Five things on Friday #238

Things of note for the week ending Friday, October 20th, 2017.

HELLO READER.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100%guaranteed to get MORE STUFF than reading it here on whatleydude.com

Shall we?

INTRO

Christ, what a week. This is a long one, gang. Settle in or skip it. It’s up to you. But if any of what’s happened this week has impacted you, then sit the hell down and read on.

Monday, I wrote this on Facebook:

“The number of my friends writing ‘Me too’ statuses is horrifying. And I feel sickeningly aware of my privilege.

I stand with you. And will do better/more to help/support you in future.

I don’t know what else to say. My voice doesn’t matter. Yours does. Make it loud, make it clear. This can happen no more.

I’m sorry.”

A few things happened.

Some friends, that night, got angry at me (for not knowing). Others, later, got angry because they considered it to be virtue signalling or the equivalent thereof.

The former I could only lay my ignorance bare and say sorry – over and over and over. A number of friends contacted me and reeled off, one after the other, the awful things that had been happening to them since they’d turned 14. And I had no idea. I don’t know what I’m more disgusted by: the fact that it happened or the fact that it goes so unnoticed. I feel ill even writing that. I’ve cried a lot this week, learning the harrowing things some of my friends have been through. Just awful.

A very dear friend of mine quite rightly called me out and asked what exactly I was planning on going to do better.

My response is repeated here (with minor edits for swears + context):

[This is how I will] be better:

1. Keeping my privilege in check by keeping my eyes and ears open at all times for when the sh*t that I’ve been blind to takes place.

2. Reading, and re-reading, lists such as this (best thing I’m going to link to in this entire newsletter right there so you may as well all click it right now) – on how to self-improve.

3. Keeping an eye on the way the male company I keep treat the female company I keep (note: my initial post was not limited by gender, my response was as it was called out specifically regarding women).

4. Keeping an eye on how I treat the female company I keep.

5. Making it clear to the female company that I keep that if things are not going well, if this ‘normalised’ BS they’ve had to put up with their whole lives is happening and they want to tell someone, they can tell me. 

So why the re-post here?

Well, it’s important.

To me.

To you.

To those around you.

Pay attention. I haven’t been – and as much as my feelings don’t really matter when it comes to this – I feel completely foolish.

There are two more things to add.

1. There’s no way I’ve gone through life without being a casual/passive participant in this. I am sorry. I will be better.

2. Being called out by one of my best friends for behaviour past is as humbling as it is clarifying. Again, I will be better.

Will you be better?

I hope so.

And breathe out.

—

Right, shall we crack on with the damn THINGS? There may be a ton of bonuses this week… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

LET’S GO!

1. BLACK PANTHER LOOKS ACE

THOR: RAGNAROK drops this weekend and, as is MARVEL’S wont, it’s time for it to start talking about the next big one to hit.

And that, my friends, is BLACK PANTHER.

LOOK UPON ITS GLORIOUS TRAILER IN WONDERMENT AND AWE.

(click/touch the image – it’ll open YouTube – watch)

THE MUSIC.

THE STYLE.

THE BLACK MARVEL LOGO AT THE START.

I am so here for this.

Bring it on, BLACK PANTHER.

Bring. It. On.

PS. In other film news: yours truly finally got around to seeing BLADE RUNNER 2049 last weekend (while in Stockholm - at the IMAX, obvs) and IT WAS STUNNING. Visually and aurally sumptuous with a deft hand in slow-burn story-telling by Mr D. Villeneuve. If you’re yet to see it, seek it out LOUD and BIG.

PPS. Here’s a piece about designing the technology of BR20149.

PPS. Counter-point – ‘Blade Runner 2049 is a misogynistic mess’ (I’m reading this as I type – I may come back and edit some of the above).

2. BURGER KING HAS NO CHILL

This is BRUTAL.

QUOTE:

——-
“Talk about savage. To promote its new spicy chicken nuggets, Burger King is subtly taking aim at Wendy’s—known for its vocal, personality-driven account—on Twitter.

In March, Wendy’s announced that it was removing its popular spicy chicken nuggets from its menu and fans began venting on social media and even set up a Change.org petition asking Wendy’s to reconsider its decision.

Now, Burger King has launched its own version of the item and it’s throwing some shade at Wendy’s via social media. The burger chain evidently trolled through tweets from people complaining about not being able to get their hands on nuggets and is running promoted tweets against them so that months-old tweets populate in newsfeeds.”
——-

WOW.

They actually did it too!

LOOK!

Amazing.

Adweek has more.

PS. The other fast-food-related thing doing the rounds today is the fact that the official KFC Twitter account, ‘@KFC’, follows only 11 people. If you’ve seen this already then you don’t need to click. If you haven’t, you’re allowed five seconds of nodding and respecting, then you must return to this newsletter. Ready? GO.

3. TAIWAN JONES

If the above two words mean anything to you then this next section is not going to be fun.

It started, like a couple of other things sprinkled throughout this newsletter, with a tweet. To save time, I’mma combine the original and the quote reply into one image that’ll show you what you’re supposed to be looking at (image linked to original too):

Right? I mean you look at that and be like ‘WOOOOAAAAH! DUDE!!!’ – well, you would if you were a teenage mutant ninja turtle but you get the point.

Alas, I must at this point invoke The Washington Post:

“We regret to inform you that this delightful anecdote about the power of social media is not what it seems. Many key parts of the tale do not add up. Please keep reading as we slowly and meticulously destroy the joy this story may have first brought to you when you thought it was totally real. It’s what we do.”

a) Amazing.
b) Go and read the whole piece and see exactly how (and potentially why) this whole thing is just one big MADE UP story.

4. PEOPLE AT FACEBOOK DON’T KNOW HOW FACEBOOK WORKS

When I first read the headline of the piece I’m about quote from (above) I remember thinking ‘Yeah, that’s totally right – they don’t’. I clicked through expecting verification on my own experiences – and I got them. But not in the way I expected.

First off, the piece.

It writes about the inherent dangers that exist within the ‘People you may know’ feature that you may occasionally see in your newsfeed. The worrying part is, thanks to the levels of access the Facebook app has to the various different parts of your smartphone, it can connect and reveal people in various jobs/positions/walks of life that they had hitherto preferred to have kept to themselves.

It is worth a look for that – as well as the total fumble that Facebook multiple and varied responses amounted to. Go read it.

It’s really interesting.

On a personal note, I’ve experienced the ‘Facebook no nothing’ phenomena at least twice over the past few years.

The first instance was, while in a meeting with Facebook, I brought up the newsfeed algorithm (back then it was simply known as ‘Edgerank’).

‘No such thing’ – they said.
‘Um, what?’
‘There is nothing at Facebook by that name’
‘Yes there is’
‘No, we can assure you. Edgerank is not a thing that exists at Facebook’
‘I’m sorry but you’re wrong. I’ve read about it’
‘You can’t believe everything you read in the press’

The condescending tone of that last part made me a touch apoplectic.

Me, to my boss: ‘Would you mind if I went and fetched my laptop real quick? Thanks’

Two minutes later I pulled up THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION BY FACEBOOK ITSELF AND ITS OWN F8 CONFERENCE WHERE IT SAID ‘LOOK AT OUR NEWSFEED ALGORITHM, IT IS CALLED EDGERANK’ and they had nothing to say. Literally, nothing.

‘Well, we can’t talk about that’

RIDICULOUS.

The other occasion that springs to mind is a more recent one.

‘Hi [name of person], would you happen to have any documents that can explain the best ways to get the most out of your LIVE products?’
‘Oh no, sorry. We don’t have anything like that’
‘I’m sorry – what?’
‘We don’t have anything on LIVE right now.’
‘You mean, the thing you’re pushing on every single piece of media going – you don’t have ANYTHING available to help brands or agencies with creating content for it?’
‘No, sorry’

I googled it. Found this. Thanks, Facebook.

So yeah, next time one of your colleagues says to you ‘Hey, can we speak to someone at Facebook about [campaign idea X]’ – it might be quicker to Google it.

JUST. SAYING.

5. THIS WEEK IN ‘THE INDUSTRY’

I’ll try and keep this brief.

This week, pal and peer, Caitlin Ryan, said [the equivalent of] ‘What the hell is this?’ and shared this link to the ‘Private View’ in Campaign Mag. Campaign, for those of you that don’t know, is a well-regarded trade publication that covers brands, agencies, and the work they create. By ‘the work’ I mean ‘advertising’ but we’re in advertising so we all call it ‘the work’. I digress.

The crunchy point was this bit:


Yeah.

I know.

And you think, if I worked for this cretin – and I am identified as being ‘diverse’ then is he bored of me? Am I just a box-ticking exercise?

I asked the question:

And then things went a bit nuts.

  • The replies, RTs, and re-shares by amazing people (representing the two groups called out were frankly, inspiring).
  • Campaign wrote about the ‘debate’ it had sparked.
  • Caitlin wrote an AMAZING ‘Dear Justin‘ letter (probably the best think I’m going to link to in this section).
  • Justin then replied to Caitlin with a COMPLETE NON-APOLOGY (more on that in a second) – it’s not even worth reading.
  • And then FINALLY – finally – the publication pulled together some REPRESENTATIVE voices and took the whole issue to task.

A few things here to cover off. A lot of the above is behind a paywall. Right click, open in an incognito tab, and you’re on way. Shh.

Next, the whole non-apology thing – basically, if you’ve read it you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say that anyone starting any kind of apology with ‘I’m sorry for the unintended offence caused’ is not apologising. They’re blaming THE AUDIENCE for reacting the wrong way, and not owning the general crapness of the words/deeds that caused it. Poor form.

Last thing, the one REALLY REALLY GOOD THING that’s come out of this is being able to witness the sheer strength and outpouring of vocal support in the industry for the importance of diversity. It gives me hope that the dinosaurs are indeed dying out and the industry I want to work in will one day be the industry I do work in.

Related reading (trust me – it is ALL related):

PS. As I wrote in one of the pieces above, Ogilvy UK is a fantastically diverse company to work for. It isn’t perfect but it will never be bored of trying to be better. Feeling uninspired? Come and work for us.

BONUSES: 

I broke two Chrome windows with the amount of bonus STUFF this week. So, y’know, sorry not sorry.

I’m not kidding.

DIVE IN.
THE WATER IS LOVELY.
DON’T LOSE SO MANY HOURS.
LIKE I DID.
FOR YOU.

—–

And that is that, my friends.

Hello to all the new subscribers – thanks for coming (hopefully you’ll stick around). And if you enjoyed this week’s edition you can do one of two things:

1. Hit reply and give me your validation.
2. Hit forward and share with a friend.

Until next time, fam.

Whatley out x

Five things on Friday #237

Things of note for the week ending Friday, October 13th, 2017.

FYI:

If you SUBSCRIBE to the Five things on Friday newsletter, you are 100%guaranteed to get MORE STUFF than reading it here on whatleydude.com

 SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Onwards –

1. HACKING PARIS FASHION WEEK

This is phenomenal work.

Oobah Butler blagged his way into Paris Fashion Week – with an inspired ‘disguise’ and the swagger to match.

Quote:

“We enter a beautiful 17th century Parisian flat – the kind of place that looks bare without a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. An older South-East Asian gentleman and a younger lady, both in full Prada suits, study catalogues. Two 6ft models are there to try on anything we want to see them in. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Quote:

“People look confused, and it dawns on me that I’ve fallen into the only task more impossible than convincing fashion people I’m a fashion designer: trying to convince Italians that I – man with a head made of ham, voice-box forged on the outskirts of Birmingham – am Italian.”

Quote:

“I arrive at the address and an older lady with a slender face and dusty long blonde hair meets me. “Georgio!” We kiss both cheeks. With her black netted dress and white tights, she looks like an illustration from a Pink Panther book.”

All of it is ROCK SOLID gold.

And the best of all, the pay off is absolutely brilliant.

Go. Read. Enjoy.

2. THIS WEEK, IN PUNCH-YOURSELF-IN-THE-FACE HEADLINES

I hope you’re not eating anything when you read what comes next.

Ready?

OK.

Did you see it? I mean. Really? Did you actually see it? I’mma put it in again, just in case you missed it.

In one headline, here is everything that is wrong with the direction the [advertising] industry is heading.

What the juddering fire truck is ‘a new scripted branded content series that aims for authenticity’ when it’s at home?

Don’t worry, I clicked through on the story (so you didn’t have to). Apparently, a ‘new scripted branded content series that aims for authenticity’ is a really ugly and verbose way of saying ‘We’re making a show for YouTube’. The authenticity part? That comes from [paid] influencers appearing in the show.

First off: I mean, if Wal-Mart Canada (and its respective agencies) have uncovered a genuine insight that has led them to this creative proposition then FAIR PLAY to them. I hope the series is a huge success. Truly. Stuff like this is rarely done right and, if it is, it could do well for them.


Maybe.

But that’s not the point.

WHY THE LIVING HELL IS IT BEING REPORTED IN THIS AWFUL THICK LANGUAGE THAT MAKES IT ALL SOUNDS RIDICULOUS AND UNNECESSARY?

Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe the ad industry got together and decided that the only way to communicate what we do is to make it sound as ridiculous and complicated as possible.

But that’s not the ad industry I’m trying to work in – nor make around me.

Blergh.

‘Scripted branded content series’ - honestly.

3. ‘I AM ONE OF THE STRONGEST PEOPLE I KNOW’

Is one of the best things I’ve read this week. If not the best.

Read it.

Good work, Cathy.
Looking forward to finally/eventually meeting you.

4. THE ART OF AVOIDING A-HOLES

I’m avoiding typing out anything from this (pretty great) interview as I fear it may hit some of your profanity filters (those of you that get this to your work address) but how’s this for a strategy for avoiding a-holes?

If you have an a-hole in your life (or if you know someone that does) then read this interview.

It might help.

5. NOT ALL BRANDS NEED ‘A PURPOSE’ 

This is a solid argument from Neil Simpson, associate planning director DDB New York – talking down the trend of ‘brand purpose’ when it gets in the way of the business of SELLING STUFF.

This segment particularly shines:

“The story usually starts from the premise that today’s consumer has somehow ‘evolved’ to consumeIn

brands in a radically different way from their parents. They have become ‘post-commercial,’ attracted to meaningful, symbolic, and purpose-driven products.thisworld brands have gone from functional signifiers of quality, to philosophical/mythical concepts that help consumers self-actualize. A recent HBR piece noted consumers ‘increasingly expect brands to have not just functional benefits but a social purpose.’

There’s often a diagram from Simon Sinek.”

Ha. I buy a lot of what is being said here. However I also think that, for a particular kind of consumer, self-virtue-signalling may also play a part in some of the ‘purposeful’ purchase decisions. To whit, consumer A feels just that tiny little bit better about themselves because they’ve chosen Brand X over Brand Y because they read something about Brand X doing something good for charity at the weekend. There’s a kind of woolly science that bears further exploration/discussion.

Still, good rant Mr Simpson.

BONUSES: 

Not many this week – I haven’t had much chance to catch up on ALL THE INTERNET you see. But still, quality not quantity – right? 

—

And with that, my flight has just been gated and I need to close my laptop and head northwards. To Stockholm!

See you on the other side x

Five things on Friday #236

Things of note for the week ending Sunday, October 8th, 2017.

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1. THE BEST MUSIC VIDEO YOU WILL SEE THIS WEEK

First, the video (click it).

Watched it? Isn’t it GREAT? One of those that you kinda want to stick around until the end to see how it all comes together, right?

Lovely stuff.

Looping is not a new thing, admittedly, but I love love love that the near-forgotten feature known as ‘Facebook Live’ is getting some use – and in a pretty awesome way, let’s be honest.

Seriously, go watch it.

Big.

2. JAMES IS GETTING A NEW PHONE 

So Google had its big old phone announcements this week (along with a whole bunch of other things – that we’ll come onto shortly) and they look just lovely.

On the left, the Pixel 2 and on the right, the Pixel 2 XL. That blue one? That’s the one I’ve gone for. A bit heavier on the bezel side but a smaller build and easier on the pocket.

Two weeks from now I’m sure I’ll be wanging on about how great it is. Oh, and if you buy one direct from Google, you get a free Google Home Mini.

OoooOoooooo… they’re a mini-version of the Google Home (there’s a Max version too but I can’t see many people buying them) think of it as Google’s version of the Echo Dot. It’s small, cute, and it does the job; so that’ll be nice.

The other thing of note that Google announced this week is ‘Pixel Buds’ (stay with me on this), a Google Assistant powered set of wireless headphones.

Wooo… so far so what. BUT. THE AMAZING THING IS. These things, once paired with a Pixel 2, can give you pretty much REAL-TIME voice translation.

WHICH IS MENTAL.

Don’t believe me? Watch this.

MIND-BLOWING.

UTTERLY. MIND. BLOWING.

…

3. EAGLE VS DRONE

No, not an upcoming sequel to the CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED ‘Eagle vs Shark‘ – no. This is a news story about actual eagles taking out real-world drones.

The Discovery Channel reports:

‘Eagles, those aerial takedown artists, are at it again. This time, they’ve taken out nearly all of the unmanned aerial vehicles dispatched to fly over mining lands in westernAccording to ABC Science, wedge-tailed eagles are batting nearly 1000 in the skies near the country’s mining town of Kambalda. All told, out of 10 drones to take to the air, nine have been sent to the ground by

Australia.theeagles.

Thus far, the site reports, South Africa’s Gold Fields, which has mining concerns in the area, has spent some $100,000 on replacement drones.

The company uses the drones as surveyors. The flying eyes take high-resolution photographs and use them to create contour maps for future mining forays.

Drones in the area have even been attacked by two eagles at once, and efforts to disguise the machines as other eagles have not fared well.’

Amazing.

More here.

4. LONG LIVE THE GROUP CHAT

This is beautifully put together, and incredibly well done.

Read it.

Enjoy it.

Talk about it in your group chats.

5. ROBOTS. BUT ONES YOU CAN EAT. 

This is a robot built entirely out of edible materials. So when the singularity comes, and we’re all at the mercy of our machine overlords, we can just, y’know, eat them.

Nom

BONUSES: 

Not many this week – I haven’t had much chance to catch up on ALL THE INTERNET you see. But still, quality not quantity – right? 

And that, my friends, just about wraps up this week’s ON TIME edition.

AREN’T I WONDERFUL?

Peace out, fam x