The100: Hype cutting, specialness spirals, and the Rory SutherBot

Get your pin for bubbles here

Cutting through the Hype, produced by the AAR, is a thorough investigation of the realities of a changing market as marketers go into 2024. 

AI obviously features, but so does leveraging customer data, fluidity in marketing ecosystems, beyond purpose and connecting with Gen Z. 

On AI, this quote from Tom Chatfield (who spoke at one of our events) is utter genius: 

“ChatGPT is like a humanities graduate. It has read a lot, can talk convincingly about anything, but has a hazy relationship with the truth and isn’t very good at maths.”

Brains on the subject of brains 

Jon Evans (Uncensored CMO) has had one of the “most fascinating and profound conversations” he’s ever had with Dr Iain McGilchrist: psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, philosopher, literary scholar and author of the enormously popular books The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things. 

“All you do is listen to other tables’ conversations” 

Matt Waksman wrote a call to action for strategists / planners (aka insights people in advertising) in the style of Choose Life. It’s very well done 👏. 

“The newest ideas tend to polarise people.”

Rory, who will be speaking at our event in May 2024 (yay!), published his top 10 ads of all time – which, coming from him, is some praise. The cell phone notice is simply brilliant. 

Oh, and this RorySutherBot is pretty cool. 

Just what we’ve been missing

There’s a new group in town called the BOPEA’s: Bohemian Peasants… no, me neither. 

Pretty niche, but it’s the first time we’ve featured a link from the Tatler! 

The state of the virtual nation 

OFCOM in the UK (communications watchdog) have published their 2023 review of the UK’s online habits.

All sorts of interesting stats:

• UK adults spend an average of 3hrs 41 mins on the internet each day. 
• 18-24s over four and half hours. 
• 7% of 16+yr olds don’t have access to the internet at home. Lots to digest.  

Contagious have also released their ‘most contagious’ 2023 report. 

And then the annual gold standard for end-of-year lists: 52 things I learned in 2023. A must-read for those who want to hold interesting dinner conversations over the festive period.

And finally…

Gurwinder always publishes a list of useful principles. The Beginner’s Bubble effect, and Ambiguity Aversion are just 2 of the many highlights. 

I love these old pictures of street markets in London. 

Also in London, if you reckon you know your underground stations, here is a little christmas quiz for you. 

Dogger, Fisher & Viking – if you like your shipping forecasts, but have no idea how they got their names, worry no more. While some are named after islands, estuaries, and headlands, the diamonds are in those that aren’t. Ace. 

Is this not one of the best pictures taken? In 1982, the first female to IPO a company on the London Stock Exchange was Debbie Moore, CEO of Pineapple Studios. More here. Such a great picture for so many reasons. My pic of the year without doubt.