The100: Brand purpose, how to remember, and Miami Vice

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“The Danger of a Single Story”

The copywriter who just keeps on giving: Dave Trott again with a brilliant piece directly related to empathy: We are not the target market. 

It’s a simple trap to fall into, and that’s perhaps why so many of us do. We are a consumer, but we are not the consumer. 

By assuming there is only one truth, and it’s ours, we become unable to communicate and consequently irrelevant.

I’m presenting how closing the empathy gap can improve innovation success rates for my switched-on clients at the moment, and this “truth” forms one of the key questions I ask (there are 20 in total). If you want to chat about it, let me know. 

If you stop, you lose

Another theme in my presentation is. of course,  lies, and Ritson addresses the biggest lie of them all, that you must cut ad spend in a crisis. 

The World Economic Forum calculated that total investment in advertising decreased by 10% in the USA, and a whopping 12% in the UK during the first half of 2020. The Interactive Advertising Bureau reported that almost a quarter (24%) of brands had paused all advertising by Q2 and gone completely dark.

Tut tut.

Food for your empathy gene

John Harris has a new UK based radio series featuring the stories of ordinary people in four places, each with a distinctive identity. It’s called Citizens of Somewhere.  This is the kind of stuff that should be done more widely (re: the Dangers of a Single Story). 

Food for, well, foodies

Google has published the key to food advertising (with video). Noël Paasch, creative director at Google’s Creative Works, presents 5 tested creative strategies for effective food advertising. Do you agree?

Immerse the senses

Show all the nooks and crannies

Present the human side

Brand thoughtfully

It’s not food, it’s science

Companies on good behaviour

Phil Adams writes about brand purpose with a small p (functional, emotional benefits) and a big P (a higher Purpose, the often controversial stuff).

You’d be wise to take it with a pinch of salt when people in focus groups encourage you to bet the house on brand purpose.

Why the books don’t work

Consuming information is not the same as acquiring knowledge.

Farnam Street posts a fascinating essay on How to remember what you read, with 6 key tips:

Quality matters more than quantity. 

Speed-reading is bull*&$#. 

Book summary services miss the point

Fancy apps are not needed. 

Don’t read stuff you find boring. 

Finishing the book is optional. 

That’s how you do it

Whilst it’s a very interesting article (on climber Adam Ondra), this, from the NYT, is a magnificent showcase of how information can be delivered supremely well. (FWIW, I thought the speed climbing at the Olympics was ace.)

Besting beasts

Brits are more frightened of a goose than their American cousins? I’ll leave you to marvel at the list.

Crockett, Tubbs & Leonard Cohen

For all Miami Vice fans out there (or people that have actually heard of it), it appears that near-enough every notable actor (and then some singers) appeared in it. Incredible. 

P.S. For anyone interested in the history of The100, what I’ve learned from it, and what challenges the Insights Industry has ahead, I did a podcast (interview) – it’s my first, so forgive any waffling.