How Netflix Created a Golden Marketing Campaign for KPop Demon Hunters
From sing-alongs to merch partnerships, the streaming platform harnessed the power of KPop Demon Hunters fans.Read More
AI Isn’t Replacing Marketers—It’s Making Us More Human
After two decades in marketing, I’ve watched countless “revolutionary” technologies come and go. Most promised to change everything. All delivered incremental improvements at best. But AI feels different—not because of […]Read More
Brand USA Bets on Warmth and Hospitality to Win Back World Travelers
Last month, Bad Bunny explained to i-D magazine why his world tour wouldn’t stop in the United States. “There was the issue of, like, fucking ICE could be outside [the […]Read More
4 Creative Rules for Building Campaigns With AI
Creatives reveal their guiding principles for building campaigns with AI.Read More
Jane Goodall’s Voice Powers Apple’s Ode to Creativity
Jane Goodall narrates Apple’s new global brand platform for Mac.Read More
Former Republica Havas CCO Launches New Agency
Tony Waissmann’s 52 aims to strip out bureaucracy and make more work.Read More
Foggy mirror
It’s easy to believe we have an accurate understanding of ourselves. After all, we spend a lot of time looking in the mirror.
It might be worth wondering about why the mirror is deemed to be accurate at reflecting what we see as our flaws, real or metaphorical, but indistinct and a little fuzzy when we consider our opportunities, assets and contributions.
When we remind ourselves what we have to offer, it’s more likely we use those resources, but rehearsing our defects simply holds us back.
Amplifying one’s flaws is a non-productive hobby.
Sony’s NFL Headsets Are Already Delivering Millions in Media Value
How Sony and the NFL built a partnership that could be worth more than $50 million this season alone.Read More
It’s not a silly thing to do
So many options, so little time.
A friend asked if he should put his podcast on YouTube.
After all, that’s how many people are consuming this sort of content, it’s low cost. The comments and subscriptions offer interesting tools for engagement, and it could grow their base.
But just because something might be worth doing, that doesn’t mean you should.
More always comes with a cost.
If you can’t do it as well as the medium demands with the resources you have, you should either find more resources or take a pass. And if the not-silly thing you’re considering is going to add more metrics, not better ones, then walk away.
Annoyingly, yet productively, we keep coming back to, “who’s it for” and “what’s it for.”
Attention is a luxury good
Luxury goods are special: they are scarce and expensive, and they earn us status with some folks because it shows that we paid more than we needed to.
Luxury isn’t about quality, suitability or performance. Luxury isn’t a more accurate watch or a faster processor. Luxury is a marker that we can afford to do something others might consider wasteful.
A Birkin bag is a luxury good, and so is reading an entire non-fiction book, listening to a public radio broadcast or attending a concert when we could stay at home and listen for free.
By ‘wasting’ our attention on nuance, narrative, experiences and everything except the checkbox takeaway, we’re sending a message to ourselves and others. A message about allocating our time to something beyond optimized performance or survival.
If you’ve signed up to offer an attention-luxury good, you undermine it when you also try to make it quick and convenient.