What CMOs Really Want From Cannes This Year
As the industry convenes at the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, marketing executives want conversations on the ground to go beyond buzzwords. AI and its role in shaping storytelling […]Read More
Will Creators Be the Future of Cannes Creativity?
In this risk-averse environment, high-quality but safer work can meet brand needs and even win top awards, but that won’t push creative boundaries.Read More
TikTok Extends Gen AI Tools to WPP Open, Adobe Express
TikTok has unveiled a slate of AI tools designed to automate creative production. They’ll not only live natively on TikTok but will also be integrated within Adobe Express and WPP Open for marketers’ use. Read More
Cannes Lions Award Submissions Remain Flat in 2025
Submissions from independent agencies grew 18%.Read More
Amazon Advertisers Can Now Measure How Livestreamed Broadcasts Drive Sales
Brands can retarget people who have watched a creator’s stream.Read More
Advertisers Can Soon Target CVS Shoppers on Reddit
A clean room partnership will help brands track sales.Read More
PayPal Debuts Shoppable Ads for Publisher Sites
The new ad format aims to engage consumers as AI is eating into retailers’ traffic.Read More
Havas Puts Neurodivergent Creatives Center Stage at Cannes Lions
Havas launched its “Beyond the Brief” campaign at Cannes Lions to champion neurodivergent creativity and push for systemic change across the ad industry.Read More
The power of a pause
The single-most effective way to invest 90 seconds a day is simple (and difficult).
18 times a day, when you’re about to offer advice, ask a question or blurt out a response, wait five seconds.
That pause shifts the way what you say next will be perceived.
It also opens the door for you to discover what was about to be said, which might be the most important thing you haven’t heard.
Buzzer management is essential for some activities. But 18 times a day, a pause might be exactly what’s needed instead.
PS Yesterday’s post had a link that caused a warning for some folks. I’m sorry. There was a bug in the software I use, and I’m hopeful they fix it soon. The warning was needless, but it still perplexed some folks. My apologies.
Rigor and curiosity
Kids grow up with innate curiosity. It’s the hardwired instinct that permits us to walk, talk and survive long before we get to school.
And at school, the industrial imperative prizes rigor over just about everything else. Obedience, detail orientation and system compliance are the unstated goals.
Curiosity is supposed to fend for itself, apparently.
Once we leave school and enter the workforce, curiosity gets even less encouragement. That’s a shame, because while many institutions suffer from too much rigor, just about all of them would benefit from more curiosity.
If you are lucky enough to find a curious person, perhaps they could benefit from a little rigor. But if you encounter a rigorous person, the real opportunity is to rekindle their curiosity. It’s there, we simply need to encourage it.
XKCD.