Tom Jarriel, an ABC News correspondent who reported from Memphis, Tenn., after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and roamed the world for the 20/20 newsmagazine while also anchoring news updates, died Oct. 24 at a nursing facility in Annapolis, Md. He was 89. (WaPo)Read More
CNN could soon land in a Florida courtroom, as it faces a defamation lawsuit from a security contractor who took payments to evacuate people out of Afghanistan after the U.S. military’s 2021 withdrawal. (LA Times / Hollywood Inc)Read More
Secondhand marketplace ThredUp’s recent generative AI tools–including visual search and chatbot Style Chat, both launched in August–are driving more visits and revisits to the app. While there, people using these AI features are more likely to make a purchase, the company dished at Shoptalk Chicago 2024 last week. Visual Search lets people snap an item…Read More
Averi AI has emerged from stealth mode, raising $2 million in pre-seed funding. The firm–which has an initial valuation of $8 million–combines automating time-consuming marketing tasks, like planning a marketing calendar, researching competitors, and organizing a budget, with human experience by connecting brands to a vetted network of U.S.-based marketing specialists. For instance, the AI…Read More
What makes you look at Molly Baz’s latest campaign for Bobbie? Breasts? Breastfeeding? Formula feeding is very, very normal. But it is still not normalized. There’s a stigma that exists within the parenting community, particularly for mothers who, to an outsider’s eyes, appear to have the option to breastfeed. My hot take: Brands owe us…Read More
There is a significant difference between, “I promise,” and “I’ll do my best.”
Promises are difficult to keep and ought to be offered with that in mind. Doing our best is assumed.
Google has been pitching advertisers on a new AI-powered search tool, called Search Bidding Exploration, which aims to find new pockets of valuable traffic. It does this by identifying lower-traffic queries within search that actually drive conversions, according to documents seen by ADWEEK. Low-traffic queries are when someone types in a less popular search query….Read More
Someone I’ve worked with over the years happened to be driving down my street. I called out and said hello…
They ignored me. So I repeated myself.
“Oh,” they said, recognizing me. “It’s you.”
We’re more likely to see, hear and care if the person over there is actually a person. A person we know, or admire, or recognize.
If you write a nasty email to a company, it might make you feel sheepish if someone actually responds. “I didn’t know you were going to read it…”
It’s easy to exclude people who aren’t like us, who might have a disability or come from a different background or group.
Not just exclude them, but not design for them, account for them, listen to them or see them with dignity.
Sometimes, marketers, musicians or speakers dig themselves into a solipsistic rabbit hole.
They’ve heard their stuff before. They think everyone else has too.
So they bury the lede, look for new laughs and most of all, try to avoid boring themselves.
Which often leads to confusion or controversy or, most of all, a muddy message.
You’re not speaking up to entertain yourself. You’re here to teach the next group of people who need to hear from you.
Empathy in communication requires you to repeat the stuff that works as you continue to explore the next layer of what might work even better.
In the words of my late friend Jay Levinson, “Don’t change your story when you’re bored, or when your partner is bored, or when your team is bored. Change your story when your accountant is bored.”
Top of the Ticker: Two major American newspapers–The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times–have chosen not to issue a presidential endorsement, reportedly at the behest of their billionaire owners, Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong, respectively. It’s the first time in almost 40 years that the Post has declined to endorse a candidate. The decision…Read More
