No CEO wants to lose $100B of market value because of an AI mishap. Is now the right time for brands to jump in and fully invest in ChatGPT and other generative AI experiences? To make that decision, brands should consider the six weaknesses of generative AI and to what extent these disadvantages impact brand…Read More
Media agencies don’t want to be media agencies anymore, and they haven’t for a while. Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the Omnicom subsidiary that oversees the holding company’s media agencies OMD, PHD and Hearts & Science, is the latest example of how media agencies are shapeshifting. In recent years, OMG leadership implemented a series of organizational…Read More
That’s not the same as raising the average.
With the advent of the high jump, the idiom raising the bar became well understood: If you can’t jump over the bar that the current leader cleared, you don’t win.
But most of the innovations that change our culture don’t actually increase the simple linear measurements of the bar. They’re more likely to raise the average, to increase the performance of accepted mediocre output.
McDonald’s didn’t raise the bar in terms of the best food it was possible to be served in a restaurant, but they made roadside dining faster, cheaper and more reliable.
AI doesn’t raise the bar for illustration, copywriting or coding. But it certainly increases the average quality of a high school essay or the cheapest photo retouching or programming services.
Autotune can’t compete with Eva Cassidy, but it turned millions of singers into slightly more palatable recording artists.
Two traps worth avoiding:
When something seeks to raise the average, it’s tempting to criticize it for failing to raise the bar. It makes the good a little better, but it doesn’t do anything great. Sure, that’s true, but that’s not what it’s seeking to do (yet).
Failing to see that when we raise the average, it can diminish the breadth of demand for the extraordinary. Plenty of very, very good roadside restaurants were destroyed by fast food joints, because suddenly, good enough was good enough.
The endless cycle of improvement means that every innovation that raises the average creates the conditions for a new sort of excellence. Using these tools, a new standard setter can find a different way forward and create a different way to raise the bar, one that seems obvious after the fact.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll probably know that ebike darling VanMoof is facing bankruptcy. Obviously, this isn’t good news for VanMoof riders, who could be locked out of their own bikes which largely rely on a unique software app created by the Dutch company. But fear not VanMoofers, Belgian ebike rival Cowboy has released an app to keep you on the road. ‘Bikey’ enables VanMoof riders to generate and save their own unique digital key in case VanMoof’s servers go offline. The app is now live on the Apple app store in beta, but will be available…
This story continues at The Next WebRead More
Twenty-five years ago this month, a revolutionary new machine for the home appeared, capable of generating an impressive 1,100 revolutions per minute. Absent any other details, one might venture it’s an exercise bike. Or perhaps a washing machine or a DVD player. It’s none of those things, actually, though the washing machine comes closest. In…Read More
Despite its reputation as a haven for live music, the city of Austin, Texas, had arguably not produced a proper pop musician until Jes?s Acosta launched Sobbrs in late 2016. At the time, the city had cultivated a thriving atmosphere for psych-rock foursomes and singer-songwriter soloists. But Acosta, now the senior art director at creative…Read More
It’s officially summer, according to the calendar, but is summer officially back? Data from GroundTruth, a data analytics and media company, shows visits to American tourist attractions were up 187% in May compared to the same month last year. Likewise, trips to national landmarks and concert venues have also increased. “The growth in these categories,…Read More
Brand experiences go through hype cycles like any other marketing strategy. There was the era of the flagship store, when the likes of Nike, Apple and Topshop blazed a trail of destinations that heightened the shopping experience. Then the pop-up merged brand and retail to provide entertaining, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it occasions to wow customers. Now, we have…Read More
In 2012, at the start of the DTC boom, Katya Constantine founded DigiShopGirl Media. The digital agency used two relatively new technologies at the time–digital media and programmatic advertising–to turn startups into household names. Some of her star clients have now included luggage brand Away, Rent the Runway, skin care firm Starface and weight-loss program…Read More
