Upstream #158

climavores and men, waffle balance, it’s getting personal, make an effort.

January eh. Watcha gonna do 🤷‍♂️. A month of planning. Reaching down. Before we stretch up. Hope you’re coping. Nearly there. Right, let’s go.

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Mestre Fungo

“Simplicity is not an end in art, but we usually arrive at simplicity as we approach the true sense of things.” Constantin Brancusi Sculptor (1876-1957)

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Mestre Fungo

culture // climavores and men

We’ve had pescetarians, flexitarians and even locavores. Now, make way for the new climate driven labels like climavores, reducetarians and sustainatarians (🙄). This “dawn of the climavores” report suggests that by 2030, climate will drive our food choices. Hopefully by then, we’ll get over the weird eco-gender gap too, where men view sustainability as less masculine 🤷‍♂️ (and cause more climate emissions than women). The New Yorker meanwhile asks, what’s the matter with men, as young US men struggle. They’re less likely to top their class, twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, and four times more likely to die from suicide. The rise of hyper masculine clowns like Andrew Tate are a symptom of something bigger. Talk to your boys.

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Mestre Fungo

brands // waffle balance

Brand development is an evergreen debate. The hows, why’s and wherefores. Helen Edwards wrote about how brands are more than a commodity, but how much more? and how Unilever's purpose agenda irritates investors like Terry Smith. He recently attacked the Lux brand, which focusses on "inspiring women to rise above everyday sexism and express their beauty and femininity unapologetically”. He made the point that “last time I checked, soap was for washing”, which is fair. Edwards argues though "there is little profit in the underlying commodity” and how without brands, Unilever is worth a lot less. The key, is finding "meaning that is bigger than the category and yet somehow still connected with it”. Reach, but don’t fall over. 

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Mestre Fungo

technology // it’s getting personal

Mondelez are increasing their investment in digital media from 58% today, to 70% by 2025 and want to see as much as 70% of the creative assets for digital campaigns personalized by 2025. Personalization is the soup of the day. Netflix are doubling down. They’re using causal machine learning and algorithms to A/B test creative assets at scale. They want to determine which titles you pick, why and how artwork can help influence you. Algorithmically driven, action orientated creativity is only getting started. But, as this writer points out, personalization is a tactic, not a strategy. Relevance is much more important. Understanding and appealing to multiple, dynamic & contextual identities in each moment (as only machines can do). Don’t forget though, brands (and businesses) are still built in public.

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Mestre Fungo

creativity // make an effort

HBO's The Last Of Us launched with some cool storytelling including gaming tie-ins, a podcast, Twitch ad placements, immersive in-person experiences and a sold-out New York City theatre event with actors that dispatched 1,500 guests on missions throughout the city. Building storyworlds takes effort, but it can be worth it. The series is already increasing sales of the game, which is part of Sony’s "beyond the game” strategy. Good couple of weeks for effortful creativity too. McDonalds eyebrow arch work was incredibly good, Flora’s TV and outdoor campaign was cool (for a palm oil product) and Reese’s new work from Mother was damn sexy in all the right ways. Good effort all round.

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five random (ish) things:

1. Slot machines, who knew 🎰. 

2. Jennifer Coolidge is cool 😎.

3. Welcome to the age of bullshitters 💩. 

4. A short story of friendship and love 😢. 

5. The spectrum of chaos and order 〰.

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watching // the divided brain

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift." Albert Einstein. Well worth watching this from Iain McGilchrist.