Upstream #163
self esteem, world building, search 3.0, let loose and fred again.
Sawasdee ka (สวูสŕ¸ŕ¸ľŕ¸ŕšŕ¸°). Went on holidays to a land far away. It was incredible. Hope youâve been keeping warm and well. Right, mustnât dilly dally, letâs go.
âThe best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps ⌠so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, thrash, or thunder in.â
Dylan Thomas
culture // self esteem
Our kids have issues. Weâve created a nightmarish world to grow up in and theyâre feeling the effects. Weâve shared Jon Haidt's powerful piece on the US teen mental health epidemic and Ireland's similar picture. And how 1/2 of US adults under 30 report feeling anxious all or most of the time. While the recent UK 2023 Ofcom report on Childrenâs Media Lives reported how âchildren weren't always clear or correct in assessing whether they were watching a drama series or a doc, whether the events they were following were real or fabricated. In some cases, it did not appear to matter greatly to themâ. Lost in space. So Doveâs recent work on the Cost of Beauty and the Dove Self Esteem Project is powerful, timely and useful. Little wonder they and their agency Ogilvy top the Good Report, which celebrates the best campaigns of 2022 for social and environmental responsibility. All of the work is available online and itâs worth a look. Yes, you can be cynical about purpose, but you canât deny the benefit of this work.Â
brands // world building
Developing magnetic brands in a platform world, is tough. Gen Z brands, need to offer more than just moods, so instead of a mood board, they need a world. As creative director Robyn Kanner says, "a world is a place that triggers all my senses. How does a place smell? What sounds do I hear? What does it feel like when I touch it? A world is alive, versus a mood board, which is something that lives on a corkscrew board". In these worlds brands move from simple product drops, to quest drops, which are part game, part content, part product. Like London streetwear brand Corteiz and their NYC drop, which had secret coordinates, a race across the city and a small bodega where the âPink Beamâ sneakers could be found. Or Lacoste and Netflix who built their worlds out in a recent smart collab. As Josh Simon, VP, Consumer Products, Netflix says âproducts can be a powerful medium for storytelling.... This collection is a compelling & creative way for fans to express their love for our stories & charactersâ. World building isnât new (see Disney). But expectations continue to rise, and good brands, rise with them.
technology // search 3.0
Search is changing. So let us welcome to search 3.0, where platform fragmentation (e.g. TikTok search etc), retail media (e.g. search at the point of purchase) and generative AI are rapidly reshaping it. Consequently, competition is heating up. In March, Samsung considered replacing Google with Bing as itâs default search engine. Google acted decisively, deploying generative AI across everything, including the integration of AI to create ad campaigns. Advertisers can supply imagery, video and text, and AI will âremixâ the material to generate ads (quality not guaranteed). Despite Sundar Pichai, stating that countries should enact nuclear arms-style frameworks to regulate AI, heâs going all in and integrating it into everything. Exciting times for search.
creativity // let loose
I grew up on UK TV and ads like, âyou know when youâve been Tangoedâ. Remember? Classic line and position. Tango are now shifting their purpose from "Tango exists to save the world from seriousâ to a more product focussed position of "Tango exists to invigorate with intense, bold tasteâ, including a new comms platform âDangerously Potentâ. Sounds promising. Still wouldnât loose the line though (which they did). Kind of harks back to a time when ads were all about the joy of letting loose. Embracing spontaneous fun. Not enough of that. Might be one reason agencies are having such a tough time of it and struggle to attract and retain talent, with low pay and burn out still a problem (âlast year the UK ad industry recorded the biggest annual rate of staff turnover in more than a decade, as problems including burnout, pay, gender and racial inequality led to advertising losing its edgeâ). Might be time to let loose a little.
five random (ish) things:
Succession characters as fonts âą.
Pâro: The Feeling That Everything You Do Is Wrong đ.
The Wes Anderson Tok.
World photo winners đ˛.
Are you the Charlie đ?
watching // fred again
Tiny desk concerts are cool. But what about electronic artists? Tough for them. Not the case for Fred Again, who gave this incredible performance. Reminds me that when you know your craft, when you have something to say, nothing can stop you.