Hey, how you doing? The countdown’s begun 🎄. We’re racing towards it now. There’ve been some ads. Even spotted a tree or two? Hold tight. Anyway, let’s go.
"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."
Bertrand Russell
culture // dull men’s club
We're happiness obsessed. But, do we even know what happy means? Do we think about happiness as hedonic or eudaimonic? Hedonic is pure pleasure, pain avoidance. Whereas eudaimonic is about fulfilment, meaning, virtue and a full or flourishing life. The issue with hedonic dopamine led happiness as Robert Sapolsky says, is that it “constantly resets and habituates... Whatever was a great unexpected reward yesterday is what you feel entitled to today and will feel insufficient tomorrow.” Whereas eudaimonic compounds over time. Maybe we should rethink happiness, lower the bar. Like the dull men's club. They’re born to be mild. They celebrate the ordinary. Brick collecting? Roundabouts? Milk Bottles? Everything’s interesting/ fulfilling if you go deep enough.
brands // 19 Crimes
Challenger brands are rare these days. Norm breakers. Ones that go against established and accepted ways. It’s a risk. And we don’t like risks. But 19 Crimes do just that. They’ve broken every rule in the wine category. Positioned for younger drinkers, they’ve freed themselves from talking about wine. They talk about rebellion, revolution and rule breaking. They show up in graveyards and the UFC. They know most “normal people” know f**k all about wine. And don’t care. They speak about culture and stories. See, brands, are signals. Culturally relevant ones, send the right signals. They read the room. They go to culture. They don’t wait for it to come to them. Obvious, but important.
creativity // co-pilots
The age of AI co-pilots is here. From McKinsey’s co-pilot researcher. To Microsoft’s just launched co-pilot tool. To Adobe’s AI co-pilot creative tools. To Humane's AI pin which just launched. Or AI tutors, to co-pilot doctors. Research has shown that AI drives universal improvements for white collar work. Especially with less skilled workers, where it levels the field. And single task creative workers like copywriters, graphic designers should be worried. More nuanced work though, still needs human + machine. This post on creating marketing ideas with generative AI, lays out 5 useful steps you can start with. While some creatives are using ChatGPT to avoid the obvious. But it’s all moving at such pace. Creatively, generative AI is now real time. Which is amazing. Want David Attenborough narrating your life. Done. Dream it. Make it. Creativity everywhere. And it’s only just begun. Hope it improves things.
technology // shallow lands
Attention spans are plummeting. We’re suffering from “infobesity". We skim though things. Live in a state of continuous partial attention. All breath. No depth. We're shallow living. You can complain etc, but if you’re selling stuff, you need to understand and harness it. And that's all about digital availability. The BCG just published an ecommerce report, estimating that 41% of total global retail sales will be online by 2027. Selling more, needs more digital availability. Across all relevant channels. With the right enabling tech. So it’s easy to experience, and buy. Less clicks. Seamless. Amazon get it. Amazon shoppers can now buy stuff on Facebook and Insta without leaving the apps. And they penned the same deal with Snapchat. They’re ready to thrive in the shallow lands. Are you?
five random (ish) things:
Pulp fiction the musical 🎤.
Decolinization - words matter ✊.
Ready for brain implants 🧠 ?
Sometimes tech is good AND amazing 😲 .
Nice report on the hospitality sector 📝.
The birth of an island 🏝 😲 🌋.
Watching // blow by blow:
Stumbled across this the other day. Laura Marling’s great. This wonderful song, with a 12 Ensemble in the Royal Albert Hall, was recorded during Covid to an empty room. Beautiful song. Chilling reminder. Take it easy. Don’t forget.