Well. Looks like we made it. Weâre emerging from January like prisoners. Still not convinced. Anyway. Went to the theatre and more walks. Amazing. Ok, letâs go.
âA hallmark of true expertise and insight is making a complex subject understandable. A hallmark of mediocrity and bad strategy is unnecessary complexity - a flurry of fluff masking an absence of substance.â
Richard Rumelt, Good Strategy Bad Strategy
culture // choices
Young men and women are drifting apart. Historically men and women in the same generations have had very similar views. But a recent study found that globally, young women have increasingly progressive & liberal views, while young men have stayed still, or shifted right, with more conservative (often toxic) views. Itâs at odds with the trad wife trend, where some women reject the corporate feminist fantasy and are tired of âleaning inâ. But identity isnât uniform (obvs). Which is why thereâs also a Bimbo renaissance and a post girl-boss rise in unapologetic hyper-femininity. Culture is complex. Identity too. But as Ireland prepares for a referendum on the constitutional wording of âwomen in the homeâ, one thing is crystal clear. Whatever a woman chooses to be, has fâall to do with the constitution, and everything to do with her own choices.
brands // purpose & needs
Bernard Arnault owner of the LVMH house of luxury brands, like Luis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co, is now the richest man in the world. His monstrous wealth has come from building, maintaining and selling brands. Expensive ones. He doesn't sell purpose. No. Bernard knows even though people say they want it, when theyâre alone they log onto Shein. Classic say do gap. No. Bernard sells desire. He knows his customers buy products in pursuit of their own purposes, not his. Bernard understands, as this piece on purpose vs proposition says, that the value for which customers are willing to pay resides in the degree to which a product provides the benefits sought by the customer. Tracksmith serve their customers need to belong and be respected in the running community. HP help their customers navigate the nonsense (nice). A brands highest purpose is to serve their customers needs. End of.
creativity // the difficulty
Creativity is difficult. And when tasked with thinking creatively, we often encounter difficulties. Michael Caineâs philosophy "use the difficulty" is great. He explains how when rehearsing for a play as a younger man, he found a chair had gotten in his way. He didnât know what to do, but the director yelled at him, use the difficulty. If itâs a comedy fall over it, if itâs a drama smash it. Just like car skidding on ice has to counterintuitively steer towards the problem, using the difficulty means leaning in. Which brings new creative solutions. Like Aurelius said âthe impediment to action advances action, What stands in our way becomes the wayâ. No resources. Get resourceful. And when the obstacle is the way, we thrive not in spite of it, but because of it. We turn difficulties upside down. And thatâs real creative thinking.
technology // ai vs hi
The AI race is really heating up (live link). A recent WEF session discussed the expanding universes of generative models. It was fascinating. Lots of progress but still, a 4 year old child has seen x50 times more than the largest existing LLM's. What happens though, when machines can see and touch and sense (itâs coming)? The AI race is firmly on with adland holding companies. Publicis invested $300m in AI and explain here how, with data and tech, theyâre transforming from a holding company, to the industries first Intelligent System. Weâll see. While Omnicom bought Flywheel Digital, a retail media & e-commerce specialist, for $835m, bringing product page management, warehousing, inventory movement and product pricing, plus tonnes of data to the party. Google meanwhile unveiled a search campaign-creating AI chatbot (used to be a human job). We shouldnât forget though, as we worship our new AI overlords, about the continued investment into good old Human Intelligence.
five random (ish) things:
New luxury, new rules Highsnobiety report đ.
Another reason to go to Japan đŻđ”.
Wow. We will not be quiet anymore â.
Freedom is an abstract concept đ€.
Viceâs guide to culture in 2024 đ©âđ€.
watching // winterkeeper
Steven Fuller is a winter caretaker who has lived (and continues to) at Yellowstone national park for the past 50 years. Mostly on his own. We all want to be Steven sometimes.