BrandKnew July 2022

Branding matters. Because branding matters.

Published by 07.22#116

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Dear friends Half of 2022 has whizzed past and the frenzy of the developments in the branding and advertising industry continues unabated.

As is our promise, this issue is laden with actionable ammunition for pros and amateurs alike. Co-marketing is the name of the game and see how brands and entertainment firms are working as brothers in arms. The job/s of the future is anyone’s guess, so it would help to think like a futurist to both survive and thrive.

Understand more in this edition. We all have our fetishes and the advertising professional is no different. Know more here. It’s still an exploration and discovery for brands and Web3.0- we take a dive in to share more. Top of the line brands like Nike and Prada are using NFTs- but, we offer a view on what could go potentially wrong. Today’s customers are not expecting to be spoken to, they are seeking advice and counseling, advertisers need to take note of that and tweak their approach accordingly. In a death of the print media landscape, we witness how The New York Times went through its amazing digital transformation. A case study in itself. The biggest contributors to the creator economy are Gen Z and Millennials. Understand more on it in this edition.Brands are no longer looking at perfection but preferring to go with authenticity and it is working. We take a look at that in this issue.

There is ample more to soak in and get inspired. And I leave you to do just that. Till the next, my very best.

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Suresh Dinakaran @ISDGlobalDubai

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Managing Editor: Suresh Dinakaran Creative Head/Director Operations: Pravin Ahir Magazine Concept & Design/ New Media Specialist: Mufaddal Joher Chief Strategy Director: Rishi Mohan Business Performance Director: Sunil Vasudevan Chief Country Man, India: Rohit Unni Brand Trends and Research Architect: Meeta Pendse Revenue Growth Architect: Ritu Dey Country Head, Australia: Norbert D’Souza Country Head, UK: Sagar Patil Performance Marketing Architect: Suresh Babu Technology & Web Enabler: Vyanky Charakpalli Social Media Outreach: Pooja Chhabda SEO Advocate: Santhosh Rakonda

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CONTENTS How Brands Are Experimenting with Web3 How brands like Nike and Prada are using NFTs—and why it could go terribly wrong Welcome to Meta’s weird advertising war with Apple—the musical How to future-proof your job by thinking like a futurist For Brands, Perfection Is Out and Authenticity Is In Here’s the real reason why all of the crypto logos look alike How co-marketing benefits brands, entertainment firms Customers Want Personal Advisors, Not Advertisers What We Can All Learn From the New York Times’s Amazing Transformation 22 apps designers can’t live without 5 Common Fetishes of the Advertising Professional How Gen Z and millennials are driving creator economy growth The surprising psychology of fonts 6 ways to engage your audience when speaking virtually 6 characteristics of a culture of good communication How CEOs can get off the “treadmill of mediocrity” Inside the dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team Upgrades Can Help Mom-and-Pop Stores Compete with Big Retail What really killed Honest Tea—and what it means for mission-driven brands Make Way for Interest-Based Targeting Book, Line & Sinker

How Brands Are Experimenting with Web3

By Mark Dent

Depending on whom you ask, Web3, a new iteration of the internet based on blockchain technology, is a form of monetization, the future of organizing, or a get-richquick scheme. But amid this debate, many companies are already testing a range of ways to create value — from increasing brand awareness to experimenting with new models of product ownership — using Web3 tools. These initiatives mark both a technological advancement and a new approach to corporate strategy.

Early adopters of Web3 tools are using them to get a better understanding of consumer behavior so that they can more accurately — and competitively — chart customer journeys and participate in customer communities. These efforts help build companies’ brands and power transparency around supply, production, and distribution, boosting corporate governance and sustainability credentials.

In this article, I examine how three different approaches to Web3 — virtual products, hybrid products, and decentralized ownership — can deliver immediate business value. By experimenting with each, brands can take advantage of this new era of the internet to amplify and diversify their digital footprint.

Virtual Products Many brands are creating their own Web3 products, often in partnership with established producers of and platforms for virtual assets. Think non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Roblox avatars, Fortnite skins, or property in Decentraland.

Companies retain full control over the assets they create, including how they look and work in virtual environments and digital wallets. These experiments both attract the attention of younger audiences and yield useful insights on their behavior.

Kering, the luxury holding company, has a team dedicated to Web3, and its brands Gucci and Balenciaga have unveiled several metaverse initiatives. For example, the “Gucci Garden” experience, a collaboration with Roblox, was a promotional virtual environment that people could explore with their avatars for two weeks in May 2021. As part of

the event, a digital version of the real-world Gucci bag sold for 350,000 Robux (the cryptocurrency of Roblox), which is $4,115 in real-world money. Ralph Lauren partnered with Roblox in December 2021 to sell virtual winter sportswear that avatars can try on in stores in that virtual world; the company credited its strong earnings for the quarter in part to the campaign and associated investments.

The virtual Gucci Garden on Roblox allowed visitors to explore the digital version of a real-world multimedia experience that took place in Florence. Courtesy of Roblox One downside of selling digital products is their limited applicability outside of their platforms of origin. Those virtual Ralph Lauren coats, for example, can be worn only in Roblox, not in Fortnite or other digital spaces. The virtual properties built in Decentraland, like fashion brand Philipp Plein’s building complex, exist only within it. The lack of interoperability between Web3 platforms is an obstacle to greater customer adoption and to greater utility of brandgenerated tokens and properties. Another challenge is monetization of Web3 assets. Artifacts like NFTs and game skins are still mostly regarded as marketing and PR experiments and sit outside a company’s production, design, and merchandising functions.

Near term, the biggest potential of digital products is in customer intelligence. These assets, which are cheaper to produce than physical goods, can be used to quickly gauge the appeal of a product aesthetic or design, and companies can then turn the most popular virtual items into physical ones.

Hybrid Products Another way companies are using Web3 is to enrich their real-world products with digital information. Here’s how it works: First, information about a product is recorded on the blockchain in the form of a smart contract, or transaction protocols that automatically execute legally relevant events and actions according to set terms. Data recorded might include the product’s origin, supply, production, and design, and once recorded on the blockchain, this

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information is immutable. The physical item thus becomes a collectible because of its uniqueness and authenticity. This allows brands to prevent counterfeiting and to benefit from secondary sales, which has traditionally been difficult to do.

For example, the National Basketball Association’s Top Shot store sells video highlights of especially compelling shots — like a clutch three-pointer from Warriors star Steph Curry or a legendary dunk from the Lakers’ LeBron James — as collectible NFT “trading cards.” Created by Dapper Labs, a blockchain company, in partnership with the NBA and its players union in 2020, these virtual trading cards include not only the highlight clip but also team-specific artwork, game and player stats, a description of the action, a unique serial number, and additional details.

Other examples show the varied ways firms are experimenting with hybrid products. The entertainment company Secret Level creates NFTs of classic TV and film scenes (in conjunction with the content’s creators) that fans can buy, collect, and trade via blockchain. Clothing company Anybodies has a line of NFTs that owners can sell, share, or redeem for its limited-edition hoodies. Coach, the luxury fashion brand, launched an NFT collection for the 2021 holidays, giving buyers a special bag that wasn’t available otherwise. Companies can even, as Adidas has done, record attendance at virtual or real-world events, like a fashion show or a collection launch, on the blockchain and reward the people who came with preferential access to new products and sales, exclusive invites to other events, and personal styling services.

The benefits brands accrue from the hybrid approach are twofold: One is verifiable information on products’ origins; the second is community-building. Downsides, however, include the energy and environmental costs of creating tokens and recording information on the blockchain. In the U.S., bitcoin mining — the process of creating new bitcoins by solving math problems that verify transactions in the currency — creates an estimated 40 billion pounds of carbon emissions, according to Business Insider.

In addition, to produce and manage these products, you need talent well versed in cryptocurrency and the blockchain; interdepartmental collaboration, with marketing, production, merchandising, and technology all coming together to develop successful hybrids; and stateof-the-art customer-relationship-management programs so that actions can be recorded on the blockchain and rewarded.

Distributed Ownership Distributed ownership is a new brand-governance paradigm.

Instead of a company selling one item to one customer, this strategy is about multiple customers sharing ownership of something via the blockchain. While I’m not aware of any traditional brands using this strategy at present, digital-first companies are. As the technology evolves and experimentation continues, all marketers should understand how distributed ownership works, since it has the potential to change the way customer communities are managed — and how product value is created and shared.

For example, Otis is a distributed ownership platform

where users buy, sell, and trade SEC-securitized shares of collectibles like artworks, comics, jewelry, or fashion clothing items, thus building portfolios of alternative assets.

If a consumer wants to invest in the sneakers that Michael Jordan was wearing when his dunk shattered the backboard glass in a 1985 game, for example, they could purchase a small share of the shoes through Otis or a similar platform.

The consumer can then earn a return either if they sell their share or if the group of shareowners collectively decides to sell the sneakers.

There are a few scenarios for how this type of governance could play out for legacy brands. The first is a shared shopping cart. In this scenario, there are two item prices: one for individual buying and another for the shared shopping cart. When buyers select the latter, they join a group in which they can negotiate for lower prices and get discounts.

A shared shopping cart is suitable for mass-market brands; it is already used by the Chinese marketplace Pinduoduo.

In the second scenario, mid-range and premium brands can encourage group buying, which gives them realtime information about customer demand. This real-time information is based on individual purchase patterns and browsing histories, but also on the purchase patterns and browsing histories of everyone in the buying group. That information, in turn, allows brands to negotiate morefavorable rates with manufacturers. The results are better prices for consumers and less risk that companies will need to offload excess inventory (and devalue their brand).

In the third scenario, for luxury brands, buyers gain shared ownership of a particularly valuable item, like a handbag or a piece of jewelry, that is either passed along through the group or treated like an investment to be later resold at a profit.

At scale, a distributed ownership platform might look like Friends with Benefits, a self-described “headless media community lifestyle brand” network, in which members have different levels of access and governing power depending how many tokens they’ve earned or bought on the collectively owned platform. Perks of membership range from an FWB newsletter subscription to FWB Discord channel access to tickets to in-person events, all aimed at forging connections, creating project teams, or pursuing joint investments. FWB is fully user-led and has become everything from a music discovery platform to a startup incubator to a meeting place for crypto investors. Fee-paying members jointly agree on the purchases and investments the network makes, and all actions are recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.

Brands benefit from distributed ownership because it generates returns on production and property rights, while consumers get tangible rewards and partial ownership.

With increased market activity, the value of the token or product increases and, in return, attracts more participants that generate even more activity. It’s a virtuous cycle.

That said, when there is little or no demand, that positive feedback loop between product or token value and market activity doesn’t exist. Another risk brands face in offering decentralized ownership is lack of control. Successful decentralized platforms are still, in most cases, more proposal than reality.

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How brands like Nike and Prada are using NFTs— and why it could go terribly wrong

By Achilleas Boukis

Luxury fashion house Prada has a scheme for customers who want something even more exclusive than its usual range of clothing and accessories. Each month, on a firstcome first-served basis, the Time Capsule Collection offers ultra-limited editions of Prada products. They’re only on sale for 24 hours, with purchases delivered straight to customers’ doors.

For the new June edition, there’s an extra twist. Those who buy one of only 100 black and white button-down shirts

by Cassius Hirst, son of renowned British artist Damien, will receive an NFT (non-fungible token) as part of the experience. They are GIFs of the black and white capsules that Prada uses to brand these events, and they’re also being made available to purchasers of previous editions.

It is the latest example of how top brands are experimenting with NFTs to add another dimension to their businesses. This has recently included everything from Nike digital sneakers to virtual collectables from sport clubs such as AC Milan.

For example, Gucci is selling a digital bag for more than its real-world equivalent ($4,115 vs. $3,400), in a sign that the Prada NFTs could fetch a high price if they are resold.

Most of the media coverage around NFTs has focused on big art auctions such as Beeple’s Everydays, a giant digital collage that sold for $69 million, and the heavily hyped Bored Ape Yacht Club, 10,000 cartoon avatars of primates looking, well, bored. But clearly, the arrival of traditional brands is also a major part of the story. Total NFT sales for 2022 are heading for about £90 billion, more than double 2021 despite the fact that markets are sinking right now.

So what are the best examples of brands operating in this

space, and are there pitfalls?

EARLY MOVERS NFTs are online assets that double as certificates of ownership, usually of digital items such as a piece or art or a video, but potentially even physical things like an item of clothing or a car. People can buy and sell NFTs on marketplaces including OpenSea, LooksRare, or Magic Eden. The market exploded in 2021 on the back of the Beeple hype and leading celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Lebron James issuing NFTs of their own.

Sport associations such as NBA and NFL were among the early movers, selling NFTs of collectable cards of sporting heroes, videos of classic moments, and even jerseys autographed by players. This is all about using NFTs to capitalize on a loyal fan base by offering them rare assets.

In the coming years, NFTs are likely to meld with the virtual worlds of the metaverse, in the sense that many will probably be usable there. Balenciaga, another luxury fashion house, has been an early pioneer in this direction, offering a collection of NFT accessories for gamers to wear on Fortnite.

Nike has been particularly forward-thinking, buying NFT pioneer RTFKT Studios late in 2021. RTFKT made its name with a collection of Manga-style 3D NFT characters called CloneX that now trade for tens of thousands of U.S. dollars.

In keeping with other top NFT collections like the Bored Apes, RTFKT is using the CloneX characters to craft a storyline that is gradually unfolding over time.

In February, CloneX owners were airdropped NFTs of

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mystery digital boxes known as Mnlths. The Mnlths had Nike swooshes on the side and quickly started selling for upwards of $10,000 on NFT marketplaces, even though nobody knew what they contained. In April, Nike announced that owners could “burn” them to unlock a pair of digital sneakers known as CryptoKicks, plus a vial that allows users to customize them, and another mystery box called Mnlth 2. A pair of CryptoKicks has since reportedly sold for $134,000.

Meanwhile, online platforms are helping to make these NFTs more usable. Meta is creating features for Facebook and Instagram that will make it possible for users to create NFTs and showcase them on their social media profiles. Spotify is working on something similar, with a view to creating new revenue streams for artists and record companies.

DANGER AHEAD? But if these are examples of NFTs’ potential for major brands, there are also serious risks. The market has fallen substantially in both prices and volumes in recent weeks in line with drops in everything from the stock market to cryptocurrencies. Many collectors will be sitting on assets that were worth a lot more several months ago.

A historic sports club like, say, Real Madrid might unintentionally end up undermining its fans’ financial wellbeing as a result. Should the club compensate these people in some way to avoid jeopardizing the relationship? Or what if the fans become like day traders, flipping NFTs to try and make money. Is the club then vulnerable to being accused of enabling something close to gambling?

Another danger is undesirable repercussions from a

company giving control of assets to unknown third parties.

How would, say, fashion label Patagonia’s customers feel about its sustainable and activist values if its NFTs ended up being flaunted by a major entrepreneur in fossil fuels?

For many brands it’s also not yet clear whether NFTs could cannibalize the sales of their physical products. Equally, not all brands have the same scarcity value of a Prada or Gucci. A budget retailer such as Primark might experience a lack of demand if it launched NFTs, and its image could be harmed as a result.

Companies launching NFTs are going to potentially need to change more than it first appears. They will need to set up a range of new roles to manage relationships with NFT owners and their corporate reputation.

This could become a distraction from the company’s core business. Perhaps they become like an investment house, more focused on maximizing the sales of NFTs than creating value for their customers. Especially for brands with a more progressive culture like Ben & Jerry’s or Oatly, that could raise awkward ethical issues.

Nonetheless, it’s going to be fascinating to see how this market develops. The companies that succeed will probably be the ones that are alert to these risks, and view NFTs as a new revenue market to explore rather than a short-term opportunity.

Achilleas Boukis is an Associate Professor in Marketing at the University of Birmingham. Achilleas received his PhD from Strathclyde University (2014). His interests include branding, blockchain and service interactions in physical and technology-mediated contexts.

Welcome to Meta’s weird advertising war with Apple— the musical

By Rob Walker

Meta’s bizarre $6 million advertising blitz shows just what’s at stake for the company.

“Branded” is a new weekly column devoted to the intersection

a shockwave in my head,” she sings, “and a tingle in my

of marketing, business, design, and culture.

spleen.”

A woman on a bus stares blankly into her phone, starting

No, it’s not a scene from the worst musical ever. It’s a very

to mouth the words to a perky dance-pop song, “Was there

curious ad that Meta, the social media giant, has been

something missing in my life ’til now?” As the lyrics continue,

pushing lately, advertising the benefits of . . . advertising.

so comes an answer to her longing: “And then this vegan

According to ad-data tracker iSpot.tv, “Good Ideas Deserve

bakery came sliding down my screen.” Her eyes widen in

to be Found: A (Slightly) Life-Changing Story,” was recently

wonder, and a colorful dance number breaks out. “I felt

the most-seen TV spot of the week with over 500 million

Advertising the upside of advertising sounds a bit, well, meta.

In a nutshell, it depicts a typical technology user discovering

But Meta has produced just such a commercial—part of a

that everything she does online is being tracked, collected,

campaign it introduced last year—because it wants you to

and monetized. A cartoonish auctioneer figure stands in

know that “personalized ads” are a really good thing.

for ad tech, declaring: “It’s not creepy, it’s commerce!”

This may seem puzzling. Sheryl Sandberg’s announcement that she plans to depart the company formerly known as Facebook has once again focused attention on its wild

Message: It’s totally creepy. Thus, the triumphant moment centers on tapping “Ask App Not to Track”—which of course is a headache for Meta.

success with targeted advertising. Sandberg famously took the

(Apple has been pushing this anti-tracking feature for over

expertise she’d developed at Google around automated ad

a year, sometimes sounding more like an activist than the

products and helped Facebook build a system that relentlessly

world’s most valuable tech company: “You have become the

tracks your online behavior for the benefit of its commercial

product,” declares another one of its ads.)

clients. It’s a controversial and kinda creepy legacy that you might assume Meta would rather keep quiet. Instead, it has taken to underscoring its prowess at understanding your needs and desires through its sophisticated surveillance of your online life.

What’s going on here is a departure from the more familiar Coke versus Pepsi style of ad war, pitting two fundamentally similar products against each other. The competition here is between totally different business models, with their distinct implications not just for customers (or users) but for society

impressions by way of an estimated $6 million ad spend.

in general.

To some extent, the ad is positioned as a celebration of small

And really, it’s remarkable how directly the Meta ad

businesses and their unique offerings. But it’s really about how

engages this debate. Not only is Sandberg, the architect of

awesome it is that Meta properties Facebook and Instagram

its targeted-ad strategy, leaving, but also the company has

can make idiosyncratic products and services available

noisily declared a new focus on “the metaverse,” presumably

to you, the end user, based on its uncanny knowledge of

involving some kind of revised business model that hasn’t

your preferences and traits. The result, per the ad, is a vivid

yet been articulated. Yet the ad is an open admission that,

carnival of individuality—and “appropriately” individual

pivot notwithstanding, Meta revenue from advertising was

consumption options.

about $115 billion last year. Facebook and Instagram are ad

As a multicultural cast dances about hyper-colorful city streets

businesses, period.

to that friendly dance-pop beat, we encounter Meta users

As a business, Meta is already reportedly tinkering with ad-

seeming to benefit from personalized ads. It’s light and semiironic and a bit silly. The shoppers in the ad connect with specialized clothing, nail treatments, and something called linguine squid. “Good ideas can be more than stuff we use . . . they have the power to show the world we care about issues,” the ditty goes—a passage that results in a person

revenue strategies that are less overtly dependent on tracking prowess—like a “Basic Ads product” that would rely on “only the simplest metrics, such as engagement and video views.”

In other words, something closer to the more “awareness”driven advertising of ye olde pre-data-tracking times.

getting an “eco sponge” for washing dishes (“perhaps I

Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to hear arguments that

should be sainted?” sings the buyer).

technology would help deliver advertising that was not

Again, the vibe is meant to be winky and fun, but the message is quite blunt: Meta offers “a world where personalized ads help good ideas get found.” That’s how the song puts it.

Twice.

only more effective for businesses, but more “relevant” to consumers. Certainly the first part of that argument seems to have proved true, given the scale of Meta’s ad business. It’s the second part that’s up for grabs, and so far, Meta seems to be losing: It recently estimated that Apple’s anti-tracking

While Meta’s latest ad started airing a few weeks before

options will cost it $10 billion. Still, with its ads, Meta seems

Sandberg’s announcement, it speaks directly to her legacy—

to be arguing for something approaching a post-privacy

and to all that threatens to besmirch it. Regulators and at

world, and that’s not an easy sell. But as privacy measures

least some consumers have soured on big tech’s privacy

and regulations are debated with increasing urgency in

trampling. Not only are there potential legislative challenges

Congress, this might be the most mission-critical sales pitch

to Meta/Facebook’s targeted ad practices, but thwarting

that the company has ever made.

those practices has become an overt selling point for some rival tech companies. The most conspicuous example: Apple, which recently made its privacy-centric case for fending off Meta-style targeting with a spot titled, “Your Data Is Being $old!”

Rob Walker Writes Branded, A Weekly Column About Marketing And Branding. He Also Writes About Design, Business, And Other Subjects. His Newsletter Is The Art Of Noticing.

How to future-proof your job by thinking like a futurist

By Stephanie Vozza

Sixty percent of Americans are worried that automation is putting jobs at risk, and 39% think their own job will be obsolete within five years, according to PwC’s Hopes and Fears survey. New positions that may not exist today, however, will replace some of the jobs that will be lost to AI. But, if your job is at risk, it’s a good idea to have plan B in place now so you can seamlessly transition and stay relevant.

“The only thing we can predict is the unpredictable,” says Scott Steinberg, author of Think Like a Futurist 2022: The Next Normal. “Things tend to move fast and change from week to week at this point, and there will be many next ‘normals.’ Even when many events are outside your ability to control, you can always steer things toward a more positive outcome.”

The first thing is to gain situational awareness. It should raise major red flags if your job is easily reduced to a description on paper that anyone could do, or consists of routine tasks that can be done by technology. If this is the case, future-proof yourself the following strategies.

Be Irreplaceable Not every job is at risk, and companies are always going to need proactive problem solvers, dynamic thinkers, and creative innovators, says Steinberg.

“There are certain things you can count on a computer to do, but those things are largely routine, boring, and predictable,” he says. “It’s when variables pop up that the human elements come into play and excel. If you want to future-proof yourself, you really have to think about how you add something essential and irreplaceable to the mix.”

Steinberg says you need to stand out in a very visible way at work, and people need to understand the value that you bring to the table. Your value could be in a broader sense than your job description.

“Maybe you’re the one that everybody in the office looks to for inspiration, creativity, and new ideas,” he says. “Or when a problem comes up, maybe you’re the one who is willing to step up and take charge to do something. It’s about finding opportunities to showcase your talents in a way that’s not smacking people in the face but that helps support and uplift your team.”

Stretch Your Skills Consider yourself to always be a work in progress, thinking about what skills will be in demand tomorrow. Grab what Steinberg calls “elastic skills” that can translate to a variety of different contexts and industries. For example, if your job in communications uses research, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills, they could translate into becoming

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a business analyst.

Be Open To Lateral Or Even Backward Moves

“Individuals who excel may have extensive learning in one area, but they have a broad range of interests and experiences that they can draw on in a variety of different arenas,” says Steinberg. “They’re pushing themselves to constantly be acquiring new skills, new contacts, new connections, and new experiences.”

The most successful individuals aren’t trying to climb the corporate ladder or ride a corporate escalator to the top.

“That escalator is broken, and the rungs of the corporate ladder are starting to look rickety,” says Steinberg.

One way you learn what organizations will need is by looking at job postings. You can also learn in-demand skills by looking at startup activity, academic research, and topics that are trending at conferences and events. Take classes to expand your skills—or even grab a pizza with someone in a different team.

“If you’re in marketing, ask yourself, ‘How can I connect with someone in the software development team to find out what problems customers are reporting?’” Steinberg says. “It’s about getting as much information as possible and then thinking about how you can mix and match and combine those talents to ‘MacGyver’ your way forward.”

To gain elastic skills, Steinberg suggests actively seeking out volunteer opportunities or chances to work at emerging startups where you can pick up knowledge of new technologies, trends, or business models that you can use in different other arenas.

Instead, be open to taking a sidestep into a position of equal rank or pay in an organization that offers more opportunities for learning and growth. You may even need to take a step back, going down in pay or rank to get into new opportunities.”What happens when you take a sidestep or a back step is it oftentimes creates a slingshot effect that can propel you much further over the long run,” says Steinberg.

Future-proofing your job means always thinking two or three steps ahead. “The funny thing about the future is it oftentimes seems like it’s coming on fast,” he says. “But it seems to come on fast only because we’ve been ignoring it for a long time. The problem is people are hardwired to like comfortable, familiar approaches and routines.

But routines very quickly become ruts. We either can ride the waves of change or be dragged along kicking and screaming. Personally, I advocate that people break out the long boards and swim trunks.”

For Brands, Perfection Is Out and Authenticity Is In

By Jacob D. Teeny

As our lives move increasingly online, the ways marketers interact with us are evolving as well. The increasing adoption of AI is helping companies serve up more relevant ads—while deepening concerns about customer data. Brands are also realizing the benefits of coming across to customers as more fun and more personal than they have in the past.

What can we make of the new web-marketing landscape, and how might consumer interactions be transformed?

Jacob Teeny, an assistant professor of marketing at the Kellogg School, spoke with Kellogg Insight about advances in ad personalization, the ways tech companies are rethinking their privacy policies, and the rise of authenticity.

Kellogg Insight: Which current trends are you most closely following in the digital marketing space? How do you see those trends influencing the broader marketing landscape?

Jake Teeny: These days, I’ve become interested in people’s concerns about privacy.

Privacy is a little paradoxical, because while people say they’re concerned about the privacy of their data, most never do anything about it. Researchers attribute this partly to an evolutionary predisposition. When we lived in smaller groups, we had to be very concerned about our social standing,

because we could be kicked out of the group, which could result in death. Nowadays, we still have the vestiges of that, even if the consequences of a bad reputation aren’t as terrible as they used to be. It’s this leftover effect of our evolutionary psychology that hasn’t quite adapted to the widespread pervasiveness of data today.

However, another important part to this “privacy paradox” is that some very fundamental websites leave us little choice to give over details if we want to use them.

This is changing somewhat, as companies like Apple and Google change some of the tools they use to track people.

In fact, I was talking with a former marketing executive at Apple, and I asked him, “Why are you guys pushing for privacy? This doesn’t seem from the research to matter too much in terms of changing user behavior.” He said, “To be honest, it was a totally internal decision. We thought, this is an unhealthy way for consumer data to be treated, and we

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Brand Builders

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Courtney Spritzer and Stephanie Cartin were pioneers when they started their social media business in 2011. Not just because the medium was relatively new, but also because they were one of the few women-owned startups in the industry. That’s why, today, they use their social media savvy to build a support network that inspires female entrepreneurs of all ages. And with Mastercard’s Digital Doors program, these Citi Small Business clients can further amplify their digital presence. So businesses like Courtney & Stephanie’s can thrive in the digital world while they’re busy impacting the real world. Because their business is much more than the services they provide. /HDUQ KRZ 0DVWHUFDUG® LV SUHSDULQJ ORFDO EXVLQHVVHV OLNH 6RFLDOɥ\ DQG (QWUHSUHQLVWD 0HGLD IRU WKH GLJLWDO DJH DW PDVWHUFDUG XV FLWLVPDOOEXVLQHVV

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wanted to take a stand.”

Now, of course, Apple has definitely emphasized privacy a fair bit in its advertising, so I’m sure there’s a little bit more than just consumer well-being that they had in mind.

But whatever the reason, it’s going to make it a little more challenging for people to be tracked and for advertisers then to make money or personalize their ads, even though we’re now in the age of personalization.

Insight: How representative is Apple’s pro-consumer-wellbeing stance? Is it your view that many companies are trying to bolster their reputations and gain consumers’ trust?

Teeny: Not everyone is taking such an outward stance on privacy, as many companies benefit from access to that data.

But I do think this question ties to another broad trend we’re seeing, particularly in online marketing, which is trying to develop a sense of authenticity as a brand. Pretty much every brand has to stand for something today. One way you can do that is by trying to take an authentic stand on an issue, whether it is fair labor practices or sustainability or in the case of Apple, privacy, in order to make yourself come across as legit.

Insight: If I’m a brand, what can I do to develop that sense of authenticity beyond just saying, “Yes, I stand for this social issue?” What concrete steps can I take with my online audiences to attract them with a transparent and coherent sense of what I stand for?

Teeny: Well, there’s some recent research to suggest that live videos or disappearing videos on social media are perceived by audiences as a bit more authentic.

But brands can also tell stories. I think there’s a big push towards storytelling now, not only because it helps to cut through the clutter of online advertising, but also because when you tell a story, it feels more authentic. It makes you seem more like a person and less like a third-party disconnected body. It helps you seem more trustworthy and enjoyable, like a friend who is going to give you advice on what to buy.

Insight: That sounds like brands are thinking a lot about— whether they are selling soap or soda—how to make customers feel.

Teeny: Yes, feelings are very important in marketing! In advertising, we often talk about “laddering” ads. For example, when introducing a product, you first describe its features, then you can “ladder up” to the functional benefits of those features, then to the emotional benefits of those functions, and then finally to the product’s higher-order purpose. But today, I think we see a lot more brands spending less time in that functional stage and more in that emotional stage, just because there are so many different products and markets out there that serve a similar function. You have to distinguish or differentiate yourself in some way right away.

In psychology, there’s a phenomenon called the Pratfall effect where essentially introducing a small character flaw makes you more likable, because people can’t relate to you when you’re just all shiny and perfect.

I think we’re seeing that with brands, where they’re being more

open with their mistakes, which seems like a consequence of the ever-watching eye of social media. It’s a way to build realness, by being a little more off the cuff.

Insight: What factors do you feel are complicating brands’ ability to strive for authenticity? Are there regulatory or industry standards that are forcing marketers to adjust or companies to rethink?

Introducing a small character flaw makes you more likable, because people can’t relate to you when you’re just all shiny and perfect.

— Jacob Teeny Teeny: Well, there’s a history in the U.S. and elsewhere of advertisers being manipulative. As consumers, we know marketers are going to try to tell us whatever we want to hear.

I think that was a big issue with ad personalization a few years ago. A lot of people didn’t like tailored advertisements at first. They felt like, “oh, you’re tapping into my data and trying to manipulate me with what I’d like.” Now, about 70 percent of consumers prefer personalized ads. They’re like, “if you’re going to show me an ad, at least show me something that I’m actually interested in.”

Insight: Is there a risk of companies overplaying their hand on that specificity?

Teeny: Well as I said earlier, at first, any form of personalization was offensive. Now, a moderate amount is okay, but anything too much is bad. For example, there is consistent finding that using data that people think should be totally inaccessible, such as your bank transactions or financial statements, to personalize an ad really sets people off. Something like, “We noticed you make 30 grand a year.

Here’s our special.” People really don’t like that.

But it’ll probably get to the point one day where that’s okay, too. It’s all about our expectations. Once companies have a foot in the door, gradual increases are more acceptable.

Insight: Right now, personalization feels reactionary. I buy a pair of shoes and for the next six months I get sneaker ads everywhere on all my social-media channels. In what ways are companies looking to become more predictive about this on their end, so that they can become more relevant to the customer?

Teeny: The issue you raise about redundant targeting is one that is prolific throughout the marketing industry, and it’s really an issue of bad AI. The reason repurchase behavior is so prioritized now is because that’s what marketers have been able to intuitively—and even statistically—identify as a strong precursor of what people will buy again.

I think we’re going to see better forms of targeting as AI gets better and more widespread. Ultimately, more sophisticated algorithms are going to allow people to be much sharper and much clearer in the types of marketing and analytic tools they use. They will find factors that you might not have expected that can strongly predict a personalized sale.

Here’s the real reason why all of the crypto logos look alike

By Seb Joseph

Even the biggest and most lauded advertisers struggle with moving more marketing in-house. Coca-Cola is a case in point: two years into its own in-house plan, and it’s still very much a work in progress.

Not that the business would see that as a bad thing. In many ways, the slow progress is intentional. There are too many nuances — from hidden costs to logistical hurdles to political flashpoints — marketers must be aware of if they’re serious about exerting more control over their advertising.

The scores of marketers who saw their in-house plans grind to a halt because they tried to rush through those issues can attest to this.

Naturally, Coca-Cola marketers are keen to avoid the same pitfalls.

To do so, they‘re focused on what incremental gains they can get from having an in-house team, not how transformative it can be from the outset. This way the company’s grasp shouldn’t exceed its grasp, said James Donovan, global audience and addressable media manager at Coca-Cola on stage at the Programmatic Pioneers event in London earlier this week.

“We’re still getting started in a lot of ways,” he continued.

“We went through a major company restructure in 2020 and part of that process was creating a marketing and media services division.”

This is where specialist marketing and media experts from inside and outside the company are based.

“They do so with the objective of making sure that all our

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processes, campaigns and our use of data are being done as efficiently as possible. Part of that was about taking ownership and control of that,” said Donovan.

None of this is especially new for an advertiser like CocaCola. On the contrary, it’s hard to think of an aspect of marketing, from design to creative to media management, that hasn’t been taken in-house at Coca-Cola over the years.

This time, however, the business is trying to pool a lot of its specialist marketing talent together under a central function — one that would allow it to realize the operational and strategic benefits of having direct access to that knowledge.

their own agencies because they’re essentially having to retrofit operating models that weren’t designed with that in mind. Coca-Cola never had that problem because the strategy for the in-house team was being developed at the same time as a global review that saw it consolidate its media dollars from four agency holding groups into two.

Simply put, the agency model was designed to work with the in-house team from the start.

“The global agency review reset our relationship with our agencies,” said Donovan.

“We as a company are not in-housing in a way that many people would expect in so far as it’s not us taking everything in-house, lock, stock and barrel,” said Donovan.

Now, WPP handles around 90% of its media investment duties, while Dentsu covers the rest, he continued. In other words, Coca-Cola has a simpler, more streamlined relationship with agencies.

The subtext behind these words is that Coca-Cola is trying to be tactful around the in-house topic. Time and again, it gets framed as net loss for agencies when it has been proven to be anything but. The reality is that many advertisers continue to use agencies after they’ve replaced them with their own teams.

“The in-housing trend has strengthened collaboration between Coca-Cola and WPP,” said Donovan. “We’re able to challenge the execs at the agency, and they have a license to do the same to us. There’s a healthy dialogue across the businesses now. That’s the opposite of what I think many people would think instinctively about something like this.”

Coca-Cola is no different. It has a hybrid approach for all intents and purposes. Or, to put it another way, those agencies effectively become a consigliere of sorts to those marketers in the in-house team.

Recruitment has been key to this. Where many companies have struggled to find the talent they need, Coca-Cola has found success early on. Not that there weren’t challenges.

As Donovan explained: “Building an in-house team isn’t something you can do overnight.”

“I sit in a team with over 10 other people who are part of a company in over 200 markets — that’s impossible for us to manage so we rely on our agencies and partners,” said Donovan. “The in-house team, or hybrid model — call it what you will — ultimately relies on collaboration with agencies and partners.”

I sit in a team with over 10 other people who are part of a company in over 200 markets — that’s impossible for us to manage so we rely on our agencies and partners.

James Donovan, global audience and addressable media manager, CocaCola Take ad tech, for example. Coca-Cola owns direct contracts with multiple tech vendors, all of which are managed by digital experts who sit within the advertiser’s in-house media team. And yet agencies still remain a place for expertise on new trends in ad tech, which are too difficult for the internal team to stay on top of.

“The conversations we’re having with our agencies often involve our marketers saying to their colleagues at agencies ‘I’ve started this piece of work, what do you think about it?’ and they’ll give us an honest answer,” said Donovan.

“There’s a confidence that these people are going to guide you through the process.”

It’s a balance many marketers have struggled to strike with

There are a range of reasons why, from making sure a person fits the culture to archaic human resources systems to finding talent outside of a few coastal cities, he continued.

To head off some of these issues, Coca-Cola got very prescriptive about what it did and didn’t want from potential recruits. In turn, it has ended up with a team from a diverse talent pool, with execs coming from places like Mindshare, Condé Nast and Tapad.

“We had to change the way we recruit talent,” said Donovan.

“It wasn’t about going out and finding some media experts.

Rather, it was about finding people who had experience in ad operations for example — who know what it means to analyze data and build out taxonomies from it all, but can also understand the nuances of DSPs.” It goes to show that the in-housing trend was never the death knell to the agency model that some observers claimed it to be. It forced agencies to adapt their propositions, of course, but only to a point. Ultimately, the in-house model has been more additive to the agency model than transformational.

“Agencies have definitely evolved their model to adapt to in-housing, a modern-day pitch is all about showcasing the bespoke team and tech that can be built to compliment the in-house team today and demonstrate the flexibility to change as in-house tactics change,” said Dan Larden, head of U.K. at digital media consultancy TPA. “We’re finding that there are more ‘flavors’ to in-housing than ever.”

Seb is an award-winning journalist and brands editor at Digiday. He has championed diversity in the marketing industry for many years and hosts the Digital Gaming Advertising Forum.

How comarketing benefits brands, entertainment firms

By Julian Cannon

Liberty Mutual’s rolling out a new ad this month featuring familiar animated characters: Minions. The insurer is doing so as part of a co-marketing effort to promote the Liberty Mutual’s offerings as well as the upcoming Minions movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru. Liberty Mutual isn’t alone in partnering with an entertainment property for advertising. Brands such as Booking.com and Bushmills have recently done this with their launches of promotional campaigns for the month of June. By working with entertainment properties with recognizable characters, marketers believe they can help their brands stand out in an increasingly cluttered, noisy and fragmented ad environment as people feel a connection to the characters they may see in co-marketing efforts.

“Consumers are now watching movies with ensemble casts and characters from across one or multiple franchises,” said Jenna Lebel, Liberty Mutual chief marketing officer, global retail markets in the U.S. “We feel that consumers are interested in seeing this in their advertising, too, and making advertising a little bit more entertaining and less sort of disruptive to the content that you want to be streaming.”

Lebel added that brands must reach out to consumers in new and innovative ways beyond what they have done in the past as the advertising market is oversaturated. “As the advertising landscape becomes more cluttered, video consumption is very fragmented.”

Liberty Mutual’s spots featuring Minion characters will run across a variety of platforms, including TV, online video and social media, during the eight-week window surrounding the release of Illumination’s upcoming movie Minions: The Rise of Gru, in theaters July 1st. It’s unclear how much the effort cost or how much the company and movie studio may have saved on advertising as the company declined to share those figures. Liberty Mutual previously worked with Sony on a co-marketing effort for Spiderman: No Way Home’s release last year.

Co-marketing efforts aren’t always traditional ad spots.

Booking.com worked with Warner Bros’ Elvis on a comarketing effort this month as well, offering fans a chance to stay at The Guest House at Graceland in Memphis as the “Ultimate Elvis Experience” in time for the biopic’s release

in theaters in North America on June 24. And Bushmills and entertainment AI company BEN Group partnered with Peaky Blinders to release a limited edition whiskey product in support of the premiere of the final season of the show on Netflix. An influencer marketing campaign has been developed by BEN to further promote the launch.

Marketers and agency execs believe co-marketing between brands and entertainment properties will continue to grow and evolve as brands look for ways to stand out and get consumers’ attention, something that’s become more and more difficult in recent years.

Marketers say the drive isn’t simply partnering to save ad dollars — they declined to share figures for the partnerships or how much partnering saves on media spending — but to stay top of mind for consumers. “I really see that it’s an opportunity and it’s a dual strategy for a lot of brands that we work with,” said Katy Wolf, senior account director of client services for BEN Group, of partnering with brands for integrating into entertainment properties. “They’re going to continue their traditional advertising and their buys there, but they also want to be inside the content as well.”

Lebel believes that there are great opportunities beyond revenue when it comes to these partnerships as the focus should be on how a brand will make a name for themselves.

“We weren’t looking at how we can save money,” said Lebel. “We were looking at how we can make the work most impactful in the market.”

To measure the effectiveness of co-marketing efforts, marketers say they track how memorable an ad is, as well as how successfully it delivers the brand message. Allen Adamson, co-founder of Metaforce, believes that these initiatives can set the tone for brands to be remembered in the long run. “[For] Brands [it is] hard to get everyone’s attention and they have to be closer to being authentic and entertaining as ever.”

BEN Group’s Wolf echoed that sentiment. “They’re really connecting audiences to the narrative and characters that they already love. And that’s really what’s driving that social and cultural conversation. So I think there’s just an extreme amount of power in aligning with entertainment and Hollywood.”

Customers Want Personal Advisors, Not Advertisers

By Étienne Mérineau

The expanding role of social and messaging apps should lead brands toward a one-to-one DTC strategy In many ways, the Great Digital Acceleration is, in fact, the Great Social Acceleration. There are now more than 4.5 billion social media users globally, and almost 500 million users have joined in the last 12 months alone.

Messaging, the new social darling, is also surging—80% of time on mobile devices is now spent on chat apps. And with Covid-19 acting as a powerful accelerant of digital adoption, these numbers have been trending upward in the past two years.

Every revolution in communication leads to a revolution in commerce. Why? Because commerce is resilient and fluid: It finds people where they are and where they spend the most time interacting with each other. Commerce is inherently social by design, and that’s been true since the dawn of civilization.

Beyond the obvious ubiquity of social media today, there’s a perfect storm of macro trends colliding to reshape the way we live, work, socialize, shop and buy. From the rise of messaging apps to the changing ad and consumer data landscape (goodbye cookies!) to the emergence of Gen Z as a driving force of the creator economy, social media is playing a more central role in the world and overall customer experience, rapidly becoming the new front door of the internet. And it’s changing everything from marketing to commerce to customer service.

These seismic shifts are the gasoline poured on the social commerce fire, an industry expected to reach $1.2 trillion in market size by 2025 (which is, tomorrow?) according to Accenture. And all eyes are turning to social commerce.

Just in the past month, Amazon acquired social commerce startup GlowRoad, while Snap and Meta respectively acquired Fit Analytics and Presize (AI tools that scan shoppers’ bodies to help them find the right size and fit) and Shopify launched Linkpop (a link-in-bio tool to help creators and solopreneurs sell their products on social).

Tech companies and brands go where the money is—that is, where consumers are—and the race is on for both sides.

Social is both the megaphone and the marketplace For brands, social media used to be a broadcasting tool, a megaphone to advertise their products and engage consumers on emerging channels. These channels were long seen as satellites of the business and often treated as an afterthought by marketers and their agencies in the 360 media mix. After all, anthemic 30-second spots and billboards have been the bread and butter of Madison Avenue for decades.

Today, if you are not actively present on social, you simply don’t exist. So if brands want to win over their customers’ hearts and wallets, they need to first win on social media with creative, authentic, inclusive and conversational content.

Content marketing is now a two-way street. Consumers are not just the audience, they are co-creators who want to join and shape the conversation.

Beyond that, the role of social media is expanding. It now transcends marketing: It’s the new search bar, the new storefront and the new help desk altogether. These

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changing dynamics are forcing brand teams to reevaluate their strategy and work in more integrated ways, blending marketing with ecommerce and customer care teams.

Messaging is the new marketing darling If social channels are the new storefronts, then the digital equivalent of walking into these stores is to slide into a brand’s DMs to ask a question. Meta recently reported that 1 billion people connect with businesses weekly via its three messaging apps—Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger— with 150 million weekly product catalog views on WhatsApp alone.

Customers expect instant responses that guide them and reassure them along their journey. They want an ongoing conversation, a relationship that feels more personal than transactional. And more importantly, they want to be treated like VIPs. According to a recent, aptly titled McKinsey article, people spend 20-40% more with companies that message with them on social media, and companies that don’t respond show 15% higher churn than those that do.

Social media is no longer a mere touch point in a marketing campaign—it can now make or break your whole brand or ecommerce strategies.

As a result, expectations have changed. We are moving away from a one-to-many advertising model to a one-toone advising model. Messaging apps—the private side of the social media coin—can play an important role here by unlocking personalized conversations with high-intent customers when they engage with your content.

Advertisers that act like personal advisors will win the battle of social commerce. Helping is selling, and showing you

care will foster deeper relationships that drive revenue.

How to leverage social commerce in 2022 and beyond Retail brands that are embracing social as a new channel for commerce have witnessed strong returns and see social as a critical ingredient of their direct-to-consumer strategy: Nike sold out of a pre-release sneaker in 23 minutes on Snapchat. Sephora launched a digital store on Instagram for 80 beauty brands. Crocs drove 8 billion impressions via augmented reality shoes using TikTok within a week. Adidas announced that it aims for DTC to account for 50% of their sales by 2025.

Social and messaging apps, by their inherently conversational nature, are becoming cornerstones of every brand’s DTC and social commerce strategy because they give consumers direct access to their favorite brands. To win in the social commerce era, brands will need to make their communications more engaging and immersive (through augmented reality and video), more helpful and authentic (through micro-influencers and creators) and, most importantly, more personal and conversational (through messaging apps).

As former Unilever CMO Keith Weed eloquently summed it up: The future of marketing is “consumer segments of one.”

The end goal for advertisers is to become a trusted advisor or friend, the signal in the noise of infinite product choices and a crowded social marketplace. Étienne Mérineau is the co-founder of Heyday by Hootsuite, an AI-powered customer messaging platform for retailers.

What We Can All Learn From the New York Times’s Amazing Transformation

By Tien Tzuo

Over a decade ago, the newspaper industry as we know it was on its last legs. Circulation for nearly half of the daily papers in America were dropping by 2-3 percent a year ever since their peak in 1984. It got worse in 2010, when newspaper circulation fell nearly nine percent. Nearly every publication was scaling back and laying off journalists. People feared the disappearance of the fourth estate and the implications this had on democracy itself.

Against that backdrop, The New York Times decided to take the step that “tempted and terrified much of the newspaper industry”. Against widespread skepticism, they decided to charge their customers for the work that they do! Many predicted that readers would just go elsewhere for news.

“Successful media companies go after the audience first, and then watch revenues follow” wrote Reuters, “Failing ones alienate their audience in an attempt to maximize short-term revenues”. Ouch. The most optimistic projections had the The New York Times achieving 300K subscriptions in one year, worth $78M a year, a drop in the bucket compared to circulation and advertising revenue from print. A cottage industry even sprung up teaching people how to get around the paywall.

Of course, we now know that the naysayers were wrong.

The New York Times hit their first 100K subscribers in the first month. I blogged congrats. It took the gray lady four more years, in 2015, to reach one million digital subscribers, generating $200 million in revenue. I said the The New York Times should be viewed as a tech unicorn.

Fast forward to 2022, and The New York Times has reached 10 million subscribers, ahead of schedule. They’ve clocked

in a revenue of $594.2M, with an adjusted operating profit of $109.3M, and subscription revenue of $351.2 million.

Oh, and they are now talking about reaching 15 million subscriptions by 2027. Mic drop.

It’s a fairy tale made real, yet nothing about the The New York Times’s success is fictional. You can subscribe to as many music and video streaming services as you’d like, but there are only a handful of international news organizations you’d be willing to pay for. The New York Times’s subscription offerings have found themselves in a position that many other companies dream to be in: they’re indispensable.

How did The New York Times move beyond advertising and into the World Subscribed? The New York Times had a plan: gaining subscribers and offering subscriptions. The New York Times wrote a column to address its readers about the upcoming sub changes. Why? Because its customers (subscribers) are seen as valuable. And they talk. The only way to show them they are valued before they sign up for a subscription, is to make it known that their input will be considered moving forward. And unlike digital publications like Buzzfeed that rely on cheap, click-bait headlines, silly quizzes, and ad revenue, The New York Times model is built on an avid membership base which appreciates true journalistic integrity.

But more than that, like the best subscription services out there, the The New York Times has used pricing and packaging as a key strategic tool to grow – both in subscriber count and revenue. In fact, over the last 10 years, the NY Times has been curating an ever growing, ever evolving portfolio of content. Their year-long plans are also straightforward: $75

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for basic digital access to the online articles and app. Want only the physical paper to be delivered to you on weekends?

There’s a $10 weekly subscription for that, too.

But they’ve gone far beyond simple news. Puzzles for example. Crosswords were one of the first subscriptions for NY Times, actually launched back in 2008 during the dawn of smartphone apps. They then launched an HTML5 version in 2012, and then took their successful crossword puzzle app in-house by 2014, despite some player pushback. Today, you can subscribe to Games for $40/year, with 6 other games beyond Crosswords.

But wait, there’s more! For those of you who are foodies and like to cook, there’s the Cooking subscription, launched in 2017, priced at $40 per year. If you binge watch and want to understand the entertainment landscape and what the top movies are right now, then you can subscribe to the Watching section, launched back in 2016. If you are old enough to remember the Sunday paper, you’d start to realize that The New York Times is making subscriptions offering out of the various sections.

For sports, The New York Times decided to acquire The Athletic, bringing it another 1.2M subscriptions, along with its own staff and a younger audience. This followed their purchase of Wirecutter back in 2016, which completely shook up the technology review blog industry. The New York Times has since made the reviews site paywalled, offers a separate subscription for $5/month, increased its search engine optimization (SEO), and increased its production frequency.

These are real subscription power moves.

Recently, the media company also purchased Wordle, which

has millions of daily addicts, including yours truly. Again, it’s going through a similar process: it was acquired, integrated into the website, and will eventually have a version that becomes a paid subscription. But don’t get it twisted. The Times is showing us all a solid cross-sell strategy that is working because its core subscriptions are successful on their own. There is no cookie cutter approach here; good subscriptions are chess, not checkers.

And of course, there is an all-inclusive NYT subscription (the print/digital paper, Wirecutter, Games, Cooking, etc.). It’s $300 for the whole year.

Seen over the arc of the last decade, it’s clear that The New York Times has been slowly transforming from a newspaper, to an online publication, to a media conglomerate complete with technology-focused employees, apps, and new offerings every few financial quarters. Now The New York Times is effectively a tech company, with data scientists working just as fervently as its journalists. And they’ve done an impeccable job orchestrating several services and offerings into one platform, The Times.

So, what can an aspiring subscription business learn from the last 12 years of the New York Times’s amazing transformation? Simply put, if you want to keep up with the times (no pun intended), you need to be flexible and use technology, data, subscriptions, and ultimately, make what the subscribers want your main focus. The New York Times thinks of its customers as subscribers, who have subscriptions, and ultimately, assets to the brand. If you don’t have that sort of hunger for growth and subscriber retention, you’ll be left outside on the doorstep, like an old newspaper.

22 apps designers can’t live without

By Gabe Boyd

There’s no doubt that technology has transformed the design world. While much of the design process used to involve hands-on work with X-Acto blades, Cow Gum, and French curves, it’s now evolved into a largely digital-driven industry. Apps of all kinds have digitized the functional elements of a creative studio: Dropbox in place of a filing cabinet, Slack in place of a quick call.

While it may seem that the litany of apps could potentially overwhelm a project or even stifle creativity, a handful of them have risen to the top of the design world’s list—for productivity, inspiration, and communication. We asked designers, illustrators, and creatives from around the world to share their go-to apps. Here are 22 they told us they can’t live without.

BY GABE BOYD7 MINUTE READ There’s no doubt that technology has transformed the design world. While much of the design process used to involve hands-on work with X-Acto blades, Cow Gum, and French curves, it’s now evolved into a largely digital-driven industry. Apps of all kinds have digitized the functional elements of a creative studio: Dropbox in place of a filing cabinet, Slack in place of a quick call.

The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

While it may seem that the litany of apps could potentially overwhelm a project or even stifle creativity, a handful of them have risen to the top of the design world’s list—for productivity, inspiration, and communication. We asked designers, illustrators, and creatives from around the world to share their go-to apps. Here are 22 they told us they can’t live without.

THINGS AND RIGHTFONT

The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

The first is Things, a task management and productivity app. I find it super useful to manage my days, weeks, and months as far as organizing projects both professionally and personally. It’s native to iOS and macOS and keeps my mind clear and my desk clean.

THINGS AND RIGHTFONT

The second is RightFont, which is a professional font manager for macOS. It’s intuitive and easy to use and has the ability to auto-activate with Adobe software such as Illustrator or InDesign. The dynamic font preview tool is also useful for comparing various typefaces with one another. It makes managing and installing fonts a smooth and enjoyable process.

The first is Things, a task management and productivity app. I find it super useful to manage my days, weeks, and months as far as organizing projects both professionally and personally. It’s native to iOS and macOS and keeps my mind clear and my desk clean.

ADVERTISEMENT The second is RightFont, which is a professional font manager for macOS. It’s intuitive and easy to use and has the ability to auto-activate with Adobe software such as Illustrator or InDesign. The dynamic font preview tool

is also useful for comparing various typefaces with one another. It makes managing and installing fonts a smooth and enjoyable process.

SPOTIFY

—Dan Elliott, designer and art director

It sounds funny but my go-to app is really just Spotify currently. I can work from anywhere at this point, and I can work both digitally or even with raw essentials—paper and pencil are easily accessible anywhere. The only thing I can’t work without is my music library!

DROPBOX

—Steven Harrington, artist and designer

My most useful work app would be Dropbox. I keep all my work files and photos saved there, and it keeps multiple older versions of every file saved so I can go back if I overwrote something by mistake.

TUMBLR

ADVERTISING

—Lucia Calfapietra, illustrator INSIGHT TIMER AND TODOIST Insight Timer is my go-to meditation app for goal setting, affirmation, and staying optimistic. I don’t consider myself a spiritual person but I believe in the power of the mind and visualizing success—just like athletes do. I’m happy to report that great things keep happening to my career as a designer and an artist.

I don’t know how to work or live without Todoist! [With] all my work and personal to-dos in one place and also connected to my calendar, my mind is at rest and I can focus on designing. I have “Work This Week” for priority jobs and “Work Bucket” for jobs that need doing but have no deadline (e.g., PR, website update, find art residency).

—Mamimu (June Mineyama-Smithson), designer/artist

One of my favorite apps for inspiration is, in fact, Tumblr.

I’ve remained loyal since 2010, and while the app has seen its ups and downs, from a design inspiration standpoint the sheer quantity of content, images, posters, archival documents, colors, textures, and text helps to keep my creative juices flowing.

—Andy Johnson, writer, editor, and designer LIGHTROOM MOBILE, RETOUCH, AND INSHOT My photo editing is done through Lightroom. I also use Do You Travel presets to give my pics a little added punch. I use Retouch for quick photo edits like removing stray lines or random objects from pics, and I use InShot for any simple video editing like splicing clips and speeding up footage.

—Joanna Muñoz, lettering artist and illustrator BEHANCE My go-to app would be Behance! It’s a great source of inspiration because not only can you see a range of amazing

work from various artists covering multiple disciplines, but you are able to watch in-depth livestreams which show a creative’s design process and methodologies. You really get a sense of the individual behind the work. Streams on Behance like Adobe Live are a perfect example of this! As well as being a freelance designer, I also have the privilege of being a host on Adobe Live. This gives me the opportunity to speak with creatives from different backgrounds and upbringings. This can certainly provide inspiration and influence within my own practice.

sketching, inking, and touching up on a light box or tracing paper; scanning; then transferring to either Photoshop or Illustrator, which I had been accustomed to for so many years.

—Sindiso Nyoni, graphic artist/illustrator NOTES

—Kieron Lewis, freelance graphic designer

I admit I’m not the most app-centric type, but I will say that I love my Notes app. I have notes for basically every avenue of my life ,from meeting notes to TV shows I want to start to Wordle guesses I’m sitting on. It’s chaotic, but it’s all there.

VSCO + PHOTOS

—Katrina Ricks Peterson, art director, Actual Source

VSCO and my photos app go hand in hand. As a designer and illustrator, I often get inspired by the colors, scenes, and composition of the world around me. I capture photos often and edit them in VSCO, which allows me to really bring photos to life with their filters and editing options, like bumping up the saturation and adding some grain.

ARE.NA

—Sophia Yeshi, illustrator and designer, Yeshi Designs ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR I use Adobe Illustrator as a daily tool for poster and logo creation. It’s a very versatile tool that helps me achieve very complex designs and have fun in the process. It helps me as a designer/human in the way I can play around with shapes and generate striking pieces and patterns that can be used in lots of formats.

—Nubia Navarro (Nubikini), art director and lettering artist NOTION I use Notion to order and control the flow of existing tasks or tasks without a start date or deadline.

—Jonathan Yoc, creative director, Brutal & Co. TIKTOK Amongst my notes and camera apps, TikTok (and its “For You Page”) is a constant scroll of new, unexpected, and richly authentic perspectives, sandwiched between current world events, tear-inducing stories, and, of course, the occasional meme. Yes, it can turn into procrastination (we’ve all been there), but I truly believe many of the next top creatives are utilizing the platform and pushing it to be something far beyond the initial intention. Personally, I’m not there for “design inspo,” but instead open the app with a creative project top of mind and leave with a fresh outlook that I believe feeds back into the work and keeps it culturally relevant.

—Alby Furfaro, head of design at 303 MullenLowe PROCREATE My current go-to app is Procreate for the iPad Pro. Seeing as I mix traditional and digital mediums, pen and ink has always been my preferred medium. I’m from the old-school era of designers who used light boxes, tracing paper, and scanners to create illustrations. Since switching to Procreate about four years ago, it has helped a great deal in bridging the gap in the process I was used to for executing my artwork. I find that I produce at a much faster rate now as I directly sketch/ink in the app, replacing the process of

There are only a few primary apps I use (other than the ubiquitous design software) worth noting. The main one would be Are.na. I use this as a research tool for projects— mostly as private channels, but a few that are public. It allows you to gather not only images but documents, text, links, sounds, etc. There’s also a bit of community involved that you can tailor and isn’t based on an algorithm.

—Daniel Kent, creative director, Ikhoor Studio APPLE CALENDAR AND PINTEREST Apple Calendar is synchronized with my Google account, my phone, and my computer, so I have my schedule very organized. I think this is a very important point in my day as a freelance designer in order to focus on work, complete my tasks, and have a life-work balance.

I use Pinterest for quick inspiration every day. What I like best about Pinterest is the strong visual associations, but I’ll say my fave for this are some websites like Savee (they should make an app!), The Brand Identity, or Fonts in Use. —Pia Alive, independent creative director INSTAGRAM Instagram is a great source because it has been used by designers to showcase their portfolio/works. I follow a lot of creative individuals, and they all have different design approaches, so the pieces shown on my feed have a range and have mixed styles, from mild to wild ideas! Looking at the best works isn’t just to gather inspiration for my next work, but it has become a motivation that I can also do more great things that other creative individuals would be able to take inspiration from.

—AJ Trinidad, art director and creative design specialist INDESIGN My go-to app would have to be InDesign. As much as I would love to work exclusively on an iPad (I love the idea and simplicity of it), it’s InDesign that keeps me attached to my MacBook. Besides being the only full-featured app to lay out books and magazines on, it’s the perfect blank canvas to throw ideas onto and organize however you like, with very few restrictions. But then again, it’s one of the first applications I was trained on, so you learn to basically do everything on it. . . . I’m sure the same could be said with Excel?

—Giuseppe Santamaria, photographer and designer

5 Common Fetishes of the Advertising Professional

By Mike Cronin

We ad people aren’t exactly known for our quiet reserve and inhibition. We love a provocative idea. We’re open to trying new things. But not every whim is a good one.

Here, I attempt to capture the most egregious fetishes—or fetish-like behaviors—I’ve observed in the business over the years. Maybe you’ve witnessed these yourself, or perhaps, like me, you’ve even engaged in a few. Either way, buckle in as we delve into the mischievous mind of the modern ad professional.

Technophilia Titillation stemming from worship of and submission to trending technology and social platforms.

Trending ad tech and social platforms are seductive. They offer sexy new ways to reach and engage with audiences.

We’re apoplectic about their APIs. We drool over their daily active users. But deifying these platforms before we know the whole truth—who they really reach, where they get their data, how they’re best used—means we aren’t giving them the cold, hard, unbiased look we should in order to advise our clients. That hot take on the latest “it” platform may just be pulling your attention away from a potentially more efficient, effective way to reach your audience. Don’t be sucked in too soon. At least wait until SNL does a spot-on TikTok parody before jumping headlong in.

Pseudo-Masochism

Deriving masochistic pleasure in publicly flogging the advertising profession to which you belong.

As an industry, we love to hate ourselves. We introduce ourselves at a party and say wryly, “I’m in advertising. Just behind used car salespeople for the world’s least trusted profession!” I’m guilty of aphorisms like, “We’re not curing cancer here, we’re selling Cheetos.” Yes, that’s very true.

And we could all benefit from remembering exactly what we do on those days when we’re taking ourselves too seriously. But it’s also true that this is an amazing business.

And believe it or not, there are special moments when advertising can accelerate real cultural shifts and inspire change in our communities. Most importantly, if we want to welcome more interesting, diverse and creative points of view into this industry (which we most definitely need), we have to stop selling ourselves short.

Autonomous (ASMR)

Sensory

Measurement

Response

A tingling sensation triggered by overstimulation of the brain from data and analytics.

We love a dashboard, don’t we? So fascinating. Full of pretty colors and numbers. It’s all our efforts visualized as positively affirming, neatly advancing lines and arrows. If we twiddle this knob, that happens. If we pull that lever, this happens. “It’s not just data, it’s data science!” But when we worship KPIs above all else, we run the risk of losing sight of

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the human desires, behaviors and emotions those numbers represent. Every tick mark is a person. And people don’t always make decisions rationally—in neat, straight lines.

Sure, it’s science. But there is such art in turning that data into human truths and insights that inspire creative ideas.

Dashboards are sexy, but as my driver’s ed instructor once told me, “If you keep your eyes on the dashboard, you’re gonna run off the road.”

Creative Voyeurism Attaining sensual excitement through the act of analyzing creativity from afar while not actively participating.

Do you objectify, fetishize, romanticize or otherwise mythologize creativity? Perhaps you’ve said something like, “I wish I were creative, but I’m just so left-brained.” By “othering” creativity this way, we’re implying it’s something special and innate. As if you either have it or you don’t. But not only is the whole right-brain, left-brain thing a proven myth, perpetuating this untruth may actually be setting you up for failure. The idiom people love to forget is, “Creativity is 90 percent perspiration, 10 percent inspiration.” While I’d say the ratio is more like 99:1, this old chestnut is true. If you put in the time chewing on a problem, actively searching for a solution, you will eventually get there. You don’t have to engage in creative pursuits (art, song, writing) to be creative. In fact, in this business, everyone can— and should—be contributing to creative problem solving

whether they’re a creative, a strategist or a media planner.

BSDM A compulsion to employ BS tactics to assert your dominance upon others.

The safe word is “stop.” Just stop. Business jargon, acronyms, clichés, humble brags, office politics. Nobody likes or wants this BS in their lives. Sure, it can be easy to forget when we’re swimming in it daily. LinkedIn can sometimes feel like a cesspool of self-congratulation, virtue signaling and bloated proselytizing. Sure, we’re all guilty of partaking now and again. Make no mistake, I will promote this particular piece of bloated proselytizing across “the socials.” But we must remain diligent, or the powerjargoning and politicking and other BS will win. The trick is to never stop fighting it. At our agency, rather than a swear jar (a fight we’ll never win in this business), we have a BS jar. It’s just one small way we try to keep ourselves honest and promote a bit more humility.

Do any of these fetishes sound familiar? Are there others you’d add to the list? I bet there are, you kinky rascal.

Mike nurtured his branding skills on a potent mixture of oil, beer and gambling. He worked at Carmichael Lynch on brands like Harley-Davidson, Samuel Adams Beer, Harrah’s Casino and the MN State Lottery. Mike and Robb met at Carmichael Lynch and together they left to join KC.

How Gen Z and millennials are driving creator economy growth

By Jo Hamilton

Last month, SmartBrief explored how the creator economy is growing and producing opportunities for marketers. This month, we’re looking at how Generation Z and millennials are driving the growth of the creator economy through their online behavior and what brands can do to reach these younger consumers.

Some 64% of American Gen Z and millennial consumers “really enjoy and feel loyal to” creators and influencers, with 61% reporting they regularly buy products they’ve seen creators use or discuss on social media, according to a “Reaching the Unreachables” report from Whalar.

The research contains other interesting findings for marketers: •

Younger consumers are more inclined to be active within small, private digital communities, allowing them to connect more meaningfully with those who share their interests.

•

Almost 3 in 4 Gen Z and millennial consumers share content from other individuals at least every week.

•

Over 50% say it’s critical that their values are shared by brands and around 4 in 10 say it’s essential for a brand to be minority-owned.

•

Around 70% are more likely to trust reviews from people who “seem like them.”

•

Over 60% trust recommendations more if they come from within online communities they use.

•

Over half of Gen Z doesn’t watch any ad-supported TV on any given day, and over 60% of both Gen Z and

millennials always block or avoid online ads.

The report offers 3 tips for marketers when using creators and communities to reach young audiences: •

Make listening, not selling, your focus.

•

Offer value as an “invited guest.” Consider using exclusive experiences and content to demonstrate respect to digital communities.

•

Don’t dictate to creators, collaborate with them as you would another brand.

It’s all about community It’s clear that younger Americans are rejecting traditional media in favor of inclusive online and social communities where they can interact with creators and others to not only discuss their interests, but discover and buy products.

The importance of community is reflected in the findings of Patreon’s first Creator Census 2022, which found, among other things, that creators who give their fanbase or community a custom name have higher retention rates than those who don’t.

This is a telling finding, as it offers an insight into why consumers favor digital communities – they convey a sense of belonging. Marketers who work with creators to reinforce that feeling will be successful at reaching and building trust with younger audiences.

As Jamie Gutfreund, global chief marketing officer of Whalar said in a press release, “The future is creators, and there’s no turning back.”

Top brands come to SCAD seeking new ideas, inventions, and business strategies for a changing world. SCADpro delivers.

Tap into our talent bank. scad.edu/scadpro

The surprising psychology of fonts

By Elissaveta M. Brandon

How typefaces impact emotions remains largely unstudied, but a new report suggests that different fonts can elicit different emotions.

About four years ago, I received a surprising email—not

That’s judgmental, I know, but it turns out I’m not alone. A

surprising because of what it said, but because of the way

new study suggests that fonts can indeed change the way

it looked. The text was set in Courier, that font you see in

we feel about a certain message. The study was run by

movies when hackers write code on a black screen. The email

Monotype, the world’s biggest type foundry, which partnered

became sort of a running joke at the office, and I couldn’t

with applied neuroscience company Neurons. Together, they

take this person seriously when they emailed again.

surveyed 400 people in the UK, who were presented with

different words laid out in three contrasting types. The scope

more historical. (Monotype designed two of the three fonts,

of the study is fairly small, and the motivations behind a type

excluding Gilroy.)

foundry publicizing a study about the impact of type can’t be ignored. But the study does confirm one thing: Fonts are subjective, and they can mean different things to different people.

The findings showed that one typeface can elicit a more positive response than another by up to 13%. When participants were shown the word “quality” in Cotford, they found it 10% more memorable than the two other fonts.

This isn’t the first study to explore the impact of different fonts.

Conversely, when they were shown a full sentence in Gilroy,

In 2018, a team of researchers at Australia’s RMIT University

they found it stood out by 12% compared to the other two.

developed a typeface they said could boost memory retention

These numbers may not seem like a lot, but Mike Storm,

(the font was difficult enough to engage the readers, yet

Neuron’s chief operating officer and partner, says that any

legible enough so as to not obstruct the reading) but the

difference above 5 to 6% is considered “significant.”

impact of that font was later disproved. More recently, a major study determined that some fonts, like Garamond EB and Montserrat, were harder for older people to read. But the impact of typefaces on emotions remains largely unstudied, at least when it comes Latin languages.

As Ramsøy explains, some fonts can trigger existing associations with nostalgic brands. “Winding fonts work great for grandma’s jam products,” he says. To avoid preexisting associations, the team chose fonts that aren’t directly associated with particular brands but can be associated

There’s a reason this hasn’t been done at scale. “[Typography]

with three sectors more broadly: Gilroy for the tech industry;

is your tone of voice,” says Phil Garnham, a senior creative

Cotford for luxury and fashion; and FS Jack for banking

type director at Monotype. “And the aroma, the feeling that

and financial services (in other words, a large sampling of

generates is really important and it’s subliminal.” Indeed,

Monotype’s client portfolio).

subconscious reactions can be hard to qualify, let alone

Inevitably, though, the choice of words matters, too. Marie

quantify. Also, fonts go hand in hand with words—so, how

Boulanger, a Monotype brand designer who also studied

do you distinguish between people’s reaction to the meaning

linguistics, says she chose words that come up often in brand

of a word compared to the font in which it’s presented?

mission statements. But if the words had been different, it’s

The founder and CEO of Neurons, Thomas Z. Ramsøy,

likely the results would’ve been different, as well. (The team

explains that when we try to perceive the meaning of a word, the activity is reflected in the temporal lobe, a part of the brain that helps us process emotions. He says fonts can also

considered running the tests with nonsense words, but “you never look at type in a vacuum,” says Boulanger, so real words made the most sense.)

trigger an emotional response. “More positive emotional

Ultimately, she admits, the study only scratches the surface.

responses are seen for softer and more recognizable font

Do older people prefer the same type as younger folks? Is

types,” he says. “Negative emotions are often triggered by

there a gender bias? What happens when you add 10 or

pointy and sharp font types.” But to distinguish between the

20 more fonts to the equation? And do results vary based

two, the study had to give people the same words, laid out in

on where you live? The team didn’t study any of these

different fonts.

factors, but Storm says a more in-depth study could help

In total, the team surveyed 400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 50. Each participant took the survey online and was given three kinds of stimuli: single words (“quality,”

them dig in more. “We would be very interested in looking at demographical and regional differences, to see if culture has a large impact on this,” he says.

“trust,” and “innovation), those same words in a sentence

For now, we know that different fonts can elicit different

(“quality never goes out of style”) and that same sentence

emotions based on the same word. And given that participants

coupled with the name of a random brand (like Skova or

were given between half a second and 2.5 seconds to

Smith’s Bank).

choose (most answered within 1 second), it’s clear that those

Each of these stimuli was set in three contrasting typefaces: FS Jack, a soft, lightweight sans serif; Gilroy, a bolder, more geometric sans serif; and Cotford, a serif font that looks

reactions come from the gut. Until a more in-depth study can be run, that’s a promising start.

In the meantime, I know where I stand on Courier.

6 ways to engage your audience when speaking virtually

By Justin Peyton

Speaking virtually can be an enormous challenge if you want to inspire your audience. After all, listeners don’t receive the usual visual cues from a virtual speaker, nor do they hear the presenter’s voice with the same clarity that characterizes in-person communication.

This has led to what Nick Morgan, in his well-argued book, Can You Hear Me?, describes as “communication [that] is overwhelming, boring, and forgettable.”

But video meetings aren’t going away any time soon. In fact, speaking virtually is fast becoming the new normal.

What can you do to be a vibrant speaker who excites— rather than bores—your listeners? Try these six strategies: 1. SET THE STAGE First, set the stage so that you are the center of attention.

Avoid distractions or clutter.

This is such a simple thing to do, yet many speakers fill their backgrounds with everything under the sun. In a recent Zoom call, I found it challenging to stay engaged with the speaker, who surrounded herself with wall hangings, stuffed animals, colorful quilts, and a room full of furniture.

They may turn their cameras off, rather than indicate they are actively listening.

Your audience needs you to be physically engaging. That can’t happen when your webcam is off.

To use the power of your body, begin with eye contact that’s focused directly on the camera. Don’t drop your eyes or look around the room, or you’ll appear disengaged. Eye contact is one of the best ways to create an emotional connection with your audience.

Be aware of your facial expression. A smile can help others connect with you emotionally. But don’t smile all the time or put on a big smile. You’ll want a natural smile that flows from your enjoyment of the conversation. And laughter is a great antidote to boredom in an audience.

Check yourself, too, for any telltale signs of negativity in your face. As Patti Sanchez writes in her book, Presenting Virtually: “Be mindful of what your face is conveying.

Annoyance, impatience, and other negative feelings have a way of making themselves known if you’re not careful.”

2. SPEAK WITH YOUR BODY

Gesture warmly. All your actions should be open, moving in the direction of your audience. Avoid flipper gestures (with elbows locked into your sides). And avoid busy wrist gestures. And never fold or cross your arms, or you’ll be creating an emotional distance between yourself and your audience.

Second, use strong body language. Many people when speaking virtually don’t think of what their body is saying.

Don’t slouch in your chair. Good posture shows that you are in the “ready” position, receptive to what others are saying.

A cluttered space takes attention away from you. Keep your background clean, with only a vase of flowers or books neatly stacked on shelves.

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3. FOCUS ON IDEAS, NOT INFORMATION When you speak, don’t meander or overload your virtual audience with too much detail. Speak with a sharply focused set of ideas that reflect your thinking and move as quickly as possible to your conclusion.

Instead of saying, “I was asked to report on Project X, and I looked into X, Y, and Z, and I had five people work with me . . .” Say: “Project X has gone brilliantly, and my conclusion is that the program will attract new customers.”

Studies show that employees prefer meetings that are no more than 15 minutes long. A full 39% of those surveyed in this 2022 study admit to falling asleep during meetings. So get to your point and keep your remarks short and focused.

4. USE PASSIONATE, COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE Draw upon the power of language to convey clear and compelling messages about your passion and collaborative leadership style.

Passionate language like “I’m excited,” “I am confident,” and “I know we can make this happen,” show enthusiasm for projects that are underway. Such verbal energy is contagious.

Collaborative language is also important, because it builds ties with your listeners. When you say “Gerry, let’s hear what you’ve been up to,” or “Somu, tell us how that project is coming along,” or when you refer to “all of us here today,” you are closing the digital divide. Call people by name, recognize them for what they are accomplishing, and show

through collaborative language that you are emotionally connected to them.

5. SPEAK WITH ENERGY As a speaker, your job is to bring great energy to the virtual room. Your energy is what makes people want to be around you, work with you, and follow you. So keep your energy at a high level; don’t disengage or fall into silence or long pauses. This study looked at lag time on phone or conferencing systems and found that delays as short as 1.2 seconds made people see the responder as less friendly or focused. Silences in virtual conversations can seem like you are checking out.

The human ability to perceive nuances in voices is extremely sophisticated, research shows; in fact, the voice is even more critical in evoking a response in our audience than our facial expression is.

6. REINFORCE OTHER PARTICIPANTS Reinforcing the thoughts or opinions of other participants will help others to see you as virtually vibrant.

Use expressions like, “That’s a good point, Abdel. I agree that we should pursue this next opportunity,” or “The team is right, it makes sense to rev up our social media and give a higher profile to our executives.”

You might close a meeting with, “Thank you all for your contributions.” Conclude a one-on-one meeting with next steps, like, “I will follow up with client X, as you’ve suggested, and get back to you with their response.”

6 characteristics of a culture of good communication

By Johnspence

After three decades as a business improvement consultant, you’d think I would have gotten used to how poor the communications are in some organizations, but it still shocks me. I talk with senior managers who tell me they have no clear idea of their company’s vision or direction.

Sit in meetings and watch people skirt around essential issues, ignore significant problems, and avoid any level of confrontation, even if it would be productive.

thousand employees. The managers and leaders, group one, scored themselves in the 90th percentile and higher on questions such as “clearly communicates the vision,” “gives clear direction,” clearly communicates performance expectations,” “shows genuine concern for employees,” and “takes time to listen to ideas and concerns of employees.”

Unfortunately, the employees scored the organization in the 30-percentile range on the same questions.

I have interviewed thousands of employees who almost all report that they wish they got more information and better communication from their managers.

The managers and leaders thought they were doing a nearly perfect job communicating with their people, but the employees disagreed. If I didn’t see this sort of thing week in and week out, it would almost be amusing, but when I realize the negative impact this kind of dysfunctional communication has on the thousands of people who work in this organization, there is no humor in it at all.

Once I was asked to deliver a keynote speech on leadership and building a winning culture to the senior leaders in a large organization. Just before it was my turn to talk, the company’s CEO presented the annual internal employee satisfaction survey findings.

The survey was divided into two groups; group one was the six hundred or so senior managers and top C-level leaders sitting in the room. Group two was the nearly eight

Fundamental Organization Aspects of Communication To solve the problem of poor communication at an organizational level, you must make clear communication a top priority by focusing on it, training heavily in it, measuring

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49 it, and rewarding those who do it well. The companies I’ve worked with that have excellent communication skills at an organizational level have built a culture that highly values the following aspects of communication: Honesty. Let me make this awesomely simple: tell the truth all the time. Honesty is the essential element in building an organization with strong communication.

Empathy. It is one thing to be honest; it is another thing to be brutally honest. Tell the truth in a direct yet respectful and empathetic way. Shoot straight with people, but don’t shoot them between the eyes.

Courage. Organizations with a strong communication culture tell the truth about even the most challenging subjects. They have the courage to put uncomfortable topics on the table and force a discussion. Rather than hoping that bad things go away, that someone else will fix it, the problem will solve itself. They start a dialogue about precisely what it will take to address the problem head-on and move toward a positive solution. Courageous communication also includes having the nerve and confidence to question authority. When the leader chooses a direction in some organizations, even if it is a poor one, everyone dutifully falls behind. Still, a good communicator dares to tell the emperor he has no clothes.

Safety. If you want people to tell the truth about even the most challenging and uncomfortable topics, you have to make it safe for them. I remember a woman who pulled me aside after one of my conflict resolution classes to ask me for advice about communicating a problematic issue to her boss. I suggested she tell the truth and be honest about her concerns. The woman looked at me as if I had suddenly grown a second nose in the middle of my forehead and said, “Are you crazy? If I said something like that, my boss would vaporize me on the spot.” That is not what I would consider a safe environment for open and honest communication.

Intellectual rigor. Although people should be safe, ideas should not be. In an intellectually rigorous culture, theories are tested, hypotheses are challenged, and people welcome and encourage critical examination of ideas and information, regardless of the source. A perfect example of a communication culture like this is Microsoft, where they expect you to poke and prod ideas aggressively. The goal is for only the strongest ideas to survive.

Transparency. A hallmark of great organizations is that they share as much information with all of their stakeholders as they can. Short of actual salary numbers or highly confidential data, winning organizations foster a free flow of information across all levels of the business.

An Excellent Example of Superb Communication An example will demonstrate what an organization with excellent transparency and superb communication skills looks like. About eight years ago, I was invited to the national sales meeting of a $350 million manufacturing company.

I had just completed conducting an advanced customer service workshop when the company’s CEO took the stage to tell the entire sales force about the new compensation system. If you talk about changing the commission structure

and bonuses that salespeople will receive, they can determine the precise impact it will have on their income faster than a supercomputer. Ten minutes into the CEO’s explanation of the new compensation package, people began to mumble. Because he was paying close attention to his audience, he stopped and said.

“I’m getting the feeling you’re not too happy about this new compensation structure, are you?” To which the entire crowd replied with a booming, “No!” He stood there dazed for a few seconds. Then said, “Wow, we worked hard on this and thought it was not only fair but pretty darn generous.

Obviously, you don’t feel the same, so here is what we’re going to do. We will cancel the workshops for the rest of the afternoon. You will work together to rewrite the plan in the way you want it to be.”

Then he pointed to the chief financial officer standing in the corner of the room. He said, “We’ll give you access to all the numbers we used to develop this system. Just ask for any other information you need, and we’ll get it for you immediately. By four o’clock today, I would like you to come back to me with a compensation plan. One that you feel 100 percent comfortable and enthusiastic about. My promise to you is that I will not change it in any way.”

He paused and looked around the room, making eye contact with his salespeople before finishing his comments.

“The one thing I ask is that you remember that the rest of the company is paid based on what you sell and how much commission you take. I know you all have a great deal of respect for the folks back in the factory who are building the stuff you’re selling. You want to make sure you treat everyone fairly. So please keep them in mind as you decide how to divvy up the money.

The Results For the next three hours, small groups discussed and debated the new compensation package. The CEO, CFO, and I watched the teams in animated conversations about what they wanted. They pored over numbers, asked for spreadsheets, looked at compensation and bonus levels across the organization. Everyone spoke openly and honestly about what they thought was fair and reasonable for the company. They then assigned leaders from each group to represent their teams in molding the various suggestions into one cohesive compensation package. At 4:00 pm, the CEO announced that it was time for them to present the new plan. “I want you to know that whatever you decide will be adopted immediately as our new compensation plan.

I completely trust all of you and know you have the best interests of our entire organization at heart.”

As it turned out, they had made some significant adjustments to the compensation scheme. They decided to pay themselves less and put more into a bonus pool for the entire organization. If they exceeded the goals set for the sales force, everyone would they make more money. It was a winning strategy for everyone.

That is a stunning example of trust, candor, safety, intellectual rigor, and transparency. If you can’t imagine something similar ever taking place in your company, you have some work to do.

How CEOs can get off the “treadmill of mediocrity”

By Adam Bryant

Having Trouble Prioritizing? Ask Yourself, “What Is My ‘Picasso’​Today?”​ Laurie Schultz, a veteran technology CEO and board director, shared timely insights with me and my colleague, David Reimer, CEO of The ExCo Group. Subscribe here to receive all our interviews with board directors.

Reimer: Has all the disruption since early 2020 changed the way you think about long-term planning for companies?

Schultz: Not really. My approach is still the same, which is to use a framework that starts with the answer. I was at

Galvanize for ten years. We had a goal of getting to a $1 billion valuation, and so the question was, what are the ten or so elements that are required to reach that goal? They are not just financial – they include C-suite readiness and addressing specific customer needs. I’m a big advocate of having that kind of clarity about what matters, and being very transparent on how you’re performing against it.

For some CEOs, and even boards, that seems like an unusual thing to do. People aren’t always comfortable trying to paint

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a picture of what the company will look like five years from now. I’ve done it for so long that it’s easy to do if you’re comfortable being uncomfortable.

I tell the CEOs who I’m coaching on using this approach that as soon as you write it down, I guarantee that it will be wrong. But you’re going to iterate, listen, and iterate some more, and you’re going to get better and better at this. It’s a very effective tool, whether you’re navigating through Covid or you’re trying to build for a liquidity event.

You have to look in the ugly mirror.

If people can see the long-term, then you can be more effective in getting them to change their short-term behaviors.

When you’re on what I call the “treadmill of mediocrity” and you’re looking to make a case for change, one great thing to do is paint a picture of what five years looks like if you stick with the status quo. That can be a very compelling way to get people to change.

You have to look in the ugly mirror because it’s easy to not change anything if you haven’t looked in the ugly mirror. And of course you want to contrast that with the beautiful mirror, and those two in tandem can really lead to change.

Bryant: What is your framework for deciding whether or not you’re going to join a board?

Schultz: Half the time you shouldn’t know what you’re doing.

When I look at any new opportunity, I sincerely want to be able to add value. Let’s say that 51 percent of the time spent is about me trying to provide meaningful, relevant value to the board and to the CEO. I want to spend the rest of it learning.

I also really want to get attached to the CEO as a human being. For example, the CEO of one of the boards I’m on runs a not-for-profit that builds schools in Africa. At the end of the day, who doesn’t want to hang around with human beings who have meaningful life stories, as well?

Reimer: What are other common themes that come up when you mentor CEOs? Schultz: So many of the conversations are about painting a picture of the future. One thing I ask them is to draw a picture of their org chart. What does your org chart look like five years from now? Are you in it? If you’re a certain size or if you’re going public, do you have at least two other people there who have been-there-done-that?

You can’t just have rookies on the bench. Everybody can’t be learning. At some point, if you don’t have a skill set, you have to have someone else there who can teach you something.

It’s about coaching people to be honest about their own capabilities, including whether they should exit gracefully or surround themselves with people who can help. And that may require letting go of people they feel loyal to.

Bryant: You seem comfortable playing that role of introducing the elephant in the room. Have you always been that way?

Schultz: Here in Canada, we sometimes call it putting the moose on the table. I learned that from Scott Cook, the

founder of Intuit. He showed me how to run a town-hall meeting. It was early in my career, and he taught me how to stand in front of a room, ask what’s working and what’s not working, and what are the opportunities that we’re missing.

And if you do that with integrity, without judgment, and if you’re genuinely listening, you’re going to spot not just great ideas, but the people to put in charge of those ideas.

We sometimes call it putting the moose on the table.

I’ve used that system in all of these transformations that I’ve had an opportunity to lead. And when a company is stuck, it’s usually because there’s some moose that needs to be put on the table. Everybody knows what it is. You just have to ask.

And you gain the right to lead that kind of conversation based on how you show up. You need to show up as a human being who’s not perfect. If leaders, whether they’re CEOs or directors, can demonstrate some vulnerability, they become relatable. And if you become relatable, then people are more willing to share their thoughts with you.

You have to be direct around what you agree with and what you don’t, and what you’re going to act on and what you are not going to act on. Otherwise, you’re just making false promises.

Reimer: Any early influences in your life that made you more comfortable putting the moose on the table?

Schultz: I did not have a great childhood. My parents were divorced and I was bullied in school. But I had this teacher who encouraged me to play sports, and as I got better, I developed more confidence. I learned how to fight to win.

I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I’ve often been in companies that were facing a tough challenge. I’m good at seeing the underdog issues, and those don’t go away by hiding them. They go away by confronting them. It’s become my mantra to always expose them.

Bryant: Leadership is so hard right now. What coaching would you give to a CEO who is feeling overwhelmed in the role?

Schultz: CEOs are facing more expectations to address some of these tougher issues that go beyond simply running the business. But there’s only so much bandwidth. When I was working for KPMG as a consultant, I used to have this long list of projects. And I often felt like it was overwhelming, so I adopted this system of “one Picasso a day.” I coach all my CEOs on it.

When you wake up in the morning – and I do this every day – the first thing you do is to decide what will be your one Picasso that day. It’s about focus. What do you uniquely do that matters the most? After all, you can only do one thing really well at a time.

It’s just a really useful metaphor for prioritization. And it helps you go to bed at night and be able to reflect and say, that was my Picasso today. It’s a great way to get up in the morning, and it’s a great way to go to bed at night.

Inside the dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

By Tripp Mickle

Apple’s design team is legendary. But following the death of Steve Jobs, dysfunction ran rampant, as Tripp Mickle writes in the new book ‘After Steve.’

In 2016, Jony Ive was contending with growing unrest

Ive had spent more than a decade working under Steve

within his design team at Apple. Ive had stepped down

Jobs to become one of the most powerful people at Apple.

from day-to-day management duties, and Richard Howarth

His word was final. But Howarth didn’t have that standing.

was elevated to vice president of design. This had created

Ive’s absence created a vacuum, and other leaders at the

tension as Howarth had gone from ordinary member to

company tried to fill it. For all Howarth’s gifts as a designer,

leader of a close-knit group of about 20.

he could become defensive and passionate when engineers

challenged him. Such outbursts increased as operationally

under Scott Forstall before being tapped by Ive to join a

minded executives and engineers with seniority sought to

small group that developed the Apple Watch interface. He

increase their influence over designs.

also presented at one of the company’s recent developer

The team he led had spent a year on a complete redesign of the iPad. Designer Danny Coster had led the effort. The

keynotes. Over time, he began to wrestle with how the company seemed to make fewer innovative leaps.

Kiwi had been instrumental to the creation of the translucent

Feeling somewhat creatively unfulfilled, he decided the time

iMac and had helped birth the name “Bondi Blue” after the

had come to leave Apple. Following common practice at

beach in Australia. He had developed a refreshed iPad with

the company, he told Ive and Alan Dye that he planned

more refined curves and a lighter body that felt natural in

to depart in a few months after he collected equity shares

people’s hands. Some of the product designers working on

that he was due to earn as part of his compensation. Such

it considered it so elegant that they said it would be the first

an arrangement had become more common at Apple

model they would gladly purchase at retail prices.

under Tim Cook. It was a contrast to Steve Jobs, who had

However, Apple’s operations team determined that making the iPad would require building several new features from

punished deserters, refusing to rehire them and treating their departure like a scorned lover would.

scratch. The first-time costs of new machinery, a new logic

A month before he was set to leave, Chaudhri wrote an

board, and other components would amount to billions

email to colleagues announcing his planned departure. He

of dollars, an investment that would take years to recoup.

told them that he would not be in the design studio but

Those so-called nonrecurring engineering costs led Apple’s

available by email until his last day. He reminded them of

business division to suspend the iPad.

what they had done together at Apple to make products

Such cost-conscious decisions frustrated some members of the product team. In the wake of it, Coster decided to leave Apple and join the action camera company GoPro as the head of design. It was the first high-profile exit of one of Apple’s core design team members. He had been at Apple since 1994. His would not be the design team’s last defection.

As work on Apple’s smart speaker, the HomePod, concluded, the lead designer on the project, Chris Stringer, decided that he was ready to move on from Apple. He had joined the company in 1995 and had reached the point where he was no longer as energized by the work as he had been over his last two decades of service. He approached Ive in February to advise him of his plans to leave. In addition to his fading interest, Stringer found the HomePod dissatisfying because Apple treated it as a hobby, depriving it of the cross-division

to empower people and told them that it was an honor to work alongside many of them. He was fond of a line from the Persian poet Rumi, who said, “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” Playing off that line, Chaudhri wrote, “Sadly, rivers dry out, and when they do, you look for a new one.”

The email alarmed Ive and Dye. They feared that the message Chaudhri sent could be interpreted to mean that Apple’s best days had passed. Its river had run dry. It was one thing for outsiders to say that the company was no longer innovative, but another thing altogether for that critique to come from someone who had helped birth multitouch technology for the iPhone. They worried it would poison morale and moved to contain the damage.

Shortly after the email, Dye fired Chaudhri.

focus it lavished on core products, such as the iPhone and

The move had crushing financial ramifications. Chaudhri

iPad. Its development limped along, partly because Apple’s

would no longer receive his shares. Stung, he complained

digital assistant, Siri, couldn’t order products, food, or

to friends about the dismissal, telling them that Ive and Dye

an Uber as Amazon’s rival Echo could. In the back of his

misunderstood his comment about the river. He explained

mind, he imagined the possibilities of a more sophisticated

to those people that the email was a personal reflection on

speaker. It was a project he knew Apple would never

his own lack of joy, not a comment on Apple.

pursue. Speakers would never clear Tim Cook’s threshold and become a $10 billion business, so Stringer eventually

Yet, inside a company wrestling with its own insecurities in

set up his own audio company.

the aftermath of its cofounder’s death, it was interpreted as a personal attack.

Amid the development of the 10th- anniversary iPhone, a similar restlessness pervaded the software design team.

From After Steve by Tripp Mickle. Copyright © 2022 by

Imran Chaudhri, one of the top software designers, started

Tripp Mickle. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow,

plotting his own exit. The British American, who shaved

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Tripp Mickle is a

his head and dressed in black T-shirts and jeans, had

technology reporter for the New York Times, covering

joined Apple as an intern in 1995 and solidified his role

Apple. He previously reported on the company for The Wall

at the company as part of the team that had developed the

Street Journal, where he also wrote about Google and other

iPhone’s multitouch technology. He had spent years working

Silicon Valley giants.

Upgrades Can Help Mom-and-Pop Stores Compete with Big Retail

By Dylan Walsh

When Sridhar Narayanan first approached small retailers in Mexico City to participate in a research study, many shopkeepers were wary.

One of our partners in this project was the government of Mexico,” says Narayanan, a professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, “and some of the store owners thought the government might be coming to collect taxes!”

In reality, Narayanan and his collaborators hoped to help these tienditas, or traditional neighborhood stores, boost their sales through targeted improvements to their marketing and management practices.

The stakes for small retailers in Mexico and other emerging markets are high. “Retail is a large part of the world economy,” Narayanan says, “and in developing countries, it often represents a much greater share of GDP than in the developed world — something like 30% of the GDP — and an even greater proportion of employment in some countries.

Despite their importance, mom-and-pop retailers often struggle to stay afloat, especially as competition from Big Retail and e-commerce mounts. Still, until recently, there hadn’t been much research into what kinds of marketing strategies or upgrades to their business practices might improve their fortunes. “We typically study brand

management and product management in the context of large businesses in developed countries, not businesses such as the ones we focused on,” Narayanan says.

To fill that gap, he joined with Stephen J. Andersonopen in new window of the University of Texas, Leonardo Iacovoneopen in new window of the World Bank, and Shreya Kankanhalliopen in new window of Penn State University to introduce marketing and management interventions to hundreds of Mexico City tienditas that form the city’s “retail backbone.” When the researchers compared the participants’ subsequent monthly sales to those of a control group, they found large jumps.

Narayanan thinks that finding has implications for small retailers worldwide. “I’m really excited about this project because it has the potential to actually change people’s lives for the better,” he says.

Modernizing the Corner Shop The researchers partnered with Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and the World Bank to run a randomized field experiment with more than 1,100 retailers in 2017 and 2018. Twothirds of the firms were selected to be “modernized” with external branding and internal practices routinely used by

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large retail stores and chains. The remainder served as a control group.

product management, on average, paid for themselves in approximately six months.

The retailers in the modernization group received an intervention in either brand management or product management. The branding intervention was more visible to customers and focused on “the shops’ signage, exterior and interior appearance, product display, consumer promotions, and other marketing activities, loyalty programs, et cetera,” Narayanan explains.

Narayanan points out why it was not obvious that the brand management improvements would have such a positive impact: “A more modern-looking store might signal to lower-income customers in these markets that the store is pricier and ‘not for me.’”

If these smaller businesses can compete more strongly, [local] economies can modernize, allow more competition, and yet not suffer big losses in employment.

Sridhar Narayanan The product management intervention was less obvious to shoppers, as it was “about optimizing products, like making sure you have products consumers actually want, and avoiding stockouts [running out of a product] and product expirations, along with knowing your highest selling and most profitable products — the activities that happen behind the scenes.”

The researchers spent significant time in Mexico City setting up and monitoring the experiment. “We worked with large field teams, so it was like managing our own business,” Narayanan says. “We had to hire a large number of people and have weekly morning calls starting at 5 a.m.”

The study relied on an “army of university students” who volunteered as part of their national service requirement.

“They went out in the field and rolled up their sleeves,” Narayanan says. “If the business needed to be painted, they would get some paint and start the work. They got out their computers and spreadsheets to calculate monthly sales. That really built an element of trust.”

The field agents provided 11 weekly sessions to each retailer, representing about 50 to 60 hours of work, including the time owners put in on their own. The researchers then collected outcome data including sales numbers at 12 and 24 months after the study began.

Small Improvements, Big Impact It worked: Both sets of marketing and management improvements increased retailers’ average sales in the shorter and longer term.

Firms in both treatment groups enjoyed monthly sales that were significantly higher than those of their control group peers. At 24 months, firms in the brand management group had increased their monthly sales $518, or nearly 19%. Those in the product management group were up $430, or more than 15%. These represented significant increases given that the businesses’ average monthly revenues were around $2,800. The researchers also found that the investments in improved brand management and

But the researchers found that these visible changes improved customers’ perceptions of brand equity. “We had field agents stand outside each store to interview customers about how they saw the brand,” Narayanan says. They also asked people recruited online to view and rate pictures of the stores.

It also was not obvious that back-office improvements not visible to shoppers would enhance sales, particularly if they came at the expense of more customer-focused activities.

That these internal improvements led to greater sales was a surprising result, Narayanan says.

There was concern that improved sales at the participating stores might come at the expense of neighboring businesses.

Fortunately, the researchers found no evidence for such a negative impact, suggesting the marketing improvements had an overall positive impact on the local small business economy.

Leveling the Playing Field The researchers think their findings are relevant to the traditional retailers across the developing world, which, beyond their wares, provide critical services for local consumers. “In India, these businesses provide credit to customers who might not be able to get it from formal financial institutions,” Narayanan says. “And in markets where people don’t own cars, they provide fast local delivery services that big players find hard to replicate. Plus, there’s the idea of getting product recommendations from the shopkeeper, someone you know.”

These small businesses often have not modernized due to a lack of information about the services available to them and uncertainty about the costs of upgrading. Marketing improvements like the ones in the study could position the less organized small retail sector to compete more effectively with big retailers, which has direct implications for local jobs and livelihoods.

“A challenge in the developing world,” Narayanan says, “is that smaller retailers get replaced by large global rivals and there’s not one-to-one replacement of employment.

That’s why countries like India have imposed pretty severe restrictions of entry on big global retailers. But if these smaller businesses can compete more strongly, the economies can modernize, allow more competition, and yet not suffer big losses in employment.”

The impact of marketing improvements could extend to small retailers in more established markets like the U.S. “Small businesses provide a large proportion of the GDP of even the most developed countries,” Narayanan says.

“There may be specific things that work better in a given market, but the broad ideas here would still apply.”

What really killed Honest Tea—and what it means for mission-driven brands

By Rob Walker

The demise of Honest Tea shows how even a successful mission-based brand can fall apart.

“Branded” is a new weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture.

Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman described it as a “gut punch.” This week, the Coca-Cola Co. announced it is killing the brand he created back in 1998.

That’s quite a twist in a story that had long seemed like a case study in how a mission-driven brand built around ethical principles—organic ingredients, Fair Trade Certified partners—could capture a changing consumer zeitgeist, connect with an audience, and go big.

Instead, the brand will be “phased out” of the Coca-Cola Co.’s beverage portfolio at the end of 2022. (It’s keeping a spin-off line of organic juice products called Honest Kids.) ` Since selling Honest Tea in a multimillion-dollar deal, Goldman has moved on to help found ethical-food startups Eat the Change and PLNT Burger, and serve as the chair of Beyond Meat’s board. He took to LinkedIn to pay tribute to “the sweat, tears, and incredible passion that went into building our beloved brand.”

Perhaps Honest Tea will still live on as a case study: How an apparently successful mission-driven brand can beat the odds, transcend its niche, find a backer who believes in it, make the transition to the mainstream—and still end up dying.

The origin story is a classic entrepreneurial tale. A young Goldman thirsted for a bottled tea that was flavorful without

being overly sweet. It was an era when consumer demand seemed to be trending both healthier and more virtuous, and he hit on the idea of making his product organic. With borrowed money and a lot of hustle, Honest Tea became a solid business. Its vaguely pious name and slightly crunchy brand connected with mindful shoppers in venues like Whole Foods.

When I interviewed Goldman in 2005, the brand had even experimented with tying some of its offerings to specific causes or nonprofits, with mixed results. Instead, the business was refocusing on creating broadly appealing, “accessible” flavors. (Peach Oo-La-Long was a hit, for instance.) “We’ve probably had periods where we kind of overemphasized the mission,” he told me. At the time, the company was working to reach a wider array of customers.

Still, some observers were startled—and skeptical—when, in 2008, Honest Tea sold a 40% stake to Coca-Cola for $43 million. Samuel Fromartz, author of Organic Inc. and other books, at the time wrote on his blog that while the deal presumably opened up new distribution opportunities, it meant “getting into bed with the people who put high fructose corn syrup on the map. You’re selling equity to the same people you want to displace.”

Goldman countered that he believed his company’s mission and product were good for the entire ecosystem it was part of: workers, consumers, the environment. “If you believe that, then you have a responsibility to sell as much of it as

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you can,” he said, and the Coke deal would help achieve precisely that goal.

Coca-Cola assumed full ownership of the brand three years later. Goldman stayed involved, and Honest Tea remained in its Bethesda, Maryland, home base. The product itself was never watered down, and as late as 2018 Goldman still saw it as poised for “global growth.” Sales had reportedly risen from $71 million in 2010 to around $600 million.

But the brand’s momentum had slowed. Sales in the first half of 2019 declined 16%, according to Beverage Digest, in the midst of a wider decline in ready-to-drink tea sales.

“Tea was once at the leading edge of the consumer shift to healthier, lower-sugar beverages, offering functional ingredients such as antioxidants,” the publication reported.

“Honest Tea was among the brands that capitalized on that trend.”

But the market had gotten far more competitive, and shelves were crowded with functional beverages, cold brew coffees, and antioxidant waters. The consumer zeitgeist that helped propel Honest Tea’s success had shifted. At the end of that year, Goldman left the company to pursue new ventures; Honest Tea’s offices were moved to Atlanta.

Coke, meanwhile, appeared to lose enthusiasm for nicheier brands in general, according to a 2021 Business Insider report. And in its announcement this week, the company explained the move as a straightforward consolidation of its tea strategy, sacrificing Honest Tea to focus on two more

successful lines: Gold Peak, a virtuous-looking bottled tea brand that Coke has backed with nationwide marketing, and Peace Tea, a growing regional offering that has “a loyal, Gen Z following.” Neither hits the various mission-y notes that defined the Honest brand.

This seems like an outcome Fromartz was worried about way back in 2008, and plenty of observers on social media have reacted with some version of: What did you expect?

But of course some mission-driven brands do survive being absorbed into bigger entities. Ben & Jerry’s is probably the best-known example: Unilever has famously allowed the brand to stick to its mission-heavy vibe, taking outspoken stands on social justice and other issues. It’s worth remembering, however, that this does not necessarily limit the Ben & Jerry’s brand: Plenty of consumers just think of it as slightly fancy, often cheeky, and very tasty ice cream, and couldn’t care less about its politics.

Honest Tea’s identity, in contrast, seemed less flexible or expansive. And that was fine when the consumer mood was moving in its direction—but feels more limiting now. A sincere mission can help a brand break through to a solid, loyal audience of consumers. But put that mission-centric brand in the middle of a mass-oriented owner’s sprawling portfolio, and that same identity can become a constraint.

Honest Tea really did carve out an authentic, specific space in the consumer landscape: It truly stood for something. And that, in the end, was its downfall.

Make Way for InterestBased Targeting

By Timo Pelz

The challenge

implementing them.

With Apple’s iOS 14 update, GDPR and Google phasing out third-party cookies next year, the online landscape is shifting toward more consumer-friendly tracking options.

This also means new challenges for the advertising industry.

With the decline of the social graph, which focuses on people’s relationships, the interest graph is gaining momentum and meaning. Interest graphs connect people interested in or passionate about the same topics, activities, products and brands. This is a big opportunity for marketers to lean into interest-driven target audiences.

With fewer signals to navigate by, the ability to fine-tune messaging at the level of an individual ad, or to track consumers online with surgical precision, is slowly going away. As a result, we are entering a new phase of media planning and buying, one still searching for solutions and countermeasures. An entire niche segment of thought leadership around this topic has sprung up to discuss new and innovative ideas to counter signal loss and make sure brands are ready for the new reality.

The move away from an identity-driven approach to advertising presents an opportunity to focus on alternatives that are in many cases already available and do not require marketers to reinvent the wheel.

The process Tech companies moving away from identity-driven advertising models is a good forcing function for marketers to learn about alternative approaches and begin

As a first step, marketers should look for partners and platforms that let them identify what people are interested in instead of who they are. Pay attention to the conversations that unfold in these places to identify how your brand could fit in and what kind of messaging will resonate.

Target audiences are not homogenous in their media consumption. Also take into account how their media habits change when traveling, commuting, working from home or using a mobile device vs. a desktop computer. Depending on these factors, content needs to either be short and snackable or longer and more in-depth.

People should not have to surrender their personal information in order to be targeted.

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Next, marketers need to embrace a full-funnel approach driven by sequential messaging that guides audiences down the marketing funnel from awareness to consideration to conversion. This is important because while the funnel is very linear, customer journeys are not. The decision-making process unfolds over time and across many different touch points.

Interest-based, contextual and keyword targeting solutions also allow marketers to identify and market to consumer cohorts in a privacy-safe way. People should not have to surrender their personal information in order to be targeted when alternative solutions focused on interest-based targeting are available.

A sequential messaging approach guides these cohorts down the funnel, and it’s shockingly straightforward. All you do is answer the what, why and how behind your brand, product or service. Compare it to introducing yourself to someone and explaining to them what you do before asking them for a favor.

Leverage reach-focused solutions to send a message that creates awareness and primes the audience for the brand or product. Then leverage on-platform signals such as views, clicks or comments to re-engage audience members

who were exposed to or engaged with the brand with a message about a product benefit or USP. Finally, serve people a conversion-focused message such as a specific product or deal.

The takeaway Brands can introduce themselves to a homogenous audience first before introducing a product or service and its benefits, allowing people to learn more before serving a message or deal focused on making a purchase.

This approach also enables a brand to add value to conversations and communities that unfolded around a category or a passion. By controlling for frequency and consistency in creatives over time, brands are able to build multi-chapter stories for their audiences.

As the industry grapples with signal loss, it is important to remember that impactful solutions and alternatives are available today. As marketers embark on the next chapter of digital advertising, be sure to look for partners that offer privacy-first solutions with the right tools to craft a sequenced full-funnel marketing strategy. This proven approach has the potential to be a game-changer for marketers that creates more peace of mind in the face of worries about a cookieless future.

Book,

&

Line

Sinker

B.Y.O.B. Building Your Own Brand: Branding for Designers, Brand Strategy, Identity Assets, Logo Design, Blogging & Marketing

Rebrand

by Karan Gupta Who is this book for? This book is tailored for professionals in the fields of graphic design, branding design, visual design, ui/ux, business administration, brand management, public relations, architecture, interior design, content marketing and communication design.

This book contains the following themes/titles: - Branding - Personal Branding - Rebranding - Reputation Management - Digital Marketing Social Media Strategies - Artiste Brand Promotion - Author Branding - Book Publishing - Public Speaking - Podcasting. It is your Total branding guide.

Branding Bhakti: Krishna Consciousness and the Makeover of a Movement (Framing the Global)

Logo, revised edition

By Nicole Karapanagiotis

By Bernard Kelvin Clive

By Michael Evamy “A logo should be distinctive, memorable and clear. To be great, it should do those things better than the rest.” – Michael Evamy

How do religious groups reinvent themselves in order to attract new audiences? How do they rebrand their messages and recast their rituals in order to make their followers more diverse?

This bestselling branding bible has provided graphic designers with an indispensable reference source for over a decade. Logo is now getting a revamp with the addition of over 300 new logos in this fully revised and updated edition.

Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

Digital Branding: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Strategy, Tactics, Tools and Measurement

by Rory Sutherland “Sutherland, the legendary Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, uses his decades of experience to dissect human spending behavior in an insanely entertaining way. Alchemy combines scientific research with hilarious stories and case studies of campaigns for AmEx, Microsoft and the like. This is a must-read.” —Entrepreneur (“Best Books of the Year”)

Use digital branding to enhance your online identity and learn how to plan, analyze, optimize and measure the tangible results of your digital brand campaigns, with this second edition of the bestselling book by Daniel Rowles - a respected CIM fellow, course leader, and industry thought leader.

Personal Branding Strategies The Ultimate Practical Guide to Branding And Marketing Yourself Online Through Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter ... How To Utilize Advertising on Social Media

By Gary Clyne

By Daniel Rowles

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO PERSONAL BRANDING: Monetise Your Expertise, Make Extraordinary Impact, and Create Financial Success

By UJU OBUEKWE Are you ready to stand out from the crowd in this time of our ‘new normal’ and are desperately looking around for a well-researched guidebook on personal branding in the virtual world?Uju...

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Branding: In Five and a Half Steps Michael Johnson (Author) Michael Johnson is one of the world’s leading graphic designers and brand consultants. His studio, johnson banks, is responsible for the rebranding of many notable clients, including Virgin Atlantic, Think London, BFI, Christian Aid, and MORE TH>N, and he has garnered a plethora of awards in the process.

Sticky Branding: 12.5 Principles to Stand Out, Attract Customers, and Grow an Incredible Brand

by Jeremy Miller But large companies are not the only ones who can stand out. Any business willing to challenge industry norms and find innovative ways to serve its customers can grow into a Sticky Brand.

Brand New: The Shape of Brands to Come

By Wally Olins What is the future for brands and branding? Does globalization mean that variety and individuality will be crushed out of existence by massive multinationals? Will everywhere and everything become similar, like the world of airports today?

Or will there still be room for brands that thrive on being different? What about the impact of digital technology and increasing customer feedback through the internet and social media?

The Brand Positioning Workbook : A Simple How-To Guide To More Compelling Brand Positionings, Faster

By Ulli Appelbaum We live in an age of activism - the conscious consumer is more socially aware than ever before, and this is reflected in their buying habits.

Yet, activism on behalf of brands is lagging. While many claim to be ‘purpose driven’, far too often this purpose is relegated to a plaque above the CEO’s desk, and never goes any further.

Build Your Brand Mania: How to Transform Yourself Into an Authoritative Brand That Will Attract Your Ideal Customers

by Matt Bertram The missing piece of internet marketing that almost all business owners miss is transforming themselves into an authoritative brand that attracts their ideal customers.

Power Branding: Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands

by Steve McKee Every one of the largest, most successful corporations were, at some point, mere startups.

McKee explains what enables some companies to growbigger and better, while others stumble along year after year, running but never winning the race. The difference is that the biggest and best brands aren’t slaves to conventional marketing wisdom.

Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

By Seth Godin Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books that have been translated into 36 languages and reached millions of listeners around the world, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas.

ZAG: The #1 Strategy of HighPerformance Brands

By Marty Neumeier ‘When everybody zigs, zag,’ says Marty Neumeier in this fresh view of brand strategy. ZAG follows the ultra-clear ‘whiteboard overview’ style of the author’s first book, The Brand Gap, but drills deeper into the question of how brands can harness the power of differentiation. The author argues that in an extremely cluttered marketplace, traditional differentiation is no longer enough -