6 May 2024

Welcome to The Advisory Club: Weekly Update, a summary of conversations and topics posted and discussed on WhatsApp by 645 media, communications, and marketing professionals from around the world, during the week 29th of April and the 5th of May, 2024.

Send me a note for a link if you'd like to join it live. It's noisy, but a cool kind of noisy.

General Discussion

High impact. The Social Change Lab (UK) looks at the effects of various advocacy and protest campaigns, including the Insulate Britain project. Verdict: high marks on just about every metric, except for the actual tactics.

Literary color. Dulux has created 'Heritage editions' which transforms 12 iconic books into 12 unique paint colours. Thanks Sonya Cullington MA MSc

Firm beliefs. My chairman Bob Pearson interviews a good friend, past colleague and industry leader known to many in this community, Kim Sample , on what it takes to lead an agency.

Gartner on AI. "Bold and actionable" predictions. Thanks Georg Schmitt

Blissful beginnings. Congrats to NPG colleagues Miles Hill and Charlotte Chadwick on the official opening of the Bliss Group’s first office outside the US.

Student journalism. I’ve tried to steer clear of posts about the ongoing protests on US and Canadian university campuses, partly because I don’t have any special perspective or insight to add, and partly because I’ve seen how the issues at the heart of the protests - however defined - can split a community apart. I’d like to avoid that.

And as one senior American faculty leader told me after a few days of widely publicized protests on her campus, it’s all still “too raw” … I would agree it’s probably too soon to teach or learn much what they illustrate about free / hate speech, civil disobedience or law enforcement, not to mention the war itself.

But for student journalists, it’s a different matter, and I thought I would share a clip from John Towfighi , a Columbia journalism student who my family and I have known since he was a toddler.

Just really weird. Fake content content pushing techbro worship. Thanks Julio Romo

Animal language. Time to get serious about understanding each other across species. Thanks Jenny Nicholson

Photo op. Jesper Andersen wants to know who's go the the AMEC summit for a photo for this newsletter. And networking, presumably.

Blue collar. Launch of a 'working class' PR agency. Gotta differentiate somehow.

Oh dear. Marriage really is like a B2B transaction, when you think about it. Thanks Armand David

End of an era. Lord Of The Metrics Richard Bagnall, Hon FCIPR, FPRCA, FAMEC is stepping out from Carma in the UK. Tireless advocate and generous teacher for measurement and evaluation in communications - looking forward to seeing what's next.

AI-proofing the news.Lengthy but interesting piece from the founder of Politico and Axios: “AI will eviscerate the weak, the ordinary, the unprepared in media.”

AI diplomat. The Ukrainian Ministry Of Information has introduced a new, digital spokesperson, Victoria Shi.

Neurodiversity. We've set up a new chat for those interested in neurodiversity. DM for a link.

Stakeholder focus. Stephen Waddington, CPFA, FCCA looks at a stakeholder-focused model for communications management.

Cautionary tale. A look at Teneo of late.

Return to work. Resources shared in response to a request for resources on return-to-work support:

• Career Returners
• Tech Returners

Inside-Out. Are internal and external communications strategies separate but related? Yes, sort of. Further reading / listening:

• An abstract from Rachel Miller 's book on the same topic
• A podcast from Russell Goldsmith

In-House

Future proof. Really great conversation about how a comms department might be structured now, versus a few years ago. I don't know if people want to be identified by name, but worth sharing a novel suggestion:

"In my restructure last year, to recognise the blurring of audiences, channels, geographies, corporate and consumer etc, content, I created an organisation around the three overall messages the company communicates…great place to work, great place to shop, and responsible retailer. Everyone communicates 360; internally and externally, reactive and proactive. Much better learning. Reduces siloed thinking around corporate, consumer, public affairs and internal Comms (and the gender, pay and progression hierarchies) Radical but I really do believe it’s the future."

SHREK. Fantastic thread on which recruitment firms are hot and which are not, plus a few war stories, all difficult to summarize - but I did learn a new acronym: SHREK - Spencer Stuart, Heidrik & Struggles, Russell Reynolds Associates, Egon Zehnder, and Korn Ferry.

Mis/Disinformation

Demand side. No shortage of supply for mis/disinformation, but what about the demand for it? Interesting take here.

Fake-opedia. Russia has cloned Wikipedia. And then made it more agreeable.

Paradox of belief. People may fervently espouse symbolic beliefs, cognitive scientists say, but they don’t treat them the same as factual beliefs. Great article on this.

Truth or lies. Economist explainer on misinformation.

Artificial Intelligence

Let's start with the weekly Andrew Bruce Smith stash of posts:

• The Financial Times does a deal with OpenAI.
• OpenAI introduces a memory feature for ChatGPT Plus users
• Editors warn of issues for journalism
• Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI: born of Google envy
• ChatGPT: better moral judgment than a college undergrad
• The woman who showed AI to President Biden
• Top 50 TED Talks on AI

And his (AI-assisted) summary of the Zeitgeist AI Readiness Report:

- AI Adoption and Sentiment: The report from Scale Zeitgeist indicates that AI adoption is increasing, with 60% of respondents not adopting AI primarily due to security concerns and lack of expertise. Organizations who have adopted AI feel the need for better benchmarks for evaluating models, especially concerning security and industry specificity.

- Generative AI Advancements: There have been major advancements in generative AI, specifically with multimodal models that showcase improved reasoning and problem-solving. Models like Claude 3 and others from leading AI organizations are setting new benchmarks.

- Use and Optimization of AI: Organizations continue to explore prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to optimize AI models. However, a significant number of organizations still utilize out-of-the-box models without customization.

- Model Development Trends: Closed-source commercial models usage increased significantly, and industry leaders are investing more in commercial models, aligning with partnerships with cloud service providers. Open-source models also saw a rise in usage due to their flexibility.

- Challenges in AI Implementation: Barriers such as inadequate infrastructure, tooling, budgetary constraints, and data privacy concerns hamper widespread generative AI use. Fine-tuning and RAG introduce additional complexities, such as integrating realtime external data.

- AI Evaluation and Performance: Nearly all major companies engaged in AI model building and application reported having evaluation practices in place to measure performance, reliability, and security. Automated model metrics and human preference ranking were cited as rapid means of identifying performance issues.

- AI in Production: Organizations are using a mix of internal and external platforms for evaluating AI systems in production. Continuous evaluation and robust testing protocols are deemed critical for AI safety and alignment with real-world conditions and business objectives.

Key Takeaways:

1. Security and expertise are major hurdles in AI adoption.

2. Generative AI is rapidly progressing, with emphasis on multimodality and reasoning.

3. Despite advancements, many organizations still rely on out-of-the-box AI models.

4. Investment in closed-source AI models is on the rise, often in collaboration with cloud providers.

5. Implementing AI at scale is challenging due to infrastructure needs, budgets, and privacy issues.

6. Evaluation of AI is critical, with a trend towards comprehensive and continuous assessment.

7. Safety and reliability of AI models in production require constant vigilance and review.

Conclusion:

Overall, the AI Readiness Report 2024 suggests that while generative AI is experiencing significant growth and is becoming more integrated into businesses, there are still notable challenges and considerations. These include the need for proper evaluation frameworks, optimization tooling, and addressing data privacy and security concerns. Moving forward, organizations must also focus on linking AI performance to tangible business outcomes to justify the investments in this technology.

Also:

Thought leadership. Tim Weber reminds us of the basics.

Game changer. Philippe Borremans shared a Neville Hobson piece on how AI is changing the consulting game.

Bubble's edge. Is AI the new dotcom debacle? Thanks Julio Romo

Great expecations. What to look for in the next generation of chatbots, via Keren Darmon

Boy talk. How patriarchal AI hurts women's careers, from Tim Weber .

ESG & Sustainability

Climate Postive. Kudos my colleague Emily F. Porro on her new anti-doomscrolling newsletter.

Lights out. Sartika Thatcher on a smart project to get people to think about energy behavior:

Hey all. Don't think I have ever been so proud of a project I've worked on before, but it passed the litmus test of changing my dad's energy behaviour after reading the piece.

Scary stuff. Journalists who report on environmental issues are at increasing risk, according to a UNESCO report. And the worst part: "State actors - police, military forces, government officials and employees, local authorities - are responsible for most of the attacks for which perpetrator information is available," the report said.

Digital & Tech

To sell or not to sell. A view on why forcing TikTok to sell off its US operations is a good thing. Not sure I’m for or against, but I do think it’s interesting to see how technologies strain our notions of law and sovereignty. Such as it ever was, but way faster now.

Algorithmic rents. Amazon and the economics of information. Welcome the age of technofeudalism.

Pay day. Meta is offering incentives to lure creators onto Threads. Candace Kuss : "Almost forgot about Threads ??. Seriously — Has always puzzled me why the other platforms just don’t have a similar program to YouTube."

Politics & Policy

Talent pool. Rod Cartwright on a report John Swinney moving into position to become first minister of Scotland:

"With apologies to any Swinney fans, his almost certain return is an object lessons in what 17 years in government is likely to do to a party's talent pool - just as we're seeing after 12 years of Tory rule in England.

I'm not suggesting for one second we should have a Fixed Term Governments Act! But if you look at similar dynamics in Thatcher and Blair's third terms (less so the latter), it makes me wonder how long it's possible to be in power without exhausting the talent and ideas pool. Discuss ??"

New deal. On the topic of British politics, Iain Anderson FRSA Iain has written a report for Labour on business - government relations, and he speaks about it on the PRmoment podcast here. Both items from the This Week In PR newsletter.

Wolf at the door. Over to American politics…one thing we often forget about the alarmist, tedious worrying from the Boy Who Cried Wolf is that eventually, the wolf shows up.

Saving Europe. Emmanuel Macron is worried about Europe.

Emerging India. Our own Angela Chitkara will moderate a formidable panel on Tuesday the 7th for Milken Institute event - viewing details in the link.

Russian sabotage. Western intelligence agencies warn of a summer of Russian attacks on infrastructure. Via Federica Urzo .

Crisis, Risk and Resilience

Exec prep. Philippe Borremans is looking for co-authors for more in-depth research and writing like this guide on preparing executives for emergencies.

Scoop. Anastasia Ivanova : "A great new Netflix original to watch on the Prince Andrew BBC Newsnight interview and how it got secured. And specifically for this community - why it was NEVER DERISKED. SPOILER ALERT: the in-house team's gone a bit 'native' and lost all sense of perspective. Otherwise, a great story of the BBC female talent breaking through the establishment and securing the scoop of the decade.

And a response.

And another recommendation from Charlotte West

Trust, turbulence and reputation risk. CIPR 2024 report is out, and one of eight that Rod Cartwright will analyze and compare later this month.

Behavioral Science

Sustainable behaviors. New WHO guidance on sustainable behaviors for health and the environment. Thanks Philippe Borremans

The Library

Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie. I haven’t read it but after hearing this I think I might.

The Future Proof Career, by Isabel Berwick. Recommended by Anastasia Ivanova : "Just finished this book - from the FT's "Work it" podcast host and columnist - and wanted to recommend. Brilliantly written, personable, at times vulnerable, packed with practical advice and generous on credits. As one would expect, 'communication is key' and 'active listening' are some of the key takeaways. I also think it's the closest one can get to advice from Wendy Rhoades, a brilliant workplace psychologist from Billions (for any fans of this Netflix show on here)! Plus, it's available as an audio book"

Meet-Ups

Thanks!

If you'd like to jump into the live conversation, drop me a line for a link, and thanks as always to those who contribute each week.