Brand Fuel #2 - 31.05.24
Hey there, welcome back to Brain Fuel where we dive into more thought-provoking, out-of-the-box topics that are on my mind this week. As usual, we'll be exploring mainly brands and marketing, along with a variety of other intriguing areas.
So grab a coffee, get comfortable, and let's jump right in!
1. Our collective cognitive dissonance
I often write about how it's important for us as humans to step outside our comfort zones every now and then. It's kind of ironic that in this era where we celebrate individuality and cultural diversity, we're actually getting culturally stagnant, trapping ourselves in nice, cozy bubbles and ignoring the chaos and real diversity of ideas happening in the world.
Matt Klein, Head of Foresight at Reddit, recently discussed the desire we all have nowadays to avoid anything that rubs us the wrong way or challenges our existing beliefs, the impact of this tendency on society, and the importance of embracing discomfort.
2. Why marketers shouldn't ignore reddit
Reddit is a massive online community with millions of users segmented into different interest-based "forums" (500K monthly visitors across more than 100K active communities). But for some reason, most marketers completely overlook this huge platform. Maybe it's the no-so-intuitive UX. Or because some of the Reddit communities can come across as a bit hostile or unwelcoming to outsiders. Or maybe marketers just don't know how to properly approach it since the its innately different from more "standard" social media platforms.
Personally, I've found Reddit to be a great resource for getting real, unfiltered insights into what people think, how they behave, and what they're truly interested in. As a strategist, those kinds of perspectives from people are super valuable to my work.
This article from Search Engine Journal does a great job explaining in detail why Reddit deserves more attention from marketing teams. It shows how useful Reddit can be when you know how to natively connect into all the niche communities and conversations happening there.
3. Beginner's guide to brand tracking
When you work in advertising and branding, tracking studies are a normal everyday thing. We marketers see them as really basic and obvious. But in other industries (like tech), a lot of people don't even know what tracking studies are. And those who do tend to be skeptical or think they are completely unnecessary.
Part of my job as an in-house strategist was teaching marketing teams about these tracking studies - explaining what they are and why they are important for building a brand (and trying to convince them to run them).
Recently, I came across a guide from Dynata, a research company, that simplifies the basics of tracking studies. While it doesn't dive deep, it provides a introduction to what tracking studies are and why they're crucial. It's a good resource for marketers and brand managers looking to understand the basics and start experimenting with them.
4. The atrophy of the human strategic muscle
You know how I often talk about how strategic thinking seems to be disappearing? Well, it turns out I might be onto something.
Quantum Foundry, a research institute that looks into gaming, is building profiles of gamers based on their motivations. They're recent study looks into at what extent gamers today are motivated by strategic thinking when playing. They looked at 1.57 million gamers from around the world between 2015-2024, and what they found is pretty mind-blowing - 67% of gamers today care less about strategic thinking and planning when playing compared to the average gamer in 2015.
The reason behind this change isn't clear yet, but it seems to be connected to our shrinking attention spans (too much social media...).
This has huge implications for the gaming world - changing the types of games being developed and marketed and also in the way players are communicated with. But because more and more people are getting into gaming, I believe this trend reflects a broader decline in the world's ability to think strategically.
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4. How mastery enables the state of flow
Have you ever wondered what's going on in our brains when we're "in the zone" or in that state of flow that all professionals strive for? Researchers looked at jazz musicians, who are famous for their improvisational skills, and found that being in a state of flow comes from really mastering and specializing in your craft as much as possible. Then, once you reach that high level of expertise, you can just let go and let your well-practiced abilities take over automatically without even having to think about it.
5. A different kind of Dyson
Let's take a break from Earth and venture out to space.
In a study from early May, scientists found 7 stars (or suns) that might be surrounded by super-advanced conceptual technology called Dyson Spheres. These spheres could potentially be used to gather energy from suns or black holes.
What does this mean? Well, for now, not much. But it could mean that somewhere out there, there are (or were) civilizations so advanced that they built massive structures around stars to harvest energy from them. And if these civilizations still exist and find out about us (how have they not found us yet? That's a fascinating question in itself), they could crush us like ants, because to them, we're... well, tiny, undeveloped ants.
Want to know more about what a Dyson Sphere is? you should watch this.
6. Real-life Minecraft adventure
ChrisDaCow is a popular gaming YouTuber (well, at least for your kids). Unlike many kids who spend all day staring at screens, he also enjoys going out once in a while. Last year he set a goal to accomplish all the major achievements in Minecraft in real life. And he actually did it! This video is a cool summary of his adventures.
BTW, did you know that Minecraft just turned 15?! How time flies...
7. The picnic takeover
How many big cities do you know that would actually shut down their main roads for a whole day so thousands of people could chill out and picnic? Well, Paris (in collab with LG France) just did this...
About me
As a long-time strategist, I've had the privilege of working closely with some truly interesting brands, both local and international. To help them uncover that special something - that unique "WHY ME?" factor that genuinely connects with people's lives, creates real interest, and motivates them to take the desired action. In simpler terms, to make people think, "I know them. I trust them. They're my preferred choice".
I guide companies through a process of envisioning their aspirations, understanding the driving force behind their brand, and communicating that in a way that drives people to take the desired actions.
My role is to align different perspectives, define a unifying purpose everyone can rally behind, and create a consistent foundation for long-term, sustainable growth.
Want to learn more about how to uncover your business's distinctive "Why Me"? Feel free to reach out.
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