MediaCat Weekly #19 — the Met Gala, curation tech, and AI philosophers

Welcome to MediaCat Weekly, our short and sweet newsletter featuring some top stories from the past week, recent conversations, and a round-up of industry news.

Diving deeper into this month's theme of People Power, this week we explored whether our increasing power is an illusion or a true driver of change. Our contributors further looked at how brands can navigate fandoms and provide relevant content in an era of critical consumers.

If you haven't already, make sure you listen to this month's playlist, curated by freelance semiotician Becks Collins. Happy reading.

How the Met Gala became The Hunger Games

By Becks Collins

Every year, the US’s most glamorous celebrities gather in their finery at fashion’s most opulent event. This year, however, the event sparked controversy, outrage, and protests. Many likened the gala’s attendees to citizens of The Hunger Games’ dystopian capitol, where affluent citizens in fantastical outfits wine and dine while watching the suffering of the impoverished, oppressed districts for entertainment.

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Big business and the illusion of people power

By Ben Kay

There’s a simple answer to the question of whether or not people now have more power over brands: the rise of social media has given customers and activists a voice that is far louder than at any time in the past. But the complicated adjunct to that answer is, what difference has that made?

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Non-profits: where people power fuels change

By Jenni Romaniuk

Marketers in the non-profit sector are hampered by a lack of supporter-centric data and limited research budgets. While a non-profit marketer might not have their own data to learn from, they can learn from marketing science, and in particular, the Laws of Growth.

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Polaris Leadership Summit to bring together the global political and public sector communication industry

By MediaCat

Polaris Leadership Summit, MediaCat Magazine’s flagship event for the global public sector and political communications industry, is set to take place in London, UK on 21 June 2024. The summit will bring together thought leaders, industry experts, and innovators from the political and public sector communication industries to explore the profound impact of technology on modern-day election campaigns and public sector communication strategies.

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Conversations

Q&A: Robert Andersen on bringing a German thinker to life with AI

We spoke to Robert Andersen, MD and Managing Creative Director at Jung von Matt CREATORS, about their project to use AI to bring to life German philosopher Immanuel Kant, recreating him as a 23-year-old influencer.

News

• Waitrose announced the launch of its ‘Farming for Nature’ scheme. Under this new initiative, the supermarket will help over 2,000 British farmers adopt nature-friendly farming practices. This is a response to both the industry’s need to focus on regenerative agriculture and customers’ growing push for sustainability. read
• Fix Fest — ?‘the most ambitious copywriting event of the year’ — is returning on 3 July at Crypt on the Green, Clerkenwell, in London. This year, the festival will focus on AI and explore what it means for the copywriting industry. read

Seen elsewhere

• Brands: South by Southwest (SXSW) announced that it will hold a London version of the festival next year. SXSW London will take place in June 2025 and take over dozens of venues in Shoreditch. (NME)
• Tech: Following this year's Met Gala, AI deepfakes of celebrities, including Rihanna and Katy Perry, have gone viral. Garnering over 2 million views, these images now serve as a reminder to question everything we see online. (Tech Crunch)
• Media: TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have filed a lawsuit against the US government. This action comes after Joe Biden signed a bill forcing ByteDance to sell the video app to an approved buyer or be banned from the US. (The Guardian)
• Media: Meta announced that it is adding new generative AI ad tools, allowing marketers to create AI-generated variations of reference images and generate headlines based on reference text. Marketers will also be able to create text overlays for images based on previous campaigns and products. (Digiday)
• Media: OpenAI has partnered with Dotdash Meredith, an American digital media company, signing a licensing deal that will allow the tech company to train ChatGPT. (Engadget)

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