??????? Unscrambling the omelette

Issue #323

The new Runway Gen-3 Alpha has been released and it’s quite mind-blowing. I can’t wait to see what is possible. Here’s the text-to-video promo (every pixel in this is generated by a text prompt and is unaltered) and there’s a video-to-video feature to alter existing video footage. I’m not going to get into how it can be used for wrong or how it is going to do us all out of a job. For the minute I’m just enjoying a moment of quiet awe at the wonder of it. Happy Thursday, Simon.

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What engages your audience?

Regardless of what content you’re writing about, there’s certain themes and framing you can use to better pick up traction. Content distribution platform, Stacker, recently trawled through its data and had a few ideas. To grab attention they found using superlatives in the headlines grabbed attention while data visualisation helps the audience get to the point quicker than a text explainer. Unsurprisingly, themes like the Olympics were easy to piggyback on while relating your content to safety and security also proved successful. The key is pitching your wider idea to something relatable.

Do advertisers really understand customers?

A new study by iHeartMedia and Pushkin Industries has found that 44% of consumers feel ignored by the brands advertising to them. Just think about that. Brands today have seemingly endless data on or about customers but still can’t get the messaging right. What's more, 67% of customers are feeling “creeped out” by hyper-targeted advertising that follows them everywhere online. It’s almost like marketers are marketing to other marketers rather than understanding their actual customers. You need to know how to use the data you have effectively, and not let marketing biases cloud the messaging.

Don’t forget the human

Brands are currently in an AI battle for audience attention, but they need to consider the human element too. Humans don’t want it to appear like technology is making all the decisions for them - they want to feel like they’ve contributed. It relates to the egg theory . Put simply, when instant cake mixes came out they were a failure until some genius decided humans needed to add an egg to the mix. Humans want to feel like they’re contributing, even if it’s just adding an egg. While this is important when creating AI chatbots, it also relates to content created by technology. Forget the human and the human will potentially miss the message.

Cool Tools

I stumbled across Public Work last week while hunting for images for a presentation. It’s a search engine for public domain content, and I found myself lost in a rabbit hole of fascinating historical photos and artwork. There’s something oddly satisfying about finding the perfect obscure image that no one else is using.

Hot Tips

The simplest, best hot tip we could ever give you. Filmmaking explained in one reel . See how different focal lengths completely alter a shot's feel, giving you a pro filmmaker's most powerful tool.

Viral Hits

TikTok Live Match has become a hotbed of political debate, with young creators wielding surprising influence and making bank in the process. Instead of shouting at talking heads on TV, viewers can now support their favourite pundits with virtual gifts. It's democracy for the digital age - chaotic and surprisingly lucrative.

Stuff from us

It's inspiring to see how 'slow travel' changes our approach to exploration. This podcast we produced for our client Visa examines their unique data and insights to explore this shift in travel behaviour.

Happy Thursday

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This week’s newsletter was written by Tim Colman and Simon Kearney , and edited by Andre Howson . Gifs produced by Ahmad Hafiz .