Good Morning Friends!

Congrats Must Readers, you've made it through another week!

Newsletter 236 is ten must read stories including 5 great stories you'll want to click and dive more deeply into them => (1) adult social networks pivoting, (2) why luxury products can always increase their prices, (3) the future of malls, (4) founders f-ing up with their own opinions & (5) wtf is Pickleball.

Reminder if you're in Marketing and Growth (or in a Leadership role) check out this week's dedicated Marketing Must Reads.

Must Read Stories Of The Week

Work Must Reads

> Luxury Pricing 💼 - I have worked in luxury three times in my career, and it always fascinated me how people would always spend on high-end fashion and even when prices were hiked up. (Hermes) Birkins are impossible to buy (even when you have the money and know the one you want) and going to increase in price again and they are super confident people will pay. Why? Scarcity and demand to spend on what we want to not what we have to...

> The Future Of Shopping Malls / Centres 🏬- Modern-Day Malls Will Look Very Different - days gone by we visited malls/shopping centres that were purpose-built and were huge. In recent times we are starting to see anything turn into a store. Will the future mall look like a church, a library or a closer to a museum? I predict it will be trialled and experienced will win out.

> Pickleball's Growth 🚀 - One of my favourite themes of 2022 is the explosion of attention given to Pickleball, it's a racket sport (explainer video) if tennis, badminton and ping-pong were all mixed together, it's decades old but is gaining huge viewership and investment from celebrities (including NFL legend Tom Brady and NBA superstar LeBron James) and brands like Fila. Why? Its easier on your body, open to be played by all ages and doubles is super popular.

> Short Attention Ownership Matters 🕺 - Why TikTok, Netflix and YouTube are fighting for the slot of boredom and then layering up to entertainment, because time slots = opportunity to serve ads and sell junk we never knew wanted.

> Wiki Wars 💣 - Wikipedia's disinformation process is fascinating. It’s not just social media with the problem it’s anywhere that we treat as a source of information (hint Google and YouTubes issues) and wikis are being targeted as so many treat them as the truth versus opinion-based editing before facts (behavioural economics call this anchoring effect)

> Billionaire Bother 😬 - The Mailchimp co-founder who sold Mailchimp to Intuit had moments of madness when onboarding new staff around his "political" beliefs and why you should change your language for a select few. It's one to read as its super sensitive and a vital learning to not voice your own opinion versus the HR opinion...

> Staying Accountable At Work 💪  - YouTube short(s) on quick tips to stay accountable at work (and Barstool sports CEO has had her fair share of public troubles within the business so helpful context)

> Why Adult Social Is Here To Stay 🤳- We are seeing a huge shift in spending and many avenues become available to creators to make money in creative ways. Something that will be an important trend to watch is how platforms like OF manage their reputation while transitioning into a modern media company. In the very near future, OF and others will be releasing reality TV (as previously mentioned TOWIE family The Simms launching their own show on OF) and a move into more traditional programming like news, however, these platform will not leave their adult roots. Why? Money, scale, it is now seen as normalcy and hope for creators, while predictable revenue for the business.

> Thread Of The Week 👇

Life Must Reads

> Santa Demand Higher Than Ever 🎅 🤶 - Santa isn't just for Christmas and is apparently in more demand than ever before. November becomes a rush to Christmas and with all of the burnout and mass struggles Christmas

> How To Outsmart A Narcissist - Advice (video) on how to outsmart a narcissist and importantly, not competing with them.

This is something I have written about a lot on focus, (removing proximity bias & why hybrid work is struggling)

I Challenge You To Share Must Reads! Email Must Reads to friends, family members and work colleagues. Hint: Copy and paste mustreads.co.uk and send via text or IM.

Have a great weekend and if you want to chat about stories just hit reply or message me on twitter!

Thanks! Danny Denhard