Must Reads 252

Good Morning Must Readers, Newsletter 252 includes: 

• How to improve work and engage colleagues (in a non forceful way)

• When big companies make big strategic bets they know they have to prove they are suitable for long-term success

• Can exposure as a payment work outside of the Super Bowl... hint no

• 14-years of author struggles and then BANG their daughter promotes on social & pushes to 1 number book in 🇺🇸

• How MSCHF got the big red boots viral (hint silly stunt & continuous paying for mass exposure until critical mass)

>> Time For Company Values ⭐️- The biggest issue in most companies is being able to know what is good behaviours, what is rewarded behaviours and what should I look towards when you are a little unsure, the answer usually values, and here are ways to roll those out.

>> How To Engage Your Team & Company Culture 🙌  - 4 ways you can address being disengaged and disconnected at work. Alongside addressing the essential element that's been ignored recently, especially with layoffs, company culture. 

>> How Spotify's Big Bet Podcast Went Wrong 🎧  - As you know I am a huge podcast fan and had two, both were great experiences but provided numerous challenges. Spotify also saw the behaviour in my beloved format and invested hundreds of millions of dollars into podcast whereas Apple didn't see it as a viable option. Spotify went for their user's time as podcasts tend to be long and you can then insert more ads, what they didn't realise was although building podcast infrastructure was essential it couldn't drive mass adoption and struggled to hit internal goals. Even investing in celebrity deals hit numerous speed bumps, as they lost audience and didn't have the production value needed to build mass advocacy. This newsletter link is a great unpacking of how Spotify's big bet struggled. 

>> New Amazon Or Staganted Amazon? 🚚- (Potential paywall $) This is a great piece on reviewing Andy Jassy's first year in charge and what state Amazon is actually in. Amazon had to secure a $8b loan earlier this year and was hit hard by strategic missteps when they expanded in pandemic, when human behaviour reset and demand for in-person experiences shot up, Amazon couldn't reset. My quick take: Amazon will be fine and will grow in dominance in ads, entertainment and in online shopping, it will find another way to leverage its powerhouse logistics and drive more value to its prime consumers via better prime experiences (aka what I call prime expectations) and deliver quickly, have the best returns and offer even more sports and better quality entertainment for free to spin its famous flywheel even quicker. Look at the app stores, and see how many of their individual apps like Prime Video. Prime Music and Amazon apps are always at the top of the app download charts. 

>> The Virl Hits - The story behind those viral Big Red Boots is pretty straightforward - MSCHF paid for numerous partnerships, to gain big exposure opportunities at large sporting and awards events and simply paid for social seeding and then catches on and they stop having to pay...simple formula works 

>> When Payment In Exposure Works 🇺🇸  - The super bowl was popular in last week's newsletter, so I wanted to share why the acts aren't paid by the NFL to perform, even when ads go for $7m per slot. Exposure is a crappy way of getting "paid", there is a but, but in music and entertainment this is the pinnacle of most careers and the opportunity to drive streams, concert tickets and follow-up merch sales is unquestionable.  

>> Marathon Isn't Enough? 🏃‍♂️  - Having worked in the charity space for five years it's kinda crazy to think a marathon is not enough for people to compete in now and event organisers are adding more complexity or longer distances to make it appealing or more challenging. Smart in the short term, but short-sighted in the long term. These extra-human achievements are being pushed more and demands for more isn't helping the charity space - the share of available wallet is something so many forget, there are only so many people able to donate and support friends, family and colleagues in these good endeavours.

>> It's Friday - Rebecca Black Unmeme-ifying Herself 🎵- I have to be honest when I read this I felt sorry for every person who has become a meme. Rebecca Black Friday (link to song) was 12 years ago and she felt it was time to step up, release music again (good on her) and challenge all those doubters. Props to her!

>> 14 Years Struggling & Then Best Seller 📖  

>> ⏯️ Interesting Take For Those Who Are On Dating Apps 

>> Adults Without Children Now Normalised? 🍼 - Are you someone who has not had children yet or does not want children? It is a challenge to break cultural norms but there are signs that adults who do not want to have children is becoming accepted and rightly so. Despite the ongoing fears of large population decreasing (and the economic issues this will bring) it is positive to see the normalisation (& some celebration) of child-free adults. 

>> The Happiness Professor Beating Her Own Burnout 🔥 - I have shared & interviewed how important burnout prevention is and how to rethink what burnout is, you have to fight it constantly not just when you feel burnout, this is an interesting read about how the happiness professor Laurie is re-wiring herself to fight burnout and become happier. 

>> People Living In Planes ✈️ - In one of my favourite recent stories, this story is about people who choose to live in a plane, even converting old 727's into a 3-bed home. Would you like in a plane? Me neither, however, it's a fascinating insight into how we are all engineered differently 

Thanks and have a great weekend. Remember subscribers can hit reply to each newsletter to chat through any stories or theme they'd like me to discuss hit subscribe below 

Danny Denhard