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👋 Hey, Must Readers! I trust you had a good week.

This week’s Must Reads Newsletter has 11 must-read stories & a microblog about why cost, convenience and control is key to winning over people and the press.

Like Must Reads? Hit share or copy and paste mustreads.co.uk to share the knowledge with your colleagues. Hint send to your Department’s Slack / Teams as this works best.

Must Read Articles Of The Week

1. 11 Simple Tips To Improve Your Company Culture 👏 Here are 11 super simple tips to improve your company culture, whatever your size - Read the full 11 » Pair with how to get your company performing like an F1 pit team

2. Is There Ever The Perfect Time For Pitching That BIG Idea? 👁 Rightly or wrongly we either wait for the perfect moment, or we pitch an idea before it’s ready (or someone steals it 😠). So when’s right? - Read the full article

3. Why The Rock Is Letting His Guard Down 💪 The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest film stars in the world and is commonly the highest-paid actor but used to be known to be guarded. It’s been incredible to see his transformation and opening up about mental health struggles and developing businesses in the open. I’d love to take him for coffee and just chat - Read the full article

4. YouTube’s Commerical Power? 💲YouTube has incredible power as a content engine, however, what many discounted is the power it would have in the second and third-order. YouTube consumer spending is high, competing against paid-for services. This is unsurprising however understanding why YouTube is offering partnerships, more merch, more premium content is key to recognising their long term partner + content plan - Read the full article

5. WTAF is an NFT? 😏 You would have heard about them, you likely have a friend who doesn’t shut up about them but doesn’t quite get them..Alex Moss helps to break down NFT’s, the use cases and why you have likely purchases one already - Read the full article - 🎧Or listen as a podcast

6. Netflix’s Choice Engine Is Key To Its Success 🎚Netflix’s secret sauce is being able to make shows pop from your home screens to word-of-mouth recommendations (Squid Games, Bridgerton, Money Heist) however, Netflix’s under the hood choice architecture is really key to helping subscribers to understand the value of their sub and not wanting to unsubscribe. - Read the full article FWIW price is rarely a solo choice driver, the predicted value is the driver 9/10.  

7. Cities Underground? 🕋This might be a surprise to some but building cities underground and underwater is always up for discussion but with the limited space in some dense areas, should we look to build downwards? - Read the full article

8. Math(s) New Teaching Methods? 🟠⚫️Here is probably an unexpected story, a maths teacher has taken to a popular adult networking site to teach maths, his reasoning there is a large audience there. Who says teachers don’t think about their audience and knowing them best - Read the full article

9. Can Pepsi & Coke Make Real Headways In Alcohol? 🍻 FMCG mega brands Coca Cola and Pepsico have expanded their ranges into alcohol in the last 18 months and by all accounts have done well and grown the categories, the question now is: Can these huge brands go from the partner ‘mixer’ brand to industry leaders? Booze is a huge market why wouldn’t these large brands take on the global industry with their innovation (spinning up their engine is easy for these firms) and apply purchasing (& brand) power? - Read the full article  

10. Ear Piercing Disruption 👂 I love disruption and rethinking how it’s always been done, here’s a good read on how brands are rethinking moving the needle and creating a great experience vs just pop in and get the job done - Read the full article

11. Christmas Treat Trend 🤶 🎅 🎄 Xmas is just around the corner and the move to self-care and Xmas treats is positively spiking and rightly so! Two of the most popular trends is investing in 12 or 25-day luxury calendars you open (here are the best luxury advent calendars) and over the last 2 years: men are now buying dedicated beauty advent calendars from the likes of Net A Porter, Mankind & Next (here is the pick of the best Men’s advent calendars).

Lastly, here👇 is a good breakdown of how to rethink your “addiction to your phone”

Tweet Of The Week

Microblog: Cost, Convenience or Control?

Tesco’s (🇬🇧’s largest supermarket chain) announced their version of cashier-less stores (AKA frictionless stores) called getgo. Co-Op is trailing app-based cashier-less purchases alongside Amazon has six stores in London and many in the US and has led to a lot of press and applause from social media.

One of the biggest elements is whether this is down to the 3c’s of future-leaning tech. Cost (cost of the tech vs cost of headcount), Convenience (is it better for the customers and better use of space) or is it Control (controlling the narrative and showing investors you are showing the future and understanding how you will control the future shopping experiences).

When you are looking to shape the future and with product launches or trials like this, shape the future with the 3c’s and help the press understand the vision, the customers understanding the pain and problem it is solving and like Amazon and Tesco’s have done always show an employee in and around marketing it.

Always question have you stepped too far away from solving your customer problems?

Thanks for reading today.

If you like to discuss any articles, have questions or an article recommendation, I’m always free for Must Readers - just hit reply.

Until next week’s Must Reads, go well.

Danny Denhard