Friday 13th

It’s Friday the 13th, I know…

I’d recommend you go back to bed. This week has been jam-packed, cutting down to 10 must-reads was a Friday 13th nightmare TBH!

🤩 10 Must Reads 🤩

1. 🤖 No Humans Interaction Required: 🔗Pick up stores are becoming all the rage, I use the Starbucks app and it’s great and an introvert’s dream. Although just 🔗self-checkout Sainsbury’s store was flipped back with human checkouts as “not all customers are ready”.

2. 🎙 One Size Fits All? 🔗Yes, Podcasts are taking over YouTube and by YouTubers new channels no less. A smart strategy for YouTube and YouTubers to earn money from ads and leverage their audience. Google’s deliberate Podcast strategy in the search results was a clever move, this hack from YouTubers might just help advertisers and creators get partnerships without having the messy middle part. 

3. 🙋‍♀️ Marketplace Battle: 🔗How Esty and Amazon are battling it on for creators 

4. 🤯 Semi-Private: 🔗Instagram isn’t as private as you thought This is important; We place trust in platforms (I know I am ranting about the value exchange AGAIN) to protect us and our identities, unfortunately, this is a flaw that was found but is something that has been swept under the carpet. With over 4 billion (yes with a B) monthly desktop users, that is a lot of private content that could have been seen (albeit by a small savvy group of people)

5. 🚚 New Uber: 🔗Uber Freight is getting $200m investment - logistics and payments are Uber’s next move btw.  ⬇️ Marketing 😍 ⬇️

6. 💡The Drop (scarcity 101): 🔗How Fast Food leveraged the “drop” strategy I had a little celebratory nostalgic moment on Twitter this week

7. 🏃‍♀️ Experimental? Or just smart Marketing? 🔗Why brands are embracing the community model

8. ❓Brand Value? A question every brand and Marketing lead is answering ATM… 🔗Well looks like the Brandz Top 75 have one thing in common, big branded campaigns with well-executed plans King of Brands…Apple dropped an easter egg in their latest keynote launching the new flagship iPhones, spoiler 🔗Apple declared their love for their fans

9. 💪 Powerhouse: 🔗Good article into Powerhouse Margethe Vestager (aka Silicon Valleys tormentor) and how her power has increased to take on Digital companies 

10. 🚕 “Data is the new oil”: 🔗What is Uber’s secret sauce…yes their data (maybe not listening Californa law)

⬆️ This is from HBR daily emails and worth the read about brainstorming and feedback while brainstorming. Brainstorming always reminds me of this lol: 

🐧 Tweet of the week 🐧

Friend of the newsletter Ross has been tweeting some very timely posts about Modern Marketers, this gets a +1 from me 👏

🤔 Final Thought 🤔

⌨️Gaming search is something most Marketers have done and something that will continue to happen until we are replaced by robots, well, interestingly the tactic has made its way into Music and naming of songs. Think of something already popular on streaming sites, name and write a song and upload = pretty smart no? As someone who listens to a wide range of music, especially mixes (if you ever want a recommend just ping me) I rarely see it but when the new albums come out I have noticed it.

🎧It is rare that things are ever new but cycles are getting shorter, especially in gaming search, algorithms, and habits. I really enjoyed listening to Nir Eyal’s and Ryan Hoover discuss the hooked model, how addiction is or is not bad and the “regret test” is something I know many will want to apply in their roles.

📚Lastly, I wanted to recommend a book I have been listening to recently, if you have been a follower of the newsletter you will know I am a big Professor Scott Galloway fan, his book The Algebra of Happiness (check out this video he build the book from) is fantastic as is The Four.

Want to talk to me? Would like me to speak at your conference? Or have some feedback, let me know

Thanks Danny DenhardThe Obvious Disclaimer ~All views (mostly in italic) are my own, apart from if you click a link, then that’s the authors. Image credit - Medium Marker, Twitter & HBR // Gif credit - Giphy