TRENDS - They matter as much as they don't. For you that is...
Most are bluster, becoming yesterday's news. Others endure. From Artificial Intelligence to unethical clients. Let's review some recent industry articles I added and ask ourselves some real questions.
Excuse the tardiness of this monthly; I have been cramming in talks, lectures (hello new subscribers from there), projects and bulky client asks as well as heading to Canada next week for the first time (Vancouver/Whistler recommendations if you have any, especially related to food and apparently their excellent craft beer scene!), then moving into a new place early November. So as months go, it’s one of those ‘Jenga’ calendars at the moment and with it, less time to think, let alone write cogently!
But I have done a couple of non Front of Mind pieces for the marketing industry, so makes sense to reshare and discuss them here, given the relevance of them combined with my current mental finitude.
I want to take a moment to talk about the thing I don’t typically love to talk about, given its adoption by grifters, which has rendered any new trend as a cry-wolf moment. That said, an Oxford dictionary defection of a trend reads as : a general direction in which something is developing or changing.
I like this; what it basically reads is that if something is a trend, it is likely something to impact the status quo and the future and needs our consideration. The danger and irritation therefore, is the need to decipher the ones that will mean change and the mere fancy, shiny new toys touted on the annual trends report. I have found a couple of endurance that I have felt compelled to write about…
#1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)- the singularly most annoying of the lot
Call an engineer immediately and ask them to fix this broken record, it is far from the first time that I have touched on this subject, the antagonist to the fundamentals good guy, but there’s the oftentimes question of what is anew and relevant trend, and what is mere bluster and a ‘trend’ to jump on and swiftly off, if not at all?
Sometimes, like this ‘ere World Wide Web that this Tim Berners-Lee chap coined, the longer burn, iterating (not irritating, but actually) pervasive developments and innovations hold greater weight than a pixelated chimpanzee pic which dominated the 2021 Crypto-bro conjecture, compounded by Zuckerburg’s tepid attempts at creating a Metaverse with graphics akin to my Sega Mega Drive in 1995.
AI is one of those. Through its evolution that has been happening for years, it is just more visible now given ChatGPT and its Generative tool buddies (see the article cover photo, that highly accurate portrayal of me as some kind of Manga villain).
Anyway - I want you to click out and read this post on NewDigitalAge here (if you wish - it will add context I assure you):
Yes AI is ‘taking over’, but what does it mean to real people?
Then - Question(s) to ask yourself : At what point do I identify a flash in the pan fad as a real consideration for my marketing? Is it based on duration of noise? Is it groundswell from my clients or network? What rules am I going to set myself in its branding/adoption of the trend?
Per the NDA article, once we know something is here to stay, it is good to think about the language and how it is positioned, as many of your audience you are marketing to don’t love change as much as you do, but if the change is positive for both business and customer outcomes, fill your boots.
#2. Tricky clients that are bad for us, the world and (maybe) your work.
This is another trend that is justifiably here to stay; considerations of which clients we work with and which ones need societally stifling. We only get one planet so these kind of clients will always be tricky. Havas, the global agency network and their media shop got a lot of heat over their winning of the Shell global media account, one of the premier fossil fuel extractors and sellers, and for no doubt significant profit. Of course it is far from ideal given the nature of the business, and with recent B-Corp certification they have in the main fucked that particular optic. But at the same time there are things out of our personal control, things that the market conditions dictate, and it seems the big advertising players all have their fingers burnt in moral quandaries on what is a ‘good’ client :
Finger pointing over bad brands... who are we kidding?
The above for The Media Leader. has sparked some interesting conversation, but the intention is not to support the business practices, more to shine a light on agency practices, revenue and adoption, and oftentimes the virtual signaling hypocrisy. E.g. an agency turning down Shell may not be for altruistic reasons, it may be because they have BP / Exxon already and it means client conflict etc. Be mindful of the industry bluster.
But anyway back to you. Question(s) to ask yourself- it is not the debate whether agencies should work with fossil fuels business, but thinking to your own world. Whether you are a student plotting your career path, an agency leader planning the new business run, a suit or planner jarred by the account they handle, a freelancer or marketing consultant with a moral dilemma for a new project, or a client side marketeer reconciling your own day job, ask yourself how does your work make me feel? Does the outcomes of my marketing (invariably more people using/buying said thing) mean a better world? Do I see the good in what I do? What are my red lines?
Quick aside - I personally don’t buy into the utopian 4-way Venn Diagram of Ikigai (not in a work setting anyway, holistic life wise I don’t mind it) where your actualised self comes together where you enjoy making money with mission and joy etc, nor do I enjoy the ‘love what you do and you will never work a day in your life’ brigade. It feels like the ‘Live Laugh Love’ of business. Yes of course, you must take pride and joy in your work, hell it is you living with that for a lot of your waking life, and I would say I 70% love my business and my work. There is no perfect job. It is a job after all, and it should not define you. You need mental boundaries too, whatever works for you. This utopian attitude invariably comes from a place of privilege, but most people in the real world have to do what they have to do to feed themselves, their family and increasingly it seems, their mortgage and utilities providers in what seems like a real-world fiscal squeeze (something to consider in your marketing, more on this next time maybe).
For example, I love Heathrow Airport, actually airports in general, no doubt stemming from my love of travel and flying to see my Grandad in Iowa as a teenager on my own. Planes. Aircraft, Fascinating people. Charming cabin crew. Nice wine in lounges and restaurants. The joyous abandon post-security. The smell of fine aftershave at Duty Free. Takeoff. But if I worked there would I love it? Dealing with stressed travellers on cancelled flights, or loading luggage on to 787s? Probably not. I like that I have a passion that is not directly related to what I do on my laptop for the majority of the week. I travel and work too and often blur the lines, but that is a separate issue entirely!
The point of the ikigai/passion aside there; work is deeply personal and you have to find what works for you. You may want it to be your identity. It may just be a means to an end. But as a marketeer you cannot help but be emotionally invested at times, and will want to affect change and impact the growth of your interests, client or campaign. Take pride in your work but remember nothing is permanent. Enjoy it.
This is where I usually insert a philosophical quote from one of the Stoics, but there are way too many, and none pithy enough for this point. But a key virtue is to focus on your own discipline, or temperance. Consistent focus on your own lot. Controlling the externals is not your prerogative, but a nice to have. All you can really control is living accordant with your own nature, showing up to your role, and doing the right thing.
CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
6 months ago, I made some notes in Front of Mind about the Blockchain and the NFTs in my monthly below:
I reviewed the recent years of ebbs and flows in the industry, and like I said then, AI is the one that is here to stay and has longer lasting effects. In true Stoic form, we must accept the world’s change and learn to make it sit alongside us, brand it better, and work out how to make it work and take away some mundane stuff to free up the real coup in the marketing team, you!
Understanding the world in flux and the more permanent trends of AI, as well as a world better connected, and therefore more conscious of corporate ills as ever, you must use this to your advantage. The realities is that the world is on fire; AI is delivering at alarming rates whilst the world invest relatively little interest in the transformation from fossil fuel consumption, that said political and huge commercial powers are no doubt stymieing progress.
But, as little old you & I think about this this Saturday afternoon, think what impact you can have. Ask yourself those questions. What works for me? What can I impact? Your adoption of tools and your marketing of certain clients has impacts. How does that sit for me?
I’m now asking myself the question, why am I on my laptop on a Saturday? Ok checking/sending and laptop off. That is in my control.
SA
Footnote : I now have some (glad to say rare) time coming up in Mid November for some workshops and check-in sessions, or simply to offer a marketing health-check. If you want one, or something more serious, give me a shout or reply.
P.P.S. I really hope you are getting a semblance of value out of this. If so, and you think any other marketer or business owner would, feel free to share/forward this to them. Also, follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or even my company page. If you want to discuss working together, or simply something I’ve said, drop me a line. Thanks and happy reading/marketing!