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👋 Hello!
The second edition of Trending in Marketing received almost double the number of views than the first.
Thank you for reading and let’s see if we can keep this momentum going!
To Read + Watch
1.
🏡
Working from home means you can attend that 9am Zoom call with your pyjamas pants on.
It also means your inbox has been overwhelmed with cringe-filled marketing campaigns where brands want you to know they somehow ‘get’ your WFH struggle.
Apple’s attempt at a WFH TV advertisement has received mixed reviews.
How to avoid the cringe? Be authentic.
No one is forcing you to talk about COVID. So, if it doesn’t make sense for your brand, keep talking about the stuff your audience expects you to talk about.
It could be a welcome distraction.
2.
🤖
GPT-3 is a neural-network-powered language model. What does this have to do with marketing? Everything.
This is the latest development in machine learning and the practical applications are mind-blowing.
GPT-3 can:
code
look up data
answer questions
write copy
have human-sounding conversations
GPT-3 is only going to get smarter from here. For marketers, I can see it being extremely valuable for large scale automated multi-variate testing.
Read: OpenAI’s new GPT-3 language explained in under 3 minutes
3.
⏰
I’ve been dipping in and out of this book and it’s always thought-provoking.
It doesn’t take much effort to be remarkable.
Those who are remembered take advantage of key ‘moments’.
Think about your first day at a new job. Or walking into your favourite cafe. Or meeting your life partner for the first time.
How do those moment define all the moments that were to follow?
The Heath brothers explain that these moments are too important to be left to chance.
Read: The Power of Moments
To Follow
Val Geisler is a master of email marketing.
She focuses on the tech space, though her common sense tips are applicable to every industry.
Shopify says email marketing is the top driver of online conversion - with a massive $38 return on every $1 invested.
TLDR: follow Val.
Challenge
We have such high hopes for our favourite brands.
Apple. Tesla. Nike. Disney.
We queue up for hours in the rain for the latest release.
We follow and like. every. single. thing. they. do.
And then they let us down.
The truth is, brands lose their way.
Marketers make mistakes.
Brands are not human. Marketing agencies and branding teams are often very removed from reality.
So - how do we counter this?
We need more human.
Cut out the middle man or women.
Speak directly to your audience. Stop pretending. Stop polishing.
Stop faking it. That age is over.
Open your iPhone camera, press record, and hit SEND.
Pick up the phone and talk.
Be you - don’t be your brand.
What does this change for you? Please let me know here in the comments or on twitter.
This is marketing.
Talk soon,
Sean Blake
P.S. The Top 100