Serial Killer or Assassin?
Are you a serial killer or an assassin?
(In terms of marketing. Hopefully you’re neither in the legit sense of the words.)
Serials have a style. A formula of target, method, materials, taunting, tactics. A thing or series of things that become recognizable with time—a signature.
Assassins are the opposite. They don’t seek to stand out, they want to blend in—become invisible. Adept at a number of methods, tactics, and materials. Indifferent to their targets. (Absolutely no taunting.)
Razzle dazzle vs. camouflage
In marketing, serials are the personality-driven marketers. They are the brand, are hired to work for a brand highly aligned with their personality, or are hired to repeat previous results with a new brand (like the guy from Crocs getting hired by Stanley). Serials get work based on their signature.
Assassins are the process-driven marketers. They get work based on their flexibility and adaptability—the ability to tackle different assignments in different ways.
Cockatoos vs chameleons
One isn’t better than the other. But when you figure out which one you are, look for jobs that align.
Because you don’t send a serial to do an assassin’s job.
And you probably don’t want an assassin with flair.
Don’t spend your time trying to change to fit the situation. Spend your time finding the situation that fits you.
“Old news” but timely as we get more privacy laws & cookies crumble
Why Sephora’s $1.2 million settlement with California should be a wake-up call for companies / Marketing Brew
According to the settlement a sale is “the exchange of personal information for anything of value,” including third-party cookies and pixels
That means that businesses who share personal data but don’t want to be classified as selling that data need specific contracts with service providers agreeing to use that data very narrowly and only for the company they collected it for
More from OG journo-blogger Matt Welch:
The early readers of those early blogs had an amazing connection with all of us personally in a way that’s only been replicated—in my experience—on podcasts. Because it hits you different in the ears.
2024: the year of audio
research has shown that audio ads outperform video ads in grabbing attention and generating brand recall
The ears hit different, especially in a time of visual overstimulation.
via ExchangeWire
Trying to decide on a color this year?
Pinterest has identified five key color palettes that will resonate with audiences this year:
- Gummy Pink
- Desert Orange
- Aqua Blue
- Moss Green
- Mocha Brown
OG journo-blogger Matt Welch on legacy media, like the Village Voice & LA Times:
Never could adapt to the new reality. It’s a success curse.
When you’re making that much money, you’re that powerful, the people who work for you—including yourselves—are not going to solve the industry once the industry turns and changes.
This is not just a media problem.
Same could be said of Google right now.
How do you change when the change threatens your business model?
Walmart is in talks to acquire Vizio, which sells a popular line of value-priced smart TVs that include an ad-supported free streaming service
which
could make Walmart a significant player in the connected-TV advertising business, competing with the likes of Roku, Amazon and Google/YouTube
via Variety
When users say “platform,” we mean software (increasingly cloud-based).
When platforms say “platform,” they mean hardware.
Every major ad platform wants a hardware platform of their own. For that sweet, sweet first-party data & to not be beholden to someone else (especially a competitor).
I’ve been waiting for TikTok’s fall, but didn’t see them being their own worst enemy
TikTok’s aggressive growth tactics are upsetting partners, creators, and everyday users
If TikTok no longer offers a stream of fun, serendipitous videos and instead becomes a social-media version of the Home Shopping Network, users may jump ship
…
“The For You used to seem uncanny in how it would serve up content perfectly tailored to me. Now it feels like the algorithm is less a diagnostic tool of my soul and instead is assessing me as a potential consumer.”
TikTok said the quiet part out loud