news agencies and digital advertisers are increasingly capturing attention online through the use of images, which people process more quickly, implicitly and memorably than text.

The mass retraining of cognition + the proliferation of AI means that creative is the most powerful lever we have left as marketers.

It also means that text is moving into undervalued territory, which could mean the restart of a cycle.

This paper’s abstract also details the negative ramifications of image proliferation on gender equality. Data sets impact human algorithms too.

You are responsible for your site’s chatbot, because duh

“In effect, Air Canada suggests the chatbot is a separate legal entity that is responsible for its own actions. This is a remarkable submission. While a chatbot has an interactive component, it is still just a part of Air Canada’s website," Rivers wrote.

“It should be obvious to Air Canada that it is responsible for all the information on its website. It makes no difference whether the information comes from a static page or a chatbot.”

Chatbots aren’t magic, they’re just a new interface on your existing data.

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.