This highlights the difference between “creative” as a noun and “creative” as an adjective.
A creative piece of creative stands out in a sea of uncreative pieces of creative.
via Edward Cotton
It’s no so much the tariffs themselves (though they’re certainly not helping, especially for anyone relying on goods from China), but the uncertainty about what, when, and how much that is wreaking havoc on planning right now.
Some large companies are refusing to even give guidance in earnings reports because it’s a fool’s errand.
The supply chain signals are clear though:
the CEOs of Target, Walmart, and Home Depot convened with the president to warn that supply chain disruptions caused by tariffs will lead to notable product shortages in their stores within just a couple of weeks
Freight company HLS Group told clients earlier this month that it has already recorded 80 cancelled vessels out of China as tariffs crunch demand
Here’s how the DOJ & friends want Google to break up its search monopoly:
- No more paying for default status (this was the obvious ask)
- Get rid of Chrome
- Open source the data—queries, coverage, performance, etc
If it’s still a monopoly in 5 years, Android could be on the chopping block.
The advertising remedies are kind of weird…
- Provide more information to advertisers in search query reports
- Let advertisers opt out of broad and automated keyword matching.
On the first one, sure, whatever.
But on the second, feels like advertisers refusing to change and wanting their old toys back.
Have a podcast and not seeing much growth?
Try these tips from Grow the Show:
Completion rate < 65-75%?
Keep tinkering with your intros and your content and the promise that each episode makes
Downloads stalled?
Keep tinkering with your promotion efforts
Experiment with post formats and styles
YouTube views < 💯?
You need to change your titles and thumbnails
The behavior change Manton outlines here is one I find myself mirroring
I’m now asking AI for simple queries that Google would be equally good for. Using AI essentially automates the workflow of getting 10 links from Google, clicking on 3-4 of them, then skimming the web pages to get your answer.
Getting links in the response plays a part for me.
I imagine this will become more common.
The point isn’t going viral. Unless your business is monetizing the hamster wheel.
As Gabe the Bass Player says:
But the point isn’t to just attract a crowd.
We want to attract a crowd doing our specific thing.
We want a crowd that is attracted to what we do.
We want what we do to serve the expectations wrapped up in that attraction.
Attention is a means, not an end.
Indexing on attention leads to clickbait, which is the act of breaking the promise of expectation.
Never a good move for a business.
Social media is a discovery > demand creation channel. In a fragmented QVC / infomercial kind of way.
It’s about educating people on your product / service, sharing what other people say about it, and building your community.
To turn social discovery into sales, marketers should focus on authentic, useful content—think creator reviews, demos, and clear product info. Pair that with well-timed discounts and engaging video formats to nudge shoppers from interest to action.
Post the content that builds the reputation you want to have.
via EMARKETER
Good marketing happens when the narrative a brand tells about itself aligns with the narrative customer is telling themselves.
Typically this occurs in the realm of identity, but local / locally rooted businesses cultivate a sense of ownership and pride amongst the locals. Meaning local conditions impact narrative overlap.
This is a perfect illustration.
Rodney Brooks predicts a potential future for genAI
LLMs that can explain which data led to what outputs will be key to non annoying/dangerous/stupid deployments. They will be surrounded by lots of mechanism to keep them boxed in, and those mechanisms, not yet invented for most applications, will be where the arms races occur.
This seems the sensible requirement for truly broad adoption and use across industries and situations.
The current ecosystem is more accelerator than substitute.