STRAT_LAPS version 172

CODED MEDIA CONTROL PALOOZA

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WHOOOOO lots happening to close out the year am I right?

First, some news:

I opened up the substack subscriber chat option. The plan is this will be a place for me to dump things that may or may not make it into the newsletter (the SCRAP_POTENTIAL pile) as well as a place where subscribers* can react to what is shared, share their own material, chat etc.

There’s that asterisk for a reason though. This is going to be something I keep closed to paid subscribers.

I thought a lot about this. When I started STRAT_SCRAPS the core of it was providing access to info that otherwise required people spend money. And I promised that stratscraps would always be free. And it will. But I also want to offer more than a substack newsletter. Things like printed goods (see below) and more original resources (like being able to take the time to keep making progress on “So You Want To Do Some Strategy”)

And these things take time and up front costs.

Many of you have been super generous with contributions via buymeacoffee. And many of you actually pay for this newsletter despite the content being the exact same as what free subscribers see.

Well, now paid subscribers will have access to a place to chat with one another, see the weekly “directors cut” of newsletter material – and have a space to more discreetly ask for torrented books.

Yuck I hate doing this kind of self promo stuff. Appreciate everyone who does subscribe, it means more than you know.

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𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

Two notes I took this week re; working with AI;

1. When using AI in your work, just make sure it’s never the first or last thing to have input on the outcome. there is immense value in facing a blank page alone as a human and if you don’t have anything of value to add after AI has spit out the output, you should be worried about your job.

2. Ever since AI generation of images became accessible, there are SO MANY more google results for "Monkey in office"

   

   This series of gifs was shot in 2003, and were used (by me) in everything up until ~2018. They were my favorite reference for arguing in favor of producing absurd content as a brand. the Longevity! Now any joker can make a picture of a monkey doing monkey business …

𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

A WHILE BACK, I TALKED ABOUT THE GROWING DIVIDE BETWEEN CRITICS AND AUDIENCES. (initially here, then again as an “i told you so” here

But I had a realization the other day while listening to “On the Media¹”

Similar to the growing divide between movie critics and audiences– there is also a growing divide between media and the masses. Several reasons why this could be. Primarily because media is a privatized industry and the industry and the interests of the media owners are not the same as a real person. Also because people will almost always be unhappy with the status quo and legacy media has found itself in the position of defending the status quo.²

WHICH LEADS ME TO THE ONLY THING I’LL SAY ABOUT THE WHOLE UHC ASSASSINATION / LUIGI MANGIONE THING.

~𝒬𝒰ℐ𝒞𝒦 𝒜𝒮ℐ𝒟ℰ~

ok, how many cultural trend reports have you seen in the last, oh lets say 4 years? How many slides have you personally worked on about “consumer culture” ??

Did ANY of it talk about it, in our work as strategists, in a way that in retrospect captured “the vibes?”

I worked on a project this year where the consumer insight section originally opened with “THE VIBES ARE NOT GOOD. PEOPLE ARE TOO ANGRY TO HAVE FUN”

that got sanitized down to this at the clients request;

The UHC guy getting whacked didn’t really surprise many people and a seeming majority of the internet (politicians excluded) had very little sympathy.

Did anyone’s trend report predict a surge in sales of the Unabomber Manifesto??

This is why I don’t like including “culture” insights³ in my work. Unless I’m allowed to say something negative. Because culturally, things are currently pretty bleak.⁴

ok /rant. I’ve always maintained that this newsletter was more about giving me a place to vent than anything…

𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

from a super interesting read: Studying Yourself

𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

𝔐𝔒ℜ𝔈 𝔗ℌℑ𝔊𝔖

Rule of n: when you are in a group of n people, try to speak 1/nth of the time.

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𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

During David Ogilvy’s day, the average creative completed three ads per year. Today, the average creative completes between 200-300 ads per year.

𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

I love this. My guess is someone got sick of giving directions and said “there should really be a sign” — You can always take things into your own hands.

𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓝𝓔𝓧𝓣 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

Recently Finished vol one of The Art of Gig, by Vankatesh Rao, (substack: Contraptions). Highly recommend anyone starting their freelance/consultant journey.

I found these two frameworks especially valuable:

This is one of those independently published books that I will not be torrenting for anyone, but you can buy it here.

yet another 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖

And one final book content snap, from a book about business models I borrowed from my brother.

If you work in strategy, understanding this kind of stuff is just as, if not more important than understanding trends or contemporary culture.

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WEEKLY MONSTER

Sometimes the simple little creations are the best.

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Got hopefully quite a few fun new things in the works for January’s “New Years Newsletter”.

In the meantime, here are the first emails of the year for the past 4 years (woah)

STRATSCRAPS_v140

STRATSCRAPS_v94

STRAT_SCRAPS v56

STRATSCRAPS

1. I can’t say those words without my brain saying “and I’m Brooke Gladstone…”

2. this is a whole thing. a very debatable topic that top policy experts and advisors are divided on, and I am not gonna attempt to unpack. If you need to, you can reach out directly.

3. I dont even want to get started on that word

4. (here’s a good run down of how we ended up here…)