104: Worldwide extremism on IG, early-stage branding advice, ModernCX recap + rant, and table lighters!
Hello again, friends. It's been a busy month of travel to exciting conferences with even more exciting acronyms like MDX, SXSW, Oracle ModernCX, and next week... Adobe/Marketo Summit. (Can't quite figure out how to acronym that one.)
I've missed you, but have so much to share:
1. "When I speak, he shall be nameless"
2. Happy [belated] International Women's Marketing Gimmick Day!
3. One recap, one rant, both re: Oracle ModernCX 2019
4. Table lighters, trombones, and twins - new podcast
5. IG + Facebook are enabling worldwide extremism
6. Early stage branding advice
7. Quote of the week
1. "When I speak, he shall be nameless"
Reuters -- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand made this statement in a speech following the Christchurch mosque mass shooting.
“He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing. Not even his name.”
This is integrity, and this is how you prevent a killer from becoming a martyr - by cutting off his message and refusing to say his name.
"Ardern, who has been widely praised for her compassionate and decisive handling of the tragedy, said she never anticipated having to voice the grief of a nation."
Leadership and grace under unimaginable pressure.
2. Happy [belated] International Women's Marketing Gimmick Day!
Check out my NEW site dedicated to the art of calling BS on faux-feminism, aptly located at www.fauxfeminism.com and featuring a newly designed spectrum by which to gauge campaigns.
Big thanks to Samuel Scott for featuring my POV on faux-feminism in his Drum column this year! He did some serious journalistic legwork to get in touch with many of the brands I call out for their use of feminism in marketing (and the lack of it within their organizations.)
The piece got pickup from the likes of Cindy Gallop.
(Yes, I fangirled. Yes, I will print that Tweet out and frame it.)
My POV was also featured on The Newsworthy podcast (a daily 10 minute podcast), Second Wind, and has gone international with this coverage in PuroMarketing.
This issue is too important to continue to ignore. Thanks to all who help me elevate this message by covering it, booking me to speak on it, and sharing my content. Appreciate you.
3. One recap, one rant, both re: Oracle ModernCX 2019
This week I wrote a recap piece detailing 3 takeaways and action-items following this year's ModernCX event. Read that here.
I also found myself on a bit of a rant in a new piece "Why Oracle ModernCX Had a Troll (Temporarily)"
PS: If you're a B2B marketer, would you take this quick 7 minute survey about content from Oracle Marketing Cloud? You could win Starbucks. Like, free coffee. FREE COFFEE.
OK I've triggered every corporate spam filter but it's totally worth it.
4. Table lighters, trombones, and twins - new podcast
Kerry O'Shea Gorgone and Katie Robbert have a new podcast called "Punching Out" in which they talk with some fabulous people about what we do off the clock.
In my episode (32 mins) we talk about my collection of vintage table lighters, my twin sister, my history in marching band (sigh) and much more.
5. IG + Facebook are enabling worldwide extremism
As marketers gather for the annual industry conference, Social Media Marketing Week, I'm eyeballs deep in shocking articles about the impact that social platforms are having on promoting extremist ideology.
For example, read this Atlantic article about Instagram shared with me by Nandini Jammi -- who wisely points out that us advertisers are footing the bill for this kind of behavior.
Instagram is teeming with ... conspiracy theories, viral misinformation, and extremist memes, all daisy-chained together via a network of accounts with incredible algorithmic reach and millions of collective followers—many of whom... are very young. These accounts intersperse TikTok videos and nostalgia memes with anti-vaccination rhetoric, conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Clinton family, and jokes about killing women, Jews, Muslims, and liberals.
We know this is happening on Twitter and Facebook (according to NYTimes, already, the top two most-shared news stories on Facebook in 2019 are both false) but Insta's audience is predominantly younger. I hadn't realized the extent of this extremism recruitment on this platform. I hate to say, I am not surprised.
Another piece, via PRI, indicates "the trolls are winning."
The underlying catalyst IMO is the way content is incentivized on these platforms. Via Chris Penn live-tweeting from Social Media Marketing World 2019:
"Optimized for misery" -- both a perfect emo band name for 2005, and a terrifying reality of our modern social technology.
6. Early stage branding advice
Many firms I work with are early in their branding journey. But, it's often undervalued, or over-simplified. Check out this solid advice for early-stage firms in Kim Donlan's new article:
Often, you think, “We’ll figure out the branding later—all I need is a landing page,” or “We’re in stealth mode, so I can’t publicly share what we really do,” or the truly dangerous “We can just use a template for now.” The problem with this thinking is that it prevents you from addressing the fundamental questions that define your brand and, more importantly, keeps you from communicating why your early adopters should trust you.
She shares key discovery questions for brand identity:
What is the impetus of your idea?
Who are you?
Can you succinctly describe your products or services?
What kind of organization or business model are you?
Where you are in the marketplace, and where you would like to go?
How do you currently market your products and services?
What is your competitive advantage?
Are there any trends or changes that are affecting your industry?
Are there any potential barriers to success for your product or service?
Where do you want to be in three years?
If you could communicate one single message about your company, what would it be?
7. Quote of the week
“You’ve reaped the benefit but not the responsibility of owning the platform.”
- Journalist Kara Swisher in conversation with Susan Wojcicki of YouTube in an interview on her podcast, Recode.
Have a great weekend, and thanks for being here.
Katie Martell
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter
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Event calendar:
Looking forward to the Marketing Nation Summit, now part of Adobe Summit, next week in Vegas. I'm an Adobe Insider! Join me with code S19SMPC to save $200 on registration or sign up to watch the live keynotes here.
PLAY 2019 from Brightcove is May 14th-16th, 2019. Let's talk video and how it moves buyers from apathy to action. Join us in Boston?
The 2019 Pharmacy Marketing and Sales Summit from RxInsider is April 10-12 in Providence, RI.
I'll be speaking at the Society for Marketing Professional Services Boston bootcamp April 23rd.
San Diego, here we come, for ConquerLocal 2019 - an event from Vendasta, June 10-12.
Save the date, I'm speaking at Content Marketing World, September 3-6 in Cleveland.
>> Book me to speak <<