#135: Refuting "the illusion of separateness," how the virus changed the way we internet, impact on marketing services, and the 2012 tech comeback
This is all of us:
How are you doing?
Here's what I read this week and found helpful:
1. Digital experiences in an age of COVID
2. How Coronavirus will change the world of commerce.
3. Marketing services most impacted by Coronavirus
4. Refuting "the illusion of separateness"
5. The virus changed the way we internet
6. Why am I sharing Steak-umm's advice for misinformation?
7. Quote of the week: having another moment
1. Digital experiences in an age of COVID
This week I had the chance to interview five perspectives about what digital customer experience means in the age of social distancing. Peruse them on-demand below (names are links to our full LinkedIn videos.)
“A remarkable digital experience is effortless, intuitive, frictionless and satisfying.” - Shane Phair
“We need to step back from our expectations of how businesses is done normally…” - Kate O'Neill
“A great digital experience is a simple digital experience. Creating simplicity out of chaos is actually quite complicated.” - TJ Gamble
“Many brands think they have a great digital experience, but they have never sat on the other side of a laptop or a mobile device and gone through that exact experience.” - Carla Johnson
“Put a lot of compassion and care into brand building. Don’t worry about things being perfect, digitally. Worry about doing the right thing, right now.” - Jeff Barrett
This summit was brought together by Decibel. (Thank you!)
2. How Coronavirus will change the world of commerce.
According to The Economist (login required but free and highly recommended):
With countries in lockdown accounting for over 50% of global GDP, the collapse in commercial activity is far more severe than in previous recessions. The crisis and the response to it are accelerating three trends:
an energising adoption of new technologies
an inevitable retreat from freewheeling global supply chains and
a worrying rise in well-connected oligopolies.
The author paints a dire - but refreshingly realistic - portrait of what's to come, despite our industry's best efforts at rah rah cheerleading. They also remind us that adaptation is everything:
Ingenuity, not just financial muscle, will become a source of advantage, allowing cleverer firms to operate closer to full speed. That means reconfiguring factory lines for physical distancing, remote monitoring and deep cleans. Consumer-facing firms will need to reassure customers: imagine conferences handing out n95 masks with the programme, and restaurants advertising their testing regimes.
3. Marketing services most impacted by Coronavirus
Andy Crestodina's study reveals how marketing budgets are being reallocated.
Media buying? Severely impacted. PR and comms? Doing well.
The impact of the virus on marketing services differs by client type, of course. B2B is less impacted while many B2C clients are "near total disaster."
Full study here - great insight Andy / AMI and thank you!
4. Refuting "the illusion of separateness"
Via Maria Popova's must-read newsletter, Brain Pickings, quoting Pablo Neruda:
Our original guiding stars are struggle and hope. But there is no such thing as a lone struggle, no such thing as a lone hope. In every human being are combined the most distant epochs, passivity, mistakes, sufferings, the pressing urgencies of our own time, the pace of history.
Read this edition.
5. The virus changed the way we internet
NYTimes has a glimpse of how our internet usage has changed while we are at home.
Look at the decline of ESPN.com traffic compared to the rise of Twitch.tv and TikTok:
Full article.
6. Why am I sharing Steak-umm's advice for misinformation?
This is such good POV from such a weird place. A sliced steak frozen food Twitter account?
And further:
why do people believe in conspiracies? why do they follow cult personalities or seek contrarian opinions? because they’re vulnerable. they feel bullied or left behind or isolated or exploited or abused or inadequate and they're looking answers, community, security, and identity...
when you hold a fringe belief or become part of a tightly-knit outcast group, you feel like you have some secret, valuable information that the world needs. you feel important for knowing it. and anyone on the outside becomes a vague, intangible enemy, often referred to as “they” ...
the best way to reach vulnerable people who wholeheartedly believe they know the "truth" is by consistently sharing evidence-based information with the intent of helping, not disparaging. they already have a compelling story; they need to be told one that is better and more true
I'm with Kaila Hale-Stern of The Mary Sue...
"Another square I didn’t have on my bingo card for 2020: frozen meat product Steak-umm’s official Twitter account is offering some of the more cogent analysis of our coronavirus culture out there."
And from the brand itself:
Marketing is so weird sometimes.
Truly, in these times, this isn't close to the weirdest thing going on.
7. Quote of the week: having another moment
From this piece by Will Oremus on Medium / OneZero "Coronavirus Is Bringing Back the Forgotten Tech Trends of 2012"
Ideas that had been dismissed are getting another look — this time, not out of rose-tinted optimism but something more like desperation... MOOCs, 3D printers, and smart thermometers are having another moment.
I hope this has been a helpful glimpse into the world around us right now. Hang in there.
Best,
Katie Martell
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter
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