#138: Not so unprecedented, 7 traits of a conspiracy + why it spreads, the 90% economy, how to retain customers, and the return of Ms Monopoly...
Hello.
In this week's edition of The World's Best Newsletter:
1. Unprecedented? Not entirely...
2. The 90% economy left by coronavirus
3. How to retain customers during COVID
4. Aimee's open letter to all employers re: transgender respect
5. Users to Spotify: Don't pander, participate in the solution.
6. Someone discovered Ms. Monopoly and it went viral again
7. Plandemic? Why it spread, and 7 traits of conspiratorial thinking
8. Quote of the week: Zoom fatigue
Let's do it...
1. Unprecedented? Not entirely...
This week I did a podcast interview for MarketingProfs about the B2B response to COVID, and delivered a virtual session to the MITX/BIMA event FutureXBoston about pandering to the pandemic.
PS: Would love to give this talk to your team or group. Have camera, will speak.
As I prepared for both conversations, I realized that brands, for all the talk about these "unprecedented" times, were already headed in the direction the pandemic has been accelerating.
Cuts were already coming, buyers were already stressed, and the move to mission-driven value was well on its way.
Read my new, full post here and find out why these times aren't unprecedented, not to firms who have been paying attention. (Plus some more examples of brands raising the bar.).
2. The 90% economy left by coronavirus
Economist has a new piece detailing what will remain if 10% of the economy is unviable as "Americans chose to avoid person-to-person proximity of the length of an arm or less" as we wait for the biomed community to produce a vaccine.
It's important to pause for just a minute to marvel at how amazing it is that we can keep it down to 10%... then recognize that the "90% economy" thus created will be strange:
Residual fear, pervasive uncertainty, lack of innovative fervor, deepened inequalities
This is not "fixed by fiat" -- or decree -- rather, personal choice:
Allowing pubs—and other places of social pleasure—to open counts for little if people do not want to visit them.
3 key trends:
Inequality
An American who normally earns < $20k / year is 2x as likely to have lost their job due to the pandemic as one earning $80k+.
Women are more likely to take care of home-schooling and entertainment of bored children, meaning their careers suffer more than men’s.
Those with poor professional networks e.g. the young / recently arrived immigrants "may find it difficult or impossible to strengthen them, hindering upward mobility."
Reduced spending / ripple effects
Discretionary spending is down 40% in China, breweries are selling 40% less beer. 60% of commercial tenants in Britain paid their rent on time in Q1, falling from 90%. In the US, 40% of payments from B2B firms in spectator sports + film were late in march (2X a year ago.)
As restrictions are reimposed due to new outbreaks and rules are in flux, it's "hard to plan weeks ahead, let alone months."Due to this, saving rates are predicted to spike, reinforcing low consumption.
Reduced innovation
Innovation is "not impossible in a world will less social contact." It's just... harder.
Anyone who has tried to bounce ideas around on Zoom or Skype knows that spontaneity is hard. People are often using bad equipment with poor connections. Nick Bloom of Stanford University, one of the few economists to have studied working from home closely, reckons that there will be a sharp decline in patent applications in 2021.
The pandemic will also affect our creativity:
The experience of living in a pandemic is not conducive to creative thought. How many people entered lockdown with a determination to immerse themselves in Proust or George Eliot, only to find themselves slumped in front of “Tiger King”?
Read the full piece.
3. How to retain customers during COVID
Julie Weill Persofsky of Winning by Design shared with me ways to mobilize an entire organization around retaining customers, the lifeline of a recurring revenue business, and "the best source of new business, now and later."
Some tips:
Take care of your CS team - they're taking care of your customers.
Save costs by mapping key customer actions to a more repeatable process (w/ automation).
Adapt the "normal" customer journey (onboarding, training sessions, even entertainment) to a distributed team.
And much more in the full doc. I especially appreciate the advice here about meeting with all customers, starting with your largest, to redesign the customer journey. Adapt and change.
4. Aimee's open letter to all employers re: transgender respect
As we approach pride month (June), this news stings. Aimee Stephens passed this week. She was fired from her job when she told her boss she was transgender. The Supreme Court is due to rule on her case soon.
One of her last acts was to write a public letter to America’s employers urging them to:
1. Implement clear non-discrimination policies
2. Ensure equitable bathroom usage
3. Cover transition-related medical care
4. Educate leaders and respect those outside of the gender binary and those who are transitioning. (Including something as basic as eye contact.)
Quoting Aimee directly:
"You have the ability to create and expand spaces where we belong – both at work and in our communities: When LGBTQ people are dehumanized, when our civil rights and our well-being are threatened by anti-LGBTQ legislation, companies have the power to blunt these attacks."
This is what it means to support the LGBTQ community next month, not just rainbow-covered social media activations. RIP Aimee.
Letter via Out & Equal (TW for mention of suicidal thoughts within the letter.)
5. Users to Spotify: Don't pander, participate in the solution.
Spotify launched a tip jar, prompting criticism that they should pay artists better. An example of a brand saying they want to address a problem, but downplaying the more meaningful role they play in fixing it.
By paying royalties via both ad-funded and paid-for streams, Spotify has taken the onus off the consumer to pay the artist, and then, via low royalty payments, quietly eroded the monetary value in music that consumers and labels once propped up.
The tip jar, while helping to replace lost touring earnings, is a tacit admission that artists are not being paid enough by the very service offering it – a similar admission was made by Amazon on Thursday in revealing that it paid £250,000 to a coronavirus hardship fund for authors.
6. Someone discovered Ms. Monopoly and it went viral again
As this tweet made its rounds this week (the video now has 7.7M views) many saw the hilarious Ms Monopoly ad for the first time. It's well-intentioned femvertising at its most absurd, summarized perfectly here:
BUT... there is ANOTHER layer to the exploitation onion of this situation:
Monopoly was invented by a feminist, Lizzy Magie:
It was the early 1900s, and she wanted her board game to reflect her progressive political views – that was the whole point of it.
Quoting this astute tweet:
"a game originally intended to teach people about the dangers of capitalism, designed by a woman, who they ripped off by paying her $500, giving her no royalties, and then totally changing her concept."
(:
7. Plandemic? Why it spread, and 7 traits of conspiratorial thinking
Oh, Plandemic. Such a perfect example of misinformation that thrives in a time of uncertainty.
What is Plandemic?
The conspiracy theory video “Plandemic” recently went viral. Despite being taken down by YouTube and Facebook, it continues to get uploaded and viewed millions of times. The video is an interview with conspiracy theorist Judy Mikovits, a disgraced former virology researcher who believes the COVID-19 pandemic is based on vast deception, with the purpose of profiting from selling vaccinations...
It went viral. Pun sadly unavoidable.
Read more about how it went viral, and how to stop it.
All of us need to understand that misinformation spreads with the sophistication of a blockbuster-movie marketing campaign. Authority figures must learn to play the game of online popularity like a Kardashian....
...When we share information in our social circles — even to tell people how wrong we think it is — it spreads even more... If we want to fight misinformation in our networks, we should talk to our loved ones directly, and have empathy for why they might believe bad information.
Via The Conversation:
There are seven distinctive traits of conspiratorial thinking. “Plandemic” offers textbook examples of them all.
1. Contradictory beliefs
2. Overriding suspicion
3. Nefarious intent
4. Conviction something’s wrong
5. Persecuted victim
6. Immunity to evidence
7. Reinterpreting randomness
Understanding and revealing the techniques of conspiracy theorists is key to inoculating yourself and others from being misled, especially when we are most vulnerable: in times of crises and uncertainty.
8. Quote of the week: Zoom fatigue
“I’d love a break from video calls. Do you mind if we do this over the phone?”
A phrase I was personally looking for after feeling entirely drained a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't figure out why until a good friend pointed out the very real effect of our new video chat reality. This HBR piece is a must-read, and the phrasing above is an effort in self care.
Take care of yourself,
Katie
Katie Martell
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Upcoming fun!
[MONDAY MORNING] May 18th, 2020 PLAY TV from Brightcove is launching!
IMO it's a remarkably innovative response to the problem of an annual conference being forced to cancel due to COVID19. This is an on-demand viewing experience like Netflix featuring the most "must-watch content" in video, with everything from exclusive live presentations with top media experts, deep dive tech talks, video podcasts, discussions on industry trends, and original content. Truly a binge-worthy experience for anybody serious about video.May 27th, 2020 I'm moderating a SXSW panel... kind of.
We're doing it virtually and open to all -- join us and find out how Getty Images, GumGum, and Ceros bridge the gap to embrace opportunities in the digital space. RSVP here.May 28th, 2020 The power of the pivot!
I'm sitting down with Keely O'Neill from event marketing platform, Splash, to talk about the power of the pivot in event experiences. We'll talk about what attendees need now from online experiences, and how to make the move to a hybrid event strategy. RSVP coming soon.