#87: Chauvinism in the world of tech, what MOPS really does, being LGBTQ in marketing, and propaganda
Hi friends, and all who are new here from the Startup Boston, Women in Digital (hi Jean!), or O4U events this past week. Welcome to The World's Best Newsletter:
In this edition (#87):
1. New episode of Truth Lies and Digital Marketing
2. THREE must-read pieces on Fake News / propaganda
3. Chauvinism in the tech world + the sales bro archetype
4. Free speech vs free reach
5. What does being LGBTQ have to do with being a great marketer?
6. What does MOPS do anyway?
7. Quote of the week: Taking a chance on yourself
Let's get into it...
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1. New Episode of Truth, Lies, and Digital Marketing
I'm co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-hosting a new podcast series called Explicit Content along with a bunch of smartypants. My first episode is live (sans my cohost Lindsay!)
"Death of a Salesman?" features a conversation between me and Jeff Julian asking:
Is 2020 the year that 1,000,000 sales folks lose their jobs? If so, who will replace them? If not, where does this statistic come from? How does B2B marketing best support B2B selling?
Run time: 30:44 >> Listen here with show notes or subscribe on iTunes. (Don't forget to rate/review!)
BONUS: Boston Content JUST launched a new podcast for content makers/marketers. You could win like $3,000+ worth of stuff for your review on iTunes to help us launch it. More info here.
2. THREE must-read pieces on Fake News / propaganda
A roundup of some of the most important articles I've seen on disinformation recently:
1. How the Russian propaganda machine operates via BuzzFeed News
"Money was channeled through shell companies outside of Russia, direct editorial orders were delivered via Skype, and the sites reported back the headlines they published, while they also bought clicks and tested buying comments from Russian troll factories to boost numbers.
The mandatory topics were often those that showed tensions inside the EU or US, as well as those covering the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea."
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2. The UN created a handbook to explain (and resist) our current misinformation disorder. It contains seven ways to make sense of the disinformation crisis and fight back, via Nieman. Handbook here.
Ethical journalism that values transparent practice and accountability is a vital piece of the armoury in the battle to defend facts and truth in an era of information “arms race.
The UN's sentiments mirror what Chuck Todd says about journalism: we must fight back (via the Atlantic.)
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3. How Russian propaganda works in the case against two men accused of poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal via CNN.
Russia is not worried about having to try to convince UK courts -- or a UK jury -- of these men's innocence. Instead, it is merely trying to sow enough doubt and division to convince those in the UK already sympathetic to Russia -- or those already suspicious of their own government -- that the official story of the Skripal poisoning is not true.
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PS: If you found these valuable, share 'em. The opposite of disinformation is truth, reality, and honest facts. Don't allow anyone (45) to usurp and corrupt the meaning of "fake news."
3. Chauvinism in the tech world + the sales bro archetype
My brave friend Allison Grinberg-Funes wrote an honest take of a recent tech event in Boston that booked Grant Cardone, who used his time on stage to brag that he'd later be banging his wife on the plane (she was in the audience) after preaching an old-school cram-it-down-their-throat, aggressive sales ethos.
Allison, and many on Twitter / in the room were appalled at both messages, kicking off an appropriate apology tour from the event organizers, but more importantly highlighting the sorry state of our industry.
PS: Grant gets $100k + first class travel for these disgusting talks.
Gross. Do better.
Bonus: watch the related coverage on NBC featuring Allison and our friend Juliana! Preach, ladies.
PS: It's brave as f*ck to call out situations like this, especially when a well-loved Boston brand is behind it. What I love best about Allison's piece is that it's not intended to attack the company. Rather, it documents and comments on a larger industry problem.
4. Free speech vs free reach
This important WIRED piece on how algorithms govern the spread of content is a must-read.
"Russia Today, a Russian state-owned propaganda outlet [is] ... among the most popular YouTube presences. RT has amassed more than 6 billion views across 22 channels, more than MSNBC and Fox News combined.
According to YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan, 70 percent of views on YouTube are from recommendations—so the site’s algorithms are largely responsible for amplifying RT’s propaganda hundreds of millions of times.
How? Most RT viewers don’t set out in search of Russian propaganda. The videos that rack up the views are RT’s clickbait-y, gateway content: videos of towering tsunamis, meteors striking buildings, shark attacks, amusement park accidents, some that are years old but have comments from within an hour ago.
This disaster porn is highly engaging; the videos have been viewed tens of millions of times and are likely watched until the end. As a result, YouTube’s algorithm likely believes other RT content is worth suggesting to the viewers of that content—and so, quickly, an American YouTube user looking for news finds themselves watching Russia’s take on Hillary Clinton, immigration, and current events.
The most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century are Youtube, Facebook, and other algorithm-driven content platforms.
As the author suggests, perhaps the only way of governing them is "more nuanced conversations and education about algorithmic curation, its strange incentives, and its occasionally unfortunate outcomes. We need to hold tech companies accountable—for irresponsible tech, not evidence-free allegations of censorship—and demand transparency into how their algorithms and moderation policies work."
5. What does being LGBTQ have to do with being a great marketer?
For the longest time, I thought nothing at all.
Early in my career I kept my love-life separate from my work life, not wanting the former to distract from, or influence perception of, the latter. But eventually, I was comfortable living fully, authentically, and in my case, unapologetically out of the closet, allowing me to bring my full self to every professional engagement today. We all deserve that experience.
But, I believe coming out actually provided surprising skills and benefits that have enhanced my career.
This weekend I shared a keynote at Ogilvy's offices in NYC to a group of undergraduate marketing students from across the country. In it, I shared five parallels between coming out, and what it takes to be a great marketer today:
Question the status quo (rebuild the profession the way it SHOULD be)
Hone and follow your instincts (they’re what got you here!)
Build a community of support (you’ll need it)
Hold conviction in your POV (both for you and for the brands you support)
Cultivate empathy (nuff said...)
It turns out being LGBTQ has actually prepared us to be strong professionals in the world of marketing.
Thanks to O4U for the invitation, and all who came out. Pun intended.
6. What does MOPS do anyway?
One point I made in my talk this weekend is that the field of marketing operations (MOPS) is booming. In college marketing programs it's easy to believe the marketing career path is solely limited to jumping into a big agency serving big brands. I fell into B2B startup marketing nearly by accident when I graduated, and never looked back.
In my talk I briefly explained what MOPS did -- but I like how serial-marketing-automation-power-user Sarah McNamara explained it in a Twitter convo last week:
I help you not waste that money and instead optimize your spend, so you have a lower CAC
That's definitely not just someone who sends out email blasts. Love that definition.
(The Twitter thread is worth a read, too.)
7. Quote of the week: Taking a chance on yourself
Last week I had the honor of interviewing Natalie Keller Pariano, a lettering artist and creator of NatterDoodle, on stage at the Women in Digital National Conference, which I emceed:
As we discussed the fear and risk that comes with starting an enterprise like hers, she said something beautifully true:
“I don’t think you’ll ever regret taking a chance on yourself”
Definitely not.
Thanks as always for reading!
Best,
Katie
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Upcoming events:
So you wanna be a conference speaker? Join me and Laura Fitton (INBOUND) and Bobbie Carlton (Innovation Women speakers' bureau) at our Boston Women in Digital meetup Sep 26th, 6-8pm. Moderated by the one and only Britta Schellenberg
I've curated some of the best B2B marketing content and will be walking through them at this year's Connect to Convert event in Boston, October 3-5th, 2018. Save 20% with code BCVIP.
I am so so excited to be keynoting this year's Spiceworld 2018, speaking to a room of B2B marketers and sales teams. I'll dig into what makes the most transformative voices so effective - and how courageous brands move buyers from apathy to action. October 8-10th, 2018 in Austin TX. See you there?
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I'll be speaking at Young Women in Digital's "Digital Marketing & Your Career" event October 25th at Google in Cambridge. RSVP here.
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