BIG QUESTIONS
Should the marketing “funnel” be retired?
It’s always been a clunky metaphor. Now it seems obsolete. For starters, everything that goes into a physical funnel comes out the other end. A marketing funnel is more of a sieve with prospects leaking out in all stages. Second, it assumes a customer’s decision-making process is linear when in reality it’s haphazard. (If your marketing model fundamentally misunderstands the customer’s decision-making process, it’s time to get a new one.) Third, because “acquisition” is the metaphorically largest part of the funnel, it appears to have an outsized importance. For many businesses, engagement and retention is much more important. Fourth, the metaphor has a forceful, “push marketing” quality to it when practices have shifted to more patient, pull marketing approaches. So what’s the right metaphor? A circle? A flywheel? A continuum? A polyhedron? Whatever it is, it should account for the self-directed nature of the experience where people can traverse brand discovery, nurturing, conversion, usage, retention, and advocacy in the order they desire. And content is a fundamental part of every one of those stages.
TOOL JOY
Battle of the bots at the AI arena
Even if you take out all of the specialty chatbots, there are still thousands of those motor-mouths operating in English, and everyone seems to have their favorite(s). But which one is the king of the AI mountain? Well, according to the users of AI Arena, the best one is either Gemini-Exp-1121 or the latest ChatGPT-4o. The site lets you type a prompt and then pit different chatbots against each other to see which is better. The results are presented side-by-side and then you cast your vote.
DESIGN WE ❤️
Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals
As the curtains slowly descend over yet another busy year, we like to take some time to reflect upon what transpired, and what to hope for with the coming year. To help inform our introspections, we turn to data, ‘cuz that’s how we do it here at Pinwheel. We love this informative and well-designed interactive website that helps users quickly grasp how we are collectively faring and trending as a species across a variety of verticals. It’s a great reminder that we in the Western world have much to be grateful for, despite our disagreements.
BEEP BOOP
X’ed Out: Signs indicate that there were a LOT of account deactivations on X recently. But since the company is not transparent with its numbers, we don’t know for sure. Meanwhile, Blue Sky exceeds 15MM users..
Two women and a microphone: 31% of podcast consumers prefer to listen to a podcast while the video of that podcast is playing in the background or minimized. So don’t forget to record video too.
Digital Doublethink: Media ecologist Andrey Mir argues that the internet transformed from a tool of liberation that once undermined old forms of gatekeeping to a new mechanism of social control. Here’s how Web 5.0 will evolve.
Are you doing video yet? LinkedIn posts with video perform 3X better than text-only, a new study finds. Especially when they’re short and shared in the morning. Pinwheel can help you with that, BTW.
SPECIAL FEATURE
CMO Corner: What should AI’s role in marketing be?
Given the many different perspectives on this question, perhaps it’s best addressed in a debate format. Assembly (our team of agencies) ran an AI-generated debate between two fictional CMOs, Tom and Nicole (edited by Pinwheel founder/ECD Todd Anthony). The pair touched on the dangers of over-relying on AI, how AI can free up the talent for more important tasks, what is the essence of a human touch, the value of the lived experience, and the potential of AI serving as a safety net that actually enables more creative risk-taking. It’s a pretty fascinating exchange.
WORD TO THE WISE
Jaguar Rebrand
“It’s better to be different and wrong than safe and invisible.”
Jaguar’s new rebrand is a great example. Instead of featuring cars, the company launched a new campaign with futuristic models in brightly colored clothes painting a wall, holding a sledgehammer, and gathering in a pink desert. The Internet threw up all over it. Some even called for boycotts. But the brand defended its approach: “If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” remarked Rawdon Glover, the company’s General Manager. What do you think?
WHAT CLIENTS WANT
Six tips for a more effective case study
A well-designed case study can be a powerful social proof that adds a ton of credibility to your company. Yet there is often very little thought given to how they’re put together. The end result is often about as engaging as watching someone knit a scarf. Consider this:
- Lay the groundwork. Before you even talk to your customer, decide what kind of story you want to tell. Develop your Q&A around that and mention the story you’re trying to tell to the customer ahead of time. Ask them to consider any datapoints to support that storyline.
- Tell a human story. Jettison the standard “Problem, solution, results” format and focus on telling an engaging, human story that has a natural arc: 1.) backstory, 2.) “hero” character development, 3.) dilemma, 4.) dramatic climax, 5.) resolution, and 6.) aftermath (with key data points).
- Don’t be the hero. It’s mighty tempting for brands to be the hero of the case study. But it’s a turn off. Position your customer as the hero and your brand as an enabler.
- Consider the audience. Mention your audience’s standard objection(s) and show how your product’s differentiator solved the central dilemma.
- More quotes, more better. Use a healthy amount of customer quotes to make your story more human and relatable.
- Deploy, deploy, deploy. Once you have several case studies, create and share a use-case repository so it’s easy for the team to pull relevant case study content into blogs, newsletters, reports, social media posts, webinars, sales materials, and so on.
ICEBREAKER
What is your favorite gadget that social media enticed you to buy?
Melissa: I saw this reel about the potato ricer and knew I had to have the garlic press version. And it is the best kitchen gadget I have bought in a long time!
Todd: I’m a sticker junkie and the algorithm knows this (because it knows everything – God help us). So Insta served me an ad for a wireless, thermal sticker printer. And I bit. (Oh, and I also got Melissa’s garlic press.)
Jason: Well my Insta is filled with cat and dog videos so I have been compelled to purchase a few cat toys. The motorized mouse is a favorite, but so annoying.
Sarah: This year I hopped on the barefoot wagon and my quest to replace my beloved Blundstones with minimalist dupes quickly spiraled into a costly (but comfy) new habit. Much of which was fueled by cute new brands popping into my feed (thank you, algorithm).
Marielle: I’m a gadget-hater, unless it aids sleep: the bedtime lineup includes the Oura ring, nightguard, eyepatch, knee pillow, and Ozlo sleep buds. My routine is super-hot – this reel gives you a rough idea.
FALLACIES, PARADOXES & THEORIES…OH MY
The Prison of Past Preferences
A term coined by media ecologist Andrea Mir about the phenomenon whereby an algorithm analyzes your past clicks to determine what kind of content to serve you going forward. But what if your preferences changed? What if you’ve evolved? Is the algorithm always operating with an outdated understanding of who you are – sifting out content that you might actually want? Or even need? In essence, we are locked in filter bubbles and served content that continually reinforces who we were, rather than feeding this current, slightly more evolved version of us.
