BIG QUESTIONS
Do you trust your creative agency?
New research suggests there’s a rift between agencies and marketers, and that makes us sad. According to that research, most marketers and agencies agree that strong creative ideas are essential to marketing’s success, but 54% of marketers and 75% of creative agencies say the creative work isn’t standing out (?). Both describe the idea approval process as “painful,” and only 29% of agencies feel empowered to do their best work. Oddly, few marketers (27%) or agencies (30%) feel well-trained to evaluate the ideas in the first place. (So how is it that most feel it’s subpar? Now we’re sad AND confused.) The research identified a lack of trust between marketers and agencies that, they claim, compounds the problem. Here at Pinwheel, we think that IS the problem, and it comes down to the culture of the relationship – the shared set of norms, values, expectations, rituals, communication styles, and behaviors that develop between people over time. It’s the emotional ecosystem that both co-create – intentionally or not (we do it intentionally). When this ecosystem is healthy, the process can be smooth and the work can be as fascinating, powerful, and effective as the agency is gutsy and smart. Which is really what everyone wants, right? As for tips to evaluate creative work, we gotcha covered.
TOOL JOY
One Real Voice: Podcast guest coaching
The podcasting world is now embedded into our cultural landscape. So, if your founders or C-suite are not appearing on“How I Built This” or “Worklife with Adam Grant” or “Decoder with Nilay Patel” or something equally relevant, then they absolutely probably maybe should. But don’t send them in cold, because authenticity is key and being fascinating is the name of the game. Everyone could use training to make sure they don’t come off boring, fake, or robotic (and media training won’t cut it). That’s where One Real Voice comes in. It’s run by Andrew Vontz. A former journalist, VP of Comms, podcast host, and startup founder, Andrew has interviewed literally everybody: Samuel L. Jackson, Daft Punk, Lyoto Machida, Katie Holmes, Method Man, yada yada yada. If your leaders want to be unforgettable, talk to Andrew.
DESIGN WE ❤️
A new Moore’s Law for AI agents
We’re all familiar with Moore’s Law, but there’s a new growth curve in town, and this one is exponential – AI agents are advancing their coding abilities so rapidly, they’re currently doubling the length of coding tasks they’re able to complete every 7 months. This well-designed scroll-based animation by AI Digest, shows how AI agents are getting so good so fast, it’s projected that by 2029 (and possibly sooner), agents will be able to autonomously complete sophisticated tasks that require a month of human effort. That’s officially bananas.
BEEP BOOP
Why do we scroll endlessly on TikTok/Instagram? We’re wired to anticipate something we haven’t seen before. By creating content that surprises, delights, and offers something new, you hold their attention, make them feel something, and keep them scrolling.
Your funnel is full of holes: Consumers today navigate a dynamic web of touchpoints, often all at once. New research from BCG cites four behaviors that represent the new brand discovery and engagement pattern: streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping.
Be something. Nike once embraced a strategy where they considered their advertising campaigns successful, not despite receiving complaints, but because they did. Controversy led to increased awareness and generated media coverage, ultimately benefiting the brand.
It’s science! Products with multiple related benefits (“It hydrates as it softens your skin!”) generated 42% more sales than those with a single benefit. Having multiple unrelated benefits is worse than having only one. That said, your headlines need more focus than that.
Is AI alive? It’s a question that many wrestle with, and one that gets to the heart of what it means to be “alive.” Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and Oxford professor, recently had an alarmingly “real” discussion on that topic with ChatGPT itself.. They seemed to agree that consciousness is more about thought patterns and processes than biology. Hmm.
WORD TO THE WISE
“Every discussion is made up of multiple kinds of conversations. … But unless you’re having the same kind of conversation at the same moment, you’re unlikely to really hear each other.”
Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
SPECIAL FEATURE
New: Brand Voicebox (custom GPTs for your brand voice)
Speaking in a consistent way helps your brand build trust, be memorable, and stand apart from competitors. You know this… and you know that a Brand Voice Guide is the place to start. In addition, everyone who writes for the brand should be trained up on that voice – with periodic refreshers to keep it top of mind. But we all know that many will lean on ChatGPT or Claude as a writing partner. The danger of that is that your brand will start to sound generic, bland, beige. The antidote: your very own Pinwheel Brand Voicebox (a GPT customized to your brand) complete with your brand persona (who you sound like) along with your brand traits, tone, writing style, pacing, vocabulary + jargon to avoid, do’s and don’ts, and even templates for different formats (social, email, article, etc). Curious? Talk to us.
ICEBREAKER
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
Jason: Abbreviated, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” From Michael Jordan. I was at this hovel of a gym 12 years ago, and this quote was written on the wall. I must have read it 50 times while watching my son play. I just love the meaning and not to be discouraged when you fail.
Todd: “Never forget your humanity. It’s what will make you great.” From my creative director John Crankshaw at McCann Erickson. He said it offhandedly as we walked down a street to the office and it’s been my guiding light ever since.
Melissa: “When you swallow the whale, don’t choke on the tail.” This can be applied to just about anything, but the idea is if you have gotten most of the way into something, keep going. You made it this far, so don’t let the last few (minutes, dollars, bites, whatever) stop you.
Laura: “Action absorbs anxiety.” If you’re stuck, ruminating, procrastinating, just do something (anything) no matter how small and you’ll get out of “freeze mode.” This advice is a cousin to what Anne Lamott shares in her great book, “Bird by Bird.”
Sarah: “You’re allowed to rest.” Gen Z hit the nail on the head with this one. I’m still working on unlearning some of my “rise and grind” hustle culture habits. But it’s well worth it.
Marielle: “You can’t control what happens, but you can control how you respond.” Life is all about mindset. Terrible things happen to everyone, and bad news is everywhere. There’s only one person who can decide whether it will break you down or build you up.
John: “Don’t try.” by Charles Bukowski, who believed this so strongly, he had it engraved on his headstone. Genuine expression only arises when we manage to shut off the need to be in conscious control. Easier said than done.
FALLACIES, PARADOXES & THEORIES…OH MY
The William Morris Effect: Or why AI can’t win the creativity game
This is the notion that when people know something was made by human hands, they prefer it over machine made (or perhaps AI-produced?) equivalents. William Morris was an 18th-century artisan who launched the Arts and Crafts movement. The “Medievalists,” as they were called, eschewed factory-made, mass-produced goods for things that were left purposely unfinished to reflect their human origins. Soon, all the homes of middle-class Great Britain were styled in this aesthetic. It begs the question: Should we start labeling human creations? In the age of more and more synthetic content, it might be the way to go (this was written entirely by a human, we triple, pinky-swear).
