BIG QUESTIONS
Is “wisdom work” the new knowledge work?
Legendary economist Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker” in 1959 to describe jobs involving information instead of physical/manual labor. And that’s what we are in marketing… or are we? You see, as we’ve progressed in our careers, growing our storehouses of raw experiences and information, our knowledge has transformed into something new. Something more usable and valuable than the sum of its “knowledge” parts. Namely, wisdom. We use it to make unexpected connections, tap into insights, identify unseen relationships, make intuitively smart judgment calls, understand entire ecosystems, and operate effectively within them. This is the awesome power of wisdom, and it’s a big reason why Pinwheel only hires senior-level people. With AI and the Web commoditizing knowledge, perhaps we should embrace this exciting new role. After all, it’ll (hopefully) be a good while before AI will replicate wisdom.
TOOL JOY
Marketing insights are beautiful: Meet Funnel
For all the testing done in marketing, there is a surprisingly lack of insights. Top three reasons: 1) targeting segmented audiences and 2) making decisions in real-time and 3) finding and maintaining quality data. Funnel can help. Founded 10 years ago, Funnel is a marketing intelligence platform that simplifies the collection, analysis, and utilization of marketing data. Easy to set-up, learn, and use, Funnel does the work of several people (sorry, people) — merging data sets, creating auto-updating data-shares, updating reports each night, etc. It helps you tell stories with your reporting, find the perfect media mix, optimize targeting and, quite simply, make your numbers go ?.
DESIGN WE ❤️
The 2024 Paris Olympics
With the specter of war, recession, political turmoil, and climate change weighing heavily on many of us, the 2024 Paris Olympics have been a most welcome diversion. And witnessing the sportsmanship and collaboration between the nations of the world has been refreshing. Speaking of refreshing, we love how the Conran Design Group executed this year’s Olympics look and feel. Using the city of Paris and the rich heritage of previous Olympics’ branding as inspiration, a comprehensive design system was built out that infuses every touchpoint, from the motion graphics on viewers’ screens, to environmental, to the beautiful Art Deco inspired typography. C’est tres bien.
BEEP BOOP
Huddles, chats, stand-ups, oh my: Knowledge workers have tripled the time they spent in meetings since 2020, which has necessitated a “second workday” that starts at 10pm so they can get real work done. ???
Search gets chatty: OpenAI is testing SearchGPT to compete directly with Google. The feature aims to elevate search queries with “timely answers,” and allows you to ask follow-up questions. Join the waitlist.
Third rail warning: As decision 2024 approaches, here are two questions CEOs should ask themselves before posting political statements. Hint: neither of them are, “Whom do I support?”
500,000,000,000 sold…ewww! Meet “Pattie,” the 16-year-old McDonald’s Cheeseburger that has yet to decompose and bugs and animals refuse to eat. Makes you wonder…
SPECIAL FEATURE
What it means to be a small digital agency
Pinwheel is in good company. Of the 54,000+ agencies in North America, 64% of them have 1-10 employees (we also have ~30 contractors, but that doesn’t count in these metrics) and 6-11 clients. Many of them specialize in certain services and/or industries and, like Pinwheel, mostly employ senior-level people. The average agency offers 6.4 distinct services (we offer two: SEO growth content and full funnel marketing).
WORD TO THE WISE
“Boredom is a filter.”
“Common ideas come before it. Uncommon ideas come after it. Sit with a project long enough to get bored with it, then sit a little more. The most useful insights bubble up after you get bored.”
— James Clear, New York Times bestselling author
WHAT CLIENTS WANT
Marketing strategy: You’re almost there!
Research shows (and intuition confirms) that customers are more likely to take action if you emphasize an already-completed step. Even when the step is trivial, they feel they’re already in the middle of something they need to complete. And people work harder as they get closer to the reward. By the way, you’re one step closer to receiving your free year of Pinwheel services (kidding…we’re kidding).
ICEBREAKER
What was your favorite moment from the 2024 Summer Olympics?
Laura: For fun: Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart dressed up in equestrian gear. For real: Gabby Thomas winning her first US Gold in the women’s 200m. (She’s not just a track star, she’s a Harvard grad with a master’s in public health).
Melissa: Mine is best told in a picture – sportsmanship at its finest:
Sarah: All things Snoop Dogg, athletes like Simone Biles speaking openly about mental health, and 2024 marking the first time women have had equal representation in the games.
Peter: I have seen a tiny amount of stuff, so let’s go with the surfer photo.
Todd: Admittedly, I didn’t watch much. But I caught the men’s 4X rowing event where the USA edged out NZ by under a second (0.85). It was the first gold for the US in rowing in 60 years (some boats hit 50 strokes per minute… ??). A riveting 4 minutes.
Marielle: Former gymnast here, so everything Simone – especially the bow to Rebeca Andrade. Stephen Nedoroscik – fellow Penn State alum – was so earnest in his role as pommel horse superhero in disguise. But I was most rapt by the story of all Suni Lee has overcome this year.
John: In the Men’s Final 1500m running race, American underdog Cole Hocker pulled ahead of the leaders, which included the much hyped Norwegian Ingebrigtsen and Brit Josh Kerr, in the last few seconds for an unexpected win. Overconfidence can backfire.
Emily: Watching the USA women’s rugby team earn the bronze medal in the last 18 seconds of their match against Australia. This is the first ever USA women’s rugby Olympic medal. As a former rugby player, it was thrilling to watch.
Sharon: I’ve seen only snippets through Instagram – but Simone Biles! ???
FALLACIES, PARADOXES & THEORIES…OH MY
This is your brain on quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement in the brain describes how particles (neurons, electrons, protons, etc.) become interconnected and interdependent, even when situated far apart from each other. It’s just a theory, and a controversial one at that, but quantum entanglement could help explain a lot about the way the human mind works. Specifically, creativity. Quantum-like models have been proposed to explain how humans form concepts, make decisions, and judge probabilities. For example, quantum superposition (i.e. being in multiple states at the same time) has been used to model the emergence of new concepts when existing concepts are combined – which some refer to as “an aha moment.” The notion of entanglement could explain the emergence of art masterpieces, the origin of language and sociality, and even brain processes.
