Demystifying the Threat of AI
Is a future with AI inevitable? Is it good? I’m suggesting we might want to think a few more than two steps ahead since we’re already almost inevitably on this path.
Pillars, Ruins
Before you need a content strategy, you need a) something worth saying over a sustained period and b) a reasonable degree of clarity about where content fits in the decision-making process.
“Jargon” is a Lazy Label
Pointing at something and calling it “jargon” is not a way to add value. It’s a common form of low-value contribution from content psuedo-specialists who know nothing about the subject matter and who have no connection to or understanding of the target audience.
Writing for the World You Want
Are you serious enough about thought leadership to take your topic seriously? Once upon a time, writing gurus used to say we should write for people at a 10th-grade reading level. Then it went down to 8th. Then 6th-grade reading became the threshold. Recently, I’ve seen people seriously proposing 5th and even 3rd-grade reading levels […]
The Unique Dynamics of High-Stakes Content
“High-stakes content” works differently. Rules from generic B2B content world don’t apply. What makes the stakes high? Ultimately, it’s the impact of the implicit decisions you’re expecting your reader to make. Institutional finance is one such example. Maybe not in the moment of reading, but at some point, your reader is going to entrust the […]
Crafting Tomorrow: How AI Will Change the Stories We Tell
Imagine you want to see a version of Star Wars where the rebels suffer a definitive and final defeat. Imagine you want to watch Succession but with Shiv coming out on top. Imagine you want to read a version of a company’s marketing material that answers your specific questions and objections or that makes an […]
Unpacking Value in Commodities and Luxuries
Both of these things are called “bags.” Just like “content,” the word creates a bizarre equivalency. The left is the world of hyper-commoditized single-use trash. The right is something else entirely. Keep reading…I’ll get back to “content” in a moment. The annual market for the bags on the left is over $20 billion, but the […]
LinkedIn’s Wardrobe
Funny, earlier today I was thinking about various fashion seasons of LI. Off the top of my head. – The polls period – The engagement pod period – The carousel period – The native video period – The AI comments period Now the games period is coming, too. There’s probably a silly and punny Minecraft […]
Unwrapping Success: Cutting Through Marketing Clutter
You probably know the feeling. What stands between you and the thing you want is layers of unnecessary packaging. You thought you were getting something good, but you have to risk slicing open a finger to access it. There’s even a Wikipedia page for “wrap rage.” The marketing lesson is this: stop frustrating your customers […]
The Persistent Patterns of Media Consumption
Meet the old feed. Same as the new feed. Back in the day, after your dose of comix entertainment, you’d see a barrage of ads like this. After you read about the heroes you aren’t and the lives you don’t have come the gimmicks sold by promises pegged to whatever perceived shortcomings you might fear. […]