Agency On Record

You can't market technology without the word "innovation." And, yet, few organizations actually want it, fewer organizations still care to invest in it, and, quite possibly, it means nothing. So why is the word so important? Mike and Jason just want to stop being forced to use the word in messaging projects.

Failure is a slippery word in the industry. Few admit it. Expectations are lowered until it's irrelevant. Project outcomes are spun. Goal posts are moved. So what is failure? Even more important, what is success, both objectively for a project and subjectively for the person who takes pride in their work and wants the best product to go out there. Mike and Jason apparently know too much about failure.

Decision fatigue has always been an issue in business, but now it's an exponentially worse threat thanks to instant communication channels like Slack. Every one of those red dots is someone asking you a question...that you need answer instantly or break the flow of business. Mike and Jason just want to flip coins.

Forrester recently showed that brands are achieving no differentiation in the market due to the homogeneity of everyone's digital experiences, and suggested that to combat the trend, 20% of technology budgets should be sent to creative. This sounds good in theory, especially for creatives and brands, but it might actually mean that everybody's screwed. Mike and Jason just want, well, the same thing Forester wants, but know the reality of execution and delivery.

It's a classic debate in the marketing world: When do you build the team to tackle all the various elements of marketing and when do you outsource? Today, that debate is much more complicated thanks to how technology is rebuilding marketing's role in the business. Mike and Jason just want you to remember that Maark is available for outsourcing.

The marketing around (and inside of) Stranger Things Season 3 was wild and brazen and so far unabated and could be a portent for the future of marketing. But we mostly discussed what we liked/didn't like about Season 3. Mike and Jason still can't get the theme from The Neverending Story out of their heads.

AdAge article on the disappearing CMO. AdExchanger article on the disappearing CMO. CNBC article on the disappearing CMO.

The Havard Business Review article on solving brainstorming with brainwriting that kicked off this whole conversation.

What do you need to start designing a digital experience? The content? How much of it? An outline? Full text? Can it be placeholder? Or should design dictate content? The amount of it? The flow? Can't design make general containers to fill with content later? Actually, it's not a chicken or the egg question. It's also not as simple as "both." It's a strategy question. That's right. The dreaded "S" word. Mike and Jason just want designers and content owners to get along.

With digital, the focus has always been on creating elegant experiences, and the socials often reward the most polished presentations of our lives. But a new generation is growing up that sees that level of sophistication as corporate and inauthentic and is drawn to low-fidelity aesthetics that will impact design, marketing, and how we interact digitally. Mike and Jason just want to know how to connect with their kids.

Read this article about tiger teams on the Maark blog.

The Three R's: http://revthink.com/the-three-rs/

We frequently reference this episode with Chris Link: https://aor.maark.com/episode/writers-should-be-strategic-to-the-business-a-conversation-with-christopher

This week we had an Apple event launching the company into the services biz and Adobe Summit, the company known for its super-expensive enterprise software. One still doesn’t quite totally make sense as a biz model, the other makes so much sense it’s terrifying. Mike and Jason just want to know what happens at the end of all this land-grabbing.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6768749/Is-internet-completely-control-monster.html https://www.google.com/doodles#archive

Want to see the wolf? Check out the shiny new Maark website.

Your intrepid podcast hosts, along with Maark Creative Director Alex Carr, return from the Land of Switzers after attending Digital Design Days. They discuss their impressions and conclusions on the conference, the presenters, and the work they saw. Mike and Jason just want to fondue themselves forever.

In the second episode of a two-part interview with Anders Brownworth, we learn that his personal life is as intriguing as his professional life in cryptocurrency. Brownworth is actively training for the goal of being one of the first civilians in space. IN SPACE. Mike and Jason just want space travel to be as easy as it is in Gattaca.

Check out Anders Brownworth's website here: https://andersbrownworth.com/

A frank discussion on how Maark balances a large, complex workload, generous PTO, and company growth, all while being a small, nimble agency that gets things done. Mike and Jason just want those four-day work weeks that are all the rage.