1. Diamonds are bullshit
Strategy
Western males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage - they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock that loses over 50% of its value after it leaves the store. We have De Beers and a Madison Avenue agency to thank for it.
2. Growth is a system, not a bag of tricks
Growth
Great summary from Uber's head of Growth. The key outtake:
Growth is not a bunch of small, tactical growth hacks
It is a full model and system with linked parts and loops that align with your business
Tactics can be used to optimize loops, but the entire model must be well understood first.
3. Chinese mobile UI trends
Trends
It's always insightful to review design trends from different cultures.
4. Why messaging is the future of the news brand
Brand
Quartz released its new app today, and it looks very much like a messaging app. Which is smart, because for anybody trying to build a news brand today, messaging is clearly the most important new area to conquer, and right now the field is wide open.
5. How we more-than-doubled the leads for a SaaS company
Growth
A great case study with some unintuitive fixes. Includes before-and-after images of the winning landing page and pricing page.
6. Facebook adds 7 publishers to anthology branded-video program
Media
In addition to the video content and inventory on Facebook and Instagram, brands buying Anthology deals also get anonymized audience insights from Facebook, such as the interests of their target consumers according to their Facebook profiles, the types of things they talk about on Facebook and how they compare by location.
7. eCommerce: convenience built on a mountain of cardboard
Trends
The NY Times asks about the long-term environmental effect of an economy that runs increasingly on gotta-have-it-now gratification.
8. Super Bowl ads almost overrun the viral video chart
Trends
If it weren't for a Facebook campaign and Sam's Club "big game" campaign, the Viral Video Chart for the week ending Super Bowl Sunday would have been all campaigns built around in-game spots.
9. The ancient origins of storytelling and how you can apply them in your life
Creative
Story is what makes Homo Sapiens unique - the most profound way to look at storytelling is to say that it is the defining characteristic of being human. Which is not an overstatement, but more of a biological fact.
10. Brand AI
Tool of the week
Create a hosted style guide, and integrate with your existing workflows and tools.
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