Heyo!

We’re in the midst of winter in New Jersey, and it’s such a great time to pause. Tara Brach, American psychologist, author, and meditation teacher gives some insights into the benefits of the “pause” in her book, Radical Acceptance.

“Pausing interrupts entrenched patterns of interaction. When the downward spiral of judging and misunderstanding is stopped, even for a brief time, it becomes possible to recognize the unconscious beliefs and feelings that lie behind the problem. Such insight naturally leads us to making wiser choices.”

When the moment is demanding a lot of you, if you have the opportunity, take a pause. See if anything changes.

• Econsultancy has put out their “Digital and Marketing Trends for 2024.” Their observations fall into five sections including:
  • Data haves and have nots
  • Customers are more than a conversion
  • Creative experiences
  • GenAI: Beyond the cool demo (with a note that AI’s presence is felt in other sections)
  • People as competitive advantage

Note one of the subcategories for the Customers section is “A rebound for trust” that explores how use of AI for content and/or images can reduce a customers sense of trust and how brands need to counteract that potential pitfall.

• Speaking of trends, Marketing Charts compares “Marketers’ Most Important Consumer Trends in 2024 vs. 2023.” Generative AI tops the list now but wasn’t even on the list last year. All the other trends show declines vs. last year with TikTok and Metaverse showing the biggest drops.

• Notice a theme here yet? What if we shared an eMarketer chart showing that 86% of adults worldwide want AI to “help research products or get information” during their shopping journey (according to October 2023 IBM data)? They also think AI would be helpful for customer service, looking for deals or reviews, and generally shopping for products or services. Does optimization for gaining AI chatbots’ citations in their answers now sound like something you might be interested in? (Yes, that was an Entourage reference.)

Do Good Spotlight
🌟 Wikipedia 🌟

If you have a smartphone, you’ve probably used Wikipedia to win a disagreement or two. “When did this movie come out?” “Who originally sang this song?” We’ve been there. That’s why we’re choosing them as our spotlight this week. They’ve saved us a few times, it’s time to give them a little support back: Wikipedia.

• Many of us think AI is smarter than us on all levels. 🤖 Even though some AIs can pass the bar exam, they are missing out on a crucial, simplistic element (most) humans have: common sense. This TED Talk by Yejin Choi outlines why AI is not yet the sharpest crayon in the box. Even though the talk took place last April, the point still rings true. When testing a variation of her prompt: “Would I get a flat tire by bicycling over a bridge that is suspended over nails, screws, and broken glass?” I get the same “Yes” response from ChatGPT. I even explained why it was wrong and asked the same prompt with a car. No change. AI still has a ways to go for ultimate knowledge domination…

• Google is moving where the reports are found in the UI for some accounts. If you need some help finding it, here’s SEL to the rescue!

• We’ve been hearing stories about how some in the executive suite/board don’t understand marketing goals and capabilities. For example, the Snoop Dogg ad for Solo Stove was a witty awareness play. Because the ad did not derive significant revenue in six weeks, Solo viewed the campaign as a failure and replaced the CEO. CMI points out the failure wasn’t the revenue, but the missing CTA that could have engaged audiences and guided them down the customer journey if sales, not awareness, was the real goal.My thoughts tie into the intro. Perhaps if there were more thoughtful pauses throughout the campaign creation process, maybe they would have picked up the mistakes in marketing CTA and analysis. Thank you to Amy Masters for sharing this with us.

Before you go off for the rest of your day, take a moment to pause. See how it might give some distance between you and the demands or stresses of Wednesday.

You’re awesome,

Natalie

What’s the new coolest trend?📈🤳😎

1. Find your digital marketing friends.
2. Creatively bring up WHW in all conversations with them. Examples of totally not-awkward conversational K-turns:
   • “That’s cool you got a new car… Have you heard of the What’s Hot Wednesday newsletter??”
   • “You need help finding your phone? I’ll help! Once I do, I’ll show you how to sign up for What’s Hot Wednesday!”
   • You: Knock, knock.
     Your Friend: Who’s there?
     You: What’s Hot
     Your Friend: What’s Hot, who?
     You: What’s Hot Wednesday! You should sign up today!
3. Okay, maybe don’t use those. But you should bring us up with your friends. Send them all the signup link. 😁