Friends of Dave: The Anti April Fool's Issue
WARNING: There is NO lame April Fool's joke in this issue.
People who know me well know that I have a decent sense of humor -- I appreciate a thoughtful joke, a snarky comment, or well written TV sitcom. I'll even occasionally channel my inner 6 year old and laugh when someone passes gas. But, for the life of me, I kind of get irritated by the lame pranks companies will play from time to time around April Fool's Day. And I know that I not alone.
Look, I'm a marketer, I get it -- it's all in good fun, and if you are investing precious time and resource on something creative, you are hoping it will get your company some good attention. But corporate April Fool's pranks are kind of like watching your parents twerk: seems like a good idea at the time, but seldom does it come off the way it was intended. And in the end, people just end up embarrassed. And usually it is documented.
So if you opened this issue hoping for a clever prank or April Fool's joke, stop reading now and skip down to the story about the T-Rex being a sensitive lover story (cue the Barry White) for your fix. Just turn to the person closest in proximity to you right now (stranger or not) and read them the headline. I'm telling you, that alone is better than some lame prank.
Instead, what you will get is some interesting stuff in issue #14, including a couple thought provoking long reads about innovation and being adaptable that come highly recommended. Not a clunker in the bunch, I promise.
Enjoy your first weekend of April.
XOXO
Dave
Think On This...
The Encephalophone: An instrument you can play with your mind (long read) — www.seattletimes.com
This is your brain on music: check out the encephalophone, a new instrument you can play without moving a muscle. The world is getting closer and closer to Wall-E by the day....
How Aristotle Created the Computer — www.theatlantic.com
The philosophers he influenced set the stage for the technological revolution that remade our world.
Competition, Cooperation, and the Selfish Gene — www.farnamstreetblog.com
Having teams compete is more effective: You need to harness competition and cooperation at every level. You want groups pulling together, creating emerging effects where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (a recurrent theme throughout nature).
The Selfish Gene argues that nature, at its fundamental level, is about the competition between genes. But you can't forget about cooperation either.
ESPN Has Seen the Future of TV and They’re Not Really Into It (long read) — www.bloomberg.com
As more fans cut the cord and go mobile, the network is busy protecting its cable-TV money machine. Lots of great learnings here for everyone on how to protect your business and business model from similar shifts in user behavior, customer needs, and content consumption.
Stories For Your Day Job...
Engaging Customers So You Become a Habit — thenextweb.com
Companies looking to build consumer habits should remember that monetization is a result of engagement — not necessarily the other way around. For a financial services firm, a real estate agent, or a seasonal business, buying the product or service might not be a habit — but creating related habits around content and community can pay off in reputation, satisfaction, and sales.
Does your company or product pass Larry Page's "Toothbrush Test?" By focusing on getting people to "check in" with your product vs. "check out", you will.
Airlines Make More Money Selling Miles Than Seats — www.bloomberg.com The golden goose isn’t your ticket or bag fee—it’s the credit card you use to collect frequent flier miles.
The Cost of Bad Fit Customers — sixteenventures.com
Think you need to churn and burn through thousands of customers before it starts to have a negative impact on your growth velocity and costs? Think again. And it doesn't matter how big your business is.
How Foursquare is quietly positioning itself as a location data powerhouse — www.thedrum.com
File this in the "Every Business Is a Data Business" category: when people think of Foursquare, they think of check-ins. But they really should think one thing. Data.
How API partnerships help banks win back small business — www.americanbanker.com
Banks are partnering with FinTech companies to win back small-business customers. It's all about lowering the cost of initial customer acquisition and customer experience.
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
Tyrannosaurus Rex was a sensitive lover
Why not, right? I mean, I've always thought that the T-Rex was probably the most "misunderstood" of all dinosaurs. This confirms it.
The Secret Shame of the Cracked iPhone — theringer.com
All I could think when reading this was: so true and #FirstWorldProblems.....
Real-life Sharknado? Shark Washes Up on Australian street
I'm hearing reports that for his final words the shark whispered: "Candygram."
And The Last Word....
Funky President — www.youtube.com
From 1974, a James Brown deep cut for you music aficionados. No confirmation that POTUS is lobbying for this to be played whenever he walks into the Capitol Building.
Got feedback? Questions? Suggestions? Email me: dave@slingstonegroup.com