024: Spring Break Recap
How's our journey into the future of advertising treating you so far?
I filled my time away from teaching this week by leading a brand creative pitch. Did we use AI-generative tools to strategize and assemble ideas? We absolutely did and they were invaluable.
If you weren’t able to make it to SXSW this year, AI made the journey for you. Also, I ran across this bullish global agency network perspective on AI-generative creativity. WPP are all in. Oh, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 is now live.
TL;DR
This is long only because it’s got a lot of thumbnails.
Save this post as a reference if you ever want to go back and review
You know what would be great?
If you recommended this newsletter to one other person. Just one. But they have to be the right kind of person. Someone you know who wants to leverage creativity, and is curious about the future. I bet you can picture that person right now, which is why this button is right here.
And if you share this post, you’ll be giving that person a handy guide to everything we’ve covered so far. You’ll get them up to speed.
The Future of Advertising, Part 1 Recap
This newsletter began as a means of talking about a course I’m half way through teaching within the Entrepreneurial Studies program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. But it will continue long after. Creativity is one of those subjects which, thankfully, continues to provide inspiration.
Here’s a handy recap of what we’ve been discussing. Maybe you’ve missed some posts? Maybe you’re totally new? If so, welcome!
Starting with 003, I’ve been writing a “Before” (Sunday night, 24 hours prior) “During” (Monday evening post-class) and “After” (Wednesday reflection) post for each of the sessions.
001: If you want to learn something, teach it — the instigating moment
002: Previously on The Future of Advertising — the backstory for the fifth iteration of the curriculum—and why the past 30 years have been so dramatic
003: All systems go [Before - Session 1] Welcome to the 24 hour countdown to the Future of Advertising
004: The metaphor [During - Session 1] How should we prepare for a long journey to a land none of us have ever visited?
005: More metaphors [After - Session 1] When I worked in rural Maine, I had a boss who would say, "All's done except for finishing." 🤔
006: The trouble with human behavior [Before - Session 2] Also, sunk costs
007: Why is persuading people so hard? [During - Session 2] History, Behavioral Economics and our first guest speaker
008: Sh*t is hard out here [After - Session 2] A little more on persuading people + Why I scan newsletters + cool news about The BrandLab
009: It's not an idea, unless it's produced [Before - Session 3] Gearing up for The Supply Chain of Advertising
010: title goes here [During - Session 3] All about how advertising gets made, via The Creative Brief; Julian Cole; MrBeast; Feasibility + Assurance; De-Risking Ideas; and my great surprise
011: Unlocking more supplies [After - Session 3] Thank goodness for the wealth of educators, tools and inspiration impacting the future of advertising
012: Let's Make Money [Before - Session 4] $578M+ tonight. Friction tomorrow.
013: Commerce & Selling [During - Session 4] Heads up, this is a long one: Get an MBA in five minutes, embrace six themes, then open your custom drop ship e-comm platform and win the big game!
014: Time to speed things up [After - Session 4] Also - tomorrow I'm moderating a panel on AI-generative creativity and you can attend
015: Our infrastructure is evolving [Before - Session 5] Digging up the ground beneath our feet inside the airplane we're building in the air 😳
016: Infrastructure is rarely constant [During - Session 5] And I made my class watch a 10-minute TikTok
017: Lots of freaking out [After - Session 5] My power went out earlier today
018: Pivotal moments [Before - Session 6] What a great time to enter marketing and advertising
019: Social Media is just getting started, amidst a memory of simpler times [During - Session 6] Why does everything keep changing and can Greg Swan please save us?
020: Are we “post social?” [After - Session 6] Creativity, Maintenance and Destruction rinse repeat
021: This topic more than any other [Before - Session 7] Gearing up for AI and ML tomorrow
022: AI-generative technologies [During - Session 7] Speed. The Bell Curve. What words mean. Emotions. Also, can you draw a fish riding a bicycle? And the Great Wall of Art has cracks in it, finally.
023: But will you take advantage? [After - Session 7] My bet: Our timeline will be defined by "Before AI-generative tools" and "After"
That’s a wrap for Spring Break.
I’ll be back on Sunday evening with a preview of session 8 and our focus on the Metaverse, augmented and virtual realities.