141: Finally, some tension
My one political post for the year, but it's about conceptual creative ideas, I promise
The biggest challenge in marketing today isn’t your competition.
It isn’t budget, timing, framing or finding a motivating insight.
Today’s biggest challenge is apathy.
We. Just. Can’t. Be. Bothered.
Credit the ending of broadcast media’s golden age—when a single TV network could reach over half of America during a single half hour. That type of concentration meant you didn’t even need ideas to succeed, you just needed to buy media. Then blame empowering technology which further dilutes attention. Getting someone, anyone, to engage now has never been more difficult and is only getting harder.
Because apathy isn’t just disinterest, it is a defense mechanism. We often need to be apathetic to survive the pervasive onslaught of modern media.
What’s a marketer to do? A great insight helps you focus. A profound idea attracts attention. Media ensures that idea has a stage. Yet none of these alone (or often in concert) can crack the tough shell of apathy and create useful intrigue.
Except tension
Tension is courage we might have hoped for but surely didn’t expect.
Tension opens a door previously or seemingly closed.
Tension creates a clear distinction.
Tension is audacious—and accrues positive value to those who yield it effectively.
And we just experienced a masterclass in its use.
Up until Sunday, July 21 the story of the 2024 U.S. presidential election felt certain, tired, old. Even an assassination attempt—while jolting and horrific—did little to change dynamics. It is telling that a tense, near death experience didn’t elevate or expand either campaign, but merely devolved into a clown show mixed with conspiracy. And we returned quite quickly to the tired story of ever more tightly-controlled, micro moments. Stuff we’d seen before. Yawn.
Until 1:46 p.m.
Tension became effective, distinguishing release as Biden demonstrates the courage to step away from one legacy to reveal a radically different narrative. “Would he do it?” carried little value or utility until he actually did step aside.
Biden took a risk none before have taken.
Creating a clear distinction.
Which opens the door for all manner of audacious energy.
This is actually a lesson for marketers in risk mitigation—the unexpected, daring, historic kind. Up until Sunday, the Biden campaign was following a tried and true approach, one established marketers know well. Stick to your plan. No sharp edges. Just. Keep. Moving. Forward. Millimeter. By. Millimeter. And he might have succeeded.
Then there’s having the courage to mitigate risk is by stepping aside.
All of a sudden, apathy dissipates. Intrigue takes root.
And you’ve got everyone’s attention.
It’s pronounced KAH-ma-LA
The masterclass continues.
Biden’s release created a profound opportunity, which could have been filled with more of the same. Instead, we’ve witnessed very professional, highly coordinated campaign craft. It’s one thing to say, “pick me” and quite another to make 100s of calls in less than a day, lock in consensus, align and empower a team, and deliver historic fundraising records. And while these tactics are admirable—they only matter and resonate in the context of effective tension. You can be organized, have your facts straight, be correct…but apathy ensures no one will notice.
And to Kamala and her team’s credit, they have recognized the value of embracing and maintaining the tension Biden unleashed.
As Ryan at Garbage Day puts it, “Harris …does seems like someone who would send you a Deuxmoi post or a weird Instagram Reel about harmonic frequencies at one in the morning. But like in a fun way. And this is likely why many pro-Trump strategists are freaking out right now. This dual-sphere campaigning takes a lot of energy and they’ve been banking on a candidate that couldn’t even coherently talk to one reality, let alone two. But now they’ve found themselves in a race with someone who’s just sort of being doing that by accident for the last five years without even really trying.”
Time for weird
(Let’s be honest, I had to look up Deuxmoi.)
One last advantage of embracing and employing tension within marketing: You can leverage “weird.” It’s like unlocking the gift of the chromatic dragon in D&D.
Tension opens the door to shift from tit for tat policy soundbites 🥱 to framing all Republican motivations, policies and talking points as “weird,” 🙃 as Gerald puts it on TikTok. “Weird” gives those who want it a way into simultaneously supporting Kamala and diminishing Trump. Her weird laugh = Good. His weird Project 2025 policies = Bad.
Tension + Weird helps keep apathy at bay.
And now it’s time for the Olympics!
Creativity + AI Updates
🏄🏽🚴🏼🏊🏽♂️🚣🏽♂️🤸🏾♂️ This will be the first TikTok Olympics. Skip the TV. I recommend following:
The official Paralympics account. Amazing content.
Team USA, the official Olympics account, NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. Of course.
USA Basketball, USA Volleyball, USA Women’s Water Polo WITH FLAVOR FLAV!!!
Ilona Maher on America’s rugby team. Hilarious.
Erik Shoji from the US men’s volleyball team.
Did you know Olympic Surfing will take place in Tahiti??? Definitely follow Caroline Marks 2023 World Champ, and surfing reporter AJ McCord.
My favorite Olympic sport: Badminton! Badminton Intelligence, Badminton Evolved, 2x World Champ Viktor Axelsen, and #KoreaBadminton.
🤖 Definitely join the waitlist for OpenAI’s SearchGPT. The Verge has a thorough recap.
🤖 Meta released Llama 3.1. The Rundown’s Rowan Cheung interviewed Mark Zuckerberg about the possibilities of the 405B model and what it all means. More from The Verge. As Tom’s Guide puts it, the best place to try the new model is Meta.ai.
🤪 Gartner’s annual Digital Marketing Hype Cycle report came out this week. Highlights here via Gartner’s Nicole (Denman) Greene, or here. As expected, “GenAI is heading toward the Trough of Disillusionment!”