Hello!

If you listen to one podcast this week, listen to Matt Locke chat to Scott Murray on The Content Brief podcast about Generic Thought Leadership Disease. GLTD seems to have resonated with so many of you. Even Scott points out that despite begging his clients to avoid it, they really struggled to make a change. It’s a great listen.

Speaking of Matt, he’s out in Austin with Anjali for SXSW. They’re running a workshop called Boring 2 Brilliant: B2B storytelling the Hollywood Way. Our mission at Storythings is to help all our clients become world-class storytellers. If you want to become a world-class storyteller, start with this workshop. Hit that big button below to chat.

OK. I’m off on a much delayed honeymoon. Have the most fabulous weekend and enjoy the stories.

Hugh

Brilliant Career Advice From Fatboy Slim (1-minute watch)

It Helps If You Know What You’re Doing (15-min read)

How to Break Out of Risk Aversion Paralysis (6-min read)

What Is Community in a Post-Social World? (Google Slides deck)

How YouTube Became the Biggest Media Company in History (12-min read)

Copywriters Should Think Like Art Directors (1-min read)

Creative Thinking and the Balanced Brain (5-min read)

Store Where You Pay to Shoplift Returns (3-min read)

Tyler Cowen Chats to Dave Perell About How He Uses AI to Write (60-minute watch)

Why Restaurant Desserts Have Got So Boring (7-min watch)

Don’t become a B2B zombie. STAY HUMAN.

Storythings is the content marketing agency that helps you STAY HUMAN in a sea of marketing slop. If you think you’re at risk of becoming a B2B zombie, we’ve got the antidote. Click the button below for your free guide.

Brilliant Career Advice From Fatboy Slim (1-minute watch)
We’ve been hosting a series of careers events with one of our clients, FE Sussex. Today we brought Fatboy Slim to Vardean Colleges to talk to a bunch of 16-18 year olds. As ever, Norman was wonderful, funny, fascinating, and extremely generous with his time and advice. Right at the end, as the event was finishing, he turned the tables and asked the students a question which resulted in him giving a final piece of advice which I fully intend to steal. Watch the clip or better still, the whole conversation. It includes stories about how getting naked changed his life, what Zoe Ball and Paul Heaton taught him about dealing with fame, and why he loves rocking up to a tiny pub on a Monday night and doing an impromptu DJ set.

It Helps If You Know What You’re Doing (15-min read)
A lot of our subscribers are freelancers, so it feels right to this wonderful piece from Phil Adam. Phil was made redundant in 2020, then set up as an independent consultant. To mark his fifth anniversary, he shares some of his most valuable lessons, including advice on money, finding clients, selling without selling, knowing what it is you really do, and links to other useful resources. If you’re looking for a brand strategy consultant who knows his stuff, give Phil a call.

How to Break Out of Risk Aversion Paralysis (6-min read)
This sixth episode might be my favorite in our STAY HUMAN series, which is full of helpful advice on how B2B brands can avoid the impending zombie apocalypse. Matt looks at why risk aversion is so hard to shake and gives some simple advice on how you can save a hell of a lot of money and pain by developing a culture of piloting and prototyping. As we say at Storythings, a day spent making is worth a year spent guessing. Whilst we’re on the subject of Risk Aversion Paralysis, this is a great clip of Ken Muench talking about the three ghosts that drive decisions.

What Is Community in a Post-Social World? (Google Slides deck)
This deck from The Verge is the outcome of a big piece of work they’ve been doing to understand what community will be in a post-social and emerging AI era. It’s an excellent read for anyone trying to build purpose-driven communities whilst also giving brands an insight into what the future holds. In short, because of fragmentation, breadth is going to be difficult. Narrowing and having more focus will be essential, as will staying human and being authentic in spaces where trust is in continual decline.

How YouTube Became the Biggest Media Company in History (12-min read)
A fascinating read on what has driven the growth of YouTube. I particularly like this observation (which chimes with my content switching habits) on the viewing and listening behaviours of audiences: “What YouTube accomplished was making the transition from talk radio (commuting) or daytime talk shows (ambient noise) into primetime entertainment much easier because it’s all within one app. Students throw on a lofi stream while they do their homework, listen to and watch Impaulsive or Views on their way home, and then throw on a new MrBeast video or an informational recap of a subject they’re learning in school, perusing the comments for interesting points.”

Copywriters Should Think Like Art Directors (1-minute read)
It was pancake day on Tuesday, so well done Tesco. And I wholeheartedly endorse Vikki’s comment that ‘copywriters could and should think like art directors’ when thinking about how the words they write will look in situ.

Creative Thinking and the Balanced Brain (5-min read)
Until recently, creativity and how the brain functions during the creative process has been a bit of a mystery. History has shown that taking breaks is great for coming up with ideas. After all, Archimedes was leaping into a bath and Newton was strolling through an orchard when their famous ideas decided to make themselves known. But new research has shed more light on how the brain requires an optimal balance between imagination and controlled attention in the creative process.

Store Where You Pay to Shoplift Returns (3-min read)
This is interesting. A store in Tokyo has turned a ‘what to do with returns’ problem into a game in which people pay to play at not get caught stealing clothes off shelves. Whatever they steal without getting caught, they keep.

Tyler Cowen Chats to Dave Perell About How He Uses AI to Write (60-minute watch)
This isn’t the kind of story I usually include. But it’s not the kind of conversation that comes with this title. Here Tyler shares some brilliant advice about how he uses AI in the writing and research process that allows him to get better at writing whilst reaming true to who he is.

Why Restaurant Desserts Have Got So Boring (7-min watch)
As someone with a particularly sweet tooth, I frequently await the arrival of the dessert menu with delight only to feel somewhat underwhelmed at the options when it finally arrives. This film from Vox finally explains why we Sweeties often leave restaurants disappointed.

If you made it this far down the newsletter, you’d have realised that last week Anjali didn’t edit this bit, so it referenced Valentine’s day again. Well done if you noticed - we love you even more than the other subscribers!

Enjoy your weekend!

Matt, Anjali, Hugh and the rest of Team Storythings