Hey,

We started a nice new thing in our Monday team meetings - it’s a simple question that changes each week. I thought I’d give it a go here. So, what’s your favorite love song? Hit reply and tell us.

What are you all up to on Thursday? Absolutely nothing? Great! You’re all invited to Proper Fancy (Jan 30th). If you’ve never attended take this opportunity to make new friends, get inspired and maybe even share a link if you’re so inclined. Proper Fancy is a Storythings show and tell that’s open to everyone, it’s free and a load of fun!

We’ve just launched Season 4 of Teachers Voices, a podcast we make with the Jacobs Foundation about learning and child development. The first episode is about how teachers shape the lives of their students - give it a listen. The world around the podcast is building this lovely WhatsApp community of researchers and teachers doing amazing work around the world. The team has also created an online repository of over 100 individual stories captured for the show over the seasons.

And finally, a reminder - if you need help with research, strategy or content production give the button below a press. It’s what we do and we’d love to chat!

OK. On with the stories. Have the most fantastic weekend. You’ve earned it!

Hugh

Sir John Hegarty - a Story About Truth (1-minute read)

Is the Era of Prestige TV Over? (5-minute read)

Jon Ronson on NLP and the Right Way to Annoy An Interviewee (5-minute read)

How the CMO Role Will Change Under the New Administration (6-minute read)

A Brilliant Collection of Out-of-Home and Direct Mail Advertising Ideas (10-minute read)

A Very Useful Strategy Resource Library (collection of resources)

An Approach to Brand Guidelines Worth Copying (5-minute read)

This Suncream Advert is Bonkers (90-second watch)

Design Must Not Get Sucked Into the Age of Average (4-minute read)

Were Back to the Future and Goonies Set on the Same Day? (1-minute 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.

Sir John Hegarty - a Story About Truth (1-minute read)
There isn’t a Desert Island Discs for adverts, but if there was I’d probably have the Boddingtons Cream of Manchester campaign in there. As a Mancunian, the advert wasn’t even aimed at me but it still resonates decades later. Here, Sir John Hegarty gives a bit of background to how the ad came about.

Is the Era of Prestige TV Over? (5-minute read)
There have been claims screenwriters are being asked to dumb-down scripts for viewers who use their phones while watching. It’s a subject we touched upon in our Scroll Stoppers report in 2023. Here, the Guardian speaks to several screenwriters to get to the truth and looks at what that means for a golden era of TV: “‘If you’re not paying attention to the story, that’s OK – you do you!…But we should be asking how to encourage audiences to pay more attention, not less. I think people are always hungry for stories made with nuance, care and attention to detail, whether they realise it or not. Great storytelling knows how to reward both casual and focused attention.’”

Jon Ronson on NLP and the Right Way to Annoy An Interviewee (5-minute read)
In this latest free post from Jon Ronson’s super Substack, the writer and broadcaster shares a story about how he accidentally annoyed a car full of authors, a question he often likes to ask, and reveals why NLP’s co-founder Richard Bandler wanted to break his legs.

How the CMO Role Will Change Under the New Administration (6-minute read)
While the first few paragraphs of this article may infuriate you, there’s an important message later on about the opportunity to change brands’ relations with audiences: “It’s time for CMOs to stop playing by Big Tech’s rules and start creating new ones based on the principles of cultural relevance, creativity and authenticity. While the tools have changed, the CMOs role hasn’t. Those who do, can regain their power beyond brokers of media to become builders of meaningful audience relationships.”

A Brilliant Collection of Out-of-Home and Direct Mail Advertising Ideas (10-minute read)
I came across this wonderful collection via Rory Sutherland’s LinkedIn post about the much-ignored but still incredibly effective direct mail advertising. Some very smart and occasionally funny ideas that could spark some new ways of thinking for you or your team.

A Very Useful Strategy Resource Library (collection of resources)
Alex Mason is the Director of Brand Strategy at Signal Theory and has very generously shared her collection of strategy inspiration. Be sure to bookmark this.

An Approach to Brand Guidelines Worth Copying (5-minute read)
It’s very rare that I’m shown brand guidelines and am inspired by the format in which the guidelines have been delivered. Thankfully, Dropbox have demonstrated how to do it by creating an elegant and functional website that leans heavily into the showing rather than the telling. If found this via Ash Mann’s excellent newsletter.

This Suncream Advert is Bonkers (90-second watch)
And I love it! I wonder if this equally insane Sprite ad from the 90s was an inspiration.

Design Must Not Get Sucked Into the Age of Average (4-minute read)
Nicolas Roope, designer, creative technologist and entrepreneur who co-founded Poke, Plumen and The Lovie Awards, make a plea to designers and brands to avoid designing for the algorithm: “We operate in a world where businesses have doubled down on data as their sole gods. The idea is compelling enough. When everything is trackable and executable in digital through data, is there any other option than to become monotheistic? But here’s the problem: If your statistical analysis always points you towards the average, what does that mean for your brand, your products, your design, expression and storytelling?”

Were Back to the Future and Goonies Set on the Same Day? (1-minute watch)
We like to take on the big questions here at Storythings and for readers of a certain age, this could be big, if true. Kinda reminds me of the search to find what date Ice Cube had his good day.

That’s your ten links for the weekend. Sharing with your friends and colleagues is always appreciated. And if you have ideas of how we can improve it, we’d always love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend! And go out and start a band!

Matt, Anjali, Hugh and the rest of Team Storythings