Hi there,

September 1st was a Monday and heralded the beginning of back-to-school in the UK, and a settling back into work routines that might have gone slightly askew during the summer. So welcome back to everyone this week!

For newer subscribers, I thought it might be useful, taking advantage of back-to-school season, to do a refresher of who we are: Storythings is a content marketing agency for brands that want to Stay Human. When you work with us, you won’t get zombie language that makes people think you’re a robot, particularly if you’re a B2B company! On that note, we’ve launched a Content-As-A-Service product, which you can learn more about by clicking the button below.

We recently published the latest episode in Payroll Around The World, our podcast for ADP, chronicling the complexities of payroll in different countries. The most recent episode looks at payroll in Canada. But while you’re there, check out the other countries we’ve showcased already!

And now: let’s move on to the links below!

Anjali

Posted Is Better Than Perfect: Advice From The Wimbledon Social Team (12-min read)

Do Radio: A Radio Station For Do-ers (5-min read)

The 12 Habits Of Highly Successful CMOs (3-min read)

Bringing Your Favourite Shows To You: Netflix House (live experience)

Postcards From Oasis Concerts in Toronto And Chicago (Instagram images)

Tokens & Tactics: Turning Software Into A Medium (10-min read)

Personalisation Dissonance: Why Large Teams Struggle To Deliver A Consistent Email Experience To Readers (12-min read)

Riz Ahmed On Why We Need To Stretch Ourselves To Stretch Culture (6-min read)

Formats Unpacked: The Assembly (5-min read)

AI Trying To Say ‘Geometry’ (2-min listen, though you don’t need to make it all the way through!)

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.

Posted Is Better Than Perfect: Advice From The Wimbledon Social Team (12-min read)
We’re in the midst of the US Open now, but that’s pretty good timing for this piece by Rachel Karten, who managed to get access to two key people from Wimbledon’s social media team. Learn all about how the team published 5,844 content posts during the period, and hit success with the ‘Overheard’ series.

Do Radio: A Radio Station For Do-ers (5-min read)
I’m really enjoying listening to this radio station while I work from home. The Do Lectures were one of the early pioneers of life-changing talks, held on a remote farm in Wales. One of my biggest regrets is that I haven’t been able to get there yet. Personally, I think the quality of the talks is often more honest than TED’s. But in good news: this week saw the launch of Do Radio, where you can get a sense of the vibe and life-changing conversation right from your home.

The 12 Habits Of Highly Successful CMOs (3-min read)
Hugh shared this LinkedIn post by Jon Evans of the Uncensored CMO podcast, where Jon summarises the best lessons taken from his hundreds of episodes interviewing CMOs around the world. My personal favourite might be ‘You should get fired for not taking a risk’, advice from Nicole Parlapiano, CMO of Tubi.

Bringing Your Favourite Shows To You: Netflix House (live experience)
Netflix is no longer about streaming. Announced this week, they are bringing fully-fledged entertainment complexes to cities around the world, starting with Philadelphia and Dallas in 2025. They’ve had one-off experiences before, and pop-ups from the media/entertainment brands are quite popular at industry conferences and beyond (the one by Paramount, showcasing their newest shows during SXSW Austin, has been particularly good these last couple of years). The Los Angeles Times has more about Netflix’ plans.

Postcards From Oasis Concerts in Toronto And Chicago (Instagram images)
A beautiful collection of images from Daniel Broadley, Jay Davison and others that chronicle some of the best moments of Oasis’ concerts across Toronto and Chicago recently. The first image is a great example of the power of music to ‘transport people to another time and place’, as Hugh says.

Tokens & Tactics: Turning Software Into A Medium (10-min read)
In this edition of the BrXnd newsletter, Noah Brier and Claire Fridkin interview Paul Ford, co-founder and President of Aboard, which uses AI to assist in building full-fledged, complete business apps. Paul also led the consultancy Postlight till its sale a few years ago. He’s one of the great minds in AI, and learning how he thinks about and uses AI today provides great insight into a great mind - and the limits of technology.

Personalisation Dissonance: Why Large Teams Struggle To Deliver A Consistent Email Experience To Readers (12-min read)
From the Inbox Collective, an analysis of why one customer might receive 3 emails from the same organisation that convey messages that feel like they’re from 3 different companies altogether, and how to deal with it. Growing use of AI, the lack of a coherent strategy and siloed teams are all contributing factors: “With AI, automation, real-time data feeds, CRM integrations and more, the tech stack is well and truly stacked. However, the more sophisticated our tools become, the risk of incoherence grows.”

Riz Ahmed On Why We Need To Stretch Ourselves To Stretch Culture (6-min read)
This is a brilliant manifesto by Riz Ahmed, presented by WeTransfer’s WePresent initiative, on why it is important to make those projects that we just haven’t made before, that we possibly haven’t had the courage to. I loved his Oscar-winning short The Long Goodbye, which is an excellent example of this manifesto in action. You can download the whole manifesto as a poster. This line stood out: “Stretching beyond yourself, and past the ego, is therefore something that I see as the heart of the creative process. The notion of "stretching culture" is different, but deeply connected to this. If stretching yourself is at the heart of the process, stretching culture is the purpose of creativity as I see it.”

Formats Unpacked: The Assembly (5-min read)
Our own Hugh Garry breaks down the magic of the TV show The Assembly, where ‘thirty-five autistic, neurodivergent, and learning disabled people sit in a circle and interview well-known British celebrities’. It’s the very human, honest questions that aren’t beaten to death by PR that make this show what it is. It’s the people asking the questions that bring the magic.

AI Trying To Say ‘Geometry’ (2-min listen, though you don’t need to make it all the way through!)
Matt shared this on our team Slack and it’s a great way to send you off into the weekend with a giggle. AI can do tons of things, but one thing it apparently cannot do is say the word ‘geometry’, based on this script to convert PDFs into an audio book using an AI library.

Made it this far? Awesome, here’s a bit of trivia: on September 5th, in 1958, the first colour video recording on magnetic tape was presented in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1839, the first Opium War between Britain and China began. And in 1666, the Great Fire of London was finally brought under control.

Enjoy the weekend!

Matt, Anjali, Hugh and the rest of Team Storythings