Strategy Resources, Title Sequences & Gossip

Hey all,

I’m kicking off this week’s newsletter with a few things that you lot are up to. Tickets for Russell Davies’ Interesting conference have just gone on sale. Another collection of short talks about interesting things is guaranteed. If you’re not familiar with the event or Russell’s work, check out the link about his mini-podcasts below.

A couple of newsletter readers have books out at the moment. If you liked Crazy Rich Asians, Gossip Girl, and Inventing Anna, there’s a good chance you’ll be interested in The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhoa. And Alexis James’ Unsung tells the stories of the unheralded heroes behind the athletes that make the headlines. Support in whatever way you can. Have you got something you think our readers will be interested in? Drop me a line or share in the comments.

Finally, Our Audience Insights Team would love to speak to anyone who is interested in astronomy. We also want to hear from people who are pretty indifferent, too. If you fancy a chat, just answer a few quick questions and we’ll be in touch.

OK. Enjoy this week’s stories and have a wonderful weekend.

Hugh

Say No Faux: Exploring the Rise of the Relatability Factor (8 min read)

How to Choose the Right Social Platform For Your Content Strategy (10 min read)Russell Davies’ Short Podcasts (4 min listen)A Brilliant Collection of Resources For Strategists and Planners (Resources)Storytelling Will Save the Earth (4 min read)Is Laziness the Key to Creativity? (Report)Top 10 Title Sequences of 2022 (multiple videos)22 Must-Watch Documentaries About Artists and Their Work (List)Formats Unpacked: Normal Gossip (4 min read)

You want more gossip? Internal Tech Emails (4 min read)

Bonus story…

Monica Lewinsky: 25 ‘Randoms’ on 25 Years After the Bill Clinton Calamity (4 min read)

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Storythings is a strategy and production company based in Brighton, London, Bristol, Berlin, and Ibiza. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas. Here are 3 reasons to get in touch. 

1. Audience Strategy - Do you struggle to understand constantly changing audience behaviours, and what strategies you need to reach them?2. Content Format Development - Do you want to develop and test content formats that give you a direct relationship with your audience? (eg newsletters, podcasts, publications, or video series).3. Production - Do you need help developing and running an existing or new content format, and growing loyal audiences around them?We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch. 

Say No Faux: Exploring the Rise of the Relatability FactorIn part four of our Scroll Stoppers report we look at how the pandemic made us reconsider who we hung out with online and how reliability became such an important issue, particularly for young audiences. (8 min read)

How to Choose the Right Social Platform For Your Content StrategyWhilst the trend of people moving away from social can’t be ignored, the rumours of its death are a little premature. So this guide is so useful for anyone staring at a constellation of social platforms wondering where the hell their content should live. It breaks down the value of each platform and most importantly gets you to think about audience behaviours. (10 min read)Russell Davies’ Short PodcastsIn these long descriptions, I’m meant to tell you why I like something and why you might, too. But I can’t. Which is a good thing, I think. I just know that they feel very different. Which is definitely a good thing. They’re simply collages of audio snippets with the only common factor being that they caught Russell’s ear. And if someone knows a good thing when they hear a good thing it’s Russell. It’s called 41233 because he publishes it at 4:12:33 every Sunday. (4 min listen)A Brilliant Collection of Resources For Strategists and Planners Strategist Alex Morris runs a newsletter called Strat Scraps which is a scrapbook of “relics, trinkets, mementos and inspiration”. Over the years, Alex has been collecting and making his own resources for other strategists and planners. He’s good like that. These include decks on how to make decks, tools and templates for strategy and planning workshops, and a load of tips, books and guides. Make sure you subscribe while you’re there. (Resources)Storytelling Will Save the EarthThis is a good short read on the importance of stories in solving the climate crisis. In 2019, both Notre Dame and the Amazon caught fire. Whilst the first at the cathedral was reported widely and instantly, it took three weeks before the Amazon story was: “Although it is just a beautiful assortment of limestone, lead, and wood, we attach personal significance to Notre Dame, because it has a story we know and can relate to. That is what propelled people to react to it, while the fact that the Amazon was on fire elicited nothing.”(4 min read)Is Laziness the Key to Creativity?In the first of a series of new reports, It’s Nice That looks at why creatives are changing their approach to the nine to five, why a lazy period is so important for anyone’s creative process and how impossible timelines and budget constraints are extinguishing possible creative sparks.(Report)Top 10 Title Sequences of 2022 In an age of ‘skip credits’, the title sequence for a TV show or movie has become even more important. We’re obsessed with creating unskippable experiences for audiences, so naturally we love looking to the storytelling in opening sequences for inspiration. I already loved the sequences for both The White Lotus and Severance but there were some in here that I’d never seen before. (multiple videos)22 Must-Watch Documentaries About Artists and Their WorkWhy waste your time scrolling endlessly through Netflix this weekend looking for something to watch when this list is absolutely packed with stories about creative genius? If you’re in need of a little inspiration, simply go to this list and pick one at random. Whether it’s Basquiat or Bowery, there’s something more than Emily in Paris waiting for you. (List)Formats Unpacked: Normal GossipGrace Dobush has been spreading stories about this podcast that was topping the ‘Best of 2022’ lists last year. Find out why a podcast about gossip is getting so many people talking. (4 min read)

You want more gossip? Internal Tech EmailsI’m a little obsessed with this which I found via Deborah Carver’s newsletter. It’s a collection of internal tech industry emails that have surfaced on public records. Its voyeuristic appeal is heightened by the fact that these email are mostly big players such as Sergey Brin, Tim Cook or Jeff Bezos apologising, spatting, or pondering over decisions that we now know to be huge. (4 min read)

Bonus story…

Monica Lewinsky: 25 ‘Randoms’ on 25 Years After the Bill Clinton CalamityI spotted this just before I was about to hit send. Monica lists 25 things she’s learned since her ordeal: “16. We thought that the tabloidization of our news coverage could not get more tawdry or destructive after the trial of O.J. Simpson (1995), the paparazzi mob that pursued Princess Diana to her death (1997), or the press scrum surrounding the whole Clinton saga (1998 to 2000), which happened to supercharge a new television network, Fox News. Were we ever wrong. Due, in large part, to the menacing aspects of social media, the 24/7 scandal cycle has turned out to be even more devastating over time—to lives, careers, reputations, public discourse, and the American psyche.”(5 min read)

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Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.