DECEMBER 16, 2016|TRENDS & CULTURE
Glow-In-The-Dark Hair, Secret NYC Trains, Nike's Anti-Social Ad, and Citibank's Flawed Strategy
First of all, thank you for indulging me for the past two weeks as I shared my favorite books of the year and also announced my latest book - this week I'm back with my picks for the most interesting and under appreciated stories of the week and they range from a brilliant new ad from Nike to the curious rise of neon glow-in-the-dark hair. There is also a cautionary tale from Citibank on a content marketing effort that misses the mark by forgetting to give people something to do next.
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Image Source: [The Verge][/caption]Creating lifelike animations of people has, until now, remained the domain of Hollywood thanks to the cost and resource involved. Now a startup called Loom.ai just launched a platform that creates amazingly realistic avatars from a single still image. As this tech gets better, it will add a new dimension to virtual reality experiences ... and virtual fictional experiences as well.
Image Source: [Business Insider][/caption]Imagine if you could take a journey on a vintage NYC subway train through forgotten abandoned train stations. Sounds like a virtual experience, right? Yet this fascinating "Shopper's Special" train is indeed real and offers a unique voyage into the past. It is understated, hidden, exclusive and a beautiful concept that brings the history of New York to life in an unexpected way.
Image Source: [Inc][/caption]Before reading this profile of Riot Games, I admit I didn't know much about the company - but it is a leader in the world of virtual sports and has built over 100 million fans in a relatively short time. If you're not already familiar with their story, or even if you are - this is a worthwhile read.
Image Source: [Mashable][/caption]Yes, glow in the dark hair is officially a thing. While it just looks crazy colorful during the day, this new method pioneered by "hair artist" Guy Tang gives a unique look that some fashionistas are predicting will become the next hot hairstyle among people looking for a colorfully loud way to stand out.
Image Source: [Bank Innovation][/caption]I loved the concept behind this campaign - to illustrate the illogical taboos most of us have around talking about money. Unfortunately, the entirely outsourced content produced by freelance journalists offered no connection to actual experts from Citibank. This is what great strategy and flawed execution in content marketing looks like, where a campaign beautifully spotlights a problem and then forgets to offer us a way to solve it ... which was presumably the entire point of the campaign in the first place.
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Nike's Brilliant New Anti-Social Ad Campaign
What do you do when you first wake up? If it has something to do with your phone, you need to watch this new series of ads from Nike that brilliantly trolls our addictive internet behaviour and reminds us that there are some things more important than wasting time reading commentary online ... like making time for a run.Read the full story on Design Taxi >>
Loom.ai Creates Lifelike 3D Avatars For Anyone
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="986"] Image Source: [The Verge][/caption]Creating lifelike animations of people has, until now, remained the domain of Hollywood thanks to the cost and resource involved. Now a startup called Loom.ai just launched a platform that creates amazingly realistic avatars from a single still image. As this tech gets better, it will add a new dimension to virtual reality experiences ... and virtual fictional experiences as well.
Read the full story on The Verge >>
The Secret NYC Subway Train Back In Time
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1218"] Image Source: [Business Insider][/caption]Imagine if you could take a journey on a vintage NYC subway train through forgotten abandoned train stations. Sounds like a virtual experience, right? Yet this fascinating "Shopper's Special" train is indeed real and offers a unique voyage into the past. It is understated, hidden, exclusive and a beautiful concept that brings the history of New York to life in an unexpected way.
Read the full story on Business Insider >>
Inside Inc Magazine's Surprising Company Of The Year Winner
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1940"] Image Source: [Inc][/caption]Before reading this profile of Riot Games, I admit I didn't know much about the company - but it is a leader in the world of virtual sports and has built over 100 million fans in a relatively short time. If you're not already familiar with their story, or even if you are - this is a worthwhile read.
Read the full story on Inc >>
Why Neon Hair Might Be The Fashion Trend Of The Future
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1823"] Image Source: [Mashable][/caption]Yes, glow in the dark hair is officially a thing. While it just looks crazy colorful during the day, this new method pioneered by "hair artist" Guy Tang gives a unique look that some fashionistas are predicting will become the next hot hairstyle among people looking for a colorfully loud way to stand out.
Read the full story on Mashable >>
Citibank Illustrates What Flawed Content Marketing Looks Like
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2283"] Image Source: [Bank Innovation][/caption]I loved the concept behind this campaign - to illustrate the illogical taboos most of us have around talking about money. Unfortunately, the entirely outsourced content produced by freelance journalists offered no connection to actual experts from Citibank. This is what great strategy and flawed execution in content marketing looks like, where a campaign beautifully spotlights a problem and then forgets to offer us a way to solve it ... which was presumably the entire point of the campaign in the first place.
Read the full story on Bank Innovation >>
How Are These Stories Chosen?
Every week I review more than a hundred data sources to curate the best and most under appreciated marketing stories of the week. The aim of this email is to spotlight these “non-obvious” stories, along with a quick take on why they matter for you. I hope you find this email interesting and useful … and am always open to your suggestions on how I might make it better!Subscribe to get these stories every Thursday in your inbox >>
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How It All Started
A Short Backstory Of This Blog
This is a blog about non-obvious ideas. Originally launched on the Typepad platform in 2005 as the Influential Marketing blog, the stories at first focused mainly on digital marketing while Rohit worked at Ogilvy Advertising. In 2015 Rohit officially rebranded to the Non-Obvious Insights Blog and published his WSJ bestseller Non-Obvious. For the past twenty one years, this blog has coined new terms, introduced future marketing practices and inspired the next generation of non-obvious thinkers and marketers.
