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There was a time when patriotic branding was hot. That time seems to be over. According to an eye-opening new study from a sociologist at Northern Arizona University, brands that include the outline of the U.S. map or the American flag are on the decline. And this is not just happening in America—it’s becoming more common … Read more
The worst ads of the year, according to marketing publication The Drum, included Apple’s cringy ad showing the iPad literally crushing human creativity, Google showing how AI could help a seven year cheat her way through writing a fan letter to an Olympian, Jaguar’s controversial brand revamp, Bumble’s bumbling ad imploring their female users to hook … Read more
This past week was panic-inducing across the advertising industry. Two of the “big four” agency holding companies intend to join forces to create the biggest ad agency in the world with over 100,000 employees and an estimated $25B in revenue. The part of the news causing the most fear across the industry probably boils down to one … Read more
The survival of journalism and a free press largely depends on all of our willingness to fund it. One overlooked element of this issue is how digital marketing is purchased and valued. Consider this eye-opening assessment of how digital marketing and “brand safety tech” works and why these tools that were designed to prevent ads … Read more
The iconic food storage brand Tupperware just filed for bankruptcy protection. Officially, Tupperware aims to “protect its beloved brand as it shifts towards a digital-first, technology-led company … to enhance its omni-channel capabilities.” At the same time, the company has promised to retain agreements with independent sales consultants, who “remain a core part of the company’s … Read more
Brand partnerships can be tricky. One partner may eclipse the other. It can be hard to stand out or make the right commitments. I’ve always admired the way LEGO used partnerships to leverage the content and stories of their partners but add their own unique lens through the various items you could build through co-branded … Read more
Over the past several weeks, travel and media brands with access to plentiful user data are finally following the path of social media platforms to create new ways to monetize it. United Airlines announced “the airline industry’s first media network” and just this week the Paramount Plus streaming network opened up their self-service Ads Manager to allow … Read more
Residents in every city love to complain about the daily minor or major frustrations they endure in order to live where they do, but what if the things they gripe about are the same reasons someone else might choose to visit? That’s the insight behind a clever campaign that has been going viral this week … Read more
This week is the Cannes Creative Festival and so there are plenty of the usual healthy jokes about Cannes being a yacht-party fueled satire of itself. Criticism aside, awards have always been meaningful to celebrate great work and motivate creative people … but the problem is that in past years most Cannes award-winning campaigns quickly seem … Read more
Joey Chestnut is about as modern of an American hero as you can imagine. He is a household name for being the 16-time champion of Nathan’s hot dog eating competition. Nathan’s even considered him an unofficial brand spokesperson … until they found out he took a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods to promote their vegan … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - relesaed 10/01/2024.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
