26 2023 July
When Influencer Marketing Goes Predictably Wrong
When a fast fashion retailer often criticized for negative environmental and labor track record wants to recast its brand image, it is not a good...
Read Now24 2023 July
Why Barbie Isn’t the Biggest Movie Marketing Story This Week
This week every marketing publication is talking about the movie marketing for Barbie, celebrating their “dizzying array of partnerships” and all the memes, parodies and brand...
Read Now30 2022 December
The Most Popular Non-Obvious Stories of 2022 (Based On Reader Feedback)
Based on this combination of quantitative and qualitative data, here is a partial list of some of the most popular stories of the year, based on what my readers shared.
Read Now13 2022 September
Monopoly Makes Kids Angry, For Their Own Good
I really wish I was in the room when they presented the insight behind this campaign to Hasbro. It's bold, clever and deep in a way you don't expect marketing to be.
Read Now03 2020 February
The Best & Worst Of 2020 Super Bowl Marketing Strategy
Can a Super Bowl ad that costs nearly $6 million be worth it? That’s a question worth debating if you’re in marketing, so let’s take...
Read Now17 2020 January
Ten Stories About Non-Obvious Megatrends You Should Read
Earlier this week I sent the 200th edition of my weekly Non-Obvious Insights email and my book Non-Obvious Megatrends just launched on Tuesday so there is lots...
Read Now26 2019 December
5 Non-Obvious Megatrends Changing Our World In 2020
For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business...
Read Now26 2019 November
Inside India’s First Brand For Curly Haired Women
India has some baggage when it comes to women with curly hair: “The Indian ideal for beauty prizes long, straight hair. For the most part,...
Read Now06 2019 September
Scientists Regrow Teeth, Americans Need Chaos and Why Your Next Flight Might Be Delayed On Purpose | Non-Obvious Insights #181
This week the dual themes of selfishness and unselfishness emerged in the stories I’m sharing below. On the selfish side – Instagrammers sharing tone deaf...
Read Now12 2019 July
6 Marketing Lessons From Ed Sheeran
There is a moment during a show at the Austin City Limits where Ed Sheeran finally starts to perform his biggest hit at the time:...
Read Now04 2019 April
The One Reason So Many Brand Pranks On April Fools Day Failed This Year
Why do some branded April Fools Day jokes work while others fall flat?
Read Now22 2019 March
How The Non-Obvious Trend Of “RetroTrust” Started Taking Off
One of the most popular trends from this year’s edition of Non-Obvious was a trend I called RetroTrust – the idea that we trust in...
Read Now21 2019 February
Samsung’s Quiet Innovation, Men’s Makeup and Why Long-Term Space Missions Might Need Funny Astronauts | Non-Obvious Insights 02.21.19
Samsung’s Quiet Innovation That Everyone Ignored This week Samsung launched the world’s first folding phone. They also defied Apple and Google by keeping the 3.5mm headphone...
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