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The Ad Council Helps Connect Creative Marketing Pros With Nonprofits

I admit that despite my many years working in marketing and advertising I have never been lucky enough to work on an Ad Council pro bono campaign, but have routinely admired them. Now they have teamed up with Taproot to launch a wonderful site designed to help nonprofits access free professional support from a variety … Read more

Utah Ski Resort Embraces Its One Star Rating In Clever Print Ad

This story has made the rounds this week, but it deserves it. The Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah received a one star review, based on how insanely difficult the mountain was … so they embraced it. The original review reads: “I’ve heard Snowbird is a tough mountain, but this is ridiculous. It felt like every trail … Read more

The Mask That Displays Your Emotions In Real Time

Rather than wearing your emotions on your sleeve, a new product called the Hyperface lets you wear them on your face. The idea from London-based designer Eun Kyung Shin is to use a visor-like headset to create a new visual method for communications where we could understand each other more deeply without depending on emotional … Read more

How To Spot A Fake Viral Video

For a crash course in figuring out what is real and what isn’t online, who better to turn to than a YouTuber who has built a reputation out of debunking viral videos and showing what techniques they have used. While you could go frame by frame to see the tricks, the more useful conclusion from … Read more

How “The Backscratchers” Are Reinventing The Agency Model

Back when I worked in the agency world, I remember the angst every time an unreasonable demand came in from a client without a “proper” brief. Rather than try to change this sad reality of last minute requests (or complain about it behind the client’s back), “The Backscratchers” agency have created a model that embraces … Read more

Etrade Sells Everything That Is Wrong With Capitalism

Some financial services firms will tell you to save for retirement and adopt better spending habits. Others, like eTrade, will promote the idea that getting on their platform and making a few quick investments can help you buy a yacht you don’t need and behave like an asshole. That’s the silly premise of this widely … Read more

Yoplait Bravely Tells Moms To Give Kids Sugar Because It Tastes Good

Trying to reverse its declining market share, Yoplait’s new campaign skips competing on health to focus on taste instead. The ad brings to life all the things moms are often criticized for – like breastfeeding in public or having kids later in life – and invites moms to “Do What Tastes Right” and forget about … Read more

The Surprising Brand That Won Big At Cannes

The most famous portraits in history are all painted from the torso up. That was the interesting insight from Ogilvy that led to this campaign for shoe polish brand Kiwi which recently won big at the Cannes festival. By commissioning artists to draw the bottom half of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa – this … Read more

Apple Imagines Destroying The World At WWDC 

During its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this past week described by one media outlet as a “parody of itself,” Apple launched a video intended to show developers how much the world needs them and the apps they build. The video, unfortunately, ended up illustrating just how much havoc Apple could wreak if it chose to … Read more

How Convenience Is Transforming Dating, Fast Food, Fashion And More

This week I kept seeing the recurring theme of convenience. Whether it was a story about how cell phones can be used for monitoring disease carrying mosquitos to a new Amazon Echo Virtual Stylist that will judge your new outfit. There is a new portable scanner that will test the pesticides in your fruit and … Read more

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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.

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