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The first big meme of the year is Mickey Mouse finally entering the public domain, which means creators can use the iconic Disney character to create their own projects. Or does it? As this video explains, there is a difference between a character that is copyrighted and one that has a trademark. Not to mention there … Read more
They say meeting your heroes never ends well. But they have never met the Wiggles. This week at SXSW Sydney I was able to attend the world premiere of a new documentary called “Hot Potato” which tells the story of the unlikely rise of the renowned children’s entertainment group and rock band, The Wiggles. During the pre-show … Read more
Next week I’ll be back in Australia speaking at the international edition of SXSW in Sydney.
In addition to doing a Featured Session, I’ll be recording two episodes LIVE from the stage for my upcoming Non-Obvious Show podcast (launching later this year).
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 collabs. Many of them mention, but minimize, the importance of two significant facts: Of course, there are many ways to squander a huge marketing budget, but given the built-in advantages … Read more
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 environment. Over the past decade, my team and I have identified and written about well over 100 trends covering everything from the rise of the #metoo movement (a trend we … Read more
The Queen-inspired film Bohemian Rhapsody film was poorly rated by critics, yet became a big box office hit. Earlier this year, the same thing happened to Hugh Jackman’s The Greatest Show musical film about the life of PT Barnum. Why are critics so out of touch with what real people like? And why do we love the … Read more
This week I made my annual trek to Snug Harbor on Staten Island for the Future of Storytelling conference. I make it a point to come every year, and this year I was lucky to moderate a session with Jill Cress, the CMO of National Geographic, who is helping the brand move from “reverence to relevance.” At the … Read more
Last week Netflix announced that they would be stopping their long standing policy of asking customers to vote on early pilots for programs to see if they have enough critical mass and audience to continue. In the same week, at a television industry event a Netflix executive shared that Netflix finds demographics to be useless … Read more
Back when I worked at a marketing agency I remember those times when I would see a campaign so inspired it would immediately make me wish I had thought of it. This new effort from FCB New York is one of those envy-inducing efforts. The goal is to position LG TVs as the ones that … Read more
Logan director James Mangold is worried that “the fear of upsetting an eager mob” of online fans might drive smart, creative people out of creating great art. For years comedians have been avoiding college campuses because of the inability for easily outraged youth to take a joke. Have we become so uptight that we are unable … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - released 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.
