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Why Netflix Uses Taste Communities Instead of Demographics

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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

The Big Question Facing The Future Of Media and Publishing Online

library

Recently a contributor to Forbes named Panos Mourdoukoutas wrote an opinion piece suggesting that local taxpayers would be better off if libraries were replaced with Amazon. The article created an instant controversy and media reporting of the outrage led Forbes to quickly take it down. For years the expansion of contributors to the Forbes network … Read more

BBC Newscaster Realizes On Air That A Story Isn’t Newsworthy

In this short video of a BBC newscaster reporting  about the “Royal Baby” announcement, you see a rare moment of truth where newsman Simon McCoy shows us what he really thinks about reading a relatively unimportant announcement as if it was “Breaking News,” when he knows it clearly isn’t. Which leaves us with the perfect … Read more

Trend Watch – The Rise Of Media Escapism

Is it ever ok to take a break from your outrage and the 24-hour news cycle? We all should hope so. Yet taking this kind of break is leading to a widespread side effect: guilt. That time you spend watching The Bachelor or staying home from the latest angry protest march is time where you’re … Read more

Overrated Millennials And Why Brands Are Embracing Seniors Instead

Senior citizens now officially outnumber the young people in Taiwan, and there is a growing worldwide shift among brands to embrace older consumers instead of largely ignoring them in favor of their younger counterparts. This week’s stories feature brands in traditionally younger targeted industries like athletics and lingerie using older ambassadors. Meanwhile a new startup promises … Read more

Hasbro Saves Families, Amazon’s Uber Idea, CES 2017 and Marketing Lessons From Hatchimals

Given it is the end of the year, this week’s stories include several holiday themes, including an inside look at the PR strategy behind Hatchimals, a great strategic idea from Hasbro UK and an app designed to reduce food wastage. Other stories I selected this week include Amazon revealing its bold ambitions to transform the … Read more

15 Non-Obvious Business Trends Shaping 2017 (Retail, Consumer, Tech, Marketing, and Media)

Are you a member of the media? Visit our media kit to download a trend summary and more information about requesting an interview with Rohit >> This week I launched the seventh edition of my annual trend report featuring all of my research from throughout the year on trends. Many of you have already picked … Read more

How Bernie Sanders Could Replace Trump, Nike’s Big Experiment and Why The Watch Industry Needs Women

The most hopeful news this week was the many new efforts to fight back against the disturbing rise of fake news sites and disreputable sources of information. Apart from this fight, there were stories this week about the bold economic policy of Indian Prime Minister Modi, Nike’s biggest retail experiment and the latest and greatest displays … Read more

Intel Creates Drone Fireworks, Unilever Bans Sexist Ads and How To Spin Getting Fired

Fear dominated the headlines this week as “Brexit” cast a scary spotlight on everything from the future of globalization to the belief gap between the young and old. Thankfully, amidst all the doomsday predictions, there were also plenty of stories of hope – from Unilever’s moves to ban sexism in their advertising to the story … Read more

4 Brilliant Exposés, The World’s Ugliest Color And Other Non-Obvious Insights

This week I was intrigued by a combination of fascinating new research and refreshingly honest exposés. The ANA published a controversial report on media rebates and I read insightful in depth articles about everything from how the NYT and WSJ best seller lists really work to the true difference between Uber and Lyft. Along with these … 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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