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When Jennifer and I wrote Beyond Diversity, one of the first things we talked about was blind spots. We knew that there would be things we could not see or cultural references we might not know. It was the reason we engaged six contributors and another eight sensitivity readers to help us uncover those deficits in … Read more
There aren’t many brands that define their entire category so much that people literally use the brand name interchangeably to describe the product. Kleenex has always had that for the tissue industry, and now they are doubling down on this dominance with a clever new partnership with movie database IMDB to offer “The Kleenex Score” to movies … Read more
The advertising industry is anxiously awaiting potential news that newly appointed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who started his term by single-handedly bringing the deadly measles disease backfrom near extinction, may turn his attention toward the pharma industry by banning all drug advertising on television. Unlike his widely criticized stance on vaccines, this is … Read more
Outside a Pop Mart store in Vietnam there is a line around the block at 2am. The cause for all this excitement is the latest blind box release of a limited edition figurine … otherwise known as an art toy. In case you’re not familiar, these figurines are collectibles that allow customers to “express creativity, find joy … Read more
There was a longstanding joke among my agency friends about the type of feedback we would often get from corporate clients when presenting our creative work. It essentially boiled down to some version of “make the logo bigger.” Brand managers and CMOs alike have long equated a prominent logo with brand building and, by extension, … 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
British luxury car brand Jaguar just launched a new rebrand and it’s sparking some controversy online because of how radically it moves away from the very recognizable pouncing cat logo that has defined the brand for centuries. Most of the ire seems to speculate that there’s a new team and CMO in charge, the brand is suffering … Read more
Six years ago, Victoria’s Secret shelved their popular runway show after significant blowback from media and consumers alike who felt the show was objectifying women. Since then, the brand has had to go through leadership changes and significant soul searching about what it stood for. This week they brought back their runway show in an attempt to … 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
How will you avoid the toxic conversations that often come along with an election cycle? It might start with avoiding social media altogether. Yogurt brand Stonyfield is challenging their customers to do that and rewarding 100 winners with $1000 each if they can do it. The campaign’s website describes the intention of the campaign like this: It’s election … 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.
