11 2024 January
Mickey Mouse Enters the Public Domain … Here’s What It Means
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...
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26 2023 October
The World’s Hottest Pepper Will Never Succeed for This Reason
A list of the world’s hottest peppers before 2023 includes some scary names. The Carolina Reaper. The Ghost Pepper. The Trinidad Scorpion. The Infinity Chili....
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30 2023 September
Can Shaming Agencies Create a Talent Rebellion Against “Unworthy” Brands?
A environmental activist group that calls themselves Clean Creatives is “once again calling out ad agencies that have contracts with fossil fuel companies in a...
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24 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...
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04 2023 January
CES 2023: The 25 Non-Obvious Inventions, Technologies and Ideas To Watch
Reporting from the trade show floor at CES 2023, here are some of my picks for the most non-obvious inventions to watch and why they are so interesting.
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30 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 Now10 2022 October
California DMV Approves Usage of Pointless Digital License Plates
The problem is, this license plate doesn’t do any of the things that drivers would actually want from a digital plate. Like changing my plate number to ...
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 Now10 2020 August
Coca-Cola Imagines the Future of Refreshment with “Coca-Cola Coffee”
I spent four years in a place that acclimatizes you to believe there is nothing strange about having a Diet Coke for Breakfast. I’m speaking,...
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 Now14 2019 February
Jose Cuervo’s Tequila Train, Kim Kardashian’s Selfie Strategy and Barbie Focusing On Inclusion | Non-Obvious Insights 02.14.19
Why Jose Cuervo Wins With Its All-You-Can-Drink Tequila Train The temptation to create a “Strategic Spectacle” is popular for brands desperately chasing experiential marketing. Usually it leads to...
Read Now13 2018 December
The 2018 Non-Obvious Book Awards – Top 50 Business Books Of The Year
Every year my team and I read and review hundreds of books in the process of curating ideas to incorporate in our annual list of...
Read Now28 2018 August
The Loneliness Industry and the World’s Saddest Product
About a year and a half ago, a Japanese company called Gatebox released a depressing preview video of a new AI powered “Holographic Wife” that would offer...
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