As Featured In:
Webby
AdAge
HBR
WSJ
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
For years when charitable institutions tried to make giving and participation easier through using digital tools, they were accused of “slacktivism” a term coined to describe the fear that true participation might be replaced by feel good “like” button clicks. Those same critics would jump all over this new effort from No Kid Hungry aimed … Read more
In a perfect example of Passive Loyalty (a 2017 trend from Non-Obvious), this article on discusses how to break up with your bank. While changing banks is notoriously inconvenient, the author of the piece was inspired to do so because of ethical differences with his bank (Wells Fargo) and its support of the Dakota pipeline. This consumer empowerment … Read more
A new survey shows that jobs outside of Wall Street are increasingly being preferred by MBA graduates as just 19% of respondents selected Wall Street as their top employment choice – a drop of 7 percent from last year and the lowest level in the 8 year history of the survey. While the survey only … Read more
Storytelling can shape consumer perception, but it may also have an underappreciated downside. When journalist Amy Wu was invited by Iowa Select Farms to tour their pork production operations, she noted that taking a consumer into a farm to show “food transparency” is a good idea in principle, but it doesn’t change the fact that … Read more
It is a sad reality of politics just how often politicians seem to cater to the loudest of their constituents. Making noise may not be the only way for normal people to create clout anymore, thanks to Facebook’s announcement that it will allow users to easily tag their local and state politicians in a post. … Read more
If you are a parent, one of the things that probably keeps you up at night is how to monitor your kids activity online and keep them safe from scams, cyberbullying or worse. This newly launched tool from Google looks to be a wonderful resource both for parents and also educators to teach kids everything … Read more
This week a short but powerful piece from former model Paulina Porizkova casts a powerful light on the role of women in different cultures and her own struggles with being a woman first in the Czech Republic, then in Sweden and finally in her adopted home of America. Touching on sexuality, power, and politics – … Read more
What is the most hipster-centric product you could imagine? The answer is just one of the six interesting stories curated for you in this week’s newsletter. Along with the ironically true tale of the invention of the “Avolatte,” you’ll read about new efforts to become more relevant and innovative from the USPS, a promising new … Read more
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
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - relesaed 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.
Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.
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.
