[SIC] 108: A Pull Rather Than a Push

October 1st, 2020

Hi all, first and foremost, glad to have you here - and welcome to the big raft of new subscribers this week. Let me know what you think in the comments.  Big up to Ugi for his contribution this week (especially after I missed his shout out last week 🤦‍♂️), and thanks to Amber, Luke, Syd and John for their contributions too. Keep ‘em coming, all. 

I’m doing a [SIC] Talks today with Matthew Davis, head of creative at Warner Media Innovation Lab. I met Matthew in his Nike days, and he’s also on the board of Futur404, a Paris-based fashion tech consultancy and publisher.  Matthew’s an energy god, so it’ll be fun. He also named the newsletter this week. Side note: Innovation:Lab is looking to host a series of projects / programs / installations supporting new voices in creative technology / immersive and interactive mediums, etc.  It’s at 4P ET (in a few minutes) and thereafter on my IG @dietznutz.

Enjoy! 

=====[SIC 108]: A Pull Rather Than a Push=====

Let’s get the heavy stuff out of the way: 

• RIP Keith Hufnagel (NYT).  And Epicly Later’d’s Huf episodes - Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3. (Youtube) 

• For The Drum, a legal expert unpacks Trump executive order on diversity training.  Agencies with federal contracts run a significant risk of financial penalties and being ‘debarred’ if they don’t comply with Trump’s new executive order. This is literally chilling. 

• Via Future Party: A new study by the Pew Research Center found that YouTube is becoming an American news media big-hitter. 72% of respondents said YouTube is either “the most important way” or “an important way” to get the news.

• Even worse, via Axios: 82% of Gen Z say that COVID-19 made them realize how much politicians’ decisions impact their lives. But Most young people say they lack information around the vote-by-mail process, a primary way to vote this year. Snapchat’s report on the information gap.

From there, the week’s digest of developments: 

• Thanks to Michael Williams for the shout-out to [SIC] Weekly in his edition of WITI’s Monday Media Diet. Michael’s A Continuous Lean has been a touchstone for years. I’m flattered. 

• Speaking of Michael, he’s got Will Welch (EIC at GQ) on the ACL Podcast, talking about narrowing the brand’s editorial mission and becoming more (sub)culturally relevant. (A Continuous Lean) 

• Corollary to that: via Public Announcement: The Remains of the Heyday: Are Subcultures Still Possible?  Big Freedia, Sasha Geffen, Jockum Hallin, Kevin Hatt, Dean Kissick, Trace Lysette, and Bernadette Van-Huy on the state of the underground in the age of the algorithm. Interesting it’s a retailer publishing this. (ssense) 

• From Amber Finlay: This one is cool - [MSCHF’s] partnership with Otis to make medical bills into art, and shares pay off the bills for the patients.  

Other Listening: 

• Megachef Daniel Boulud on the “Time Sensitive” pod (The Slowdown)

• And Blackbird Spyplane’s Jonah Weiner on How Long Gone (Spotify) 

• More BSSP: “unbeatable recon” on designer and upcycling icon Emily Bode’s inspiration and process.

Brand Action: 

• Crinklecore: Frank Gehry has created a limited-edition bottle for the 150th anniversary of drinks brand Hennessy's X.O cognac, which he hopes is unlike "anything people have seen before". (Dezeen).

• Patagonia's new movie, 'Public Trust,' tells the story of President Trump stealing American land (Fast Company)

• Pass the Big Sean: Budweiser’s going hyperlocal. (The Drum) *INSERT PHOTO

• Hypebeast + Coffee = Hypebeans (Forbes)

• There's a Biden Beauty brand encouraging people to vote blue (no involvement from the campaign) (WWD) 

• Color company Pantone and health brand Intimina have collaborated to create an "active and adventurous" red colour to start a positive conversation around periods.  (Dezeen)

Agencyland: 

• Via Carat’s Media Futures newsletter:  Amazon’s new home security camera is a drone  Ring, the division of Amazon that makes the video doorbells, has made a security camera that is a drone that flies around your house. 

• More from Media Futures A new report from ad safety company Double Verify lists four shifts that it has noticed in the market this year … The full 10 page report should be easy to download. 

• Via Frame Strategy: Welcome to the Shitshow (is an Advertising Week panel)

• And Ladies Who Strategize is a quarantine-fueled Slack group and Zoom meet-up discussing personal and professional triumphs, tragedies, and tedium unique to 2020 (Frame Strategy) 

• The evolution of the virtual influencer: no longer just a trend. As CGI technologies cheapen and influencer marketing budgets increase, the industry can expect the available categories and sizes of virtual influencers to diversify. (The Drum)

Publishers and Publishing: 

• From Luke Taylor: “BBC Futures has started estimating the carbon cost behind every article, every impression and the carbon cost of actually researching the story.” 

• And NowThis has partnered with the Global Commons Alliance to launch NowThisEarth “daily planet-focused news stories, coverage of changemakers focused on these issues, interviews, op-eds, and select calls to action 

• The Pluglaunches “The Clark Street Project”—A narrative episodic podcast that details the evolution of Black business news and entrepreneurship coverage and the journalists who’ve led the charge.

• i-D’s  up + rising is a celebration of extraordinary Black voices. i-D chronicled over 100 activists and artists, musicians and writers, photographers and creatives, in Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis, LA, London, New York, Paris and Toronto. It's the first chapter of i-D's 40th anniversary issue (1980-2020).

• And Peaches does the GARAGE questionnaire… 

• Vox Media Creates Self-Serve Ad Tool for Marketers (Adweek)

• Turns out Sex doesn't sell after all (Quartz)

The Many  Platforms: 

• The man behind Tiktok, who believes in an internet without borders (Sup China) 

• TikTok rolls out new in-app 2020 elections guide (The Verge)

• Via Beats & Bites: Triller Launches Crosshype, A First Of Its Kind Brand Growth Program Combining A CPM Model With Influencers And User Generated Content (Business Insider)

• And Private Social App Clubhouse Courts Fresh Controversy (Bloomberg)

• Via 1440: Amazon now lets you pay with your palm

• Via Future Party: Tinder is relaunching Swipe Night — the app's choose-your-own-adventure dating series. Get ready for Tinder’s global “night out on the town.”

• Via Content Commerce Insider: China's paid digital content market is expected to grow from $700 million in 2016 to $3.45 billion by the end of this year. Paid content in China is generally priced at more affordable levels than in the United States.  And virtual gift-giving (also called direct tributes, 打赏/贊助) is another big reason (Daxue Consulting) 

The Arts and Artists:  

• In her series titled Living Rooms, Jana Sophia Nolle situates the shelters of those experiencing houselessness within the dwellings of affluent folks in San Francisco. (Colossal) 

• Marina Abramovic talks to How to Spend It about all the stuff she likes. (FT)

• Geoff McFetridge creates a literal Apple watch face, blinking with each minute (It’s Nice That)

• Favorite artist Steve Espo Powers is holding a protest poster class for Pennsylvanians this Saturday. (Instagram)

• In 1971 both the USPS and the term “mail art” were born (Artnews)

• Painter and designer Ryan McGinnis is staging a show of pandemic era protest art showcasing other artists (Instagram)  

Music: 

• From Ugi Uguomo: “In light of Kanye’s latest dig on record contract transparency, this team built a simulator tool that artists can use to forecast revenue and streaming benchmarks for their contract models. 

• Via Beats & Bites: SoundCloud Explains Why Fashion is Their Next Frontier (High Snob) 

Books and Zines: 

• From Syd Allen-Ash: "I recently discovered this book Winning Is The Only Thing: Sports in America since 1945 and it's amazing. A comprehensive history of sports leagues intersecting with politics and nationalism, racial and gender inequity, unions and labour law, economics and consumerism. You can get it for free on the Internet Archive.”

• And our buddy Andrew Paynter has a new photo book you should check out. (Instagram) 

• The boutique agency High Tide launched a zine on how to get by at home, with contributions from 30 artists and National Bail Out and Protect The Sacred (Insert Photo)

• Via Hyperallergic: Re-issued on the 125th anniversary of Buckminster Fuller’s birth, his cookbook Synergetic Stew—Explorations in Dymaxion Dining is available on Bookshop.

Stores and Retailers:

• How retailers are using their stores to help people register to vote (Vogue)

• Via Howard Lindzon: Tiffany Zhong’s annual ‘State of Gen Z‘ report. You can download it right here.

• Via Future Party: Amazon has officially launched its Luxury Stores sector, with Oscar de la Renta as its first and only label.

Fashion forever: 

• In the Blk is a new network for Black creatives in fashion,  offering members from all over the world mentorship, community and various business resources. (Business of Fashion)

• Menswear brand Asket issues an “impact receipt” with the cost of its clothes in environmental impact (HighSnob) 

• While Nike is prioritising major operational changes over launching sustainable products as part of its Move to Zero initiative to become carbon-neutral. (Dezeen) 

• Related: running shoe brand On launches a circular membership model. For $30 a month, members get a new pair twice a year, and their old pairs are recycled into future products. (Glossy)

• Corollary: Scientists Have Created a 'Super Enzyme' That Breaks Down Plastic Six Times Faster (VICE) 

Eating and Drinking: 

• New York’s pandemic-era outdoor dining program will become permanent. (Eater)

• Sorry, but they’re right. Vichy Catalan sparkling water is the best. (Bon Appetit) 

• Food52 is planning to display similar content on its new OTT app as is on its YouTube channel but it will play to a new kind of audience consumption habit: binging (Digiday)

Finally: 

• The hero rat saving Cambodia one landmine at a time (VICE) 

• This Walter Schreifels for animal rights tee is the one for my annual sober, vegan October (Instagram) 

• Lastly, from John Rough: Save your friendships/relationships/sanity with this AI tool. 

=====[SIC 108]: A Pull Rather Than a Push=====