Tag / society

by YannigRoth

I Read This Book About The Importance of Wasting Time on the Internet

wasting-time-on-the-internet-book

Are we becoming lazier and dumbing ourselves down with silly content on the internet? Should we be scared that most of us look like sleepwalking zombies when walking while staring at our smartphones? Many believe it, and countless articles are written around that narrative. Not much room for optimism. Kenneth Goldsmith, a poet and artist from New York City, believes that more good than bad stems from our increased connectedness – and he wrote a book about it: “Wasting Time On The Internet.” Continue reading →

by YannigRoth

My Favorites in September: Airbnb’s Brand Strategy, The World’s Last Globemakers & Mothers of ISIS Fighters

Image via boredpanda.com

Image by Bellerby & Co Globemakers

How/why did the Amazon Phone fail? What do Converse and Airbnb do in order to make their brands attractive to existing communities? And do globemakers still exist today? Some answers are answered in this month’s favorites.

It’s a heterogeneous mix of articles about branding, marketing, ISIS and more that I would like to share this September. My personal favorite is the last link of this list, a truly insightful post by Standard Chartered Bank’s Global Head of Digital Marketing, Damien Cummings. I would urge every other brand marketer to write something similar, it would make my life so much easier 🙂 And it would allow for a lot of synergies between brands and agencies.

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by YannigRoth

My Favorites in August: Brand Challenges, Speaking Out Against Racism & The Creative Apocalypse

Illustration by Andrew Rae (via nytimes.com)

“The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t” (via nytimes.com, illustration by Andrew Rae)

August, the month of holidays, sunshine, nature and sports… right? To me it was all of the above, but I also read a couple of very interesting articles, watched debates and opinion pieces. In this month’s favorites you will find a single article about cycling (!) and many more about creativity and innovation, marketing challenges and tolerance.

Yes, tolerance. I translated the short position piece of a German TV anchor, published it on this blog and on YouTube, and was stunned by all the hate comments that it received. After the surprise, and thinking about it, I see it as a sad manifestation of trolls’ and racists’ hopelessness. I prefer them to just comment under a video than to represent me in our parliaments and institutions. Anyway, here are some much more interesting things to read and watch. I hope you’ll like them too.

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by YannigRoth

Immigration, Religion, Sex… Some Of My Favorite @Intelligence2 Debates

Image via robertleeming.com (click to read his interesting post about IQ²)

Image via robertleeming.com (click to read his interesting post about IQ²)

I love debate, even when I face stupid or irrational arguments. It’s stimulating your mind, makes you work on your self-discipline, entices you to find smart arguments, and encourages dialog which is healthy for any stable society. Recently I found out about Intelligence Squared, an organization that stages debates held in the traditional Oxford style around the world, and which broadcasts these debates on YouTube. I’ve watched dozens of them, from business to politics, sex or religion. Here are some of my favorite Intellgence² debates, as well as my positions to the motions that are being discussed in them. Continue reading →