From Dell to EdX, Columbia Sportswear to Red Bull -- advertising is increasingly less about claiming value, and more about delivering it through memorable experiences. That's the secret behind Zeno's Paradox of Marketing.
Zeno’s Marketing Paradox: Native Advertising as a Ramp To Customer Experience
Is a World Without Ads Possible? We’re already halfway there.
“What if there were no ads?” That was the question content marketers Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi asked in an episode of their podcast, This Old Marketing. It sounds like the start of John Lennon’s Imagine, but for marketers. What if there were just no ads?
Why No One is an Agency Anymore, and Why No One Cares
I've been seeing quite a few agencies claiming to be "anti-agencies". There are lots of reasons why the agency business model should evolve, but new ways of creating value rarely start with positioning.
Customer Experience Makes Five Guys the Top Ranked Burger in the US
The burger business is a big deal in the United States. A small chain, Five Guys Burgers and Fries has jumped to the head of burger pack - and the did it without advertising, one meal at a time.
Best job ever? Usability Testing Bartender
I've seen the future of usability; it has a buzz on. Watch this funny video and grasp the genius of testing users under the influence. See why I want to be your bartender of usability testing.
Companies with Top Customer Experiences Out-Score Super Bowl Advertisers
A quick look at revenue growth over three years shows that companies loved by their clients grew more than twice as fast as Super Bowl advertisers.
What I Found at Caine’s Arcade, a Few Minutes of Fun
This Spring, Caine Monroy became famous in some parts because of his cardboard arcade. Patricia Yuse visited the arcade, and shares some thoughts about what causes viral movements to grow.
Amanda Palmer Won’t Settle for Less. Monitizing engagement is just the start.
Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter triumph is awesome-ball cool, but it's just the start. The real magic is what you can do with a business model based on fan love.
The week a gun rally in Virginia became a Trumpy version of MLK’s dream
January 21st 2020
This year MLK Day mixed with a gun-rights rally, the American culture war, and real mass shootings. I’ve said that America’s greatest export is non-intentional irony, but nothing this week seemed to lack intent.
Trust and relationship come from the humanity of pause
January 2nd 2020
I took this week away from social media, so I could travel to San Francisco anbd care for a friend who is nearing the end of his life. These thoughts on the humanity of pause build on earlier ideas I’ve shared fro Erazim Kohak, and were inspired by the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman.
The week raising the smoking age, extending family leave, and funding research on gun violence was obscured by history
December 22nd 2019
Along with the healthcare-related news in the headline, there’s also a description of research showing the psychiatric impact of school shootings on classmates.
Santa’s privilege check: Kringle rethinks the ‘Naughty or Nice?’ list in a remarkable mental health ad
December 20th 2019
Our most meaningful work will almost never arrive wrapped in RFPs. Take a look at this beautiful ad by Weiden + Kennedy for the National Alliance On Mental Illness. Its a gift.
Five years in the future: voice Interfaces will work as your “Other Brain”
December 17th 2019
200 million smart speakers will have been sold globally by the end of this year. We are living in a voice-controlled world right now; we just haven’t made the most of it yet.
The week Congress cut a deal for family leave – and I taught in snowy New Jersey
December 14th 2019
This week’s healthcare news: Pete Frates, Dr. John Halamka, federal leave, and drug pricing, CVS helping Aetna members with oncology, and my take on the benefits of teaching what you do as part of doing it.
Do you agree that hospitals keeping pricing agreements with payers secret is really protected speech?
December 9th 2019
Last week the American Hospital Association filed a lawsuit to help hospitals avoid disclosing often secret agreements with insurers — their novel argument is that revealing pricing arrangements would violate hospitals’ free speech rights.
The week healthcare needed to flip its humanity to tech ratio, and I was in Denver
December 7th 2019
This week’s news includes lots of technology related snarls, and a reminder that when we talk about trends in healthcare – we’re talking about lots of human lives.
Young Americans are dying at high rates and MGH may spend $100M to change its name
November 30th 2019
There’s more research showing American’s under stress, and dying younger — and MGH/Partners announced it may spend $100 million on changing its name. Get a quick perspective on these latest fixations right here.
Stress and mental health are trending, children’s hospitals fight to end stigma and improve policy
November 23rd 2019
There’s a vast need to address mental health, undoubtedly in our personal lives but also thinking about customers. Increasing levels of depression, anxiety and self-harm may signal the need for larger cultural changes, which marketers ignore at their own risk.
About Dave Wieneke, Digital Strategist
The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.
UsefulArts is a soapbox to discuss the front line of digital experience, and the agencies and platforms that enable it. Digital business needs a cadre of leaders who can connect c-level enterprise thinking with the ways these new interaction models can help organizations to matter more to their most important stakeholders.