The Future of Commerce - Issue #183
Creativity
Investing in creativity: A necessity for business transformation
In a Forrester study that examined the return on investment (ROI) of creativity compared to the adoption of martech and adtech, they found a shift of $19 billion from technology into creativity over six years would provide an increase in ROI as high as 18% — a potential return of $66 billion.
Arcade Fire released an epic 45-minute single — in Headspace’s meditation app — www.theverge.com Arcade Fire’s latest song is a 45-minute single released exclusively in Headspace’s meditation app — but you’ll have to pay up to listen to it.
Business/Marketing/Adv
How Sir Martin Sorrell Hijacked The Radical Revolution In Advertising — www.forbes.com All major ad groups had shrunk considerably in2020. Amid the doom and gloom there was one exceptional performer, led by a familiar name: Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital. S4 Capital posted 20% increase in gross profit to £295 million, while revenues rose 15% to £343 million.
Nike enters resale market with ‘refurbished’ sneakers — www.contagious.com
Nike in the US is selling returned shoes in select stores as part of its drive to become more circular.
Interestingness
Ocado in self-driving vans push with £10m stake in Oxbotica — www.bbc.co.uk The online grocery retailer has teamed up with Oxford self-driving firm Oxbotica.
Oatly’s offbeat marketing turned boring alt-milk into a $10-billion business — qz.com Sweden's Oatly is tussling with Big Dairy and taking the US, Asia, and Europe by storm.
Gucci and Balenciaga's rule-breaking AW21 collaboration — i-d.vice.com Alessandro Michele just “hacked” his friend Demna Gvasalia for one of the most game-changing brand partnerships we’ve ever seen. Just don't call it a "collaboration".
Wellness
What are people looking forward to most as the lockdown in England relaxes? — yougov.co.uk Dining out, haircuts, and retail shopping top the list of most anticipated activities
The Latest Workplace Perk: Cash Bonuses for Taking Vacation — www.wsj.com Some companies are using drastic measures to push employees to use their time off that has accrued during the pandemic.
Platform News
Instagram will test letting users toggle public like counts on and off — www.theverge.com Instagram and possibly Facebook are launching a small global test where users can decide whether to turn the public like counts on their posts on or off.
Can Clubhouse keep the party going? — www.theverge.com The pandemic was a boon for the invite-only audio app Clubhouse. But as people start going outside again, is there a future for it? The Verge’s Ashley Carman talks to some of the platform’s most obsessive users.