#8 – Why generational labels are dangerous, why optimisation doesn't work, and how to slide into a strategist's DMs
Happy Friday everyone,
in this week’s edition of Six Links of Inspiration we’re looking at a long overdue change in research practises that involve everyone’s dreaded generations, the (sad?) realisation that optimisation is a vicious circle and conscious consumption always seems to trigger another shopping trend, the problem with ROI, and five tips on how to slide into the DMs of an advertising strategist.
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Enjoy the read.
PEW Research Center: New Stance On Generational Labels. While some strategists and researches have been cautioning for a while that generational labels are useless in designing strategy, now a prominent voice has added some weight to the argument. PEW Research Center has announced to apply generational labels with more caution, because “The field has been flooded with content that’s often sold as research but is more like clickbait or marketing mythology.” A deeper look into previous PEW publications that applied generational labels shows how it has led to misleading research and that a reexamination of the data using the new model led to different conclusions: “In this case, there are no clear differences or trend across the generations, with overlapping intervals for the estimated share who moved in the past year. This suggests that the apparent differences between the generations are better explained by other factors in the model, not generation.”
The Optimization Sinkhole. A great piece by Anne Helen Peterson who writes a gorgeous newsletter about culture. This one resonated because it speaks to a topic I personally struggle with (satisfaction versus optimisation) and apply professionally on a daily basis (challenging people’s satisfaction with the status quo.)
We’re All Shopping Addicts Now. A long-ish read about haul videos, overconsumption, influencers. And the disillusion that this when you realise that every intervention aimed at curbing consumption somehow morphs into a new shopping trend.
The Problem with ROI. A LinkedIn post by the Share of Search Council outlining a few flaws with the focus on ROI in marketing.
So You Want To Have A Conversation With A Strategist In Advertising. A former colleague and friend Armando Potter dishes out five tips for sliding into his LinkedIn DMs. And, dare I say, they don’t only apply to sending him a cold message.
The New Gatekeepers. Benedict Evan’s presentation from February 2023 is (still) a treasure trove of useful stats and graphs and just good things to know.
See you all next week – and in the meantime: please share this with one or two of your friends who might enjoy this, too.