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- Your ATTN Please || Tuesday, 26 August
Your ATTN Please || Tuesday, 26 August
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Run A/B tests. Do customer interviews. Build a swipe file.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. “How to get better at marketing” advice we’ve all heard exactly 1 million times. But there are so many less obvious things you can do to become a better marketer, one of which is (bear with me now) doing improv. Now you’d probably rather spend 3 hours arguing with Legal about using the word “free” in your next campaign. Which is why our team is breaking down their learnings from their foray into the performance arts and why you should think about dabbling, too.
- Charlotte, Editor ♡
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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?
IG now lets you create Reels series, Roblox gets slimier & AI “news” content confuses TikTokers
You can now link multiple Reels in a series on Instagram.
Say you’re a creator telling a story in a series of videos and follow-ups. Well now, instead of doing the typical “come back for part 2” - which is not only annoying as hell for the viewer but inconvenient for the poster – you can organise related multiple related Reels so viewers can follow along easily. You can also use this new feature to simply group similar videos. So say you were doing a series where you're making cocktails to survive the apocalypse (or what I like to call, the present moment). You could now group them all together so they’re easier to find.
You can link Reels together when adding captions or by tapping the overflow menu in previously shared Reels. From there, you'll be able to navigate to the next Reel using a new button that’s located at the bottom left.
Roblox is not the safe platform it used to be.
It just feels like the whole internet is kind of giving… throw away your kid's iPad and move to a homestead as far out of the city as you can. In July, the platform announced it was rolling out an AI-powered age verification system, among other privacy tools, with the main goal of protecting its users (who are, predominantly, young children).
However, researchers, experts and lawyers say it’s not enough to stop those who use the platform to exploit players. Because kids have always had so much freedom on Roblox, it's now extremely hard to moderate. The default settings allow anyone to chat with anyone else while they’re playing. And with millions of active users, who tf knows who’s behind the boxy avatars on any given server. Too little too late, in my opinion. The platform is already known for being a paedophile's dream and a haven for fascists and nihilist groups?? Uh, delete.
What is going on in DC? Do not ask TikTok.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that homeless people should immediately move out of Washington. DC. (Yes, all of them, somehow, despite having limited resources, or you know, anywhere to go.) This was then followed by an order to the National Guard to occupy the city and remove tents where homeless people had been living. As if the situation wasn’t awful enough, videos with a combination of real footage and AI slop, some of which use Google’s new VEO AI video generator, have flooded TikTok. And this is muddying people’s perception of what’s really going on in the state.
Some are obviously AI. But others are posed like real news reports, which exaggerate the scale and disarray of the encampments. Then, they show the "clean up" after federal officers have torn through the area – leading to comments like “thank you Trump,” and “good job officers.” The most concerning part is that it takes a decent amount of effort and attention to detail to actually decipher whether these videos are AI or not. And this is something most people don’t care to do.
-Sophie Randell, Writer
DEEP DIVE
3 Lessons from improv that will make you better marketer (no, really)
I recently joined an improv team through my work.
The whole idea is that you take classes for 8 weeks and then compete with other companies on the stage. The audience rates your team’s performances throughout the night, and whoever has the highest total score goes through to the next heat.
If you’re thinking, “Wow that’s so crazy. I’m not the kind of person who could ever go up on stage and act out insane scenarios in front of random people” – I want to stress one thing: neither am I.
Aside from taking a drama class in high school, and performance communication (basically drama class) in my first year at university (both, a million years ago), I had absolutely no experience, and no business being up on stage.
But I swear to you, it was like a religious experience.
I left feeling lighter, more confident, like I gave a little less f*cks (I often give too many, I’ve been told.)
You may be thinking at this point that I’ve mistaken this publication for a journal entry and this has absolutely nothing to do with marketing. And so would I, most likely. But this morning I came across an article on AdAge titled: How improv can make you a better strategist and creative.
Call it a coincidence, call it divine timing, that art imitates life and life imitates art. But it couldn’t have rung truer to me.
It made him a better strategist, a better creative, and even helped give him the courage to start his own agency. And he’s right. There are so many valuable and transferrable skills that improv has to offer.
So, I’ve compiled some for you, in hopes that you can experience the transcendence that I did behind the red curtain.
1. Yes, and.
This is one of the first things you learn in improv: you must keep the scene going. It is your duty. Don’t shut it down. Instead, add to it. “Yes, and…”
The same here goes for your work.
When brainstorming, it’s easy to write off half-formed ideas quickly, or worse, not even throw them out there. “Yes, and” urges you to sit on an idea, build on it, make it stronger, better. You never know where “yes, and” could lead you.
2. For the love of god, listen.
When you’re on the stage, if you’re not actively listening, even for the shortest amount of time, you’re fkd. You’ll miss everything that’s important and integral to the scene, including your place in it and how to move it forward. The same goes in marketing.
If you’re in a pitch, you can’t just sit there half engaged, waiting for your turn to say your piece. When you listen, you can collaborate, bounce off one another, and create something truly great.
3. Embrace failure (and make it funny).
This is the biggest one for me. For years I have been too scared to try things, or share my ideas, out of fear of sounding and looking like an idiot.
But in improv, that’s kind of the whole point. And it’s taught me to (gradually) shed that fear. Because it's failing with a spotlight on you, but somehow making it work. You will freeze, say something dumb, or tank a scene. But the beauty is that the audience doesn’t actually care as much as you think they do. They just want to see you try.
In marketing, the same goes for campaigns and ideas. Not everything will land, but often the “mistakes” can lead to fresh directions, or at the very least teach you something about your audience. The worst thing you can do is play it so safe that you never risk failing at all. Take it from a professional.
4. Build trust, not perfection.
On stage, you’ve got no script, no safety net. It's just you and your teammates. The magic of improv happens when you trust them enough to throw yourself into something ridiculous, knowing someone will back you up. That’s when the real brilliance comes out.
It’s the same for your work. If people don’t feel safe tossing out half-baked or wild ideas, you’ll never get to the gold. It’s not about polished perfection. It’s about creating together; messy, chaotic, trust-fall style.
At the end of the day, improv isn’t about being the funniest person in the room or nailing a perfect punchline.
It’s about letting go, trusting the process, and seeing where the scene takes you. And that’s not so different from the work we do every day. Whether it’s a pitch, a brainstorm, or a campaign, the more we practice “yes, and,” listen deeply, take risks, and trust each other, the more good sh*t we can create.
For me, stepping off that stage wasn’t just about surviving improv (which was a task, believe me). It was about realising that giving a few less f*cks actually makes you a better creative, and possibly, human.
-Sophie Randell, Writer
TREND PLUG
Oh boy…
The “oh boy” lip-sync from Sabrina Carpenter’s "Manchild" hit is blowing up with over 11K posts already.
It’s being used as the perfect eye-roll moment for when someone says something ridiculous, uncomfortable, or just icky. People are adding text with phrases that instantly make you cringe or sigh, then lip-syncing “oh boy” as the reaction. Think stuff like:
How you can jump on this trend:
Lip-sync the sound and pair it with a line that captures an all-too-real “ugh” moment. The more specific (and petty) the better.
A few ideas to get you started:
“Remember THAT project…”
When someone says social media isn’t a real job
Me opening Teams/Slack on a Monday morning
- abdel khalil, brand & marketing executive
FOR THE GROUP CHAT
😂Yap’s funniest home videos: Dad or speedbump
❤How wholesome: that’s a balloon
😊Soooo satisfying: Pill making clicky clicky
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Salmon rice bowl!
ASK THE EDITOR
How do I grow my account without having any clients? - Geoff
Hey Geoff,
If you're just starting to build your brand, your focus should be on creating a brand identity that gives people a reason to care. This might mean creating content around your story as you build your business, or it could be based on a brand value your audience will connect with.
NZ bakery @thesugardealernz did a great job of documenting her business building journey on socials. This content helped her audience get to know her and love her, which made them love her brand. If you do the same, over time the people who view your content will get invested in your story and might even become clients one day!
- Charlotte, Editor ♡
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