no. 54: focused thinking.

this week i talk about equinox's latest campaign, apple's philosophy, and recent noodlings of inspiration.

with the snow day upon us all, i had some time to think and sit indoors. i am going to start adding some of the things i’m noodling on below at the start, whenever they feel relevant enough to include. i like having an unorganized and unfocused space to play (if that wasn’t already obvious by my overt lack of structure on this newsletter) and january is probably the most i have ever written in a month. i have found it quite refreshing and restorative to be more routine in an unconfined manner.

this week’s noodlings.

with that intro, apple’s 1977 marketing playbook is a piece that i have been thinking about a lot recently. particularly, why we say not to judge a book by it’s cover, when in fact, that is all we are cognitively trained to do within marketing.

when it comes to defining the underbelly, as i put it, or rather, the granular level of what constitutes a brand - voice, tone, stylistic choices, channels, activations, and product positioning, a few questions perhaps should guide a brand’s decision-making.

a potential framework (only if you want it):

1. what is my way of uniquely seeing an opportunity?

2. why does what i (company, brand, entity) build matter?

3. what do i want to be known for?

enter my gospel: the apple marketing philosophy of 1977. it is a piece of work i believe every marketer should read. it is astounding that to this day, this reflects apple’s ethos perfectly. apple is known for delivering simple, easy-to-understand, and beautiful products.

as i revisit this, particularly one i am thinking more about it focus; is it not equally as important to choose what conversations and spaces to not show up in as a brand, company, entitiy, etc as it is to decide which rooms to be in?

i think about equinox’s latest campaign where bindu shah, equinox cmo, made a very bold choice to participate in ‘ai-slop’ or ai-generated content contrasted against real-human content. this is where focus becomes paramount. shah could have very well could have chosen not to be part of the conversation at all, but decided that this was in fact, worth focusing on.

shah said “it reminds audiences that while the world may be increasingly artificial, strength, effort, and self-belief are not. equinox is where you can put that belief back into practice – a place to work on yourself, invest in yourself, and discover what becomes possible when you stop chasing the artificial and commit fully to what’s real.”

@equinox

Equinox on Instagram: "Question everything. But yourself."

we are in a time where literally everything we are seeing could be, in fact, fake. see vibes: meta’s ai reels app for more confirmation of what is to come. even the television we consume is being written alongside chatgpt. see stranger thing’s season finale controversy: ‘Stranger Things’ Documentary Director Reveals Whether the Duffer Brothers Used ChatGPT to Write Series Finale’

for the record, i am not anti-ai in any of this, as i am realizing it probably reads as such. but, in a very liminal, odd, and dystopian-angsty-type time, i believe the principle of focus should be anchored upon. when every channel is readily available, the question shifts to one of focus. and as i always say, once again, all roads lead back to apple.

as always:

• you can see the things and some brands i love here.

• p.s. — i also am now behind cpgd’s newsletter, because apparently i can’t write enough on consumer things. subscribe here if you want to hear more of my thoughts.

• you can hit share with a friend who might like this.

• read my previous work, which is still relevant today, i think, below

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