Matt Cooke

Gen AI can't do it all, but it's a good start. This is a great article for marketers, creatives, and product designers. https://lnkd.in/gKAFNdVu #generativeAI #genAI #artificialintelligence #modernmarketing

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We all feel the need, the need for speed---> Ok, fellow UX nerds and Top Gunners, this one’s for you. But really, both right- and left-brainers need to heed the siren song of speed. Why? We’re all increasingly impatient. Our attention spans are compressing exponentially. We want what we want – especially in the digital landscape in which we all frolic – quicker and easier. One obvious way to deliver that is to fine-tune your website and app for fast loading times. Use techniques such as lazy loading, content delivery networks (CDNs), and optimized images to reduce loading times and improve overall performance. #ux #ui #webdesign #digitalagency #digitalmarketing #aimhigher More tips at: https://lnkd.in/enva2NVf

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Creatives promoted to leadership roles, but aren't mentored on how to manage/lead can harm the work their teams put out. How? Struggling to connect and manage the needs of their direct reports --> leads to frustrated creatives who don't feel understood or heard --> which leads to lower motivation and performance --> which leads to poor creative output --> and can eventually lead to losing great creatives to other opportunities. Help your new creative leaders grow into the amazing managers they're meant to be by setting them up for success.

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So, it looks like the next big step in AI blogging has hit. I'm testing out Perplexity's new Pages feature. Take a look at this article that I "curated" in about 10 min. I'm curious to know everyone's thoughts on the quality. #aiblogging #perplexitypages #contentmarketing

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ON STRATEGY I have noticed: 1. Making room and resources for the development of strategy is hard. And, mandatory. 2. The biggest wins come from the clearest and most basic strategies. 3. The opposite of clear strategy is prolonged pain and chaos, or a loss of meaning sinking towards purposelessness. 4. We win when we find one (one audience, one challenge, one opportunity, one goal). 5. Good strategy reads like “of course!” in hindsight. I also enjoyed this list from Rob who appears to enjoy sashimi:

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Sometimes, my job is designing a logo, and sometimes, my job is designing a space. We've created some fun brand experience installations for our partners that I'm really proud of (and have pushed me outside of my comfort zone). Read more about our approach to crafting identity-driven spaces in my latest blog. #BrandScape #DigitalRelativity

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"Chaos asks questions of you order never will" The wonderful Colleen DeCourcy retells her experience working with Dan Wieden when she took over as Chief Creative Officer at Wieden+Kennedy Her immediate response to me asking about working with Dan was this quote about chaos. We have a natural reaction against chaos because it can be destructive and unsettling but what if we reframed it as a necessary condition for achieving something truly breakthrough 🌪 Chaos propels you forward while order maintains the status quo 🌪 Chaos creates leaders while order creates managers 🌪 Chaos demands a response while order delays it 🌪 Chaos reveals the cracks while order papers them up 🌪 Chaos forces ownership while order delegates it 🌪 Chaos fosters creativity while order fosters compliance 🌪 Chaos requires trust while order replaces it It got me thinking whether there is an optimal mix of Chaos and order required to achieve breakthrough ideas and momentum? We spend most of our time creating order but what if what we actually needed was an injection of chaos? To hear more from this episode check out the links in the comments John Kearon Kerry Collinge Orlando Wood

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I'm seeing more and more AI tools enabling you to collaborate with an AI using a canvas or project kind of system. Most of them seemed rather geared towards coding or research, but the solution by Cove seems intriguing with it's visual workspace. Has anyone tried it? What do you think? #ai #futureofwork

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How reliable are likes and shares as an engagement metric? I have heard a couple different ways of thinking on this topic. On one hand, some people either like everything or like nothing, so the actual numbers are not reliable. On the other hand, the all or nothing people will usually average themselves out and give you a decent baseline, and it is a good barometer for content testing. What do you think?

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These physical objects being “crushed” does not define your creativity or your future as an artist, designer, or musician… Well, here we go again with a large portion of the creative community up in arms about a recent Apple ad for the new iPad. I’ve been hearing responses to a recent post on X like… — “Apple's image is built on connections with creative professionals. Those people have an intimate attachment to the tools of their craft. Symbols of meaning and fulfillment. Making an ad with this destruction is unprofessional and offensive on a different level.:)” Or… “I'm a designer. I had tons of crappy clients and this commercial is just plain sad. You must read the room of what's going on in the world right now. I get the message of "all in one" but using the crunch (or pressed) wasn't a nice approach. Destroying instruments where a lot of musicians appreciate is kinda sentimental. The musicians play their instruments because they feel joy and is the only thing they can afford. There is a crisis where we cannot buy the basics such food so probably won't have the $ to buy iPad. It's just tone deaf. Maybe 10+ years ago would've been another way to interpret but right now, 2024, nah. People are desperate and watching these commercials where they are pushing consumers to spend more on technology which are going to replace all art and creativity in a small device... not cool.” — Take things as you may, but… I find the symbolism of “destruction” to have been taken far too literally and rather perceive the visual concept of the ad to be about “compression and integration” through the process of “pressing and forming” so many creative tools into a single product. If this same visual concept were for an iPhone and the items being “crushed” were a fax machine, telephone, radio, keyboard, scanner, Rolodex, modem, monitor, encyclopedia, books, albums, etc. Would everyone have the same reaction? I don’t feel an iPad or any product will ever “replace all art and creativity”, but rather as a tool that may perhaps introduce more people to it. Technology will never stop for anything, and neither will human creativity.

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You get what you measure. And now it's (finally!) time to bring that numbers game to community management. 🤓📈 The newest whitepaper by SAMY Alliance shares the ABCs of CM strategy in the form of CAOS. Community. Advocacy. Outreach. Score. The whitepaper written by Joe Moring, our amazing colleague from London, walks you through the why, what and how. Download it from our website. Let's. 🚀

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Design as a profession is dead. Everyone has the tools in their pocket to make something look snazzy. Line – shape – color – texture – type – composition can be controlled by template platforms and AI prompt engineering. But those tools lack the human ability to make unexpected connections that shape how people receive and respond to a communication. That's what separates design from decoration. So, while design as a commodity is not going away, design professionals — and insightful clients — can still do work that truly serves the message and the receiver. It just needs CPR: Context, Personality and Relevance. #design #communication #inspiration

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A tight creative brief unlocks a world of direction for creatives. Vague goals stifle creativity. Your brief bridges the gap; Translating business needs into something the consumer cares about. Apple discontinued the iPod. “1,000 songs in your pocket” was an iconic phrase. That talked to the benefit of the product over the features. Love to see them go round 2 on this great work. 👉If you’re interested to learn more about creative briefs, I’ll be teaching a free workshop next week on the topic: https://lnkd.in/gBkBcj7n #advertising #brand #strategy #brandstrategy

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Brand design teams are overworked and underfunded. They rarely have space to get to the work of evolving the brand. At large tech companies, they face constrained budgets and serve multiple marketing functions with relatively small teams. Attempted solutions yield mixed results. Template systems may help meet deadlines, but they often create monotony. GenAI tools for on-brand visual content aren't quite ready. Patchwork systems for outside help lead to inconsistency that reflects poorly on brand design teams—even when they’re not involved with the project. I see three key challenges: 1. The Prioritization Problem It’s hard to develop brand-building ideas when you’re stuck fixing fonts on Slide 13. Social ad bundles, blog headers, and pitch decks need to be done well, but when they come in unplanned, we pull brand design teams away from their superpower: helping build the brand. We need flexible, scalable systems for planning and prioritization, and needed it yesterday. With the weird lack of investment in content strategy workflow and governance, everything is urgent and important. 2. Bad Design System = Wonky Sales Enablement Working from a "copy of a copy" of a template results in sloppy content that doesn’t present brands at their best. Sales teams struggle without proper design support, but it’s not the design team’s fault if they’re buried and can’t help Gary with his PowerPoint by 4 pm EDT. 3. Short-Term Thinking CMOs admit it’s easier to dump money into media spend than to invest in quality creative. But going cheap on creative means more people see forgettable content, which is a fast track to the "no man's land" of irrelevance. Unless your brand system is dialed in and your creative team has the time and money to do great work, you’re wasting media spend. How are you balancing prioritization between long-term brand-building with short-term conversion goals? I put together a good brief for brand design workflow and governance and would be happy to share, just leave a comment or DM if interested.

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Boost Your Freelance Career with Strategic Pro Bono Work Are you caller to web design, development, writing, oregon immoderate originative tract and uncovering your portfolio a spot thin? In a marketplace flooded with seasoned professionals, newcomers often conflict to basal out. So, what’s your edge? Overcoming this archetypal hurdle mightiness look daunting, but there’s a strategy worthy considering. Consider offering your services connected a pro bono ground to physique a robust professional portfolio. Curious astir however this tin help? Here’s a concise usher connected leveraging pro bono projects to pull much paying gigs. 9 Things You Should Know About Freelancing Full-time 9 Things You Should Know About Freelancing Full-time For astir of us, freelancing full-time seems similar a imagination travel true. We get to beryllium our own... Read more Understanding Pro Bono Work Pro bono—essentially nonrecreational enactment done escaped of charge—serves a nationalist bully and, successful the freelance world, enhances a freelancer’s image. However, opinions connected pro bono enactment are sharply divided. While immoderate professionals knock it for undervaluing the industry, others advocator its benefits, particularly for newcomers. Those against pro bono reason that it leads to artists underselling themselves and becoming casual targets for clients looking for inexpensive labor. But alternatively than simply rejecting these offers, wherefore not crook them into opportunities? Use these experiences to physique your portfolio and credibility. The Challenges of Starting successful Freelancing Typically, high-paying projects are reserved for the experienced. No substance your accomplishment level, without a important online presence, breaking into the tract tin beryllium tough. Establishing an online presence is crucial. When I began my freelance penning vocation soon aft university, the deficiency of published enactment was a large barrier. My interruption came lone aft I completed a task for free, which led to referrals and much work. If you’re caller to the field, see initially lowering your rates—a strategy I ne'er thought I’d endorse. For example, if a task typically budgets astir $2000, you mightiness connection a 25-50% discount. For a single-day project, you could adjacent suggest to bash it for free. However, being the lowest bidder mightiness suggest little quality. Counter this by intelligibly communicating your situation: you’re offering a little complaint due to the fact that you’re gathering your presence, but you volition present top-notch results. Selecting Projects with Potential Not each task is worthy your time. Be selective and take projects that could pb to further opportunities. This is important for gathering a sustainable freelan...

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Let’s bring some nutrition into cards. That’s something OPC (Organic Playing Cards) probably thought of themselves when they started to create playing cards with various fruit and vegetable themes. Together their team and I refined OPC’s positioning allowing the brand to double down on the things it is already known for. In a collaborative effort, we discussed ways to redefine OPC during multiple strategy sessions. The goal was to clarify OPC’s voice and approach to ideate, produce, and sell products as a community-first brand. Eager to grow and expand awareness the following are some learnings we discovered. Complete Case Study: https://lnkd.in/ewCPvx3T —- Client: Organic Playing Cards Strategy: Max Jung

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