Hey – Rob here.

Here's what the Salmon Crew has been discussing over the past seven days. Expect practical wisdom, links, music, career crises. All the goods.

Events

• ​How to drop killer workshops​
• New! How to build a writing habit​
• Coming soon... How to sell comms strategy

Sharp takes

• Claude's Super Bowl ad is either a clever de-positioning exercise among insider audiences, or too clever for its own good given it was targeting a mass audience. Two things may be equally true.
• If you're not already an AI user, it seemed like an ad against AI in general. Then again, most of Claude's customers are Enterprise so the focus on 'keep thinking' and 'no ads' may make sense both from a brand perspective (right audience) as well as business (no need to run ads if you make money through big enterprise deals).
• AI is affecting creative agency headcounts more than media, which is a bit of a puzzle. Supposedly media was the first one to go. Some possible theories: media has been working with AI the longest so are wiser about headcount reductions. Creative agencies are panicking after years of crap profitability. It's a general market correction, not an AI-specific one, after years of bloated hiring.
• One of the simplest ways to frame your discipline to a client is not to talk about what the discipline is at all. Say who it's for, and what it helps them do. So instead of "brand strategy", talk about how you "help companies work out what they're about and how to tell the world". Instead of "agile strategy", talk about how you "help marketers move fast and make things". This last one's mine.
• Agencies are the classic champagne socialism problem, where an overwhelmingly neoliberal workforce also struggles to accept that raw and unchecked neoliberalism is part of the problem. There are ways to resolve this, but being a raging Marxist probably isn't it. And yes, I've met one of those. He was in client services. Go figure.
• Before you think about companies as a family, consider that even families come in many shapes. Including very toxic ones. Your loyalty is to yourself and those around you, work is an enabler of that. If you're doing "great work" and feel broken, is this success?

Sweet links

• Waitrose are on a roll​
• Clever use of Claude to find highly specific campaigns​
• We need more distinctive band worlds (no typo)
• The best Super Bowl commercials (I like the one with the celeb)
• Wonder how much of this is defensible​
• The response delay is what kills me​
• Is that... Michael C Hall?
• Brands weren't chasing growth, but approval​
• Your customer is three people​
• The art of endcards​
• Brilliant resource for UK agency peeps​
• SMS as an actually effective channel​
• Interesting interview format​
• What actually multiplies advertising effects​
• So here for flair, ferocity and flaws (extremely British piece alert)
• Are you problem solving or capability building?
• Still one of the best examples of customer journey mapping​
• Frogs that caveat popular sayings​
• RIP every consulting firm​
• Strong 'life is beautiful' energy​
• If you need to get shit done, listen to this​
• Antidepressants or Tolkien?
• Marketing's burnout crisis​
• How to price brand strategy​

Shoutouts

Thank you to crew members Adam, Ben, Bogdan, Bruno, Christian, Chris, Danusia, David, Dave, Dan, Danny, Emily, Felix, Glenn, Hemal, Jared, Jessica, Joe, John, Jon, Kima, Kit, Kristina, Lara, Laura, Liz, Lou, Matthew, Michael, Noah, Nikunj, Nicole, Piotr, Rachel, Robert, Robyn, Ross, Sarah, Soner, Theophilus, Valerie, Victoria, Vylan, and Whitney for the vibes.

See ya there?

If you want more like this, you should join the Salmon Crew.

Keep swimming,

Rob