The elephant in the room
Ok I'm addressing the recent news (all of it)
Mehdeeka covers B2B, SaaS, and startup/tech marketing. Check out the previous issue; fine art concepts applied to FB ads. Help me grow Mehdeeka by sharing it with a friend or colleague!
I try to keep this newsletter focused on things that actually affect or help tech, B2B, SaaS and startup marketers with few resources, but I’ve had a lot of people asking me about my thoughts around recent news, so I thought I’d just do a one-and-done and get it all out in one issue. As always, cool links at the bottom if you’re sick of hearing about the news!
Facebook & Google V Aus gov
I’m not shocked by Facebooks reinstatement (or intention to reinstate) news links in Australia. It was a big, bold move that helped them achieve what they wanted, and I’m sure there were a lot of discussions weighing up the pros and cons of it before it happened.
It didn’t affect me or my work, and actually our Facebook ads have been performing really well over the last week or so (probably unrelated but who knows), but it brought to light two much bigger problems;
The news/computer literacy in Australia is terrible. People can’t tell genuine news sites apart from conspiracy/propaganda sites, and getting all your news from Facebook is a huge issue for many reasons, and
So many businesses have built their entire audiences on Facebook and have absolutely no eggs in other baskets.
But, I guess the problem is solved now (to be continued?)
As for Google, again not surprised by their choice of direction in News Showcase and inking deals with major local players. However, it does link us to the next topic…
Kevin Rudd v Murdoch empire
As you can probably tell from my above statements, I advocate for diverse media, proper literacy education, and would love to see what a royal commission would turn up if it were to happen.
Kevin Rudd has come a long way since his prime ministership, but it’s interesting to think back to my memory of the time (which, I was in high school the first time round) when the biggest criticisms of him was that he just wasn’t doing enough (?) yet we now have Scott Morrison who campaigned on zero policies and decided that the biggest disasters in modern history - bushfires and a global pandemic - were state affairs, not federal.
the McDonald’s rebrand
I can’t believe it, but McDonald’s announced a packaging rebrand literally an hour after last week’s Mehdeeka. Devestated I did not get the scoop on that, but making up for it here.
The work, by Pearlfisher, reminds me of this Leo Burnett campaign and makes me question if it was in fact an evolution of the first concept?
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As discussed, cool links:
A collection of tools and resources to build communities online. And here’s a collection of tools and resources to aid your writing - including things like a keyboard shortcut app for Google Docs (love at first sight for me tbh).
A bit of a long read about how to re-engage unengaged email subscribers.
Guide Dogs Australia also did a rebrand! Not as exciting as McDonalds, but a good reminder about how cute dogs are.
Adam Kingman’s Instagram + Youtube, particularly this post of a suit he made out of balloons:
Marketing Examples did a big write up about landing pages, it’s quite comprehensive!
This (30 min) video essay about advertising standards on vs off Youtube.
And I have saved the best (and most important) for last - ESA (the European Space Agency) is recruiting astronauts with physical disabilities! This is such a huge thing for representation, little kids’ dreams of going to space, and a clear indicator of what’s possible for employment standards in all industries.