www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv2nON-NUj4
Did you catch Designworks and The Benevolent Society’s interactive installation at Vivid Sydney 2013? The LED lights represent thousands of Australians’ hopes. Welcome to a new edition of Linkness!
Remember, you can receive the week’s best original and curated reading by email when you sign up to Nextness Once a Week. Google Reader shuts down in two weeks (RIP) so if you’re looking at this in Reader, we recommend signing up for the email at least until you have your RSS alternative sorted out.
If you only read one thing.
- Rare that we insist you read one of our own articles, but as more and more commentators moan “I worry that the closer the world gets to our fingertips, the further it gets from our hearts,” we have to remember: The internet IS real life.
Management.
- Decision narratives at Amazon: “If you read just bullet points, you may not get it, but if you read a narrative plan, you will. If there’s a flaw in the logic, it glares right out at you. With bullets, you don’t know if the insights is really there, or if the planner has merely given you a shopping list.” | Professor Michael Roberto’s Blog
- Advertising seen as a “relatively frivolous” industry: “agency heads are sometimes perceived as lacking the gravitas and business skills.” | AdPulp
- Why emailing gives you a false sense of progress | 99U
- Twenty-two tips for advertising interns | Campaign Brief Australia
- Memo to the modern COO | Seth’s Blog
- “Big companies are in a strange predicament, forced into a role of software developer and publisher, but still wielding the same manager-heavy marketing organization and agency relationships of the past.” | MF’in Daniels
- Common myths about freelancing | Explore. Create. Repeat.
Innovation.
- Fertile ground: “Apple has set fire to iOS. Everything’s in flux. Those with the least to lose have the most to gain, because this fall, hundreds of millions of people will start demanding apps for a platform with thousands of old, stale players and not many new, nimble alternatives.” | Marco.org
Data and technology.
- In today’s world, web developers have it all: money, perks, freedom, respect. But is there value in what we do? | James Somers
- What’s the score? A thorough guide to social media influence scoring | Fliptop
- Having trouble with agile? Get a new CFO | Medium
Insights.
- Why you should close your eyes and ask for emails if you want the truth (and always write contact reports) | Northern Planner
- “Each act of listening to music may be thought of as both recapitulating the past and predicting the future.” Why music makes our brain sing | NYTimes.com
Creativity.
- How to invent things: edit your mess | kottke
- What good cartoons can teach us about good copywriting | Ad teachings
- The Bad Creative Director’s Playbook | thwartd
- Writers shape the brand story; ergo, writers are essential | AdPulp
STW Group news.
- Digital marketing agency Switched on Media has won three new clients and restructured its team.
- B&T Power Women! Kieran Moore and Anouk Darling.
- Ogilvy launches data@Ogilvy.
- Maverick and Westpac.
- Rhonda and Ketut return: Five lessons from AAMI’s popular marketing campaign.