🍣 One of the most underrated sources of human truth
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Hey friend – Rob here. Memes are more than time wasting. They're research and development. You know why? Tension. Tension is interesting because it's hard. It's hard on our egos, who want it easy. It's hard because it signals trouble. It's hard because it's not linear. And yet, tension creates vibration. And vibration gets us hooked. And that’s what every successful meme has. Tension. Followed by punchline. Plato was onto something similar: "Serious things cannot be understood without laughable things." And even a serious category has a funny take on it. This doesn’t mean ‘make the work funny’. It just means ‘look at the problem in funny ways’. So next time you work on a brief, consider the meme. Look up subreddits of your category. Meme accounts adjacent to your product. Gags others have shared on Twitter/X. Funny TikToks about your brand. And then consider, among the truly funny stuff:
After all, sometimes the best unlocks start with this question. "You know what’s funny about this problem?" So don’t obsess with formalising your thinking just yet. Find the funny first. Keep swimming, Rob
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Salmon Theory
Helping strategists grow with compassion, clarity and creativity.
Hey friend – Rob here. So the first Salmon Theory panel (featuring Salmon Crew members) was a wild ride. And by wild ride, i mostly mean pretty successful, with tons of positive feedback along the way. Thanks again to Pollyanna, Alexi (subscribe to Idle Gaze!), Sheeza, Jaskaran (subscribe to The Social Juice!) and Berk for helping make this the epic vibe session it was. The aim of the session was simple: To look at five under-discussed brands (Wealthsimple, Curry's, Flex, Starface, immi) To...
Hey friend – Rob here. So, two quick things about our recent Contagious partnership: We now have a winner – Iona Ratcliffe, you're going to Most Contagious London! (Check your inbox.) I also secured a mega discount code for anyone else who wants to buy a ticket. (Keep reading for it.) Plus, some practical things i've learned over the past 15+ years on how to collaborate with creative teams. But first, the discount code. The Contagious crew are among the readers of this newsletter, so we...
Hey friend – Rob here. "Shit, i'm losing control again." This has always been my reaction whenever i get emotional in an argument. And i hate that feeling, thank you very much. Of course, i've been getting better at handling it, through a fun little process called emotional self-regulation. Part of it comes from reframing what an argument is really about. Old me: "arguments are two people who hate each other." New me: "arguments are two people shaping each other." Especially if said argument...