5700 years old Chewing Gum π€

You have almost made it, itβs the week before Christmas, chance to have a few days off, indulge in a couple of bigger meals and see your loved ones.
In the penultimate Must-Reads of 2019, I have broken the newsletter down into 4 sections this week, Must Reads, Culture (itβs always the most popular by clicks), Marketing & Growth and Product.

Mariah shot a new version of the video and it came outβ¦I wouldnβt normally share but Iβm in the Christmas spirit.

π The Must-Reads Of The Week π
π²5700-year-old chewing might have uncovered some incredible insights into humans
πΎHow the must-have email client SuperHuman uses video game design to make work feel like gaming ~ Brianne Kimmel newsletter is great and well worth signing up to
π΅οΈββοΈDark Patterns: BBC investigate whether there are really 30 people looking or booked the same flight or holiday
π£ Interesting way to think about: How to win (paid) speaking gigs
πWhy WeWork almost worked and why hyper Growth companies (that donβt make money are attractive)
π£Alexa start my car, why Amazon is desperate to get inside cars and be the voice assistant on the road
I have referenced this strategic move for a number of months, Amazon and Google are fighting it out to be your assistant and it will take place anywhere it can. Itβs smart for Amazon to take the voice assistant fight to the road, IMHO Music and Podcasts might just be the winning link in this one.π‘Why βthe whyβ (and the problem) is so important with generating good crowdsourced ideas
πΊCosmo is teaming up with Netflix and Google to offer a watch party for You season 2 on Boxing Day
Watch parties have often been something social networks have tried to introduce and reimagine, it will be interesting to see if the anticipated second season of You will be the moment watch parties hit the mainstream with some Marketing and a little FOMO around boxing day.
I am pretty confident Netflix will be happy of the flywheel it will create for them and the show.πΈGymsharkβs Black Friday - taking you from their downtime (with Shopify being on site) to record-breaking units sold. Gives you a real insight into their operation and the scale they are operating at.
π€ Culture
Google fired another employee who was helped to organise the walkout and the reason for her firing, using the internal chrome extension to push out the law by the extension. π
Interesting conversation on LinkedIn on what makes a good boss
Away is seeing more issues and looks like it could be just the beginning
π£ Marketing & Growth
Instagram is in the process of rolling out its own influencer match making engine (βserviceβ) between influencers and brands. Two things should happen, 1. less emphasis on Instagram advertising and more emphasis on a broader mix of channels and
2. Less focus on the number of followers and uploads and a focus on quality.
GrowthHackers released their annual report into the state of growth, maybe more representative of their audience but good takeaways on Growth team makeup and areaβs of focus
Facebook had another issue this week, 267 million phone numbers were stolen. β Facebook is going to advertise at the Super Bowl π - growth at all costs.. Facebook has been known for growth over everything, this week Buzzfeedβs shows this hasnβt changed and if anything itβs designed that way
Coca Cola has reintroduced the CMO role (with Operations added into the mix)
Another look at why the CMO has a wider remit and is always in a state of flux β if you havenβt already read why the CMO role has evolved and why itβs not controlled by Marketingπ―
TikTok and WWE have teamed up to offer official content and offer remixable content β Think TikTok is just a silly app, how about this explainer video,
This type of content is blending well on TikTok, blocking out the haters.If you are one of the many people loving Spotifyβs end of year review, you will no doubt love βThe Decade Wrappedβ, the new podcast about the last decades music
Spotify has really pushed the world of audio together, music is low investment, podcast requires more cognitive load, a way of blending together and mixing in the nostalgic element is going to ensure this receives promotion from Spotify and you the audience.
π² Product
This week a new game popped up and got traction, it's a photo roulette app allowing 50 players that pick random photos from any phone and shows up for 5 seconds, no risk there is there π
The future of Fintech video (from CBInsights conference)
120 hour weekβs were something Marissa Mayer was famous for at Yahoo and Google and now her labs are creating time-saving suites of apps
- the advice always says, answer the problem you know you face πApp Annie data shows Facebook controls the top 4 most downloaded apps since 2010

π€ Final Thought π€
With it being many peopleβs last day for the holiday break, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for reading Must Reads, I learnt a lot (19 lessons in fact), Christmas is often a time we reflect and clear our heads, I for one know I will enjoy cooking Christmas dinner, reading and listening to numerous audible books.
Please enjoy your break, spend time with your loved ones and if you have any feedback or want to discuss more personally happily DM me on Twitter (they are open) or LinkedIn.
πYou Made It To The End π
Have a great weekend & π Merry Christmas π
Danny DenhardΒ - About Me: 19 years in Marketing, Product, Business Leadership and Growth. I recently presentedΒ RIP to the CMO roleΒ presentation and write this weeklyΒ Must Reads Newsletter.
Follow Me on Social ~Β LinkedInΒ βΒ TwitterΒ βΒ Read my BlogΒ -Β Growth Mentorship
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Disclaimer: All views & recommendations are my own, until you click through on the stories.
This weekβs gif is of course from Giphy & Lead Image from Instagram.