The 6 factors you will underestimate when going into the German market – Marketing

Germany. The country of Angela Merkel, expensive cars, “Sauerkraut” and, at times, a harsh history. Thanks to Goethe, Beethoven, and Brecht, we have a rich cultural heritage of music, poetry and theatre. Nietzsche, Marx, and Adorno have made us think about everything from god to media to communism, and when we’re not listening to questionable German rap we watch Tatort on Sundays and complain.

Among other things, we have a reputation for being punctual, ruthlessly effective, and slightly neurotic, following rules to a fault. And Germany is also known to be a notoriously difficult market to enter for foreign companies.

In this article, I’m going to let you in on 6 secrets I’ve uncovered through extensive research (and first-hand experience) that you should keep in mind when devising a go-to-market strategy in Germany. And the best thing? These tips apply to any company.

Monthly Clicks – December 2019

This is the monthly post where I share my favourite clicks from this month! This month we look back on the last year of a mind-blowing decade while trying to figure out what’s next. By the way: this month’s is a bit shorter and doesn’t feature my blurbs because I’ve been sick for the last few days. Nonetheless, I wanted to get it out before midnight. Happy new year!

33 Ways to Remember the 2010s by The New York Times

This look back on the 2010s by the New York Times encompasses everything from the rise of podcasting, the insufferable amount of remakes and spinoffs that have made their way to cinemas, diversity and the #MeToo movement, ‘Stan’ culture and more. If you’re feeling nostalgic or just like you want to relive all that has transpired, give this a read. Bonus: they’re mostly good things!

Monthly Clicks – November 2019

This is the monthly post where I share my favourite clicks from this month! Topics this month: technology news, millennial culture, and Tim Berners-Lee reckoning with his invention.

I Invented the World Wide Web. Here’s How We Can Fix It by Tim Berners-Lee for the New York Times

by Wren McDonald

In 1989, when he worked at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Now, 30 years later, his invention has changed the world in ways he probably never anticipated. But instead of accepting the internet as it is, Berners-Lee, together with experts and governments, is taking a stand against misinformation and exploitation – the Contract for the Web is a global plan of action to make sure “our online world is safe, empowering and genuinely for everyone”. Click here to read his opinion piece in the New York Times or click here to read the principles. Psst – by signing up to their newsletter you endorse the contract yourself.

New Music Releases Friday October 25th 2019 – King Princess, Desert Sessions & more

King Princess – Cheap Queen

20-year-old Mikaela Straus is a pop sensation in a way that is so very turn of the decade: born into a very musical family she took to Soundcloud to experiment with sound and production, and within two years of her first single 1950 she’s releasing her debut album, Cheap Queen. As a proud, genderqueer and gay young person, she understands the value of art and representation in art as a vital part to self-discovery. Her songs seem to capture a certain Zeitgeist with their often sad and vulnerable lyrics but also the skilful production that shimmers with meaningful details. There are 5 genre-bending electro-pop tracks available from her album so far, including highlights Cheap Queen and Prophet, two songs veering much more towards the dark and soulful than her first single 1950.

Pre-Save on Apple Music or listen to the first few tracks on Spotify

Meet Dan – An Excerpt From a Novel I’m Working on Called “Yet Untitled”

Monthly Clicks – February 8

This is the monthly post where I share my favourite articles, campaigns, news, and all other things that interest me. Feel free to comment and recommend me anything else!

This month’s clicks are, surprisingly, mostly related to news and technology. While you may have heard of all of these topics in the last few days or weeks, I think these articles report on the subject incredibly well and give valuable insights. Enjoy!

15 Moments That Defined Facebook’s First 15 Years by Wired Magazine

Source: Elena Lacey via Wired.com

Ever wondered how we got here? It’s easy to forget to ask precisely that question when life gets busy. But it gives everyone’s favourite dodgy boy Zuckerberg enough time to implement changes over the years that slowly change the very fabric of our lives right under our noses – without us ever betting an eyelash. And before we know it, we’re suddenly used to being micro-targeted and followed around the internet by that social media platform that started so small. If you’re curious about the steps Facebook has been taking and how they have changed technology and our internet lives, read this article by Issie Lapowsky.

2019 Goal Planning – Moving from Resolutions to Priorities & Actionable Steps

It took me a while to get the guts to start setting goals for myself. Something has always kept me from doing more than just envisioning a whole new life and writing down lofty goals at the end of a year and then not sparing it a second glance until 12 months later, when I realised I achieved some of the things I set out to do by sheer coincidence. The rest I looked back on, and -surprise- had completely forgotten.
And, side note here – it’s not like I didn’t achieve anything this past year. I did a lot that I’m very proud of. But some of the things that were near and dear to me got lost and I never got round to doing them – and that’s a real bummer.

The reason why I did this is no mystery, and it’s not unique to myself. After all, if you never try, you can never fail, and you never have to deal with the realisation that you

a) really suck and don’t deserve to be successful because you really can’t get your shit together (hello, self-hatred) or
b) need to seriously work on yourself, which will require hard work and some painful self-reflection.

Monthly Clicks – November 29

This is the monthly post where I share my favourite articles, campaigns, news, and all other things that interest me. Feel free to comment and recommend me anything else!

Spotify’s end-of-the-year #2018Wrapped outdoor campaign
read about it on AdWeek or delve deeper into the subject matter on Wired

Spotify has done Big Data Storytelling right. After Netflix did a bit of an oopsy last year by exposing a user’s habit of watching The Christmas Prince on repeat and in doing so revealing how much Netflix really knows about their users, Spotify took a different approach. Their ads are based on anonymous user data and captures a sense for the year just gone, featuring hit songs, oddities, but also popular memes. The fact that it’s an outdoor campaign puts the icing on the marketing cake simply due to its move away from the internet world.

Why I’ve been reluctant to put myself out there

I have a Twitter account that has lain barren for several years. After my last profile purge, I post to my Instagram about once every three months (even a personal spam account for my closest friends didn’t help); and my Facebook says less about me than the dust collecting under my sofa, showing only some posts that I reluctantly didn’t remove my tag from and my occasional “I work here” or “I moved here” updates, which I more blame my general need for consistency for, than my actual interest in keeping my friends updated. And don’t even get me started on Snapchat – if my SnapMap is updated you better believe I’m catching up on 5 missed snaps from the one friend I have who sends me any.