By David Farrell
The Brit Christmas ads of 2021
The annual race is on between major retailers as they launch their Christmas ads for 2021. But what is the mood this year in the epic festive battle for our cash and attention? Katy Cowan at Creative Boom has assembled a dozen or so for us to watch.
Freedom Mobile wants freedom from Rogers’ deal
Anthony Lacavera’s life has come full circle.
In 2016, Mr. Lacavera oversaw the sale of Wind Mobile, the wireless upstart he founded in 2008 and built into Canada’s fourth-largest carrier, to Shaw Communications Inc. for $1.6-billion.
Now the carrier, which was renamed Freedom Mobile, may be up for sale again – and Mr. Lacavera wants to buy it.
Earlier this year, Rogers Communications Inc. struck a deal to acquire Shaw for $26-billion including debt in a deal that, if approved, will bring together the country’s eastern and western cable systems. Analysts expect regulators will force Rogers to sell Freedom to prevent the takeover from lessening competition in the wireless market. – Alexandra Posadzki, The Globe and Mail
Journalism’s wicked problem: Save what’s lost or invest in what’s new
The biggest success stories of the past few years, the outlets winning awards for their journalism and drawing in readers, are startups with focused offerings. Although their business models vary, all have matured past the premise of the internet’s early days—clicks at any cost, growth before everything. Xtra Magazine, a digital publication dedicated to LGBTQ2S+ issues, grew out of Toronto’s print tabloid serving the Village and surrounding communities. Revenue from a dating app has helped it survive and grow. Now, more than 50 percent of its audience is outside Canada, and top stories range from deep dives on RuPaul’s Drag Race to how-to articles on talking to your kids about gay country singers. – Jessica Johnson, The Walrus
Lessons in practical leadership by ‘the’ Julie Adam
Julie Adam, President, News & Entertainment, at Rogers Sports & Media, has self-published Imperfectly Kind: Why Kindness is the Must-Have Superpower You Need to Lead, which she describes as an inspiring collection of thoughts and ideas — 28 of them — on why kindness is the must-have superpower you need to offer outstanding leadership. The book is available worldwide in hardcover and paperback as well as an eBook through Amazon Indigo, and Barnes & Noble.
Fully vaccinated is about to mean something else
Already, in the year since our shots first rolled out and full vaccination against Covid-19 was first defined, the pandemic landscape has shifted. And in this long fight against a fast-moving, fast-morphing virus, we may never actually, truly be fully vaccinated at all. Updating the definition of fully vaccinated is a strong move—hence the push for it at all. But it’s also a reminder of the power of waiting until we’re more sure of what we want our shots to do. – Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic
Memo to all advertising people...
Next time you're tempted to go off on how people are desirous of “more relevant advertising” or more "personalized" advertising or are wanting to “join the conversation” or want to "have a relationship" because of your "brand purpose" or "co-create" or join your "tribe" or engage with your “content,” or that tracking has made advertising “more relevant, more timely and more likable” please remember who you are... – Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian
Community media keeps outpacing mainstream media
Media funders, donors, and sponsors will shift their standards and priorities to support first the less established media makers, who aspire to more person-to-person impact than changes in the legislation. Legacy media will open up to media collaborations and partnerships led by community journalists, with the community’s input. – Jesenia De Moya Correa, NiemanLab
Flipboard’s 2021 Year in Music & Culture
Swedish super band Abba released their first album in almost 40 years, Adele came back with a bang, and Lil Nas X was intent on world domination. Live music continued to be off the menu for most, but performers started to consider a new venue: The metaverse. Tech made inroads in the art world too, as everyone got obsessed with NFTs. In September, Broadway theatre returned after its longest-ever shutdown. And one big question captured the literati: Who is the Bad Art Friend?
Flipboard’s Year in Tech
Massive cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure and institutions, chip shortages, another major Facebook scandal, and Bitcoin's skyrocketing value are all some of the stories that defined tech's year. Learn more about these top stories along with the big CEO departures, Apple's antitrust woes, and more.
WOKE, the really big colouring book
The word woke was first printed in a 1962 New York Times essay by the author William Melvin Kelly. Aside from being the past participle of wake, for decades, it meant conscious and aware - but the slang word has come to represent an embrace of progressive activism, as well. Different dictionaries will describe woke differently, the Urban Dictionary, Dictionary.com and Wikipedia all have meanings with some variance. Woke is mostly now used as a progressive word of actions; "Are you Woke"?
