Greetings from the summer of extreme climate events (and we thought "white boy summer" was bad...). From small-town America to the Black Sea, the Lighthouse crew is establishing a credible base tan while still cranking out some of the best content in town.
But enough about us and onto the #content that you’ve been craving...
Hot Meh Summer
In further seasonal news, it's the Summer of Meh, GQ UK has declared, taking on the thumbs up emoji as its official banner. And the more we look around, the more we tend to agree.
The song of the summer (at least in some districts) has become Billy Joel's 1977 blather "Vienna". According to The Guardian, "[the] nearly 50-year-old song has been adopted by the under-30s to describe their particular feelings of ennui... The refrain of 'slow down, you’re doing fine' soothes a specific kind of Gen Z malaise, reminding kids raised on the immediacy of social media and the restless news cycle to take a step back."
But wait, there's more...
The tech sector has effectively given up on offering utopian dreams of the future, instead content to leave us wallowing in (take your pick): Synthetic Garbage, AI Slop, and/or the Garbage Apocalypse.
Peak TV has become Trough TV. Influencers are transforming into "de-influencers". The Met Gala was boring. The UK's new Labour government? Boring. And Tour de France sprint days? Sorry to break it to you, but... boring.
(Honestly we have no idea if that last one is remotely true; we just needed a third boring thing.)
Even our memes have gone meh — the Hawk Tuah phenomenon feels like some reheated 2012-era Barstool Sports copypasta, and as much as we're loving Brat summer, if we see this meme one more time, it's possible we'll log off. (Well, that might be pushing it...)
Former meme of the moment avocado toast begs for relevance... (via @telecells)
They even got Columbo...
So what is the responsible marketer, tasked with detecting vibes as if an ultra-sensitive seismograph, to do? How can you hype anything when the hype cycle itself feels so overhyped? Let’s double-click on that, shall we?
Marketing for meh doesn’t mean bland is the answer — slapping some Helvetica over the first picture you find on Shutterstock isn’t going to cut it. Nor does it translate into that hackneyed "under-promise and over-deliver" ethos.
But can we tone it down a bit? B2B businesses (business-to-business businesses) are particularly guilty of making grandiose one-size-fits-everyone-but-particularly-you vows.
This platform or piece of software isn't just going to make part of your day easier, it's going to change your world. The bombast was bad before, but during this summer of meh and presumable winter of dis#content? It's not going to cut it.
Just consider the case of Shopify, whose website says it’s “Making Commerce Better for Everyone”. Everyone? Tell that to the sweatshop laborers who are making those bamboo toothbrushes so some dropshipper can sell them to you for a cool 1000% markup.
Adobe promises you can “Do it all with Acrobat.” Have you ever tried to simply use Acrobat? Even promising “Do anything at all with Acrobat” feels like it violates some FCC regulations concerning deceptive advertising.
But it's not all bad. Take, for example, Squarespace. Marvel at how simple, how direct, how comprehensible their list of value props is:
Canva also does it well.
They're not promising AI-powered insights that will help your business leverage supply-chain management and unlock the power of you. Just the a straight-forward way to make part of your work life easier.
Want to market your business for all seasons? Then just get in touch!
What We're Listening To
Cue: gen-Z ennui