Issue No. 34
— August 2017
the
Impact
Issue
Digital trend publication
blending a mix of culture,
insights and data.
blending a mix of culture,
insights and data.
A trend product by
the
EDITOR'S LETTER
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The Impact Issue is my personal favorite every year. To me, it is the theme that has the best double meaning in that we can talk on one side about marketing or data impact on revenue, or on the other about what it means to be a give back brand.
Really though, these two things aren't mutually exclusive. Any give back has to market smart, and every brand has to have purpose. In this issue we cover a myriad of things, but most notably the intersection of these ideas. Really, what it means to evolve your story and keep moving forward so your impact can continue. Wether or not what you do is rooted in giving something back.
Micah Heykoop
Contributing Editor
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Editor's Letter
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
—Simon Sinek
Contents
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Dig into the issue by clicking on the links below!
features
MOVEMBER: ON MAKING IMPACT AND EXPANDING IT'S MOVEMENT
You've likely heard of Movember as the "moustache campaign" that is raising money to end prostate cancer among men, but it is so much more. We sit down with the SVP of Program Commercialization about messaging, making an impact and creating new success stories and storylines for the brand.
— A conversation between Micah Heykoop and Mark Hedstrom
The Akin: A Global Collective of Freelance talent
Three women are out to disrupt the brand-agency-freelancer model, with transparency at its core. Read how this London-based start up is making waves in the creative industries.
— The Akin
10 Brands disrupting their industries
We're highlighting the brands who are making an impact in their respective industries - from produce to condoms.
— Matte Black
PORTRAIT
Photographer Rick Bhatia
We interviewed Rick Bhatia, student and photographer whose work can be found throughout The Impact Issue.
tools
The one reason your facebook advertising isn't working
If your Facebook Advertising isn't showing results for your brand or business, you might want to rethink this one thing.
— Jacob Marrero
OBSERVATIONS
The riff: Talking About Taste
On this episode, Matte Black Founder + Creative Director, Chelsea Matthews, talks about taste levels - making sense of what taste is, how to define your own, and a few key questions to ask yourself when approaching the topic of taste.
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Contents
“The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing.”
—Tom Fishburne
—Findings
social media
Amazon Fuels the Visual Feed
Welp, they're at it again. Amazon has just launched an Instagram-sequel social platform called Spark, that lives within the Amazon iOS app. This visual product feed - posted by Prime users who upload their Amazon purchases - serves as an interesting social commerce play, integrating holistic lifestyle imagery with product purchasing. While I'm normally not as prone to brand attempts at creating their own social platforms, this is one I could actually see myself grazing, if only to give myself more excuses to buy things I don't need, simply because it arrives in two days.
— Chelsea Matthews, Editor-in-Chief
—Findings
APps
The Comeback of the DIsposable Camera
Thanks to Hype Beast I discovered this super Hype Beast app that brings back the magic of the disposable cameras. Gudak is an app that mimics a disposable camera, both in the way it looks (it sits horizontally on your screen) and it the way it functions. Each 24 hours, you are allowed only 24 photo opportunities, of which you aren't allowed to preview or edit before they get "developed." The best part? You have to wait a whole three days for the photos to "develop" before you can see them, download them and post them. Talk about excitementtttt. And yes they are as gorgeous and as grainy as you would expect them to be - see one of mine to the right.
— Delanie Billman, Managing Editor
—FINDINGS
culture
Fluid reflections on keeping a solid center
No article I have read has had quite as much impact on me recently than this piece from Maria Popova author of Brain Pickings. 10 Learnings from 10 Years, is a list of 10 pieces of wisdom that she feels have been crucial to her development of a solid center. My personal favorite, "don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively." Get your wisdom on!
Read more on Brain Pickings.
- Jacob Marrero, Paid Media Specialist at Matte Black
—FINDINGS
Film
Boring: The Next Wave of Entertainment?
We've heard this a million times before: modern life is hectic. We all spend 40+ hours a week at work, spend 5-10 hours a week commuting to work, and spend 1/3rd of our weeks sleeping. This leaves us little time to truly unwind, relax, and destress from the busy-ness of life. Netflix has a reality show that is slowly becoming a sensation because on the show nothing really happens. There aren't any producers to stoke the fire for drama; there aren't any activities that heighten the contestant's stress levels and cause people to explode. Rather, in Terrace House, people just live in a house with each other and go through the motions of life. In this AdWeek article - the writer ponders on what is drawing people to this new slow burn, drama-free, form of reality television. Is it because our real lives are so stressful, we are fascinated by taking a peek at lives where nothing bad really happens, where arguments are solved with a simple conversation, and where people tend to just get along? I'm not sure if it is entertaining to watch, but it sounds aspirational to me.
- Jonathan Godinho, Project Manager at Matte Black
“If you’re looking for the next big thing, and you’re looking where everyone else is, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
—Mark Cuban
colophon
Editor-In-Chief
Chelsea Matthews
@chelseamatthews
Managing Editor
Delanie Billman
@delanie___
Contributing Editor
Micah Heykoop
@micahheykoop
Creative Director
Nolan Goff
@nolanwgoff
Research Coordinator
Jacob Marrero
SESSIONS Producer
Aria Davis
@theariachanel
Photography
Rick Bhatia
CONTRIBUTORS
Rick Bhatia
Rick is a culturally confused 21 year-old photographer and creative director who was born in Dubai and raised in California with Indian roots. He is currently a student at the University of Southern California (USC), wondering how his incoming degree contributes to his passion for photography.
Something to check off your bucket list: an underwater shoot
Guilty pleasure: Disconnecting my hard drive before formally ejecting it. Jk.
Comfort food: brunch
Favorite throwback song: Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
Last movie watched: Okja
The Akin
Founded by Anna, Helen and Sarah, The Akin is a collective of freelancers working to rebuild trust and restore faith in the agency model creating a new operating model that puts transparency and humanity at the centre of everything we do.
Overheard in the Akin office: Slack is our virtual office - we had to create a LOL channel to house it all “What do you
think is more appropriate to wear in the meeting, the SEX or the Tupac T-shirt?”
Favourite coffee shop to work from: Our kitchen tables... or somewhere with cocktails
Dream project: Oooh.. the whole gamut from the Future of hip hop to the Future of Religion
Early birds or night owls? We are all different Anna loves the morning, Helen early evening and Sarah is always the last
one standing
Choice dinner guest: Can we have a dinner party? Basquiat.. RIP. He could doodle on some napkins, Yves Saint Laurent,
after a stroll around his garden in Marrakesh, Alive - Kim Gordon, simply because she is the coolest person on the
planet and of course Arsène Wenger - he’s a genius.
Jacob Marrero
Jacob is a Paid Media Specialist at Matte Black. He enjoys spending time researching, testing, and volleyball. He considers himself suffering from an unsatisfied curiosity and a lifelong learner. Always open to good discussion and an old fashion.
Last song played: There Is a Cloud, Elevation Worship
Childhood comfort: Refried Bean and Cheese Burritos
Streaming on Netflix: Wife and I are currently rewatching Parks & Rec.
Something to check off your bucket list: Win a volleyball championship.
Favorite social network: Gab.ai. Look it up. #SpeakFreely
Mark Hedstrom
Mark Hedstrom is the SVP of Program Commercialization for the Movember Foundation, a global men’s health charity raising funds to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and support programs that enable men to live happier, healthier and longer lives.
Last movie watched: The Defiant Ones
Author to read: C.J. Chivers, author of The Gun and New York Times reporter
City to escape to: San Cassiano, Italy in the Dolomites
Something to check off your bucket list: The Lost Coast of California
Guilty pleasure: Craft Beer