Five things on Friday #368
This week: some new work news, Hollywood adaptations, & XR insights - come get some!
Things of note for the week ending Sunday April 21st, 2024.
INTRO
Happy Friday Sunday, friends. I hope you’ve had a good week. As I write to you now it’s coming up to 12pm on Saturday afternoon (although I just switched the above struck-through ‘Friday’ from Saturday to Sunday now - hurrah for proofing). It’s been a lazy morning of coffee and cuddles with the fam - the sun is shining and I’m thinking about cutting the grass.
I’ve got a few friends running the London Marathon tomorrow today (Sunday) so if that includes you: GOOD LUCK and I hope you smash it! Feel free to hit reply and share me your sponsor links. Happy to chuck a few quid to good causes x
What can I tell you?
Oh yes!
It’s not every day you get asked to work for LEGO and when they asked if I could join an urgent project I leapt FAST.
Initially working a few days a week with the LEGO Agency group I’ll be working in and around all things LEGO x UEFN (see the last ten minutes of this video for some clues on that), my remit will be to figure out… well, I’ll tell you when I’ve figured it out.
So that’s me: working for LEGO, on UEFN, and the Fortnite platform.
It’s not forever but it is exciting AF and as my old boss Captain Scroggs is wont to say, ‘it’s right up your straße’.
Lovely.
PS. There are a couple (well, I count at least three) more work-related things that are cooking away that I want to tell you about but I think I need to wait a bit before I can talk about them. Stay tuned etc…
So that’s my news, what’s yours?
What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on right? I would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, shall we crack on with the things?
LET’S.
TO THE THINGS!
THING 1. LET’S TALK POWERHOUSE
Did you know women are 80% more likely to say NO to a speaking opportunity than men?
Did you know women are 40% more likely to pull out of a speaking engagement at the last minute?
Did you know women are interrupted 50% of the time in meetings which can impact both the speed and the volume at which they speak?
Yeah, that all sucks.
If you’ve been reading Five things on Friday for any amount of time you’ll know that my good friend Amy Kean and I, together along with Nicky, Faisal, and Seb, co-founded The DICE Charter. This was to help events sort out their DE&I across the board. But one thing Amy noticed was that there was always an upper-funnel problem; there simply weren’t enough senior-level women willing to put themselves out there and speak at conferences and events.
(Reading the stats above, it’s not exactly surprising is it?)
So now, as part of the GOOD SHOUT COMMUNITY TRAINING, Amy and her team have launched POWERHOUSE.
Good Shout is best described as a ‘Couch to 5k for your voice’. It’s been attended (and is endorsed) by the likes of managing directors, managing partners, business founders and CEOs - from companies such as TikTok, The Atlantic and ITV.
POWERHOUSE is the Good Shout course designed and developed specifically for women in a senior role who want to put more of themselves - with a bit more volume - into their work.
I’m putting this in this week’s FToF because recently I attended a Good Shout course (as a guest host) and I was personally blown away by the impact the training can have on a person. It is as brilliant and engaging as it is inspiring and effective.
If you are - or know - a senior woman who wants to find their voice and add some rocket fuel to it in the process, go and ask about POWERHOUSE (via Amy directly at Good Shout).
You won’t regret it x
THING 2. WHAT IS HOLLYWOOD?
From Super Mario Bros to The Last of Us and every episode of Arcane and Fallout inbetween, it’s hard to get away from the fact that Hollywood’s video game adaptations are good now.
But this kind of impact does not happen overnight and ‘success in an adaptation’ does not happen in a vacuum. The bleed between Hollywood Studio and multi-format content production has never been as blurry.
It’s not that this is a new thing. Cross-platform content licensing has been around for almost as long as the mediums have co-existed, however the sheer volume of - and subsequent level of output from - studios going all in on games is unprecedented.
I found this chart in a fantastic deep dive write up on all things ANNAPURNA.
The article isn’t live anymore but fortunately for readers of FToF, I’ve found the cached version: here.
And it’s a bloody GREAT read. Probably my recommendation of the week.
It’s funny, I have been nursing a theory* for some time now about how we aren’t far off the idea of brands being games publishers. Why spend half a million quid on media when you could create an investment fund for less than half of that money and support young one/two-person development teams get their games (games that would align with your brand values) out into the world. Yes, I agree that in the marketing world of short-termism it’s hard to fathom something that might take 2-5 years to pay off but the opportunities are out there… I might write some more about this again in the future.
It’s inarguable now that studios are publishers.
Who’s to say brands won’t be next? Maybe we should talk about that.
*I’ve shared it with a few people and have had it since parroted back to me by journalists who have interviewed those people (with no credit). Be careful out there, friends x
THING 3. THIS WEEK IN... XR
I've been wanting to write a deep dive into mixed reality for a while now. Prompted by a speech I gave recently about what the road ahead looks like for XR - and now the dust has settled/is settling on the Vision Pro launch, I’ve been noodling and reflecting on a LOT of reading and research.
Before we get into it, here's a quick primer (using a slide from my talk):
Now let's draw a story across multiple vectors.
Vector One.
My main VR apparatus is the PlayStation VR2. I use it a couple of times a month. For a mix of fitness apps (inclusive of Beat Saber), solo games (Star Wars, No Man’s Sky), and community games (Walkabout Golf VR). And I thoroughly enjoy it. The jury is currently out on how well supported it will be in the future but the PC support roadmap gives me hope…
For gamers, I think the VR2 should be at least on the consideration list…
But what about everything else?
Vector Two.
The VR2 is VR device. Not MR. And seeing the relative successes (citation needed/coming) and direction of travel of both the Meta Quest 3 and Vision Pro, I think it’s fair to say the future of VR is MR.
Which is a long way of saying: if I were to recommend a VR device today then it would almost certainly be the Meta Quest 3.
VR2 requires you to own a PS5 to play it (and doesn’t have the roadmap of games to warrant the investment).
Vision Pro is too much money for a product that is still very much a beta programme (for HNW consumers).
I mean, Ben Evans has questions, Joanna Stern would not buy one, Netflix called it ‘subscale’, and Lauren Goode at WIRED got to the point where she dreaded putting it on.
The future ain’t bright for this version.
Which leaves MQ3.
Vector Three.
I’ve made no secret of my loathing of Meta’s misappropriation of ‘the metaverse’ and now with its new moves into AI, the m word is kind of being left behind (pleasingly) and metaversal experiences (presence, persistence) are stepping forward.
This excellent example from Porsche stands out.
And while Mark Zuckerberg’s own review of Vision Pro is hilarious…
…it is telling that Meta is quickly shipping Vision Pro features to the users of its £450+ device.
All of this I guess is a long way of saying that I’m noodling on XR again.
VR I think will always have a place (according to the most recent GDC SOTI report, 1 in 5 developers are developing games for VR) but XR and MR to me is where the future lies.
I will be very interested to see where/how MR devices show up on the GDC report next year.
And this where I think things get the most interesting - across entertainment, productivity, and home computing.
We are still a WAY off. And this is not me saying the metaverse is here (not by any stretch). But I guess you can take it from me that if you’re looking at how VR might impact your business, maybe take a step back and up and look at the XR category as a whole.
Things are changing… slowly - but they are changing.
Related reading:
-
*Oh yeah, the XR talk I mentioned above is one slide of 78 slides which make up a 40min talk I can give that offers a broad review of the XR landscape.
Want this talk? Give me a shout.
THING 4. ‘ALMOST A QUARTER OF UK CHILDREN HAVE SMARTPHONES’
That’s just one of the latest findings in the latest Children’s Media Lives 2024 research from Ofcom.
Running for ten years now, this is as about as comprehensive as it gets.
The Children’s Media Lives project follows, as far as possible. The same group of 21 children aged 8 to 17, conducting filmed interviews each year to learn about their media habits and attitudes. This research began in 2014 as a way of providing a small-scale, rich and detailed qualitative complement to Ofcom’s quantitative surveys of media literacy.
It provides evidence about the motivations and the context for media use, and how media is a part of their daily life and domestic circumstances. The project also provides rich details of how children’s media habits and attitudes change over time, particularly in the context of their emotional and cognitive development.
The report itself weighs in at a little over 70 pages and it is a compelling read (the ‘Researcher reflections’ are a highlight), and it is easily the best most well put together report you’ll read on this topic. With tons of great brain, meeting, and slide fodder within.
As a human of the 21st century with a passing interest in the longer-term impact of social media on the next generation, this is mandatory reading.
As a strategist working at the intersection of youth and entertainment, this is mandatory reading.
As a parent, this is mandatory (and in places quite concerning) reading. The stuff about thumbnails particularly so.
Please read it.
THING 5. HOW TO MAKE EVERY JOB A SUSTAINABILITY JOB
I mean, we’re into our final THING and I’m pointing you to another VERY BLIMMIN USEFUL piece of writing. How lucky are you?
This time it’s this:
Brought to you by the generous founders of Today Do This, this completely free guide is for people who want to make sustainability work. Whether you’re a chief sustainability officer or simply someone who wants to make a difference in their office, this guide is for you.
BONUS SECTION
THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS THESE ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.
ENJOY.
In the intro of last week’s edition I said I was headed out to lunch with Marshall and friends. We ate at Camille in Borough Market and Marshall wrote a great review (featuring photos from yours truly).
‘Balance your complaints with unprompted compliments and celebrations’ is a pretty good tip for life. It reminds me of a book my mum bought for me when I first started college, it was called something like 'How to live a better life' - things like 'try to compliment three people a day' that, plus this = spreading spontaneous happiness in the world. And hey, who couldn't do with some of that right now?
DO NOT REPLY CARDS (stickers) by Dan Hon are brilliant and I’m ordering some shortly.
The games industry takes layoffs too lightly. this is games studio focused but applies to almost any industry I would wager. Interestingly, you never see anything like this in the adland trade press, do you? I personally have heard so many unreported stories of [poorly managed] agencies, across the entire communications spectrum, making lay offs lately - and none of it gets covered. Weird.
Speaking of mismanagement, this deep dive on a games business abusing the Bradford Factor (among other things) to mess with the psychological safety of its employees is a horrible read. ‘One source told us that they have “observed nothing but total and continuing failures of leadership since [joining the company].”’ It’s rife.
The bountiful Jenny Chang has a newsletter. Sign up.
Hey hey, wake up! New world’s largest snake just dropped!
Rebecca Ferguson on leaving Mission Impossible (Facebook Video). I just liked the honesty of it.
Last week I linked you to Conan O'Brien delivering a Hot Ones for the ages. This week I'm linking you to a great NPR write up of why that’s true.
Leo Burnett’s ‘Chicken that hits different’ is just a great ad. I caught the 60 on live TV and it made me stand still. Well done to all involved (it works too).
I lament the passing of Daniel Kahneman. I’m re-reading the book. And I’m reflecting on his incredible output overall. His TED talk is a highlight.
Actually EVERYTHING is amazing.
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
Hello again. Thanks for reading Five things on Friday. I wanted to take this moment to say thank you. Since the change in job status back in February the support I’ve felt and had from a bunch of you (privately, here, or publicly on Linkedin and beyond) has been incredible.
Thanks to you, I've had the opportunity to work on some fantastic projects. The breadth and depth of work has been amazing.
So far I’ve:
Helped a well known ad agency win a pitch for the launch of a new mobile game (great feedback on that).
Worked up creative strategy for an unannounced Netflix show (tell you about it in November).
Been paid to speak at three private events and another public one booked for later in the year (more on that soon).
Joined two advisory boards (potentially three - no I can't talk about any of them yet, sorry).
And along the way have met many, many smart people to talk about what the potential future might look like.
I am feeling blessed. Lucky. And loved.
If I had one piece of advice to get through it all it's this: work hard and be nice.
It's that simple. Have integrity. Stand for something. And be true to your values. Always.
Some of you know how difficult things have been for me this year. For all sorts of reasons I’ll never be able to share just how difficult (maybe one day - but not anytime soon).
But when the sh!t hits the fan, and you're going through it - you need to know who your friends are.
You need to know that your work speaks for itself.
You need to trust that if people hear a bad word against you, they know you well enough to check with you first.
Above all else, you need to have faith. In yourself, in your work, in your network, in your friends, in your loved ones. It’s hard but it’s not unachievable.
This journey is a wild one - for however long it lasts. I’m pleased to be on it and I’m pleased you’re on it with me.
So thank you - for letting me into your inbox each week, for listening to my mad mutterings, for taking an interest in what I find interesting - for everything.
Until next time,
Whatley out x