Intro
Last week, I wrote a blog post called “Summer all dolled up”. That was when it was still possible to do that. It’s still possible to do that now, but it won’t be for much longer: it will be summer all dolled up.
It is not a good time for stories about why we should all get dressed up and go out to the beach. It is not a good time for stories about what we have done with the money we have spent on clothes in this summer, or how we feel about being out of work altogether (which will actually happen in three to six months). Nor is it a good time for those kinds of stories anyway: they are boring and redundant.
But sometimes it is a good time to tell a story about what we have achieved with our vacation money – or if one of you has made something worth posting on social media, then why not make that your next story too?
Summer time
There is a lot of evidence that when people get together over the summer, they do things differently. In fact, research finds that when people go away for the summer, they are more likely to commit crimes such as shoplifting and vandalism than those who are working. There is some evidence that this is because they have had more time to think about what they want out of their vacation and thus become more focused on it and less distracted by the outside world.
This “summer all dolled up” effect comes into play in our lives too. As we get ready to move onto our summer travels, our natural tendency is to pick out new outfits, add some new accessories (like bags), and update our makeup. This can be a good thing – it makes us feel like we’ve been working hard during the winter and we need to celebrate. But it can also be a bad thing:
Summer time is not all about fun!
Work shouldn’t be on your mind all the time Summer is a great time for long days at home with family members
This post from Dan Pink discusses this phenomenon nicely:
The most important development in human history is when individuals have started changing their behavior based upon how much time they spend thinking about work rather than how much time they spend thinking about leisure: you know, that whole “summer all dolled up” topic? We’re finally catching up on this one!
Hot days
Given the heat, here are some of our favorite ways to cool off on a hot summer day.
The first is to do the dishes (and you can even rinse them in a cooler water than what comes out of the sink). The second is to go for a walk, or (better yet) go for a jog. If you’re not physically active, at least consider using music or podcasts as an alternative.
But definitely pick up that ice cream, right?
Cool nights
Here is a quote from Paul Graham:
“The problem with video games is that they’re too complex and powerful. The problem with mobile applications, the problem with all software these days, is that it’s too simple and low-power. This makes it perfect for gaming, but useless for anything else. Before the devices we use for our entire lives became available, all you could do was sit at home on your couch and play games like Pong and Galaxian. Now you can do more than that — you can go anywhere at any time and play whatever game you want to play. In fact, you can have a party with your friends while playing video games in the background. And you don’t need to buy any equipment or buy games from any particular company — all of our best products are just sitting there waiting for us to use them.”
Beach vacations
The real test of the summer could be how it goes for you. The summer should be a time of relaxation and fun, but if you are like most people, you want to get things done in order to get back to work in the fall. There is no better time for that than the first week of August (unless your office is located in Tokyo), when all the interns are back from their vacations and everyone’s work schedules are up. Work should be done before anyone comes back, or else your team will have a rough summer.
But vacations don’t have to be so bad. Here are some ideas:
• Go away with friends; this may not be an option for many startups, but if you do, try going away with friends who aren’t doing something else that requires being away from home (like working on a new side project alone).
• Do what you love: if you don’t enjoy your job very much, why not take a break and do something else? Even if it’s just hanging out with friends who aren’t working either—an ordinary vacation can actually help boost your productivity by getting out of the office for a bit.
• Take a weekend off: instead of dragging yourself back into work on Monday morning because of the all-nighters during the week, take a day off and stay at home. If nobody asks you to work again, it will feel great.
Another idea is to stop saying “Oh! I’m going on vacation next week” or “I’m taking two weeks off.” Instead say “I’m taking two weeks off.” This way people can know that actually means two weeks rather than one week and makes it easier for them to remember.. when they ask “When are you going on vacation?” You wouldn’t say “This weekend,” right? You’d say “This coming weekend.” When people say things like “drama! drama!” they’re really just saying “(Oh I’m) taking two weeks off.” The more you can do this the better people will feel about asking questions about how long vacations are or when they’re coming back from trips etc.. and that’s what matters most!
Hanging out with friends
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, had this to say when he was asked what the secret to his success was:
“The secret to my success is that I didn’t do anything different than others. I just made sure that what I was doing was simple and easy to use, and people were excited about it.”
It’s a good rule of thumb for people in business: if you are not changing the world, don’t change it enough. And if you are changing the world, don’t change it enough yet either. It is hard to distinguish between those two extremes when you look at a company like Facebook; but all too often we see, or hear about companies that have changed too much — they have forgotten their value proposition and have been buried by competitors who are better in every way.
For example:
Facebook was one of the first companies to start an advertising-heavy business model and from there went on to become a dominant force in social media as well as an advertising network for other publishers (think Candy Crush Saga or FarmVille). They were also one of the first companies to embrace mobile (which happened because they had a very good idea and built on it rather than trying improve upon something that already existed).
Facebook became so big that many argued they should have started with a different business model and been less focused on mobile. For instance, this article suggests they should have moved away from advertising instead of focusing on mobile first; or perhaps Facebook could have started with an ad-free service without making their core product better by adding features like location sharing etc. The same goes for Snapchat: instead of focusing on creating a better product by focusing more intensely on features like geofencing etc., they should focus more intensely on improving usability before adding features like geofencing — which could potentially be useful for some users (some people tend to be very good at recognising locations almost instantly) but generally not useful for all users (there are many times when you want your friends to know where you are without having to specify where exactly you are). This difference in approach might have helped them become huge (but probably also hindered them since they would be competing against smaller startups who weren’t innovating), but now they seem stuck in between these two extremes — being stuck between being great at both ad-heavy monetisation vs ad-light monetisation? This is what happens when a company crosses over into a market where
Movies
The following is a list of 3 great summer movies (2017) which I’d recommend watching right now.
‘The Meyerowitz Stories’ is the new movie based on the book by Adam Alter, who is also the guy behind “Bad” and “The Devil Wears Prada”. It’s a dark comedy about a group of Jewish guys in New York who hire an English actress to play their sister, who happens to be having a midlife crisis. The movie features mostly talented actors like Ben Stiller and Dustin Hoffman, as well as some memorable performances from Brie Larson. The film was directed by Noah Baumbach, whose films are known for being dark and offbeat (the same can be said about his work on ‘The Squid and The Whale’). ‘The Meyerowitz Stories’ is based on stories by Adam Alter – A Personal Journal Of My Parents And Their Friends, which was published in 2005.
‘Get Out’ is the latest film from Jordan Peele, whose previous films have been about outer space (Get Out) and black life (Key & Peele). The film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Manion, an African-American man who moves from Georgia to South Carolina with his wife and son. He soon discovers that he has an uncanny ability to talk to black people – even when they are being interviewed by authorities. This ability makes Chris a criminal suspect in several murder cases that he has no connection to. He also starts having weird dreams about aliens invading earth. This film follows Chris as he tries to solve these crimes while dealing with his family life at home and trying not to let the white guilt get too serious.
I’m not sure whether I’ve ever seen ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, but if I had then it would probably be one of my favourite films ever made! It’s one of those films where every time you think you know what’s going to happen next it totally changes…which makes it hard for me to decide whether I love this or not since I’m always wondering what’s going on next! You never know what will happen next…it’s almost like watching really good suspense movies but with characters that you love! What’s more? Well…..there are twist after twist after twist…and all you can do is keep watching until there’s nothing left!! It’ll probably take you 5 hours! And that includes all kinds of different endings for different characters…and all kinds of different endings for different scenes….and all kinds
Concerts
If you’ve ever been to a concert, you know what I mean. There are several ways of doing it, but the norm is to dress up and go to a concert.
The last time I went to a concert – in my 20s – was when I was working as an early-stage engineer at the now-defunct “Notting Hill Music”…
The only thing that gets me through the first three months of summer is the thrill of going to concerts, so that’s what we’d do this year.
Just for fun: here are some concerts we think you should go to (in no particular order):
Tame Impala at Coachella – The first night of Coachella, Tame Impala perform their second album Currents and they’re absolutely magical live.
Alessia Cara at Lollapalooza – Alessia appeared on the main stage during Lollapalooza with Carly Rae Jepsen and they were both stunning live. They sound incredible and seem to have an infectious energy that should be impossible not to get emotionally involved in (especially since Alessia is a singer). The performance lasts almost 2 hours!
Gorillaz at Lollapalooza – This was my first experience watching Gorillaz live and it was amazing! They have an absolutely mesmerizing stage show, including some very intricate dance moves woven into their songs; it really makes for an unforgettable experience. Plus, there will be something for everyone: Gorillaz fans will love their hit single “2Dayz”; people who prefer more traditional music will dig their more subdued tracks like “Cliks That Move” or “Saturnz Barz”; and die-hard fans of any genre will love “Feel Good Inc.,” or whatever else they play during the encore (I love them all). You must go see them if you haven’t already!
Pixies at Lollapalooza – This is one of those shows I wish would still happen every year (and also one of my all-time favorite bands): Pixies played two shows before Lollapalooza 2014 and they were just incredible live! The setlist was fantastic: songs from Doolittle, Surfer Rosa, Bossanova Hotel and other classics mixed with new material like “She Talks To Cars.” And
Bonfires and parties
Perceptions are often very different from reality, and we saw this in our summer all dolled up study. When using the word ‘summer’, people think of fun, beautiful weather, and lazy days at the beach. However, according to a recent study by NPD Group , summer is actually a somewhat miserable season for millennials (the age group most likely to be spending their summer vacation with friends and family). In fact, nearly three-quarters of all teenagers surveyed said that their summer vacation was mostly about doing work or school.
While this is a fascinating finding overall (and one that seems to be based not just on its scientific validity but also on its popularity), it also has some potential implications for marketers who want to make their product stand out. First off, it could mean that if you have a cool product that can solve a problem that’s not being addressed at the moment (such as helping teens get more involved in after-school activities), you might have an opportunity here. Second off, it seems to indicate that millennials often don’t want the same things as other generations usually do: they don’t necessarily want fun and sunshine (though they too may be avid fans of beach vacations).
I found myself pondering this both during the summer all dolled up study (which was similar in structure) and during an informal study I did for my company. Both times I came up with ideas for how I could market to people who were dissatisfied with what was available today:
• I should focus on features which will make life easier or more enjoyable
• I should target something which people are going through now so they’re interested in solving it
And each time I considered those two options over something else:
• I should focus on natural products such as food, beverages or household items which make life easier or more enjoyable
• I should target things which people are going through now so they’re interested in solving them
This clearly illustrates that marketing is always contextual – there isn’t one right way to market your product; there isn’t one right time frame either – you have to think about your product as you need to do it (or more precisely as your customer needs you to do it). You cannot assume that everyone knows what they need out of your product until they try it out themselves; and while you can certainly assume the need exists from some level on a subjective basis
Picnics in the park
When you have the chance to go to a nice picnic in the park, take it. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and family and also to get some exercise. On top of that, it is nice to be outside and relax with a good book (or two).
The above is just one way of doing it. Other methods include:
• Lots of alcohol (and not just beer)
• Music, preferably some new music that you don’t already like — different people like different music, so try everything and make sure you don’t like any of them!
• A picnic blanket for all the food
• The weather : we need at least one rainy day every week this summer!
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Topic: Nice Thoughts Nice Thoughts
Subtopic: Nice Thoughts
Keywords: nice thoughts, being human; nothing but nice thoughts in mind; happy thoughts; being positive; doing good for others; helping someone in need; being friendly; smiling/giggling/laughing out loud all the time as much as possible when interacting with others — otherwise you could be called a psychopath… but never mind.
Text: Cute animals are fun to look at, but they can also be very useful. The following list are perfect examples (although there are many more):
– Aquatic mammals that can swim or fly (bears, seals, etc.) — they are social creatures who will always do their best to reach their erstwhile companions. They tend not to have sharp teeth or claws which can make them unpleasant prey for hunters on land. At the same time they have well-developed senses of smell and hearing which enable them to find their erstwhile companions when they are lost or separated from them in the water. Some species even have ears that allow them to sense threats by detecting sounds above background noise while swimming underwater — a very useful trait indeed! And those ears never lose their sensitivity even after decades spent under water… Another example would be elephants which often live in groups but do not form social bonds due to a lack of language skills or other communication tools — instead animals which rely on scent marking tend to form strong bonds with one another. But just because an animal does not use language doesn’t mean it cannot communicate via “smells”! This is what elephants do by using their trunk and tongue for “smells”…
Family fun day
It’s that time of year again when we want to strike a pose, whether it’s on the beach or during our annual family holiday. Inevitably, we get to the point where all kinds of silly things happen. We try to take lots of photos and post them on Facebook so our friends can laugh, but there’s usually one photo which stands out from the rest: a photo which shows us in all our summer finery. It’s not particularly flattering.
However, it may prove to be the best photograph ever taken of you or me (not at all relevant to anyone else who may or may not view it). Once you think that, you’ll probably want to do some research into how much money people will pay for such a kind of picture. In other words: what are the benefits?
Obviously, we all want such photos — and I think many people will claim they do (because they spent ages on their Facebook page building a portfolio before their holiday!) — but there is a crucial difference between wanting them and paying for them: no one actually wants to pay for something they don’t have!
So what are the benefits? Well, firstly, you don’t really have an excuse for not buying them (unless you have some reason for being embarrassed about your body). Secondly, if you take one of those selfies every year without fail everyone will probably say “My God! It was worth it! You look like a million dollars! Such great clothes… Such wonderful hair! Such fabulous skin!” Thirdly (and most importantly), people will remember those pictures for years and years after your holidays just because they are part of your personal brand — which is important in its own right.
For this reason I strongly recommend that as soon as possible after your holidays consider taking up selfie-taking yourself instead of spending ages creating beautiful photographs with friends and family. We should do this because any photo taken by anyone else is going to be less than perfect; yours will be more than perfect: far better than any photo ever taken by anyone else who wasn’t standing behind you.