→ MUST READS DECEMBER EDITION

Hey Must Readers, it’s been a while. I hope you have all been well.

I thought I would share a few must-reads, listens and must-watches with a few recommendations thrown in.

Thanks for reading & let’s dive in.

HELPING YOU TO GET SMARTER FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
MUST READS

Diet Coke Cultural Not Soda 🥤

Diet Coke has engineered its comeback by leaning into Gen Z nostalgia, highly aesthetic & creative UGC & strategic brand collabs that position the can as both prop and personality, not just product
» Read the full breakdown

 🫠 Slop / 67 🤷‍♂️

It’s a crazy thing seeing two words like slop and 67 be selected as word of the year. If you’re a parent (or social media junkie) 67 will be the bane of your life. Even being banned/removed from their ordering system in In & Out Burger to prevent child and teen hysteria.
Hint: Google 67…

Cultural Influences 🙂‍↔️

This is probably the best talk I have seen on brands and cultures’ impact on branding for the last few years. Carve out time for Jasmine’s presentation

The Brand Merch You Want To Wear 👕

In the US, there is a trend for restaurants and QSRs to offer merch.
This is the ultimate test for any brand, will customers and non-customers think so highly of you that they want to wear a limited edition t-shirt or tote bag. Well in the US this is becoming a trend and a true test of how well you are going.

In the world where people are using pre-loved marketplaces more than ever and not spending as much on fashion and fast fashion, I wonder if it could be a “luxury” spend.

Ofcoms Report 👀

The bi-annual report from Ofcom is always interesting. I read the report and summarised it (thanks to Gemini)

The Oscars On YouTube 📺

It doesn’t seem like big news outside of the industry, but the Oscars going to YouTube is a much bigger trend of famous TV events, podcasts and sports being consumed by YouTube and becoming the new cable box. The major battle is Netflix vs YouTube, expect Netflix to allow uploads from creators onto Netflix (without the pay cheque) in the first half of next year.

Rory’s Best Pod 🎧

I’m a big Rory Sutherland fan; he does split opinion, but if you want to see and hear Rory’s best stories and anecdotes, he’s great with Jamie Laing (who clearly has a cute man-crush on Rory)

HR Speaks Out 🙊

This shouldn’t be news, but it is, the HR exec from the Coldplay concert has just spoken out and can’t say it hit the right note “And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability, and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay”

High Emotional Intelligence ❤️

Although I’m an Arsenal fan and maybe biased here, this is a lovely read on why football is so important to Gabriel as a professional athlete, as is being a father. Brazil make footballers differently

Win 2026 💪

My weekly Marketing & Leadership newsletter (with Must Reader my co-creator Harry) has gone out every week, and this week we have guided predictions for 2026 from a number of Marketing leaders.
» Read the deck 

» Here are 6 quick recommendations from me to win 2026 - they include
(i) Win By Going From "Time To Value" → Time To Value To Personalise
(ii) Understand Know When Not To Overpersonalise Messaging
(iii) Speed To Customer Value Will Be Critical
(iv) Don’t Just Be A URL, Be A Multi-Moment Brand.

Make AI Work For You 🤙

Since August, I have been recording an AI podcast named The AI Moment with my co-host Jonathan.
I strongly recommend you listen if you are trying to work out AI and understand how it can land within business. The whole idea is to jump to shows and they should be timeless, offering really easy advice in bite-sized chunks.

I break down my lessons and learnings 👇

👋 If you are struggling to make AI work at your workplace, hit reply or email me at [email protected] as I offer AI workshops and enablements (read them below)

Agentic Purchases 🤖

If you want to see how AI is helping other than press releases, Visa ran a trial with AI to help their customers with transactions. Agentic (where agents take action for you) is the next battleground & fintech companies are investing heavily in AI purchases and supporting infrastructure. Want to know more? I explain the agentic web below in a clip below

➕Here is a good and balanced look at AI and its potential impact

Storytelling Roles 🪵

There has been a popular WSJ article about storytelling roles and demand for storytellers, I go deep into what companies need, how to shape ops to win and gain executive buy-in

& here’s what we will be making just before Christmas 😋

@saradaviescc

Omg you are going to love these puff pastry chocolate Christmas trees!!! All you need to do is pop to the shop and grab some ready-made pu... See more

Lastly, Enjoy: Last Christmas’ Birds Of A Feather 🎵

LETS CHAT

Got any questions or comments on any of the Must Reads, or want to chat through Marketing, Growth or AI, get in touch.

I am coaching CEOs, CMOs & Product leaders and consulting.
I also run AI workshops, so get in touch