 |
|
|
|||||
Five years ago, if you bought a particular pair of shorts from Patagonia, you might have noticed a message sewn into the back of the label: Vote the assholes out. It was one step in the outdoor retailers fight against the first Trump administration. When the administration announced plans to reduce national monuments, for example, the company temporarily replaced its homepage with the message, The President Stole Your Land. Along with others, it helped mobilize millions of public comments. The company later sued the president over his plans to dramatically shrink the size of Bears Ears National Monument. Now that Trump is back in office, the company is beginning a new fight. The team started strategizing last month, when the Trump administration announced that it planned to open up more public lands to oil and gas drilling and later started slashing jobs at national parks and in the Forest Service. [Photo: Patagonia] For Patagonia, theres an obvious business case for pushing back against the administrations policy, beyond the company’s core mission to protect the planet. The outdoor industry relies on our whole system of public lands as the infrastructure that our community members use to get out and use our products and connect with the outdoors, says Hans Cole, VP of environmental activism at Patagonia. When you attack that infrastructure, that set of protected landscapes, absolutely we could see impacts. Some of those impacts could happen quickly. Around 1,000 National Park Service employees were fired last month, along with 3,400 Forest Service workers. (After the administration also rescinded the job offers for 5,000 seasonal Park Service employees, it later reversed that decision; its not clear yet how many of those positions will be filled.) Even with some seasonal workers in place, parks might struggle to maintain operations this spring and summer and fewer people might decide to visit. If hikers and campers dont make trips, we see immediate impacts in our business, Cole says. Folks dont want to buy the jacket. The impacts go beyond the outdoor industry. It’s also the local communities that are adjacent to protected public lands or simply to open public spaces he says. Local communities rely on a lot of tourism and visitation. Small businesses rely on folks coming into town during the summer. Patagonia has always been unabashedly political, so its unsurprising that the company is stepping back into the fray even as most other businesses hesitate to criticize Trump. Right now, many companies that spoke out against Trump in his first administration are silent; some business leaders, like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, have cozied up to the president after criticizing him in the past. But for companies that want to be more vocal nowbecause they fundamentally disagree with Trump policy and/or because it can directly impact their bottom linePatagonia offers some lessons. First, companies should choose an issue to focus on. Patagonias team cares broadly about the environment, but strategically focuses on policy that impacts public lands. We have to make choices about what we go deepest on and where we put the most resources, says Cole. Its something that businesses are really good at doing, because we do it all the time. We make strategic choices about which market to go into or which product to focus on. The business community is uniquely suited to come into a landscape like this, assess, and say, OK, we care about all these things, and well find ways to stay connected to each one of them and stay educated on that. But were going to go deepest on this piece here. With public lands, we know our community cares about these things, we know this is important to our business, and we know we have an authentic and informed point of view, he says. We can step into that chaotic landscape with a lot of confidence. Its also helpful for companies to collaborate with peers. We know that voices together can make a difference, and when business voices come together, its a unique voice that often decision-makers will listen to, says Cole. Patagonia is now having daily calls with others across the industry. Brands can also play a role in keeping customers informed as the administration plows forward in making changes, and nudge citizens to contact representatives. The government hasnt yet outlined the details of its plans for public landsthough the general direction toward weakening protections and opening it up for more exploitation is clear. Patagonia chose to start speaking out early. Public pressure does work, Cole says. It’s urgently important right now for folks to be educating themselves about what’s going on and reaching out to their members of Congress to say what they care about.” Patagonia is taking a multipronged approach that begins with alerting people to the challenge. A recent Instagram ad, for example, explained that Trump wanted to sell off public lands, and pointed customers to more information. CEO Ryan Gellert published an op-ed in Time. And more creative campaigns will follow, in the spirit of the message that the company hid in its label in 2020. “It’s always a challenge to cut through the noise,” says Cole “The chaos of the sheer volume of issues, the number of things that people care about in the national political space, not to mention locally or in people’s lives. It’s so noisy right now that the more creative we get and the more we can connect with folks in a way that includes a great story, a really powerful voice, some humor, even in the midst of a lot of dark and challenging momentsit does work.” Ultimately, he says, the company always connects its messages with action. “We try not to put words or stories out without some paired idea around, ‘What could you do?’ so that people don’t walk away feeling overwhelmed,” he says. “[They’re] empowered, even in some small way: Make that first call to your member of Congress, even if it’s just to say something high level. Reach out and support a local grassroots group through Action Works [a digital platform from Patagonia]. Get out there and volunteer . . . Reaching people with those kinds of messages, I think, can be really poerful.”
Category:
E-Commerce
This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Typing isn’t always the best way to get your thoughts down. Sometimes talking through an idea leads to better clarity. New AI tools can reliably transform those spoken thoughts into clean, organized text. I’ve spent months experimenting with voice AI toolsfirst on my phone, and now on my laptop. Theyve been helping me pull ideas from my brain onto paper. The tools below have become crucial to my workflow. Why voice AI beats traditional transcription Traditional transcription simply converts speech to text. Modern voice AI does much more: Instant transformation: Speak naturally and get a polished draft, outline, or summary Smart cleanup: AI removes filler words and adds proper punctuation Format flexibility: Convert speech into various formats like bullet lists or structured documents Context awareness: AI understands context and organizes your thoughts logically. Because its grounded in your own words, it doesnt hallucinate. 5 ways I like using voice AI Here are some scenarios where voice AI is particularly valuable: 1. Journal entries Instead of staring at a blank page, I speak my thoughts at day’s end. The AI transforms my stream of consciousness into organized reflections. 2. Meeting follow-ups After an in-person meeting, I open my voice AI app, hit record, and talk through key points while theyre still fresh. I dont worry about the structure of my sentences or about pausing as I think. The AI waits for me and summarizes my rambling. 3. Presentation planning Speaking through presentation ideas helps me figure out my narrative flow. The AI helps me organize my thoughts into a structured outline. I can talk through multiple potential versions, then compare them on screen later. 4. Book notes To preserve insights from something Im reading, I turn on a voice AI app and flip through the pages or scroll through the text to remind myself out loud about intriguing passages or ideas. I then save the structured note the AI creates. I like being able to look back at the text while dictating the note. And the editing part of my brain interferes less when Im talking than when Im typing. 5. Daily planning Starting my day by verbally mapping out my priorities helps me think through whats ahead more effectively than typing out a list. Voice AI apps to try Letterly Easy to use: Just press the apps big button. Up to 15 minutes per recording. Cross-platform: Record or access your past text-from-voice across automatically synchronized desktop, web, and mobile apps. Smart format detection: The magic transform option can automatically reformat your words, turning lists into bullets or structuring email drafts for quick copy-and-pasting into other apps. Customizable outputs: Transform recordings into LinkedIn posts, podcast or video scripts, structured documents, or your own custom formats. Iterative refinement: Try different transformations of the same recording until you get exactly what you need. Multiple languages: Record in any of 90 languages, or record in one language and have the app translate your text into another. Offline and screen-off options: Record anywhere, even without Internet access. Try using background mode without your screen on. I often record with my AirPods while walking with my phone in my pocket. Founders tip: Dont confuse it with dictation, says Letterlys founder and CEO Anton Lebedev. You dont need to pronounce the perfect text you want to write. Instead, think out loud, speak slowly, quickly, or even chaotically. AI will understand you. Think of it like a writing assistant youre telling what to write. The assistant can understand you and figure out how to rewrite the text. Letterly Pricing: $80/year after a free trial Oasis Multi-purpose output: Get your recording transformed simultaneously into various formatsfrom a memo or outline to a blog post or TED talk. Make custom templates: Create and name short prompts that reflect your preferred styles or formats. Those become part of your personalized prompt library for transforming future recordings. I made one for my journal entries. Web accessibility: Like Letterly and Audiopen, you can access your recordings and transformed text through a browser on any device. Oasis pricing: $5/month or $50/year for enough credits for hundreds of monthly uses. AudioPen Customize rewrite length: Customize the length setting if youd prefer summaries of your transcribed recordings to be shorter or longer. Create and access them on your phone or on any device through your browser. Shareable audio notes: Send individual audio note links to colleagues or collaborators. Or send then to other apps with a Zapier integration. Flexible organization: Combine multiple audio notes or their summaries into larger collections. You can search for old notes or arrange them in folders. Rich template selection: Choose from various transformation templates. AudioPen pricing: $99/year or $159/two years after a free trial. Bottom Line Start with Letterly if you want simplicity and reliability. Consider Oasis if you want a slightly cheaper option or need to simultaneously access multiple format variations of the same content. AudioPen is useful if you want to customize the length of your voice summaries or if sharing or combining audio notes is important to your workflow. Where to use voice AI Voice AI shines when typing isn’t practical or when you want to think freely without your hands on a keyboard. Here are situations where you can try it: At home Comy chair: Capture book notes without interrupting your reading rhythm. Kitchen: Document recipe adjustments or cooking notes while your hands are busy with ingredients. Bedside: Record late-night musings without disrupting your wind-down routine with a bright screen. Garden: Log landscaping ideas or random thoughts while your hands are dirty. On the move Walking: Capture project ideas and inspiration during your daily stroll. Commute: Draft emails and plan your day while on the subway or bus. Car: Record thoughts safely after parking but before you forget an important idea. At work Quiet space: Create reflective journal entries while looking out the window. Conference: Capture insights between sessions to avoid being overwhelmed when you get home. Doctor’s office: Record appointment details and follow-up steps while the info is fresh. Active time Outdoors: Draft journal entries or creative ideas while surrounded by nature Exercise: Outline presentations or brainstorm on the treadmill Shopping: Create lists or remind yourself about products Voice AI on your laptop I used to rely exclusively on mobile voice AI apps, but lately I’ve been relying on laptop voice AI apps. These are less focused on transforming text and more on putting your spoken text on your clipboard so you can paste into any tool youre using. It works with Google Docs, Word, email, or whatever else youre using. I use these on my laptop because its quicker and easier for me to talk than to type. Here are three worth trying: Flow Quick to start: Once youve installed the software, just hold down the function key to start recording in any of 100+ languages. Your recording gets instantly transcribed and the cleaned-up text is copied to your clipboard. Works anywhere on your computer: Paste transcribed text directly into any applicationemail, documents, or messaging apps. Reduces screen and hand fatigue: Record while looking away from your screen to reduce eye strain and give your hands a break. Flow pricing: Free for up to 2,000 words/week; $12/month billed annually for unlimited words and extra features. $8/month for students and educators. TalkTastic Simple transcription: Made by the team that created the Oasis mobile app, TalkTastic is designed to be simpler. Instead of transforming your speech into various text types, it just puts a cleaned-up version of what you say onto your clipboard to paste into any app. Smart text transformation: You can optionally set it to analyze your screen context to offer transformed versions of your text. Free: While in beta, theres no cost for TalkTastic. MacWhisper Advanced transcription: Use this free software to transcribe online meetings, podcasts, or live dictation. You can even upload files to transcribe. Pay once for pro features: Enable YouTube transcriptions, batch uploads, translation, and top AI model usage with a one-time purchase. MacWhisper pricing: Free for basic usage; about $60 for pro upgrade; 20% discount with this link. Journalists, students, or non-profits can email support@macwhisper.com for 50% off. Other ways to use your voice to benefit from AI ChatGPT has a powerful voice mode in its mobile and desktop apps. Rather than typing out AI queries, you can have a conversation with an AI bot. Heres why thats so useful. Perplexitys mobile app voice AI mode is terrific. I ask it a series of questions, like an oracle. It beats Google on many of my queries. The AI understands what Im asking, then gathers and summarizes a helpful response. Citations in the app ensure I can check on its info sources. Googles Gemini and Microsofts Copilot have recently-upgraded mobile voice modes. Converse with human-sounding AI bots without thumb typing. Open-source options abound. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
Category:
E-Commerce
In the business world, advertisers are the stunt performers. Our fragmented media and pop cultural landscape has forced brands to really push stunts into the weird and wonderful. Whether its Snoop threatening to give up smoking, Ben Affleck working a Dunkin’ drive-thru, or a devil baby terrorizing the streets of New York. Meanwhile in Hollywood, the stunt performers are the ones who actually pull off the death-defying action that can make us gasp. They’re a breath of IRL fresh air in a world blanketed by visual-effects technology. Now, for the biggest night in entertainment, these two worlds converge for a pretty epic stunt by both worlds definition. Disney Advertising, Jimmy Kimmels Kimmelot, and Ryan Reynolds’s Maximum Effort, have enlisted five different brands to create six commercials that will air during the Oscars ceremony, tonight at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, featuring more than 75 stunt performers executing classic Hollywood stunts like skydiving, high falls, and dynamic fight scenes. John Campbell, Disney Advertisings senior vice president of entertainment and streaming solutions, says that a lot of their conversations with CMOs have revolved around looking to create quality content that can maximize a given cultural moment, in particular to live audiences. The Oscars ticked all of those boxes. For the participating brandsCarnival Cruise Line, Kiehls, LOréal Paris, MNTN, and SamsungCampbell says they saw the advantage of teaming up on a unique concept. We had this concept to shine a light on the stunt community and the tremendous impact that they have on film for all of us as fans, says Campbell. We see them as Hollywoods hidden heroes, so we put the hypothesis out there: What if we invited them to step into the spotlight on entertainments biggest night? And honestly, what came about is kind of wild. We had 75 real-life stunt performers, 150 crew members, and we did this in a little over a week of filming and producing. The result may well be the biggest advertising stunt ever done for the Oscars. Brands playing nice Marketers typically do not like sharing the spotlight. But here, with Carnival Cruise Line, Kiehls, LOréal Paris, MNTN, and Samsung, theres a balance among brands across product categories so that they can creatively all row in the same direction. Campbell says that the company has brands it works with on a consistent basis and had a sense of who might want to test the waters of a new concept like this. The question is, are brands really going to play together? So we’ve had to find the right brands who are going to trust Disney advertisers, going to trust the Academy in order to say, You know what, we are going to play together, and something really special is going to come about. Kiehls general manager John Reed says this is the brands national TV-commercial debut, and it wanted to showcase authenticity, craftsmanship, and innovation. With this being a multibrand project, it was important to us that the Kiehls spot felt endemic to the brand while fitting into the larger storytelling, says Reed. That we can stand out while fitting in. LOreal Paris USA president Laura Branik says this idea was a natural fit to showcase the performance of the brands Infallible 3-Second Setting Mist in a breakthrough way. The collaborative process was really rooted in a shared vision and creativity, says Branik. We worked closely with Disney Advertising from the very startfrom brainstorming concepts to shaping the final execution. We have all been working toward the same goal of elevating stunt performers who are so deserving of this spotlight, which has made the process truly collaborative and fun. The Carnival Cruises ad features stuntwoman Hannah Betts jumping from a helicopter at 11,000 feet right into the pool of a Carnival Cruise ship. The clip in the ad was Betts first take. The Oscars delivers the right audience of prospective Carnival cruisers who love the fun of travel and live events, says Carnival CMO Amy Martin Ziegenfuss. This collaboration provided an opportunity to be more contextually relevant within the program, alongside other great brands and partners. The only nonconsumer brand of the lineup is ad tech firm MNTN, the parent company for Reynoldss creative shop Maximum Effort. CEO Mark Douglas says that the company aims to showcase the power of storytelling during commercial time, and this stunt aligns perfectly with that mission. Its the ultimate way to show how advertising can be as thrilling and impactful as the content it complements, says Douglas. Stunt Advertising Evolved Its a novel concept getting five brands to collaborate on a six-ad extravaganza during the Oscars to celebrate stunt performers. But this isnt Disney Advertisings first crack at experimental ads. Back in 2022, it worked with Kimmelot and Maximum Effort for the series finale of The Walking Dead. They created a series of ads for Autodesk, Deloitte, DoorDash, MNTN, and Ring, featuring four characters who died over the course of the shows 11-season run. All five commercials were shot in two days. Last year, the companies colaborated again, this time for a Groundhog Day-like campaign for Lays. That was a series of eight ads starring Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned in the 1993 comedy-film classic Groundhog Day, just trying to buy a bag of chips. The spots ran 75 times on the calendar’s Groundhog Day, taking up a third of ABCs commercial inventory for the day, appearing during Good Morning America, General Hospital, Shark Tank, 20/20, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Campbell says that the goal was to evolve the approach, this time with multiple brands, and on perhaps the biggest night of live-event TV outside of the Super Bowl. It was really asking, how do we continue to push ourselves, to push the boundaries, and use the full platform of Disney in order to keep pushing these creative boundaries? he says. The Stunts Chris Denison directed the Carnival spot and coordinated the stunts and cast every stunt performer across all six commercials. Hes performed stunts in films for Zac Efron, Jared Leto, and Ewan McGregor, as well as being Sam Worthingtons stunt double in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. Denison says that his first thought when he heard about this overall idea was, Dude, don’t mess this up! All kidding aside, when I first heard of the concept of a series of stunts-centric commercials geared toward paying homage to our profession, I was struck by a tremendous sense of responsibility, both to my peers and the legends of the business who came before us, says Denison. I knew instinctively that if the commercials that we produced were anything less than amazing, they would fall far short of the mission of honoring the overall stunt community. As a result, my team and I poured absolutely everything we had into this process. The biggest challenge from a stunt perspective was using the action to tell a meaningful story inside the boundaries of a 30-second spot. I’m a firm believer that action should be a storytelling device; that is, all stunts should be used to drive a story forward, else you risk losing your connection with the audience, says Denison. The creative team and our fantastic directors did us so many favors in this regard, but we as a department had to be absolutely ruthless about distilling the action down to its core. He points to the Samsung Fight commercial. Our first iteration of the fight was over a minute long, says Denison. With the help of our fearless fight coordinator, Steve Brown, we literally workshopped that thing for weeks, stripping out the proverbial shoe leather while highlighting the individual storytelling elements. I believe that the finished product is as compelling as a 30-second fight can get. This challenge persisted across each of the spots, and in every instance we put a hard focus on hyperefficient storytelling through cool action to create what we felt was the best result possible. What stands out to Denison about this advertising stunt is the sheer variety in the spots. From a massive drop off a 12-story office building and a practical skydive out of a helicopter over an ocean to precision-driving in a trophy truck out in the desert. Each spot is wildly different, and yet they all tell a broader story of what kind of content the stunt community is capable of producing, says Denison. It was incredibly fun getting to switch gears so rapidly and complete so many different action sequences in a short amount of time. As under the radar as stunt performers are used to flying, there are individuals within the stunt community whose names are even less well-known, and yet their work is absolutely everywhere on screen. Denison goes on to point out a few of the less-than-famous folks Oscars viewers will see. Whether or not the audience recognizes this, I think it’s a very fun Easter egg that the boom operator in the Fight commercial is a UFC Hall-of-Famer, the first assistant director in the Kiehl’s spot is an accomplished supercross racer, and the dude in the floatie in the Carnival Cruise ship pool is Hugh Jackman’s stunt double.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||