Hey all!

Welcome to v2 of De(Source)Coded. We’re excited to keep iterating and making this newsletter a curation of the news in/around tech, marketing and business, along with our thinking on how it impacts the work you’re doing communicating to your audiences.

As always, we love feedback. Let us know what you like, dislike or want to see more of. We promise to listen and make each version better than the last.

By the Numbers…

24%: The rate of quarter-over-quarter growth of $100m+ M&A deals in Q2 2023. That represents 68 deals; still down 31% from the figure of Q2 2022.

Insight: While VC deal flow is on the way up (phew), we’re still well below where we were a year ago and just 40% of where we were at the peak in 2021. As marketers, we have to continue to push the envelope when it comes to ROI while fully expecting tighter budgets and increased scrutiny.

$3m: The revenue that the tiny Caribbean island Anguilla makes each month from .ai registrations.

Insight: First of all, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Second, AI isn’t the latest fad. It’s here to stay and it’s up to us as marketers and comms professionals to avoid becoming AI’s version of green-washing. Let’s call BS where we need to while authentically telling the AI stories we have to tell.

75%: The share of B2B fintechs on CB Insights’ Fintech 100 list of the world’s “most promising” private fintech startups.

Insight: Are banks finally doing the work to modernize their tech stacks? If we assume the answer to that question is ‘yes’, how do we need to think about telling this story in a highly-regulated industry? The folks who figure that out while being able to effectively communicate ROI are likely going to win.

26 million: The number of followers on TikTok, YouTube, and Insta that Lego’s core brand boasts.

Insight: With nearly 10m more than Barbie, Lego is blowing away the competition on social. They’re winning because of their willingness to invest, provide access to the inner workings of Lego, focus on UGC, and leverage the entertainment industry to continue to build the brand. It’s an amazing case study on customer loyalty and a reminder that we should never stop playing.

Marketing…

A Swift backlash for the NFL: The NFL was forced to defend their Taylor Swift coverage after deluging social bios and profile images with Tay Tay.

Insight: In our opinion, the NFL did a masterful job reacting to news that enthralled the country. They’ve massively increased their exposure to new audiences and as a result sold exponentially more product and created a number of cross-promotional opportunities. The backlash seems terribly misguided when we’d all do the same to leverage an influencer’s chance engagement with our brands and clients.

Barbie’s virtual dreamhouse racks up 3m beta visits: Metaverse developer Gamefam is teaming up with Mattel to create the Roblox experience “Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon.”

Insight: While brand partnerships are nothing new, they are nothing short of brilliant when executed effectively. When we leverage each other’s audiences in creative ways, we can accelerate our customer growth tremendously. Most importantly, DON’T sleep on B2B partnerships…while often excluded from tech comms programs, brands are missing the boat if they’re not at least thinking about how it might work for them.

Business…

Women pay WAY more for healthcare: Out-of-pocket healthcare costs for employed women in the US are estimated at over $15bn higher than for men annually…effectively 20% more. TLDR: Women are estimated to pay over $15bn a year more than men for healthcare in the US. Employers should close the gap with more equitable packages. And leverage the difference to attract talent.

Insight: Forward-thinking employers have the opportunity to level the playing field, take a public and internal position, and engender tons of goodwill from employees, partners and ideally generate a bit of positive publicity off the back of any changes made. Also - just do the right thing.

Meta’s AI celeb splurge: The social giant is paying millions to top celebs and influencers for the right to create AI characters based on their likeness.

 Insight: In the consistently evolving world of influencer marketing, we now have the chance to test and learn a new avenue at a reduced cost. There’s likely an extremely low CPC opportunity to be had for those in the market.

PR firms are happy to take dirty money: Clean Creatives' latest report reveals a record 500 advertising and PR contracts in 2022-2023 for fossil fuel companies.

Insight: A day of reckoning is coming and whether or not you’re a climate activist, the business imperative to making smart climate-related decisions is around the corner. I’d think about getting ahead of it.

Tech…

The glassholes return: AI could be opening up a new era of interactive computing that doesn’t rely on screens. IPhone designer Jonny Ive is reportedly in talks with OpenAI to create a new AI-powered device, while Meta has released new AI-powered smart RayBans. The latter will enable users to livestream, play music, send messages, make calls, and ask questions of Meta AI. This could be the start of something.

Insight: The post-smartphone age is coming and hopefully with a focus on making our devices less addictive. While we’re in the early days, how will this change how we consume information? How we work? What we do? Who knows how it all shakes out, but it’s interesting to think about.