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This week saw what might turn out to be a landmark ruling or turning point for social media. Juries in California and New Mexico found Meta and YouTube liable for actively harming children, ruling that the platforms had negligently designed their products in ways that contributed to addiction and mental health damage.
Whilst there has been countless research and evidence to show this, its often not until a legal position has been made, that we see a tangible impact on how businesses actually behave.
There are many parallels of course to tobacco, and the decades of internal knowledge of the damage which their products were delivering, yet openly and outwardly claiming everything was fine, and profiting from the human cost of their wares. The eventual outcome for smoking was of course, various bans in media and marketing, and the slow erosion of the market, forcing manufacturers to find other directions.
The jury is out on whether we’ll see similar effects on social platforms, and how brands might react to this. Meta, without question, is one of the most significant players in the advertising space, and brands are almost locked into their marketing ecosystem. Meta commands around 23% of global digital ad spend, and when combined with Google, that number is over 50%.
So what happens when a platform is ruled to be literally harming people?
If this was a physical product, it would be recalled from shelves immediately, and the trust in the manufacturer would be shook, damaging its credibility perhaps forever. (although I’m reminded of the horsemeat/lasagne scandal, and Findus are still selling crispy pancakes).
Some brands have already actively chosen to step away from these platforms - but for many plans, they’re a defacto mandatory on the list of channels. They’re often baked into the calculations for reach and ROI.
What role do we play as strategists when helping our clients decide how they communicate? When we know that continuing to use these tools lead to harming people? And what arguments can we make to push brands to do better?
One of the driving factors for moving to working independently, from a lot of people I speak to, is often doing the right thing, doing the better thing, finding work that aligns with our values and the world we want to see.
There’s long been a phrase around advertising and marketing ... “we aren’t saving lives here”.
But we are impacting them.
There is power in our recommendations.
We do have influence over how companies behave.
Our actions, our work, our strategy does have an impact.
Therefore, we have a responsibility too.
We’re hosting our next OP huddle on April 9th 10:30am UK time, with double-bill Show&Tell session.
Nabila Richardson will be talking about her podcast in development, and is looking for input on the concept.
Selicia Richards-Turney will be sharing a cultural intelligence tool she’s built to support the students on her courses.
There will be open discussion as a group, so come along, and meet some fellow community members.
» Register here to join the session.
Every week, we introduce a member of the community - this week, UK based Senior Commercial & Creative Strategist and founder of Sweet Spot, Tina Thompson.
👋 Hi, I’m Tina, a Senior Commercial & Creative Strategist. I help brands, tech and B2B companies turn unclear positioning into growth using real-time audience insight
Right now I am working on a impact-led strategy for a food waste organisation, a positioning and launch strategy for a new hydration brand and a growth strategy with investment deck for a new AI tool - all fuelled with real audience insights.
I worked with a market leading dairy brand who were caught up in thinking around their declining sales. Blaming vegans, Jeremy Clarkson (the list was endless). Using audience insight we found the reason was Lactose Intolerance shared by the 'mum network'. This lead to a whole new positioning and reframing strategy for buyers and customers.
I am constantly fascinated by what we can learn from listening to online communities, so much so I created my own AI tool to do exactly that. Using these insights to drive positioning and branding strategies has made my ADHD brain very happy and given me evidence to back strategy with clear understanding and direction.
I love how much AI innovation is going in this area to understand the end-user or consumer more, I have created some very successful results and campaigns by using these insights as a jumping off point for strategy.
Watching: I’m watching The Good Doctor and loving the fantastic representation of neurodiverse people. I have struggled with my ADHD, but it has also made me the amazing strategic thinker that I am. It’s nice to see the behaviours (flaws and all) represented in culture. Plus the medical procedures are fascinating!
Listening: I am listening to unf*ck your brain podcast. Where I learn fascinating things about how my mind works, like ‘lizard brain’ and what to take notice of and where I need to take control. This is an essential listen, especially as a freelancer.
Doing: I build a lot of jigsaw puzzles and lego with my son who also has ADHD. It’s our focus and together time. Getting slightly addicted now.
» Connect with Tina in the community, or over on Linkedin
» What’s next for social - protein on the shifts away from public social
» $14m salary for new WPP chief, amidst ongoing downsizing.
» AI producing Trendslop and can it be countered? Thanks
» How to prepare for the next decade.
» Death by Framework - insights from Rob’s call on Monday
» Influence Planner - thanks Matt
» Why the ATM didn’t kill the bank teller (but what did) - thanks Joel.
» Corporate BS receptivity scale.
» April 2nd, London - the next Breakfast Club.
» Next Planner Pints / Strategy social, April 8th, London
Our friends at SecondSim have offered our community a 50% discount on their product.
It’s a super smart idea - a second eSIM for your phone, so you can seperate your personal and work phone numbers, helping to create a bit of boundary between work and play. No more texts/calls from clients after hours.
» Use code: Freelancer50 for 50% off your first month here: https://www.secondsim.co.uk/freelance-creatives
A digest of recent gigs found and shared via our community - plus things from our friends and partners. Want to reach 5k+ strategists for your next project? Drop me a note.
💛 [UK] Who Gives a Crap are looking for a creative strategist, with a good understanding of paid performance channels and the process to create a solid, repeatable process to scale full funnel brand awareness and acquisition campaigns.
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20260324-crap.html
[NL] freelance dutch strategists with a love of crisps at Pepsico
https://bit.ly/4t2jll8
[UK] Senior Creative Strategist - 12 month FTC at snap
https://bit.ly/4bRhatJ
[UK] Freelance Media Planner (performance focused) at Digital Natives
https://bit.ly/47NhEzK
[Remote/UK] freelance creative strategist with paid performance channels experience at Who Gives a Crap
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20260324-crap.html
[UK:London] Freelance Strategist with Product Experience in the payments space at endava
https://bit.ly/3PAB4S7
[UK] Freelance Creative Strategist at ballpoint
https://bit.ly/4lCNIvQ
[NL:Amsterdam] freelance mid-level strategist with exp in research at Fieldwork
https://bit.ly/47X5wfw
Don’t forget, we share these in real time here:
» Web
» Telegram
» Whatsapp
+ and of course, our slack channel if you’re a community member.
That’s all for this week.
mk✌️
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