Kojo

The ongoing collapse of advertising revenue within the creative media landscape certainly exacerbates the issue, with publications forced to rely on reader subscriptions, sponsored content, or pay-for-play coverage to fund their platforms – two out of three of which limit any negative feedback almost entirely.

The goal is to make people feel like they’re a part of something — and like you’re part of their identity. And the payoff — if all goes well — is in the form of fierce loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, organic curiosity and attention, higher lifetime customer value and share of spend, lower acquisition costs, etc.

I often think and write about the importance of “world building” in today’s mixed-media reality: Brands have more control than ever over where and how consumers experience their point of view, from digital feeds and properties to packaging design and retail merchandising. And with that comes many new opportunities to build emotional texture.

I like the idea that, at the end of the day, it’s the reader who generates the book’s meaning as much as the writer, and it’s the writer’s job to start that transaction but not necessarily to finish it.

More fiction has been told in Microsoft Excel than in books.