Market Verb Newsletter 11 (Dec 16-21)

Part 1 — Marketing Tip / Style

“The Anti-Perfectionist”

Most brands show their product, but not the process! Revealing videos of your employees working is common practice. But no one thinks of the rough sketches and ideas scribbled on writing pads and rough, scumbled papers. This helps viewers see the human side of our work, whether it be posters, magazines, designs, and more.

Part 2 — Brand Story

From Unskippable to Skippable

The story of... oh, skip it!

It was the mid-2000s when online videos were booming in popularity—the perfect cure for boredom and endless free time. But there was one immense problem: the ads.

Viewers were forced to sit through endless, torturous seconds just to watch their video in peace! The frustration grew so strong that many impatient users would simply close the video altogether.

YouTube, at the time owned by Google, knew they had to rewrite things—so when 2010 arrived, the platform introduced something new, a feature that would change online video forever.

They introduced the ‘TrueView’ system—something that transformed the online video platforms we all know and love today! Instead of being forced to sit through boring ads, viewers could now skip them after five seconds, as long as the video wasn’t too long.

Here’s the twist: advertisers only paid when someone chose to keep watching. That meant ads had to be interesting from the very first seconds, and brands got better value because their money wasn’t wasted on people who didn’t care.

The result?

Viewers felt more in control.Advertisers learned to make smarter, faster hooks.

Even though it was something simple, it really helped you all make it through those horrible ads, so we indeed can say that they did...

CREATE HISTORY

Part 3 — Two Great Books

Copy Book — by D&AD

A showcase of brilliant advertising copy that reveals how powerful ideas can be expressed with simple, precise words.

Identity Designed  — by David Airey

A behind-the-scenes guide to how brands build strong visual identities through thoughtful strategy, design, and real-world case studies.

Part 4: Two Great Voices

Nokia was number one for 14 years and still has the chance to be so again.”  — Jorma Ollila (founder of Nokia)

“Good advertising is written from one person to another.” — David Abott (copy writer)

Part 5 — This Week’s Actionable

Imagine you made an advertising poster or whatever, repost it again and say what you would do differently now. It will increase both your reach and your own personal improvement.