Dear Reader,
This was a week filled with recording and editing episodes for the ongoing Season Six of my podcast: The Non-Obvious Show. As I spend time interviewing guests, reviewing our conversations and putting those episodes together ... I realize just how much I enjoy recording and sharing those. If you're not already listening - check out this week's episode with Monica Nassif from the brand Mrs. Meyers Clean Day or any of the past recordings too (we're up to episode #70 now) and let me know what you think!
In stories this week, you'll learn a marketing lesson from the world's most expensive beer, why United Airlines made waves this week by announcing an innovation for the usually neglected back of the plane, a retro twisting light switch, a rumor about LEGO's largest set ever and the curiously viral Sudoku packing method.
Enjoy the stories this week and stay curious!
Rohit
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This Week's New Videos ...
United Unlocks Excitement by Finally Serving the Neglected Back of the Plane
This is a week when travelers could use some good news after hours long delays at airports fueled by political impasse on funding TSA. So the timing is good for United Airlines to announce their newest offering, the Relaxed Row. Unlike most announcements in the airline space that promise some new luxury upgrade for premium (and highly profitable) customers, this is an innovation for the back of the plane. As United's announcement describes:
"United Airlines today announced the United Relax Row: a set of United Economy seats that can transform into a couch, creating a more comfortable option for customers traveling in the United Economy cabin on long-haul flights. United is the first North American airline to offer this kind of seating option and holds North American exclusivity on the design. This new, dedicated row of three seats is outfitted with individually adjustable leg rests that fold up at a 90-degree angle to create more room to sleep, stretch out or watch a movie."
Predictably, the announcement is getting rave reviews and lots of excitement from consumers even though it doesn't officially come out until next year. Aside from being a great idea, it does also point to the sad reality of just how desperate economy class travelers have become for any sort of effort from an airline to make their increasingly pitiful journey with shrinking seats just a little better. Yes, this is also a revenue generating idea from United since these seats will likely be sold at a premium ... but if other airlines are paying attention, it may finally spark some innovation for the other 90% of travelers who aren't sitting in those lie-flat business class seats.
Why We Need a Resurgence of the People Who Hire People
One history making moment from last week's Academy Awards that was easy to forget was the addition of an Oscar for the role of Casting Director. Many in the industry felt this long-overdue award finally recognized the fundamental role that these experts play in the success of a production. Indeed for most iconic movies and shows, it's hard to imagine them with any other actor in the lead role. At a time when we are seeing a large restructuring of workforces and a reimagining of the talent required for businesses in the future, there is remarkably little focus on the professional humans who sit at the center of the business world helping place new leaders, fill gaps and sort through what may be thousands of applicants to find the right fit for any role.
The modern casting director of business is the HR director, talent manager or hiring expert. As automation changes the structure of teams, this role should be increasing in importance. You would therefore expect to see lots of conversation online about the future of recruiting. Inspired by reading about that award for casting, I started to dig into this topic and found that this conversation is strangely missing ... apart from AI vendors selling tools to do it for you. Where are the experts imagining the future of recruitment and talent acquisition?
Without this, the danger is that more companies turn to AI tools and platforms as a default and the human side of recruiting is lost. So I'm curious about your experience, whether you have (or are currently) in the job search market or have been recently. Are you seeing any equivalents of casting directors in business imagining the future? If so, I'd love to know and spotlight their work.
Lessons From Utopias, the World's Most Expensive Beer
It's a cross between a fine liquor and a reimagined beer. It's also $240 per bottle and banned in 15 states due to having an alcohol content of 30% which is higher than allowed for beer. This is Samuel Adams' Utopias and whether you like beer or not there are some simple business and marketing lessons anyone can take away from this unique product. To start, it's not a one-off idea:
"Utopias was actually born from another Samuel Adams creation — 1992's Triple Bock, the beer industry's first barrel aged beer, which sold for the then-unheard-of price of $100 per case. In 1999, the beer evolved into "Millennium," and in 2002 it adopted the name Utopias."
Jim Koch, founder and brewer of Samuel Adams, calls the beer a labor of love since it's not a huge money maker for the brand. Its existence does something interesting for the rest of the beer maker's products too ... underscoring the attention to detail and craftmanship that presumably goes into their other products too. This is the sort of old-school marketing idea that is becoming rarer and rarer to see.
A unique product, promoted through an interesting story and something that feels distinctive and new ... even though in theory any beer maker could have done it. There was a time when I would see a lot of ideas like this coming from marketers in all industries. It feels like a while since I've both seen and written about an idea like this which has little to do with technology or AI. Sometimes a good idea stands out simply because it would have worked at any moment in time. That's still worth raising a glass to celebrate.
