Scientists race to make pot like booze — drinkable: Bloomberg reports, the market potential has attracted several big alcohol companies that are seeking to offset declining beer consumption with the next big thing. The best-known partnership is Constellation Brands Inc.’s 38% stake in Canopy Growth Corp., the largest cannabis firm by market value, for which it paid about $4 billion. Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV formed a research partnership with Tilray Inc., with each company investing up to $50 million in the venture, and Molson Coors Brewing Co. has teamed up with Quebec-based Hexo Corp.
Amanda Feilding: ‘LSD can get deep down and reset the brain – like shaking up a snow globe’: The campaign to legalise LSD in Britain is gathering pace. The force behind the movement is an English countess for whom lobbying – and experimenting – has been a life’s work.
The first hyperloop for cargo will be in India: DP World, UAE's state-owned port operator, signed a partnership with Virgin Hyperloop One to develop a cargo transporter.
Did you know?
Smart footwear: Alphabet's life sciences arm, Verily, has been looking for partners to co-develop shoes with embedded sensors to monitor the wearer's movement and weight, as well as to measure falls,
Leasing IKEA furniture? IKEA CEO Torbjorn Loof told the Financial Times that the company would "work together with partners so you can actually lease your furniture. When that leasing period is over, you hand it back and you might lease something else… Instead of throwing those away, we refurbish them a little and we could sell them, prolonging the lifecycle of the products."
Inside an otherworldly mission to prepare humans for Mars: Braving deep isolation and sweaty spacesuits, six "analog astronauts" tested their tools, talents, and grit on a mock trip to the red planet. https://on.natgeo.com/2UEs7Wo
Among troops, vaping is now more popular than cigarettes: Military Times reports, vaping now appears to be more common in the military than smoking regular cigarettes.
An asteroid could destroy humanity like it did dinosaurs. A Hopkins team has a plan to save the world: WP reports, the research team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel plans to launch a spacecraft, speed it up really fast and smash it into an asteroid.
Crypto CEO dies with only passwords to unlock millions: FR reports, digital-asset exchange Quadriga CX has a $200 million problem with no obvious solution.
Time suck: The average American loses 42 hours stuck in traffic each year.
Pop quiz: What was the top Super Bowl 2018 ad according to USA Today’s Ad Meter?
Heck, if you can name one of the top ten, I will give you bonus points.
The reason you can’t remember the best ad or any ads from the big game, it’s not the best tool.
It’s not the best tool because it doesn’t connect, make an impact, or leave a mark.
Surprise beats consistency.
Emotion beats fact.
Funny beats dour.
Useful beats sales.
Beautiful beats boring.
Inspirational beats directional.
The best communicators have always understood this instinctively.
By the way, USA Today’s Ad Meter ranked Amazon's "Alexa Loses Her Voice" as the best 2018 ad.
I don't remember the ad either.
But I do remember my friends telling me a story or two about Alexa that used funny, useful, beautiful, and inspiring words to describe their experiences.
-Marc
Marc A. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in thought leader communications and global public affairs for senior executives working at the intersection of globalization, disruption, and politics.
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Brigadoon Sundance 2019
February 24-26
Sundance Mountain Resort, Utah
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