“People are still reading books. People want more than pictures and well - edited TikToks. Despite the tsunami of digital and video content I think writing will prevail.” — Raven “We have more data but we still lack understanding. That's because we mistake information for intimacy, and they aren't the same.” — Marcus People are still reading books. People want more than pictures and well - edited TikToks. Despite the tsunami of digital and video content I think writing will prevail. There’s nothing like getting lost in a book (essays and ar ticles count too, but they ’re less of a commitment). Books don’t demand your focus like a screen does, so giving that book your full attention is its own achievement . On the other hand, I worr y that Instagram has eroded empathy and Gen Z are shaping up to be relentless killing machines. Mini terminators. Cripes. Despite the chaos and clutter we face ever y day, I believe we have even more oppor tunities to do work that differentiates brands. My biggest worr y is that with a hybrid work model, the nex t generation won't get the mentorship they deser ve and require to understand the ad world. R aven Myr a I'm optimistic for the futur e of our industr y because I see an increasing number of people entering our field who were not “born and bred” marketers or adver tisers. They come from different walks of life and, therefore, they see the world through different lenses. These lenses provide perspectives that might other wise be missed; they help reframe problems. They arrive at unique creative solutions. The par t that worries me most is our lack of intimacy, which is the prolonged challenge I mentioned earlier. We have more data than ever before but we still don't know our customers. We just don't know people well. We still put them in demographic boxes that are easy to construct yet incapable of capturing who they really are, which is paradoxical. We have more data but we still lack understanding. That's because we mistake information for intimacy, and they aren't the same. Intimacy inherently requires proximit y, a level of closeness that is beyond the 0s and 1s. This is the kind of intimacy that helps us put things in the world that get people to move. If we don't know people, then it drastically reduces our abilit y to do that . Marcu s I’m excited about communit y ownership and all of the work being done to build decentrali z ed organi z ations and initiatives; pooling capital and resources together towards common goals in ways that would’ve been impossible just a few years ago. I’m optimistic about people owning more of the companies they buy things from. I’m optimistic about people redefining what ‘ the good life’ really is. I tend not to worr y about the future, I’m not convinced it’s helpful. Whenever I star t to worr y, I push myself into daydreaming about something exciting instead. Mar t y Rewriting romantic my ths of the creative industr y 54 Re alit y check