{"id":2428,"date":"2025-01-26T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T08:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newclassic.agency\/?p=2428"},"modified":"2025-05-28T22:36:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T22:36:05","slug":"designing-for-robots-ikea-brings-back-the-harlem-shake-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newclassic.agency\/2025\/01\/26\/designing-for-robots-ikea-brings-back-the-harlem-shake-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing for Robots, IKEA Brings Back the Harlem Shake + More"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at five stories to think about next week, including: AI & Designing Experiences for Robots, How Social Could Fix Social Media, Dynamic Movies, a Shift Towards All Agencies Being Media Agencies and the Looming War for Content Creators.<\/p>\n

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In addition, we have ads from: IKEA Sweden, BWH Hotels, Australian Lamb and Texas Pete.<\/p>\n

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\/\/ Five Stories of the Week:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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1.) Designing Experiences for Robots \ud83e\udd16<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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OpenAI launched \u2018Operator\u2019 this week, adding a prominent entry to the growing list of CUAs (\u2018Computer-Using Agences\u2019), alongside Google\u2019s \u2018Project Mariner\u2019, Anthropic\u2019s \u2018Computer Use\u2019 and others. While \u2018Operator\u2019 is still only available to \u2018Pro\u2019 subscribers, attached to a $200 \/ month cost, the move highlights how AI interaction is poised to change how brands create websites and interfaces. <\/p>\n

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As pointed out on LinkedIn, agents already have preferences on where they go for data<\/a> (through either partnership or design), with \u2018Operator\u2019 shown to go to and buy from the top result on Bing, while Claude prefers 1-800-Flowers and Yahoo Finance. While much has been said about SEO and AI, this shows a further consideration for brands, as website design and availability will create an \u2018artificial preference\u2019 for certain offerings over others – passing this on to the users they serve. <\/p>\n

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Read More Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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2.) Do We Need More \u201cSocial\u201d To Fix \u201cMedia\u201d?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Social Media isn\u2019t in a great place at the moment. As platforms deal with changing content policies, moderation removals, bans and the actions of their owners – it\u2019s easy to wonder if we even need it? However, in an example of the positive power of the \u2018social\u2019 side of social media – Reddit users have moved to ban X links from specific subreddits, nominally for reasons from the technical to the societal, showing how people can still control elements of the social experience.<\/p>\n

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This is a unique example. Reddit\u2019s structure gives greater power to users to curate parts of the site vs a Meta or X. Its subreddits foster distinct community guidelines and interest communities that others don\u2019t and maybe that\u2019s the point. We\u2019ve lost the sense of social connection from the sites that claimed to empower it. As we grapple with what role social media can take in our lives, maybe we should be demanding more ability to curate or control, not just create, what we see on them?<\/p>\n

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Read More Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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3.) A Documentary that Changes Every Time You Watch It<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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A new documentary on musician \u2018Brian Eno\u2019, unsurprisingly titled \u2018Eno\u2019, is unique in the way that it changes itself every time it’s viewed. Drawing from over 500 hours of footage, the film uses generative software to lay out a new story with 70% of the film changing each time.<\/p>\n

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While this may seem like an unnatural evolution of film, which usually creates familiarity on repeat viewing, it taps into the potential for adaptive storytelling. Great storytelling has historically before being recorded, changed with its audience. While \u2018Eno\u2019 doesn\u2019t adapt intentionally, it shows the potential of a future where a skeleton of a story changes detail or elements based on the interests or desires of those watching it. What it loses in familiarity it gains in novelty – but leaves questions for what the shared experience coming for dynamic content will be?<\/p>\n

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Read More Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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4.) Can Every Agency be a Media Agency? <\/strong><\/h6>\n

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While much has been said about 2025 being a year of consolidation amongst behemoths, indie and smaller agencies are showing it may be the year everyone got into media. With 2024\u2019s launch of Mother\u2019s media offering \u2018Media by Mother\u2019 and the recent news that Mischief has been quietly building a media department, media looks like a growth area. With advances in automation across buying and planning, greater access to inventory and consumer shifts towards digital channels – is it possible that every agency can be a media agency? <\/p>\n

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Media has historically had a scale barrier which kept smaller challengers from competing with larger holding groups. However, as buying becomes more commoditized, the thinking behind a media plan is more important. While automation will promise clients greater efficiencies, thinking – especially from creative agencies – looks to deliver effectiveness through strategy, creative thinking and a promise of greater trust. Whereas media created value as a specialism before, its integration into a holistic creative idea, delivered with a focus on outcomes over media nuances could be one of the guiding ideas of 2025.<\/p>\n

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Read More Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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5.) The Looming War for Creators. <\/strong><\/h6>\n

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While TikTok\u2019s US resurrection outpaced even biblical examples, one legacy of the TikTok ban\u2019s initial chapter may be a war for creators. Meta has offered select creators between $10k to $50k a month in bonuses to post content on Instagram first over other platforms such as TikTok. While Substack has announced the Substack Creator Accelerator fund<\/a>, earmarking $20m to help creators move onto the platform. Similar to how Food delivery apps fight over restaurants and exclusives, are we seeing a world where networks have moved to straight cash incentives over new product innovation as a way to sway creators?<\/p>\n

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Read More Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\/\/ Ads You Might Have Missed: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

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