What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01An Inside Look At the Bullshit Of Hollywood Wellness
Story 02Love IKEA? Now Your House Can Smell Like It
Story 03Chatbots That Negotiate To Save You Money
Story 04Why America Needs Feminists (And Sweden Doesn’t)
Story 05Why Jack Welch Might Be Overrated
Story 06Best Buy Offers New Try-Before-You-Buy ServiceAn Inside Look At the Bullshit Of Hollywood Wellness
In a world that seems filled with bullshit, it is a voyeuristic thrill to see those all too rare moments when it all comes tumbling down. This article is one of those moments, as writer Maureen Callahan goes behind the scenes at the GOOP Health and Wellness Summit. She dissects panels filled with pseudo-medical “experts,” questionably effective wellness products, and reveals an event all about wellness big on Hollywood promise and short on actual substance.
Love IKEA? Now Your House Can Smell Like It
What do cinnamon buns, lingonberries and assemble-yourself-bookcases smell like? IKEA ... and soon you can bring that smell home in a fragrance developed by independent Swedish fragrance creator Byredo. The idea is an interesting exploration of how broadly a brand experience could go. Given the power of smell to evoke memory, something like this could also bring back the memory of extinct experiences too. I wonder what a Blockbuster fragrance would smell like?
Chatbots That Negotiate To Save You Money
What if a chatbot could learn the logic of customer service interactions and help you do everything from fight a parking ticket to negotiate a discount on your mobile phone bill? It turns out chatbots are excellent at this type of negotiation because of how formulaic most customer service scripts are. If a bot can be programmed to learn the leverage points, it can interact with a customer service rep on your behalf to get results. Sounds perfect ... until those brands figure out how to use these own bots to negotiate back.
Why America Needs Feminists (And Sweden Doesn’t)
This short but powerful piece from former model Paulina Porizkova casts a powerful light on the role of women in different cultures and her own struggles with being a woman first in the Czech Republic, then in Sweden and finally in her adopted home of America. Touching on sexuality, power, and politics – it is a surprisingly poignant piece that will get you thinking about what feminism really means along with why (and when) it is most necessary.
Why Jack Welch Might Be Overrated
While the business community loves to offer Jack Welch legendary status, this article shares that measuring his successor Jeff Immelt against that legacy may not be entirely fair. The analysis is a powerful reminder that success or failure can come from the circumstances that leader inherits as much as from what a leader does. It is important to remember when considering the legacy of other recently ousted leaders, like Marisa Mayer who just stepped down from Yahoo this week.
Best Buy Offers New Try-Before-You-Buy Service
With the number of new gadgets constantly coming out, it can be paralyzing to have to sort through all the reviews, unboxings and online analysis. Best Buy has a bold solution: to let consumers try gadgets before they buy them. Clearly consumers need help figuring out the best product for them … and if this bet works, it could be enough to put Best Buy at the top of a crowded list of retailers selling the exact same things for the exact same price.
