Hello!

It’s almost summer here, although the weather doesn’t seem to agree. But the little boat that drops the yellow bouys in the sea on Brighton beach has done its work, marking out the lanes between the swimmers and the noisy jet skiers. It’s too early for me to dip in a toe yet, but it will be soon.

What are the signs of the seasons changing where you are? Are you trading up your wardrobe? Are tourists arriving or disappearing? What are the trees doing?

Let me know by replying to this email - I’d love to build a story about the changing seasons via contributions from Storythings readers all around the world.

IMPORTANT ADMIN NOTE FOR SUBSTACK FOLLOWERS! - we’re moving our newsletters to Beehiiv in the next few weeks. If you’ve subscribed with your email address, don’t worry - you’ll still get our newsletters. But if you ‘follow’ us on the Substack app/website, we’ll disappear from your feeds, and you’ll miss all this lovely creative inspiration. But if you hit the button below to subscribe via Beehiiv, all will be well.

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Because it’s Friday, here are 10 stories we’ve enjoyed in the last week. Have a lovely bank holiday weekend!

Matt

19 Great Newsletter Landing Pages You Can Learn From (10-minute read)

The Revenge Of The Home Page (5-minute read)

The State of AI in 13 Charts (10-min read)

Human or not? (5-minute game)

Why Titles & Thumbnails are Crucial for Online Video (4-minute read)

Beautiful video about Indian Steel (14-minute watch)

Phoenixed: The Human Impact of Digital Transformation (20-minute read)

Substrakt Cultural Website Benchmark Report (30-minute read)

Wes Anderson ad for Montblanc Pens (2-minute watch)

A Tribute to Johann Cruyff via Sticker Animation (20-second watch)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. Here are 2 reasons to get in touch. 

1. “I don’t know what to do” – You’ve been creating content but it’s not having the impact you need. Talk to us about our Content Audit Workshop.

2. “I need something making” – You know what you want to make but need an agency to make it. We can help make your podcast, video, publication, animation and newsletter.

We do other things too. Get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

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19 Great Newsletter Landing Pages You Can Learn From (10-minute read)
We love Inbox Collective, and we’ve been inspired by this article as we move our newsletters from Substack to Beehiiv. Lots of great insights and tips here.

The Revenge Of The Home Page (5-minute read)
“If you stay put long enough, everything returns.” Kyle Chayka, author of Storythings fave book Filterworld, explains why in a post-social era, we should build home pages again. If you’re proud of your homepage, share it with us - we’d love to see it!

The State of AI in 13 Charts (10-min read)
Great images to steal/use when you want to feel smart about the state of AI, but can’t face reading LinkedIn to find out.

Human or not? (5-minute game)
Or, just play this brilliant game and try to guess whether you’re talking to a human or an AI. In an odd way, this reminded me of my first experiences chatting on bulletin boards in the late 1980s. If you stay put long enough…

Why Titles & Thumbnails are Crucial for Online Video (4-minute read)
In our latest Attention Matters newsletter, Hugh shares the numbers and insights from SXSW about how to get attention for your online videos. As we keep saying “people don’t have short attention spans. They have short consideration spans”.

Beautiful video about Indian Steel (14-minute watch)
Another way to get attention for your videos is to invest insane levels of craft in the production and editing, as with this amazing video from an Indian Steel company. (h/t to our friends at Video Yes Please for the link)

Phoenixed: The Human Impact of Digital Transformation (20-minute read)
Episode 4 of our podcast series for the GPA on the Canadian Phoenix payroll disaster shows how underneath the spreadsheets and project plans of digital transformation, there are always real human lives at stake - “I don't know how I survived. I think I played the credit card game: pay one, like take the money from one, use the cashed cheques. I had no more savings. And you just kind of, you spend your day panicked. You spend your day wondering what you're going to do.”

Substrakt Cultural Website Benchmark Report (30-minute read)
I was on a panel at the Digital Works conference in Leeds last week, organised by our good friends Substrakt. At the event, they launched this very useful report benchmarking websites from global cultural organisations. Lots of great data and inights here.

Wes Anderson ad for Montblanc Pens (2-minute watch)
It’s fair to say there is a large portion of the Storythings team who are Wes Anderson fans. I don’t think there’s a more perfect brand for him to collaborate with than Montblanc pens. BTW - we’re going to be organising an event to match CMOs from brand with film/tv directors. If you’re a CMO or content commissioner and are interested in being part of it, let us know! (h/t to our friend John Peabody for the link!)

A Tribute to Johann Cruyff via Sticker Animation (20-second watch)
Sometimes, the best creative ideas are simple ideas taken to extremes. This brilliant animation celebrating Ajax player Johann Cruyff is a great example.

We hope you've enjoyed this week’s newsletter. I’m sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you’ve received this from a friend, you can subscribe below and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.