News

-with Ayanna Mehta Now that the media has shape shifted into a constant, chaotic news cycle, consumers have to constantly alter their methods for seeking out accurate news and information.  Ever evolving to remain relevant (profitable) media organizations continue to adapt and redefine new ways to get revenue - and media sensationalism is typically at the top of the list. It's important to understand how headlines drive media sensationalism that in turns motivates our ADD-induced eyeball action. The more clicks an online news organization gets, the higher its traffic numbers, and the more they can charge for ads. That’s the revenue-generation principle of almost every news online site today, whether it’s a traditional publication or primarily a digital one. The better" the headline, the greater the trigger for us - and the greater the number of clicks. It’s also a breeding ground for reporting on news that originates in conspiracy theory. (We’re not discussing QAnon here, but the media does need to take responsibility for that.) This past April in a piece on coronavirus conspiracy theories, New York Times’ Max Fisher wrote “..The belief that one is privy to forbidden knowledge offers feelings of certainty and control amid a crisis that has turned the world upside down. And sharing that “knowledge” may give people something that is hard to come by after weeks of lockdowns and death: a sense of agency.” With actual fact checkers a thing of the past, there’s no mechanism for granting validity - resulting in a perfect storm of disinformation. From politics to the pandemic, we really don’t know what’s happening in our world, or what will happen tomorrow. Digging into the media feels like a way to regain control, but what you have to realize is that most of the news media is no longer news. In fact, media sensationalism is actually betraying us and making things much, much worse. Mind pollution is only one of the problems.  [pullquote]People hear what they want to hear. Not only does the media know this, they are making money off of it.[/pullquote] Understanding media sensationalism and its relationship to revenue  is the first step to help cut through the clutter. Not only that, this knowledge can reduce the amount of emotional turbulence you may feel, particularly if you’re prone to doomscrolling. In your search for facts, make sure you're filtering your information based on these following unfortunate truths about the state of most media today:

We're excited about the progress women leaders in the workplace have been making this year with news of GM's C-suite leadership and other announcements like Pepsi's charge to have women constitute 40% of its management team. Aspiring women leaders may still be discouraged by poor statistics, however. Less than 5% of Fortune 500 companies listed female CEOs in 2018 (source).  Under-representation of women in the business world can mean continued wage inequality, poor company policies on health and maternal care, and an inability to reach female customers effectively. Luckily, companies like Toptal are making strides to change those numbers and help smart, talented women earn the roles they deserve. Toptal, an exclusive network of top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, and project managers, has a scholarship program for aspiring women leaders in 2018-19. Aspiring women leaders are eligible to apply for a $10,000 grant and a year of mentorship from a Toptal expert. 

Artificial intelligence has been changing the landscape of our world since its introduction in the 1950's. It has already made a significant impact in tech industries. Now it's now permeating across verticals ranging from medicine to education.  One sector that has made significant advancements with the aid of artificial intelligence is the online translation industry. In fact, AI is impacting translation in a multitude of ways. This is of importance to marketers who are facing increasingly demands for multi-lingual campaigns.  You may already have an idea of this. If you’ve ever translated a phrase or a sentence using a program like Google Translate, you’ve encountered a form of artificial intelligence. As AI transitions from the more rigid, rule-oriented Narrow AI to the human-like AI of Deep Learning more complex processes like eLearning translation and intuitive machine translation are happening faster and more accurately than ever. Here are the ways in which AI is impacting translation and why it will be a fixture well into the future: 

There are a lot of ways to stay on the cutting edge for marketing strategies in 2018 (like reading this blog for example). Reading is one of the top characteristics of successful people so we've developed this list of the 6 best marketing books to consider reading. From virtual reality, to content marketing to  evolving brand management these are the books to consider reading this year. 
  1. Brand Intimacy: A New Paradigm in Marketing by Mario Natarelli and Rina Plapler
Brand Intimacy was an immediate "yes" to our list of the best marketing books to read. This book does a really nice job of explaining the underpinnings of brand loyalty on a number of levels including psychology, marketing and the consumer journey. Authors Natarelli and Plaper draw some intriguing conclusions, for example, the ways consumer intimacy with brands closely mimics human intimacy with family and friends. Brand Intimacy offers a helpful guide for assessing the intimacy of your brand and delivers a comprehensive look at how businesses of all kinds can build the intimacy so many covet. Replete with helpful infographics and divided into exceptionally well-organized sections, the lessons of Brand Intimacy: A New Paradigm in Marketing are digestible and easily transferable to your own business.   2. Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords: How to Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes (Ultimate Series) 5th Edition by Perry Marshall, Mike Rhodes, and Brian Todd

What kind of marketer are you? Integrated marketing can be approached from many different angles. If you're a public relations person, you'll probably anchor your IMC plan from earned media and content marketing. Digital marketers may start with keywords and landing pages. Knowing your home...

Wax Marketing is proud to announce that The Wax Blog has been named to FitSmallBusiness.com's list of Best Small Business Blogs for 2016, joining other prominent publications including The Harvard Business Review, Duct Tape Marketing and Social Media Examiner as well as prominent influencers like...