Carthago delenda est
What you say is not always as important as how you look saying it.
Issue № 98 | London, Sunday 19 May 2024
📸 Flashback to last Sunday when we: a) discussed how Apple could have avoided the misjudgments that plague its new iPad Pro ad; and b) celebrated Montblanc’s glorious new campaign. Turns out the answer was staring us in the face.
👉🏻 Now, read on to learn why:
① People may disregard what you say based on what you look like.
② ‘What looks good on camera’ is easier to convey than ‘what looks good’.
③ Too big to fail may be a thing but so is too big to retire.
④ There’s an AI arms race going on. And those don’t tend to end well.
⑤ Finfluencers’ high influence and low insight is a recipe for disaster.
⑥ There’s often a lag between our self-perception and how others view us.
⑦ Optimism is returning to Europe’s fintech sector.
What's new
Mark Zuckerberg has had a makeover but is it a midlife crisis or a carefully crafted rebrand? TechCrunch speculates.
In short:
“Zuckerberg’s sudden shift in style is noticeable — for about 13 years, he’s worn the same gray shirt and jeans in most public appearances, because, of course, he is focusing on such large issues beyond the comprehension of us laypeople, who are not as rich as he is, because we just spend too much time getting dressed. In April, when Zuckerberg posted an Instagram reel about updates to the Meta AI assistant, onlookers honed in on Zuckerberg’s frat boy-esque chain, rather than the intricacies of the Llama 3 model. Someone altered a photo of Zuckerberg’s video and added a beard to his face, and it went viral, because he looked surprisingly good!”
“‘Personal style is a communication tool,’ Amber Venz Box, the fashion blogger-turned-founder of the shopping platform LTK, told TechCrunch. ‘We have spoken and written communication, we have body language, and we have ‘drip’ — our appearance does communicate a lot about us and influences the way people feel about us’.”
“This is not the same man we saw looking ghostly and baggy-eyed as he testified before Congress over Facebook’s potential to undermine the electoral process.”
Why it matters
There is no doubt in my mind that what we’re seeing here is a rebrand, not a midlife crisis. Zuckerberg is nothing if not astute with a long-term outlook (he doesn’t need to read ⑥ below). Indeed, as the TechCrunch piece observes, Zuckerberg has always understood that he can’t take Meta’s dominance for granted, nor can he get complacent about his place in the company. (I enjoyed the anecdote about how, when the company first set up shop in Menlo Park, it kept the entrance sign from Sun Microsystems, the lot’s previous tenant. Zuckerberg just had them turn the sign around and slapped the Facebook ‘thumbs-up’ on it, intentionally leaving the Sun logo visible.)
So, this story matters because it illustrates the importance of personal image. Zuckerberg’s outfit choices may seem frivolous, but they impact how the public perceives him and Meta. That’s something any senior leader should take seriously, especially if you’re in the media’s glare for any reason - and nowadays, which finance or tech leader can discount that possibility?
① Whether you like it or not, whether it’s fair or not, people form opinions about you based on what you look like. And they do so almost instantly and certainly long before they’ve heard what you have to say - if indeed they ever do listen to you, your appearance may discredit you enough to prevent people hearing you.
What to do about it
Take action
Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with leaders who understood that how they present has a huge impact on how people hear them. I fondly recall the banker who used to ask me every time before taking to the stage, “how’s the tie?”. We both understood that what he meant was “is my Hermès’ knot properly dimpled?” Sometime it was, sometimes it wasn’t. Always, I’d tell him the truth. Most people don’t appreciate sartorial details like that. Most people don’t notice the details.
So, if you’re the leader intent on presenting as well as you possible can, hire people you trust then trust their judgement.
② If you’re advising leaders about their appearance, you have a harder job ahead of you. If you’re lucky enough to have a boss who understands why tying your tie correctly matters, count your chickens. The bigger challenge is when you have one who doesn’t. Spend time earning their trust. Be as objective as you can while framing your advice in terms of ‘what looks good on camera’ or ‘on stage’. The notion that somehow a camera or a stage impose rules upon us that don’t apply in normal life is one of marketing people’s great deceit. It’s cover that allows us to doll out sartorial tips to our spokespeople under the guise of specialist comms advice. Take the cover.
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Top stories
The other articles that are worthy of your time.
FINANCE
What’s BlackRock without Larry Fink? Shareholders fret about future.
③ Too big to fail may be a thing but so is too big to retire.
“Laurence D. Fink built BlackRock into the world’s largest asset manager with a steely grip, a thick skin and a cleareyed vision of what the company could become. […] But Mr. Fink’s age — he is 71 — and BlackRock’s enormous size, which makes it ever harder to find new assets to manage, are clouds on the horizon. They were on investors’ minds this week at BlackRock’s annual shareholder meeting, as they listened to Mr. Fink talk about the company’s performance and voted on ballot issues. One of the greatest concerns is succession.”
“Mr. Fink, BlackRock’s chief executive and chairman, exerts an unusual level of control for someone leading a firm of its size, with nearly 20,000 employees. From writing LinkedIn posts defending BlackRock’s policies to personally finding key deals, he has put his stamp all over the company, which he co-founded in 1988.”
“‘BlackRock is a one-man show,’ said Giuseppe Bivona, a co-founder and co-chief investment officer of Bluebell Capital, a small London-based activist investor. Mr. Bivona’s firm has agitated for change at BlackRock, questioning both the large size of its 17-member governing board and Mr. Fink’s close ties to the firm’s directors. At the annual meeting, BlackRock shareholders voted down a Bluebell proposal that called for Mr. Fink to step away from the chairman role.”
TECHNOLOGY
Big tech’s capex splurge may be irrationally exuberant
④ There’s an AI arms race going on. And those don’t tend to end well.
“Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft—have pledged to spend close to a total of $200bn this year, mostly on data centres, chips and other gear for building, training and deploying generative-ai models. That is 45% more than last year’s blowout. Tech barons such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg admit that it may be years before this investment generates returns.”
“The tech firms are not only buying infrastructure. In the past few years they have joined a stampede to put venture capital into OpenAI, Anthropic and other makers of foundational models. […] But, if the past is any guide, a bust is coming and the firms carry such weight in the stockmarket that, should their overexcitement lead to overcapacity, the consequences would be huge.”
“All the signs are that big tech has succumbed to irrational exuberance. Runaway spending is one of the risks. Wall Street is already pencilling in expectations that the four firms’ capex could come to an eye-popping $1trn over the next five years (Apple is taking a more cautious approach). Revenues may rise as a result, but so will costs. These include juicy salaries for brilliant engineers and mammoth electricity bills for data centres that can handle the heavy demands of generative AI.”
MEDIA & MARKETING
Celebrities charged for endorsing complex investment products
⑤ Finfluencers’ large influence and little insight is a recipe for disaster.
“Major TV personalities, Love Island stars and Instagram influencers have been named in a list of defendants to appear in court over promoting unauthorised investment schemes.”
The Financial Conduct Authority has brought charges against nine individuals including TOWIE’s Lauren Goodger, Love Island’s Rebecca Gormley and Geordie Shore’s Scott Timlin, who are to appear before Magistrates on 13 June 2024. The regulator alleges that these individuals promoted a complex contracts for difference (CFD) product through social media feeds when they were not authorised to do so.”
“The combined following of the Instagram accounts of these individuals was 4.5 million, according to the FCA.”
WILDCARD
Your personal brand needs a refresh. Here’s where to start.
⑥ There’s often a lag between our self-perception and how others view us.
Get clear on the vision: “Think about your current professional goals and identify what a strong personal brand would look like in that context. Don’t limit your vision to your current self, but also consider your possible or future selves, which will comprise your current self plus your potential.”
Identify the gaps: “It can be helpful here to talk to trusted friends and colleagues to get their perspective — and also to comb through the internet for references to you. Ask yourself: What would someone who didn’t know anything about me glean from this information?”
Create a tactical plan: “You can’t bullhorn your way to a brand change — you need to show people the ‘new you’ over time, repeatedly. This isn’t about taking steps to craft the new identify — you’re already there. But it’s about making sure others recognise it.”
Embrace strategic patience: “Many coveted goals, whether it’s winning a promotion or landing a large new enterprise client or even developing an expert reputation, almost inevitably take time. Shortcuts or ‘life hacks,’ while much sought-after, are rarely effective in these contexts.”
The Artificial Intelligence Spotlight 🔦
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Off cuts
The stories that almost made this week’s newsletter.
FINANCE
🥱 Are banks suffering from ‘innovation fatigue’ at the worst possible moment?
🧽 AI washing: How companies are using AI hype to bump up their share prices
☣️ The existential threat at the heart of Britain's biggest wealth manager
🫡 ‘Reputation is huge’: How one IFA built a client bank on the Shetland Isles
💍 American Express and Worldpay renew ties
TECHNOLOGY
⛓️ ECB conducts first DLT trials for wholesale central bank money settlement
⛰️ How technology is reshaping the financial services landscape
🔎 Everything you need to know about auditing your tech stack
🇸🇬 Deutsche Bank joins Singapore’s Project Guardian tokenisation initiative
👩🏻⚖️ Microsoft warned it could be fined billions by EU over missing GenAI risk info
MEDIA & MARKETING
🏎️ Marketers race to upskill as AI, analytics and automation reshape the industry
🔀 There is a new twist in the TikTok tale
🤖 What you need to know about recent ChatGPT and Gemini features
🍎 Newspaper groups warn Apple over ad-blocking plans
🚀 Brent Hoberman launches PR agency for founders of fast growing start ups
The last word
⑦ Nick Woods, MHP Group, on the sentiment in Europe's fintech sector:
“The heady days of cheap money and a scale at all costs mindset have been replaced with a sharper focus on profitable growth, signalling the dawn of a more mature approach.”
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Wishing you a productive week,
P.S. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Turns out you can.