oh my DOT | Connecting the Dots #95

Rewilding the web

We’re past the Q1 earnings season and we’ve learned that the big players are even bigger. Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon are all growing in strength and we are getting to the point where the entire online space is dominated by 4 companies. Furthermore, they are treating it like foresters growing it for timber and forgetting about biodiversity. With the rise of AI and its growing importance, it’s only going to get worse. Let’s replace the technological plantations with a thriving digital wilderness, rich in innovation and free from the stranglehold of the tech giants.

Marketing and media

#1 AB InBev is investing in film production. The move is aimed at strengthening AB InBev’s DraftLine Entertainment division, which develops projects for streaming platforms like Netflix.

#2 Speaking of film production. Big brands are increasingly investing in Hollywood to reach audiences through movies and TV production. Barbie and Air (Nike) exemplify this trend. The biggest brands are increasingly moving towards producing original formats and away from traditional advertising.

#3 May the Fourth be with you. Epic x Disney is already bearing fruit. The extensive update is available across the Fortnite ecosystem, featuring new Star Wars themes in Battle Royale, LEGO builds, special stickers in Rocket Racing, and the Mos Eisley cantina stage in Fortnite Festival.

#4 Instagram introduces the “Reveal” feature, which allows users to post hidden stories. They can be revealed by sending a private message. Instagram works nicely with the insight that most activity on the platform happens in DMs.

#5 Want high ROI? Make a horror movie. In a time when big blockbusters are flooding the market with budgets that can reach the size of a small island state, horror films are doing it in a very different way. These films rely on simplicity, atmosphere, and suspense, not digital effects and stars with fees similar to the GDP of mid-sized cities.

#6 Older people are using dating apps and looking for casual sex.

#7 Media spend in META has reached the level of linear TV 👇🏻

Life

#1 Americans throw away $68 million every year in small coins and change.

#2 Insects and other creatures have consciousness, scientists claim. This change, published in the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, challenges previous assumptions about the neural complexity required for consciousness. The declaration emphasizes that even more simple creatures can experience basic feelings such as pain or pleasure, and calls for greater attention to nonhuman consciousness.

#3 What’s happening to cocoa? Cocoa prices are at historically high levels as a result of global supply shortages, underinvestment in cocoa farms and investor speculation. Although J.P. Morgan research projects a slight decline in cocoa prices in the medium term, the impact on the chocolate industry remains large.

#4 Conservation and protected areas are working.

With love
P.