I hope you’re having a great first weekend of the year, here’s this week’s list!
Next guest on Before We Get There podcast
Next week I’m excited to be joined by author/artist Erica Eng. Erica is from Malaysia and won the prestigious Eisner Award in 2020 for her comic ‘Fried Rice’. Since then she has gone on to graduate school and started her career as an animator, as well as publishing the print version Fried Rice. We discussed her creative process, how she comes up with ideas for her work, balancing life and art, what she hopes to accomplish in the future, and much more. Erica has already accomplished so much at this young age, I’m sure we will be seeing a lot more amazing work from her in the years to come. Keep an eye out for this episode dropping on Thursday!
B2B Marketing article I’m thinking about this weekend
Marketing Interactive published ‘Actionable marketing trends B2B companies must embrace in 2025‘ earlier in December and I just got around to reading it. Some of the trends I’ve discussed before, like the death of MQLs, there was also the obligatory inclusion of AI. But the point that really stuck out to me is that they predict that the number of emails being sent out by marketers will “massively increase” this year. If true, I already hate it. Email is a great channel if used correctly, but most people already get too many emails, I doubt anyone wants more. Even in my personal email, I don’t open most emails I get, even from influencers and organizations that I really respect and enjoy content from. What I’m going to be working on this year instead of increasing the volume of emails, is improving the segmentation and relevance of emails. As marketers, we work so hard to build and find our audience through social media and other channels, we need to treat our database carefully or risk coming off as spammy. My prediction – quality over quantity will always be better received.
What I read and watched this week
If you ever scroll any of the brain rot platforms you have surely seen clips of the rude waiter at a Chinese restaurant from the Hulu show ‘Interior Chinatown‘. I both watched the series and read the book that it is based on this week. Both were great, but this is a rare case when I prefer the show to the book. The story is a fantastical journey touching on themes of Asian masculinity and stereotypes, being an immigrant/minority, and life paths. The rude waiter isn’t actually the main character, but a funny sidekick that’s along for the ride. The show is much more subtle than the movie, which adds depth, as well as giving us more screen time to get to know the characters. It was also cast excellently with Jimmy O. Yang as the nerdy protagonist and Malaysian comedian and star of The Daily Show, Ronny Chieng as the aforementioned sidekick. The style and blurred reality elements reminded me a bit of the multi-Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All At Once, so I hope some awards are coming up for this show as well. It’s always nice to see Asian stories breaking into the mainstream, and deservedly so.
What I ate this weekend
Last night I got to eat at a traditional nasi padang restaurant that is run by a family that has been serving these dishes in Singapore since the 1940s. Its unfortunate that Southeast Asian cuisine doesn’t have the exposure overseas that other Asian foods like Japanese, Thai, and Chinese do. The food is a wonderful melting pot of flavors and cooking techniques from all of the traders and immigrants that have influenced the region for hundreds of years. I’ve fallen in love with the local cuisine since I’ve lived in Singapore, from spicy soup noodles to curries, braised and grilled meats, salads, and more, it is incredibly varied and flavorful. The highlight of this meal was the homemade durian kueh made by our host. This kind of dessert comes in a lot of types, but it is often made with glutinous rice with coconut and other local flavors. This version was light and fluffy with a subtle durian flavor that even those who haven’t had it before could love.
That’s all for this week!