Categories: Articles

When Paper Wins In The Digital Age

There are certain companies who understand (and embrace) what it means to be a digital-first brand.

Even… when that brand is a paper company. In fact, calling it a “paper company” is probably a misnomer as well. It’s also a fashion brand. It’s also a productivity brand. It’s also a lifestyle brand. It will come as no surprise, that I have been a huge fan of the Moleskine brand years (even if you think I’m just paying them lip service, you can see the truth right here). You can’t open a drawer of mine (both in the office and at home) and not find some kind of Moleskine notebook in there. I carry around various formats and still (very much) enjoy the process of handwritten notes and ideas. Nothing beats it for my creative process, and their notebooks really do rock (though, I am also a huge fan of Field Notes). With that, the L2 YouTube channel has been amazing lately. Scott Galloway creates these amazingly insightful videos about who the winners and losers are in the digital age. They’re quick (this one is about three minutes long), and they are packed with data, insights and knowledge. They are always worth watching, but this week’s episode is especially powerful. Moleskine growth is running in tandem with the rise of digital. And, if that isn’t incredible enough, the sales of Moleskine notebooks correlate positively with proximity to an Apple store.

Imagine that… now, watch this: An Unlikely Winner In A Digital Age.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.