We track Product so you don't have to. Top Podcasts summarised, the latest AI tools, plus research and news in a 5 min digest.

Hey Product fans!

Welcome to this week’s 🌮 Product Tapas and especially the 77 new subscribers from last week. If you’ve been forwarded this you can sign up and check previous editions here.

What’s tickling our tastebuds today? 🧑‍🍳 

📰 Not Boring - This week, we dive into WhatsApp's new AI tools for businesses, Meta's latest social app sensation, and a big sales boost for TSMC. New York's move to limit kids' access to addictive feeds has significant implications for social product designers, Samsung’s latest earphones bear a striking resemblance to a popular competitor's, and of course, Apple’s WWDC brought a slew of news and AI integrations across their ecosystem. We've also got updates from OpenAI, the Light Phone 3 launch, and even a quirky story about fake beauty queens at the Miss AI Pageant.

⌚ Time-Saving Tools & GPTs - This week’s toolkit includes how to create an AI-powered help centre, pull instant comprehensive webpage insights, and detect issues in your codebase in a flash (not necessarily all at once…). We also have a freebie to help with mind mapping, and one final too to help create unlimited presentations and websites in seconds.

🍔 Blog Bites - Dive into practical advice for Product Managers with "The Post Zero Interest Rate Survival Guide" by John Cutler and Ed Biden, Peter Ramsay’s case study on Slack’s onboarding process, and Tim Herbig’s insights on North Star Metrics. Additionally, we link to “The Creator’s Newsletter” from Creation Recruitment where Estelle Ricoux shares her thoughts on leadership and product strategy.

🎙️ Pod Shots - This week, we highlight an episode from 1st Round Review featuring Arielle Jackson, who discusses early-stage marketing missteps. This is jam packed with really practical advice about defining your market category, simplifying your company’s mission, balancing emotional and functional benefits, and more.

Plenty to get stuck into - off we go! 🚀👇

📰 Not boring

• WhatsApp adds AI tools for businesses; from helping to create adds for Instagram or Facebook to automatic follow-ups to and discounts to help avoid dropped sales

  • Whilst we’re on Meta, Cara (social app for creatives) grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies

• TSMC’s (largest chipmaker to both Apple and Nvidia) sales rose 30% in May

• New York moves to limit kids’ (under 18) access to ‘addictive feeds’; lots for social product managers/designers to think about here

• Samsung’s newest earphones look somewhat familiar (cough Airpods, cough). I suppose they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery….

• SO of course it was WWDC last week and (to no-one’s surprise) Apple announced a stack of AI (that’s Apple Intelligence don’t you know). It’s OpenAI that’s powering it all. So there was a stack of hot takes about this deal with one of their major competitors (Microsoft). I’m reserving judgement, but it does look to be pretty neatly intertwined across the hardware so I’m looking forward to seeing how it performs when out in the real world. So what’s the TL;DR?

  • Apple Intelligence - AI in the OS. Great marketing as usual too

  • Siri’s Phoenix arc - now with ChatGPT. What Siri always promised in terms of functionality

  • AI-powered writing & image tools (midway down the page)

  • They pushed hard on privacy. Nothing revolutionary, but classic Apple UX makes it much easier to use

  • Other non-AI stuff: Voice isolation, spatial photos, iPhone mirroring and more

• Shares Soared, seeing its biggest jump since 2022

  • Whilst we’re talking Apple, Elon did Elon things: threatening to ban Apple devices from his companies over Apple’s ChatGPT integrations

  • And back at OpenAI they’ve hired Kevin Weil (ex Twitter and Instagram) as CPO and Sarah Friar as CFO (a role unfilled for 2 years!)

• Back on Elon, he also dropped his suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman

• Fake beauty queens charm judges at the Miss AI Pageant. Seems AI influencer world is just getting started

• Canon made a special lens for the Apple Vision Pro’s spatial videos

• The Light Phone 3 launched - updated with a new camera, torch, 5G, and more

• Slack will allow users to manage projects and tasks directly from within Slack using lists

• Tiktok Shop is the #4 cosmetics retailer in the UK by sales and #12 in the US 👀 

  Want even more news?? View more here → 

⌚️ Time-Saving Tools & GPTs

• Perfect Wiki: amis to turn your company knowledge into a powerful, always-evolving AI-powered help centre that you can chat to in Microsoft Teams

• Liveblocks: ship features like comments, notifications and a text editorinto your product with their realtime APIs

• Site Profile: Unlock comprehensive website information from one API call (screenshots, content, assets and more)

• Greptile: AI Staff Engineer that reviews your PRs and searches your codebase to spot issues

• Everlearns: free mindmap creator to help create and visualise ideas

• Gamma - “unlimited presentations, websites and more in seconds”

🍔 Blog Bites - Essential Reads for Product Teams

Practical Tips: The Post Zero Interest Rate Survival Guide

Here’s an excellent piece by John Cutler and Ed Biden on Hustle Badger pitched as the PMs survival guide in a world where money is no longer free.

It covers:

1. The macro economic environment

2. Pressures on different actors in the ecosystem

3. Practical advice for CEOs and product leaders

4. Practical advice for PMs

Case Study: Hiding Complexity to Create Effortless Onboarding

Here, Peter Ramsay takes us through the ups and downs of Slack with some killer tips you can definitely reuse in your onboarding journey.

Learn: Four Learnings from Working on 40 North Star Metrics

This is a nice, short, really practical walk through of North Star Metrics from Tim Herbig with four key takeaways and practical uses.

Leadership: The Creators Newsletter; Design and Delivery Perspectives from Estelle Ricoux

This issue of the Creator’s Newsletter from Creation Recruitment speaks with Estelle Ricoux from Beyond. She gives her perspectives on Leadership, Product Strategy and more

🎙️ Pod Shots

Today we cover a 1st Round Review episode with Arielle Jackson. She’s an expert in early stage marketing with an extensive background in product marketing including Google and Square. She shares insights on common pitfalls in category creation, messaging, and launch strategies, drawing from her consulting work with founders.

⚒️ 6 Early Marketing Steps to Avoid

🎙️ Listen to the full episode here 

📆 Published: January 13th, 2022

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes. Time saved: 82 minutes🔥 

Marketing can be a minefield for early-stage startups, especially when resources are tight and every decision can have long-lasting effects. Let’s dive into Arielle’s six early marketing missteps and learn how to steer clear of them.

🎯 Define Your Category Early On

Key Advice: Clearly define your market category from the get-go.

If you don't define the space in which you're playing, your audience will either have to do it for you, and they'll do eight different versions of it. Internally, you'll have people saying you are eight different things, and then prioritisation and efficiency all get out of whack. The earlier you do this work and define who you are, what you stand for, and where you play, the better it is for internal alignment and for really occupying that space in your target customer's mind.

Takeaways:

• Establish a Clear Category: Decide whether to play in an existing category, modify one, or create a new one. Each choice has its pros and cons.

• Internal Alignment: Ensure everyone on your team understands and communicates the same category to avoid confusion.

• Market Perception: Consistently use your defined category in all communications to reinforce your position.

💡 Don’t Overcomplicate Your Purpose

Key Advice: Simplify your company’s mission and vision.

Founders tend to overcomplicate the "why" with mission and vision statements. Ariel shares examples from companies like Google and Ring, stressing the importance of a single, clear purpose statement. This clarity helps in decision-making and aligns your team.

Takeaways:

• Single Purpose Statement: Focus on creating one statement that encapsulates your company's reason for being.

• Decision-Making Tool: Use this statement to guide strategic decisions and maintain consistency in your messaging.

• Internal Rallying Point: A clear purpose helps to unify and motivate your team.

🧠 Balance Emotional and Functional Benefits

Key Advice: Start with functional benefits before jumping to emotional ones.

Many founders rush to emphasises emotional benefits without first establishing the functional ones. Use frameworks like the "Cinderella spectrum" to balance both. Ariel suggests starting with clear, functional benefits that explain exactly what your product does and how it solves a problem.

Takeaways:

• Functional First: Clearly articulate what your product does before highlighting how it makes users feel.

• Cinderella Spectrum: Use this framework to find the balance between functional and emotional benefits.

• Test Messaging: Ensure your messaging resonates by testing it with potential users.

🖋️ Focus Beyond Logos and Fonts

Key Advice: Develop a strong brand personality and voice.

Founders often fixate on logos and fonts while neglecting the importance of brand personality and voice. A strong personality and consistent voice help in creating a more relatable and memorable brand.

Takeaways:

• Brand Personality: Define your brand’s personality traits and ensure they are reflected in all communications.

• Voice Consistency: Maintain a consistent tone of voice across all platforms and materials.

• Visual and Verbal Harmony: Ensure that your visual identity and brand voice complement each other.

📰 Manage Press Expectations

Key Advice: Be realistic about press coverage and prepare thoroughly.

Expecting extensive media coverage for a seed stage startup is unrealistic. Founders need to understand the current media landscape and prepare accordingly. Building relationships with relevant reporters and having a clear, compelling story is crucial.

Takeaways:

• Realistic Goals: Set achievable expectations for press coverage.

• Build Relationships: Cultivate relationships with reporters who cover your industry.

• Comprehensive Prep: Prepare thoroughly for interviews and media interactions to convey your story effectively.

🏁 Press as a Starting Line, Not the Finish

Key Advice: Use press coverage as the beginning of your marketing efforts, not the end.

A single press article won’t drive massive user adoption. It should be seen as a stepping stone to broader marketing efforts. Diversify your marketing strategies to sustain and build upon the initial buzz.

Takeaways:

• Integrated Marketing: Combine press coverage with other marketing activities like social media, content marketing, and community engagement.

• Continual Effort: Maintain momentum by continually engaging with your audience and promoting your product.

• Feedback Loop: Use feedback from press interactions to refine your messaging and approach.

Conclusion

Avoiding these early marketing missteps can set your startup on the path to success. By defining your category, simplifying your purpose, balancing benefits, focusing on brand personality, managing press expectations, and seeing press as a starting point, you can create a strong foundation for your marketing efforts.

Ensure your functional messaging is understood before emphasizing emotional benefits. Be explicit in your communication and use plain language. While a touch of inspiration in your headline is fine, focus on clearly stating who you are and what you do, avoiding jargon and meaningless buzzwords like “scale”, “efficiency”, “leverage”, or the overused “ethical/responsible AI”.

Remember, clarity and consistency are your best allies in building a memorable and impactful brand.

More reading- Arielle’s First Round Review articles:

• Positioning Your Startup is Vital — Here’s How to Nail It

• ​​Three Moves Every Startup Founder Must Make to Build a Brand That Matters

• So You Think You’re Ready to Hire a Marketer? Read This First.

The books on the subject that Arielle recommends:

• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

• Play Bigger: How Rebels and Innovators Create New Categories and Dominate Markets

• Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Want to know more quickly? Just ask the episode below [web only]👇️ 🤯 

Or if you prefer, 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here 

📅 Timestamps:

• [00:02:51] Category creation and modification.

• [00:09:09] Establishing unique positioning.

• [00:16:45] Carving out new subsegments.

• [00:22:22] Defining company’s purpose

• [00:31:51] Crafting a unifying purpose.

• [00:38:22] Emphasizing functional benefits.

• [00:46:26] Positioning strategies.

• [00:56:15] Pricing and consumer psychology.

• [00:58:27] Brand personality.

• [01:06:33] Evolution and importance of press coverage.

• [01:17:40] Seed stage investing trends.

• [01:21:23] Reframing competitor conversations.

• [01:22:37] Recommended books on positioning.

That’s a wrap.

As always, the journey doesn't end here!

Please share and let us know what you would like to see more or less of so we can continue to improve your Product Tapas. 🚀👋

Alastair 🍽️.