Companies Should Stand For Something ...
When I was a teenager I picked up a flier at a trade show for this new technology … it was called “The World Wide Web”. I was hooked.
Here was a technology that would allow ANYONE in the world to talk to anyone else. A technology that could enable anyone to share anything. I had visions of people in Brazil sharing hikes with people in Butan, families connecting with each other without geographical constraints and much more.
As a collective, we’ve achieved those things … and 1000’s of other amazing stories. But we opened Pandora’s Box in the process. Whilst the internet has empowered millions of people around the world to connect, share, love and prosper we’ve also created the largest disparity in wealth distribution that we’ve ever seen. And it’s getting worse.
I’ll be honest with you … I quit the industry in 2018 as I became so disillusioned. What started out as an amazing movement had become, in my opinion, corrupted. Instead of empowering individuals, digital experts (like myself) had empowered a different wave of capitalism. Yes, we successfully created huge wealth and opportunity, but we also handed the most powerful technology ever conceived to those interested in profit alone.
I’ll be even more honest… I was part of the problem. I had pursued projects based on their intellectual challenge without regard for their impact. And worse, I was getting really good at it.
2020 brought us COVID and changed our lives forever. It’s been a year of pain for us all, but my frame was different.
I felt called to something bigger than myself for the first time in a long time and set up Hack Mankind, a free online presence with the goal of freeing people from fear and distortion. We assembled 30 experts and started broadcasting live around 20 times a week. Within a month we had over 30,000 followers and regularly received messages of thanks and praise. We touched countless lives, helped those that needed it and reitred it at the end of our first lockdown .. job done.
The speed at which we grew Hack Mankind reaffirmed what I knew to be true. Digital is the ultimate accelerant! I started researching where the industry now stood and was, frankly, disgusted.
We had gone FURTHER backwards! Not only had the rich become richer, but we had empowered a whole new generation of “digital experts”… well meaning people who didn’t understand the nuance of algorithms and platforms. Marketing executives throwing around phrases such as ROAS, CPC, CPA without education or an understanding of what they (or these) meant.
And don’t get me started on funnels, fake news and paid-for followers …
So Magic on Tap was born in late September 2020. We stand in the face of shitty digital.
Peter Swain
CEO, Magic On Tap