We live in uncertain times.

An unstable world order that swirls around us with a nuclear powered North Korea, Russian interference in our democracy and terrorism on the rise, people are walking around with an uneasy feeling about the future. Will algorithms become our boss? And where does the responsibility lie for some of the bile spouted on social media and disturbing content on YouTube? And whether you are a fan of the current administration or not, political vitriol is at an all time high. Add to that the revelations of the #metoo movement and there is a powerful disruption in cultural norms.

So, how is a marketer expected to thrive in such uncertain times?

Putting on a human face.

While reading The New York Times recently, I was struck by an article on the rise of facelessness on the Internet and how it is changing the way we interact with our social networks. Apparently, from the beginning of time, we are wired to respond to faces. It is built into our DNA. Babies remember faces much sooner than they remember other objects. It is the vision of a face that allows empathy to materialize. In the article, the author Christopher Solomon stated, “Inability to see a face is, in the most direct way, inability to recognize shared humanity with another.”

Successful Epicurean Marketing Takes More Than Great Food

How far would you travel for a good meal? Pretty far as it turns out. The World Food Travel Association, in partnership with Mandala Research, discovered that fully one-third of travelers now choose destinations based on the food and drink activities available and two-thirds consider good dining options an important factor. To that we say, “duh.” Here at Luckie, we’ve been using food to tempt travelers for almost a decade. But leveraging food culture is about much more than just tempting travelers to pick up a fork in your city. Today, it’s about uniting communities behind a food movement or history of unique food.