Insights from Nebo

In the early 1940s, there lived a woman by the name of Florence Foster Jenkins. She was a semi-famous opera singer in and around New York City. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about her. Except one thing.

Despite her fame and success, she was an absolutely dreadful singer.

Things have a history of making their way to America.

And it’s not much of a surprise since, well, most of what we know today as “American” came from somewhere else. For hundreds of years immigrants have braved oceans and seas to reach the Americas, bringing along bits and pieces of their own cultures.

Today we live in a nation of immigrants, and it shows.

But in recent years, a certain phenomenon has started taking the United States by storm. No, it’s not fútbol, and thankfully it’s not K-pop.

No, it’s a pasty, deceptively tasty spread with a history worth sharing.

Hummus. Oh, heavenly hummus.

It’s the best friend we never expected. It’s our saving grace from the tyranny of fatty dipping options. It’s the spread we needed but didn’t deserve. America is falling fast for hummus, and we’re here to tell you how it all began.

A few weeks ago, I was at a leading marketing and advertising conference with some of the best and brightest minds in the industry. We talked about new ideas, new tools, and new strategies—all ways to become better marketers.

We also talked a lot about Millennials.

At least two or three sessions became heated discussions about the worst generation this country’s ever seen. There wasn’t just anti-Millennial sentiment. There was Millennial hate.

Running a blog is a lot of work.

There's the sometimes-grueling task of generating ideas and managing the editorial calendar. There's the constant workload juggling that needs to occur to find time to write. And then there's the actual writing itself -- sometimes effortless, sometimes an absolute battle.

But I think, in an honest moment, we'd all admit that working on the Nebo blog is one of our favorite tasks. It's one of the few times we get to sit down and put our own thoughts to paper (or pixels) with little thought to ROI, CTAs, or SEO. We pride ourselves on our blog being a place to explore interesting, authentic topics and to generate discussion among our whip-smart industry peers.

Here are the posts that resonated most deeply this year, with us and you.

Thanks for reading.

If there’s one thing you can say for certain about Santa Claus, it’s that he’s a giver.

Most famously, he brings us toys and gifts – sliding down the chimney on Christmas Eve and bringing joy to all of the children lucky enough to make his “Nice” list.

He also brings us great deals on razors, sports drinks, and jewelry through an onslaught of holiday advertisements, as seemingly every brand on the planet is keen to cash in on the jolly red elf’s popularity once the holidays roll around.

But even more than that, Santa Claus brings us incredible insights into our past. Throughout the years, he’s been a unique reflection of art, culture, history, and religion --somehow, looking at old iterations of Santa Claus is like looking at a snapshot of our world at a specific moment in time.