Disney’s ‘Rivals’ and Biscoff’s Influencer Play Expose Marketing’s Lazy Habits
Let’s cut the crap: Disney’s recent strategy around the second season launch of its series ‘Rivals’ is textbook brand partnership theater, and yet it’s exactly what the tired marketing world needed to see. Instead of the usual solo-brand slog, Disney leaned heavily on cross-brand tie-ups to create hype. This isn’t innovation—it’s a blatant admission that relying solely on your own content or platform is a dead-end. If you think your brand can launch a hit series without pulling in partners to amplify reach, you’re fooling yourself and wasting budget.
Meanwhile, Biscoff’s influencer approach is a masterclass in what most marketers refuse to learn: influencer marketing isn’t about the usual parade of “10x agencies” flogging vanity metrics like follower count or engagement rate. Biscoff took cues from challenger brands—those scrappy, underdog players who actually test, iterate, and measure real ROI. Forget the glossy influencer grift from LinkedIn SEO gurus still hawking keyword density as an SEO strategy in 2026. Biscoff’s playbook is grounded in authenticity and performance, not fluff.
What both these cases expose is marketing’s epidemic laziness. Disney’s brand tie-ups work because they break the echo chamber of self-promotion. Biscoff’s influencer lessons work because they demand accountability from a space riddled with snake oil salesmen. Yet, most agencies and brands keep recycling the same tired strategies, hoping for different results. It’s peak nothingburger.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you want to survive in this brutal attention economy, stop pretending your brand alone is enough. Partner aggressively, learn from challengers who don’t have your budget but have your hunger, and ditch the cargo cult influencer metrics. Otherwise, you’re just another name on the list of marketing also-rans.
To the industry: go beyond the lazy narrative and the self-serving platforms. Test, measure, call out bullshit where you see it, and build strategies that actually move the needle. Or keep throwing money at the same tired playbook and watch your brand fade into irrelevance.
