What we are thinking about.
Notes from running 8 publications and building tools for them. Restaurant SEO, local marketing, the boring parts that move the needle.
Canva’s Cannes Lions Playbook: Tripling Beach Space to Monetize Creativity and PR Theater
Canva tripled its Cannes Lions beach space after a modest 4,000 visitors last year, doubling down on spectacle over substance with The Creative Cabana. More gelato, more parties, less real innovation.
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The Bullshit Trust Equation in Health Marketing: Why Your Campaigns Are Failing Before They Start
Health marketing’s obsession with viral campaigns and buzzwords is a shallow trust game that’s losing audiences. Real trust demands brutal transparency, not PR stunts.
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Agentic AI Isn’t Your Marketing Magic Bullet—It’s Just Another Funnel Fix You’ll Screw Up
Agentic AI isn’t a magical fix for marketing funnels—it’s another overhyped tool brands misuse because they ignore foundational data and strategy work.
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Brand Safety in the Age of AI Garbage: Why Your Ad Budget Is Wasted on Algorithmic Slop
Brands are drowning in AI-generated content garbage that kills engagement and risks reputation. The real fix isn’t more AI, it’s brutal quality control and accountability.
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OpenAI Ditches the Gatekeepers: ChatGPT Ads Go Self-Service and It’s About Damn Time
OpenAI just flipped the script on ChatGPT advertising by launching a self-service platform that cuts out the middlemen and forces advertisers to play serious ball. This isn’t charity — it’s a ruthless bid for ad dominance.
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Social Video Ads Are Eating CTV’s Lunch—And Advertisers Are Too Slow to Notice
Social video ad spending is projected to outpace CTV growth this year, signaling a major shift as advertisers chase viewers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram rather than smart TVs.
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Future Leader Awards 2026 Expose the Myth of Tactical Marketing: Digitas, Five Below, and January Digital Actually Deliver Growth
The 2026 Future Leader Awards winners reveal how true growth comes from data-driven, authentic marketing — not the usual tactical fluff and grift.
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OpenAI Cracks Open ChatGPT Ads Manager to U.S. Advertisers, Ditches $50K Spend Floor Amid CPA Bidding Hype
OpenAI opens ChatGPT Ads Manager to U.S. advertisers, ditching the $50K spend minimum and promising third-party measurement and CPA bidding. Reality check: this isn’t magic.
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PayPal’s New CMO Antonio Lucio: Corporate Safe Bet or Signal of Marketing Malaise?
PayPal’s appointment of Antonio Lucio as CMO signals a marketing reset that may be more about corporate comfort than genuine innovation in a crowded fintech market.
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The Silent Asterisk: Why Consumer 'Yes' in Research Is Marketing’s Biggest Trap
When consumers say “yes” in research, it often comes with unspoken caveats marketers ignore at their peril. The silent asterisk is the industry’s biggest blind spot.
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McDonald’s UK & Ireland Taps Tim Kenward for CMO Role After 15 Years of Internal Grind
McDonald’s UK and Ireland just promoted a 15-year insider as CMO, doubling down on marketing continuity rather than innovation. This is a missed chance for disruption.
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Jessica Myers Bails on Very Group: Another CCO Exit Amid Retail Turmoil
Jessica Myers has left The Very Group after over three years, underscoring ongoing leadership instability at a retailer struggling to keep pace in a brutal e-commerce environment.
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Warner Bros. Discovery’s Paramount Merger Pitch: A Bold Bet or Just More Industry Noise?
Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest pitch to advertisers post-Paramount merger leans on grand promises but glosses over data and tech integration challenges that could sink actual value.
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Why Most CMOs Are Doomed to Stall While 'CEO-Ready' Marketers Dominate
Most CMOs stall because they fail to think like CEOs. The ones who break through obsess over business fundamentals, not fluffy buzzwords. Here’s why that matters.
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Campbell’s Risa Cretella Dismantles Legacy Brand Stagnation and Demands Bold Moves in Commodity Marketing
Campbell’s CMO Risa Cretella calls out legacy brand stagnation and data paralysis, urging teams to act boldly and reinvent in commoditized markets.
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General Motors’ Chief Growth Officer Norm de Greve Exits Amid Marketing Turbulence
Norm de Greve’s exit as GM’s Chief Growth Officer exposes cracks in the automaker’s marketing strategy at a critical time for electric vehicle competition.
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Samsung’s AI Living Push: More Than Hype, But Still Trapped in Device-Centric Narratives
Samsung’s AI living push claims to go beyond devices, but it’s mostly repackaged ecosystem marketing with familiar pitfalls. Real AI innovation demands more than flashy gadgets and data-driven buzzwords.
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Brands Drowning in AI Slop: How to Stop Your Marketing Budget from Feeding the Content Garbage Fire
Brands are drowning in AI-generated content garbage, risking their integrity by chasing volume over value. It’s time to demand smarter AI and ruthless brand safety.
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