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.
Nike’s Boston Marathon Billboard Backlash Sparks Inclusive Riposte From Asics and Ecco
Nike’s Boston Marathon billboard calling out walkers sparked backlash and swift removal, prompting Asics and Ecco to launch inclusive campaigns celebrating all movement.
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Taste Trumps Tech: Why AI’s Ubiquity Means Creativity, Not Code, Wins Marketing Wars
AI tools flood the marketing landscape with interchangeable content, but real competitive edge now comes from human taste — a muscle no algorithm can flex.
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Coca-Cola’s World Cup TV Ads Are Just the Tip of Their Sports Marketing Iceberg
Coca-Cola’s Powerade World Cup campaign proves TV ads alone are dead. The brand’s 360-degree strategy blends traditional and digital channels to maximize impact.
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Devonshires Breaks Legal Mold with First-Ever CMO Hire — And It’s About Time
Devonshires is finally admitting that old-school legal marketing won’t cut it anymore by appointing its first-ever CMO to drive real growth strategy.
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Stop Pretending Your Marketing Career Is Accidental and Start Owning Your Climb
Most marketers treat their careers like accidents waiting to happen. It’s time to ditch that lazy narrative and start climbing with ruthless intention.
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Holland & Barrett’s Latest Campaign Proves Quick Visibility Gains Aren’t Magic, Just Smart Execution
Holland & Barrett’s latest campaign isn’t just talk—it’s delivering immediate, measurable boosts in brand visibility. Here’s why your slow-burn awareness strategy is outdated.
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Lucky Saint’s Electrolyte Lager Is a Half-Baked ‘White Space’ Play That TikTok Shops Won’t Save
Lucky Saint’s new electrolyte lager and TikTok Shop debut highlight a lazy, trend-chasing approach to ‘white space’ that lacks real innovation or consumer demand.
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Santander’s Global Branding Push: Marketing Theater or Growth Engine?
Santander’s new global brand positioning is being hailed as a game-changer, but is it just marketing theater dressed up as growth strategy?
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Fox News Sunday Hits 30 — Proof That Legacy Media Clings to Yesterday's Ratings Playbook
Fox News Sunday’s 30th anniversary spotlights the stubbornly outdated nature of legacy political talk shows in a media landscape that demands innovation, not nostalgia.
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HP's Stealth Streaming Play: Turning Your Laptop Into an Ad Farm
HP’s new streaming app isn’t about content; it’s a stealthy ad platform preloaded on laptops to monetize your viewing habits. Here’s why this move stinks.
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CBS Morning Show Growth Breaks the Mold Amid NBC’s ‘Today’ Dominance
NBC’s 'Today' remains king of morning news, but CBS’s morning show is the only one showing meaningful growth, exposing stagnation at ABC and the rest of the pack.
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NBC’s Jenna Bush Hager Scores a Rare Scoop Interviewing Four Former U.S. Presidents at the WHCD
NBC News’ Jenna Bush Hager broke the mold at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner by securing live interviews with four former U.S. presidents, elevating the cable coverage beyond the usual political fluff.
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NBC and CBS Evening News Actually Gain Ground in the Key Demo — But Don’t Celebrate Yet
NBC and CBS posted gains in the key Adults 25-54 demo during the week of April 13, 2026, but don’t mistake this for a comeback in traditional evening news.
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Code and Theory Hires JJ Schmuckler to Babysit CMOs Lost in the AI Fog
Code and Theory’s new president JJ Schmuckler is stepping into the AI chaos to help CMOs cut through the hype and grasp what actually matters in digital transformation.
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Tim Cook Made Apple Ads Invisible Gold; John Ternus Faces the Nightmare of Scaling That Secret Sauce
Tim Cook turned Apple’s discreet ad business into a silent revenue powerhouse. His successor, John Ternus, faces the brutal task of scaling that success without selling out Apple's privacy-first ethos.
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Hulu’s Get Real House: Brand Cameos Masquerading as Reality TV Stardom in Year Two
Hulu’s Get Real House doubles down on branded content by weaving brands directly into its reality show this year, turning participants into walking commercials. It’s a move that highlights the ongoing grift of commodified authenticity in modern marketing.
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Tom Fishburne’s Marketoonist Nails the Human Element Missing from Marketing’s Machine Age
Tom Fishburne’s Marketoonist exposes the marketing industry’s dangerous drift away from human insight toward soulless automation and AI hype.
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IPA Calls Out ‘Opaque’ Walled Gardens, Demands Industry-Wide Measurement Overhaul
The IPA is calling out the marketing industry’s dangerous reliance on opaque walled garden data and demanding a shift to transparent, joint measurement standards.
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