Category Archives: Marketing

How AI made the end of the creative process the beginning

Creatives can lead in the AI era by reclaiming foundational skills such as editing, packing, lighting and overall execution.  Adobe Stock

An opinion piece I found interesting and thought it best to share. Hope you find it worth the read.

The traditional creative process began with a client brief. From there, strategy was developed, and only then would the creative process start. Teams brainstormed, then collaborated with creative leads until a deck was prepared. Once the client approved the deck, there was a sense of relief: the idea was greenlit. 

AI fundamentally altered this process. Now, once an idea is approved in a deck, AI sets creatives on a new journey—an extension of the original process. 

What felt like the end is now just the beginning. 

Greater need for clear vision

I won’t argue the well-worn territory that AI is just a tool and that people must lead creative processes. But having established the importance of humanity to lead, it’s important to determine where people fit in the new creative process for situations where AI will be used.

It’s been asked: Is our new role solely to be the very best prompt writers we can be, knowing that the output will be determined by precise inputs, phrased in a way the computers can metabolize? 

I don’t think we simply become “creative prompters.” It’s not about being on a pedestal and giving direction; it’s about being where the work is actually shaped. This exciting shift makes us creatives more professional again, relying on technical knowledge rather than just intuition.

In the AI era, approval marks the start of a new creative process, where creatives need to become a kind of artisan again, despite using technology. Specifically, evolving creatives must know exactly what to ask for—providing references from art, cinema, fashion, architecture and advertising itself—to direct the AI. 

Jarring? Perhaps. Beautiful? Indeed.

Precision and exploration

Traditional creatives are all about precision, while AI is about exploration. In the AI era, creatives must double down on precision while being open to exploration. That means rethinking the creative role altogether.

This shift requires creatives to adopt more than a sensibility; they need technical expertise and holistic vision. Here are the fundamentals you need to succeed:

1. Story fundamentals

Creatives must be articulate about what they feel and think in executing the approved concept: Clear story references, resources and vision that once belonged to directors or producers must now come directly from the creative’s mind. 

To become true craftspeople again, creatives must be immersed in advertising history while studying modern techniques and resources. This forces you to rely on technical knowledge rather than just intuition, experience or criteria. Transcend the suggestion that creatives will become prompters. Go beyond that; it’s more than just giving well-referenced instructions.

In a way, this is where the terms “creative” and “creator” converge. With each iteration of instructions, the work is being shaped, changed, evolved and improved. It’s precisely about shaping the work as it’s being created.

2. Visual fundamentals

Creatives need strong visual literacy even more in an AI era. Studying other arts like photography, cinema, fashion, architecture and design is a foundation. Bring clear aesthetic references from the idea stage to define the original visual look. On a more technical level, understand and apply concepts like composition, lighting, tone, texture and more.

When creatives acquire these skills, they move beyond simply prompting visuals and begin shaping them. Each iteration becomes an opportunity to refine the idea. Again, creatives become both thinkers and makers, using AI not just to generate images but to actively build a distinct visual language as the work is being created.

3. Direction fundamentals

Finally, creatives need strong direction skills: the ability to translate an idea into vision, then vision into reality. It all comes down to what the audience sees. Creatives must speak the language of camera, editing, pacing, cinematography, lighting and overall execution details.

Refine this skill by thinking like directors earlier in the process. Move from proposing ideas to actively shaping how those ideas come to life. In this, AI becomes a collaborative execution partner; with each iteration, creatives can guide performance, refine tone and evolve the work in real time, ensuring the final result reflects a cohesive, intentional vision.

Amid the AI revolution, embrace your own renaissance. The traditional era’s end is your new beginning, too. 

Because AI transformed creative approval, making the end the beginning, creatives must evolve from executors into true creative professionals. Reclaim foundational skills and you’ll lead in AI-driven execution. Clear references, resources and vision—what once belonged to directors or producers—now come directly from the creative’s mind.

David Castellanos is creative lead at Erich & Kallman.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

The ‘Svedphone,’ a phone that can only call and text? Hmmmmm!

Svedka, the vodka brand, addresses both digital burnout and Y2K nostalgia with the Svedphone, a stripped-down flip phone designed to encourage real-world connection. With only call and text functions, the device playfully rejects smartphone overload in favor of being present during social moments.

Positioned as an extension of the brand’s “Fembot” platform, it turns anti-tech sentiment into a physical product tied to nightlife and festival culture. Released in limited drops, the campaign reframes “less technology” as a more social, and more fun, experience.

Svedka’s Fembot may be a robot, but she’d prefer you mostly interact with other humans.

Stripped-down flip phone designed to encourage real-world connection

Looks like “fembots” may be with us for a while. This is really going back to simplicity but how will it play in today’s smartphone environment? Will it be taken seriously by folks who want just a really simple phone or be viewed just as a promotional stunt by the vodka maker?

Who knows. The buying public can be very fickle at times.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Creativity: Alive or Dead?

Late last year ADAge’s Tim Rudd penned an article about the alleged death of creativity. Well, some argue that its death may be premature. The campaign described below illustrates that point of view. As Tim reports . . .

Creativity may not be six feet under, but D&AD (Design & Art Direction) is still here to poke it with a stick.

The global creativity nonprofit is kicking off its 2026 award season with a global campaign from Uncommon Creative Studio that pushes the industry to stop hovering over the “think” button and start hitting “make.” Its centerpiece is a manifesto that challenges the too-common habit of watching ideas drift by rather than shaping them into something tangible. The work signals a shift toward more hands-on creative energy at a moment when the industry seems increasingly cautious.

The campaign leans on stark visuals and a single provocative question: Is creativity alive or dead? It stretches across D&AD’s awards, learning initiatives and talent effort, inviting practitioners to respond through action instead of commentary. The rollout also introduces a refreshed identity for the 2026 awards, turning the manifesto into a design brief for the entire program.

A massive Times Square billboard displays a bold message about misjudging bad adverts as the death of creativity, illuminated above the city at night.
​ (D&AD)  A massive Times Square billboard displays a bold message about misjudging bad ads as the death of creativity, illuminated above the city at night.

Alongside the identity comes the reveal of the 2026 jury presidents, a slate of creative leaders drawn from a mix of global brands and agencies such as Dentsu Tokyo, Airbnb, FCB Global, 72andSunny, Havas Health & You and others. Their remit is to steer the judging with the manifesto’s call for experimentation and decisiveness in mind. D&AD positions the jury presidents as creative figures who already operate with a bias toward making.

“Creativity doesn’t die, it drifts. It gets buried under deadlines, data and fear of taking risks,” said Lisa Smith, D&AD president and Uncommon’s global chief design officer. “This manifesto is a reminder to the industry that ideas are only as powerful as the people brave enough to make them real. As creative leaders, we have a responsibility to protect that spirit—to keep making, experimenting and proving that bold, human ideas still matter. D&AD exists to champion that pulse. To show that creativity isn’t just alive—it’s vital.”

A storefront covered in black-and-white posters displays bold gothic text declaring “Creativity is Dead” and “Creativity is Alive” alongside graphic logos.
​ (D&AD) A storefront covered in black-and-white posters displays bold gothic text declaring “Creativity is Dead” and “Creativity is Alive” alongside graphic logos.
A row of black-and-white street posters on a graffitied wall presents stark slogans about creativity and work beside the D&AD logo.
​ (D&AD) A row of black-and-white street posters on a graffitied wall presents stark slogans about creativity and work beside the D&AD logo.

This year’s D&AD awards also introduce new categories meant to reflect the ways ideas move through culture. Brand Transformation spotlights work that blends strategic thinking with the craft of execution. Cultural Influence highlights projects that shape conversation or find a place in the wider cultural bloodstream. Sports Entertainment covers creative output tied to sport from campaigns to content to fan engagement.

“Creativity today is more decentralized than ever, coming from makers, creators, in-house teams and a new wave of independent studios. Our role is to ensure all these voices are equipped and inspired to keep pushing creative excellence forward,” said Donal Keenan, D&AD’s chief operating officer. “Yet in this abundance, creativity risks becoming diluted. Brands are finding it harder than ever to cut through and truly engage audiences, which is exactly why this provocation is needed.”

D&AD is also launching an editorial hub that digs into the same big question at the heart of the campaign. The platform collects commentary from designers and advertisers who are looking at how creativity has changed in a landscape of nonstop feeds and constant distraction.

A minimalist white typographic poster lays out a manifesto proclaiming “Creativity is Dead” before urging readers to revive it with intention.
​ (D&AD) A minimalist white typographic poster lays out a manifesto proclaiming “Creativity is Dead” before urging readers to revive it with intention.

As long as there are people who continue to push boundaries, creators who are never satisfied, folks who are always curious and a consuming public who always want refreshing and innovative ideas, creativity will never die. It will always be alive and thriving.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

5 reasons it’s gotten harder to do great work—and how to get back to it

I came across this article last month in one of the industry trade pubs and thought it quite relevant, not to mention interesting. The author, Wayne Best, chief creative officer of VML New York, cites one of the pioneers of creativity in advertising, one Bill Bernbach, as a major force during the sixties. The industry during that time is totally different than it is today. Mr. Best offers some viable suggestions as to how to resurrect, if you will, that creative zest so pronounced during Bernbach’s time.

I’m in total agreement with what Mr. Best suggests. I’ve been thinking the same for years and used to speak on these topics when on the AAF speakers’ junket. Today, with the advent of AI, they have been much more difficult to be realized and put into practice.

Mr. Best writes . . . I have no personal connection to DDB. I have never worked there and have very little knowledge of the culture at the time its name was “retired.” I do, however, have a great deal of respect for Bill Bernbach. I still use quotes he uttered from before I was alive. He ushered in the power of creativity in advertising.

That led me to wonder if his name disappearing (well, the B in DDB) was the end of the era of creativity. I have decided the answer is no.

Advertising executive, William Bernbach at press conference discussing his stance against cigarette advertising. Original caption: NO SMOKING—William Bernbach, newly named “The man who contributed most to advertising in 1963,” said Thursday that advertising cigarettes amounts to “just selling sickness.” He voiced several other strong opinions on advertising at a press conference here, but denied being a crusader.
Photo: Jack Carrick, Los Angeles Times

I will admit that I miss the days when smart, insightful advertising was prolific and opening an awards book was like unwrapping a gift. That’s not to say great work isn’t still happening, but lately it feels like the priorities have been put on data, systems and efficiency. And learning how to best use AI. 

These are good things. They are changing advertising for the better. Yes, some jobs will change as a result. For instance, it’s a hard time to be a storyboard artist. But the best storyboard artists have visual taste and can tell a good story. Those skills are still needed; it’s just that the tools that get you there have changed. 

So, embrace change and adapt. 

Resistance is futile.

That last line is not meant to be eerie. It’s just true. The sooner you acknowledge it, the further you’ll go. After all, the path to great work is to kill good work. Progress requires you to kill your darlings so you’re free to think in less expected ways.

Which brings me to the question: Has “brand” become irrelevant?

I don’t think so. 

Yes, media and production efficiencies can optimize our budgets. Customization and transcreation will continue to improve. But there is still an itch that all of that can’t scratch. And that is love.

Great brands have a place in our hearts, and that love still needs to be earned. It starts with a great product, but that’s just the beginning. Steve Jobs didn’t just produce great products; he also found a way to connect with people on a very human level. “1984” isn’t just an ad for a computer, it’s a celebration of individuality and a middle finger to corporations. “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” is about honoring the misfits who are daring enough to think they can change the world. The brand has a distinct point of view.

Data doesn’t do that. And AI aggregates the past rather than finding the unexpected. It doesn’t have the soft skills. It doesn’t have empathy. 

That said, I don’t think our quest for data or AI are to blame for our current creative lull.

We’ve made it hard on ourselves to do breakthrough work. 

We’ve added layers and layers of decision-makers. We’ve tried to be all things to all people. We’ve become afraid to make hard decisions and take chances, and that’s dangerous, because when you don’t make hard decisions, you sit in the middle. And the world ignores the middle, no matter the media budget.

I’m sure there are things I’m leaving out, but here are five things I know absolutely get in the way of building a great brand. None of them have to do with AI:

1. There are too many people involved in the decision-making. While it’s important to listen to opinions, a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Listening to people is fine, but somebody needs to be the decider, or you will build that camel.

2. If you try to please everybody, you will excite nobody. To be a great brand, you need to have a distinct POV. This means there are a lot of things you need to not say. Deciding what not to say is harder than deciding what to say, because different stakeholders care about different things.

3. Building a brand the right way takes time. We are always in a rush today, and the speed of AI and digital production has us moving faster than ever. Technology helps with the daily work, but to crack the bigger brand work, you need to be thoughtful and deliberate. Impatience is not a virtue.

4. Write shorter briefs. It’s hard. Writing long-winded briefs that everyone can read and find the “thing” they care about covered in the many pages is easy. Finding that sharp, pointed thing you can own in a sentence is hard. But until it gets sharp at the brief stage, you’ll be wasting expensive creative time. Make the hard decisions on what matters, and what doesn’t matter, at the brief stage. Or it will create endless swirl.

5. Never forget the problem you’re actually trying to solve. It’s easy for Walmart to promote deals on its website, but the bigger challenge is making consumers feel good when their neighbors see that Walmart box on their porch. It’s not an accident Walmart started using popular music and celebrities and buying high-profile media. When you keep the bigger goal in mind, it makes daily decisions easier. 

I’m still sad when I see the greatest names in advertising dropped into a six-foot hole. But hey, those people were already dead. It’s what we learn from them that matters. If Bill Bernbach were alive today, he wouldn’t be moaning about the death of the print ad, he’d be figuring out how to build a real connection between a brand and the humans who need it given our current environment. 

I am bullish on 2026. 

As we learn to work with AI, it gets less scary and more helpful. The weirdness of the pandemic is wearing off. Mergers have become less of a shock and more of a way of working. And the best minds I know are anxious to be more creative again. They’re excited to do unexpected and wonderful things. 

Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Creatives can lead a humanistic approach to AI . . . Here’s how.

Canadian graphic designer Jean-Pierre Lacroix explains how creative agencies and brands can make better use of generative AI by using it to expand team creativity.

As in the past I came across this article on the Web and thought it both interesting and inspiring. Given our challenging times, I think you will too. Enjoy!

The concept of generative AI technology creating content from user prompts using advanced algorithms. Adobe Stock

Every brand and agency is trying to tap into the promise of generative AI. So far, the results don’t always meet expectations. Is that so surprising? AI is brand new technology that no one fully understands, including its creators. Right now, we’re in an era that calls for experimentation. Results will come, but maybe not how we imagine. In the meantime, we must adopt a human-centered approach to AI, enabling creative teams to use AI as a platform for thinking differently and learning. 

So far, the best AI brand activations aren’t AI-generated ads or design. Successful examples of creatives using AI have a distinctly human perspective. For example, Heinz created an ad showing the audience what happens when they prompt AI to create images of ketchup: it reproduces hundreds of variations of the iconic Heinz bottle design. No matter how they try, according to the ad, they can’t get AI to drop the Heinz label because it’s synonymous with ketchup. 

Although the ad shows AI-generated imagery, Heinz is cleverly using AI to make a point about their brand rather than to generate and execute a creative idea. 

On the other hand, when companies try to generate creative using AI, even the best work requires enormous human effort and it doesn’t always come off well with consumers. That may change, but today, AI-generated material just doesn’t look and feel right. The fear that AI will take jobs away from humans causes concern in some scenarios, for example with the use of AI-generated models.  

How should creative teams be using AI today? It’s about testing and learning to develop skills and confidence. No one can say for sure how AI models will evolve but being prepared means teams need to start experimenting now. 

Key considerations for AI experimentation

Create a cross-functional team assigned to explore AI tools relevant to their roles. Tracking and testing new models, staying informed about potential legal concerns and gathering case studies will ensure you have a strong foundational knowledge to guide decision-making. 

Establish guidelines for AI use at your company. You’ll need someone who’s on top of legal matters, keeping in mind that various legislation is pending in many regions. You also need to understand how your consumers or clients perceive AI. Although there are some who hate AI no matter the circumstances, for most people, context matters. Conduct research with your stakeholders to make sure your intended uses align with their preferences. Provide your team with an approved list of licensed tools to use and establish a process for testing new ones. 

Try, fail, try again. At our company, we created an AI self-assessment platform that allows brands to evaluate their design against a competitor through the lens of our branding philosophy. This was a test-and-learn scenario that resulted in numerous unsatisfactory iterations, ultimately leading to a beta model that runs well, albeit with some caveats. (You can test it for yourself.) As we continue to improve the tool, our team continues to learn. Don’t expect perfection because you won’t get it. Building confidence, knowledge and skills should be the goal.  

Be transparent. If you work with clients, gauge their comfort level with AI and give them the option to opt out if you intend to make it part of your workflow. Something as simple as AI notetaking may run counter to privacy policies, for example. 

Protect your privacy and the privacy of clients. Before using any AI platform, ensure your IT team reviews their data policies. This brings us back to establishing guidelines. Ensure that everyone at your company is aware of which platforms they’re permitted to use, and that the appropriate people have licensed accounts where data will be kept confidential. 

Better, faster creative? Not yet

The hype around AI may lead some to think creative work can be completed faster and at a lower cost. At this stage, efficiency-finding with AI is only possible if you significantly lower your standards. Most creative agencies and brands would likely agree that AI can be useful in ideation but isn’t as helpful in execution. 

For example, we’ve found that even when given clear design guidelines, it’s very difficult for AI to create final art for packaging that works in real life. We’ve found it useful for editing images, brainstorming a hundred ways to depict a watermelon and general ideation. But so far, human creatives are still significantly better at everything else. 

AI does a decent job writing emails and copy for social media, but that too is bumping up against some limitations. Consumers are starting to recognize the tone of AI-generated copy and they find it grating.

AI is best suited to help structure content, create headlines and keywords and clean up copy. Marketers shouldn’t let their writing skills decline! AI can decipher what makes a clickable headline, but it doesn’t have any fresh ideas – it’s a solid Beatles cover band, but it’s no Lennon or McCartney. 

Where we’ve found it most useful is with coding, where it helps us do more in a shorter time frame. However, teams still need to be proficient enough to know how to prompt for the right code and how to correct mistakes.  

The human connection gap

One of the most common consumer-facing uses of AI is chatbots. They give us insight into the human connection gap that can occur with AI. Although serviceable and polite, AI chatbots annoy people. We know they’re not human and this changes the way we treat them. 

Consider the Taco Bell drive-through incidentwhere a customer derailed an AI chatbot by ordering thousands of glasses of water. In cities with fleets of self-driving cars, they often get stuck and cause traffic jams because drivers won’t let them in the way they would a human driver. 

Then there are the many incidents of people assaulting robots, especially humanoids. As much as we love a fun tool to play with, creatives can’t ignore the dehumanizing potential of AI.

How do we deal with this?  The answer isn’t ignoring AI but learning how to use it to support human ideas and interactions. If what the utopia tech companies are selling is achievable, it will be because users engage with it thoughtfully. Creative teams are in a great position to lead this kind of conscientious, intelligent use of AI.  

Jean-Pierre Lacroix is president of Shikatani Lacroix Design

Jean-Pierre Lacroix is president of Shikatani Lacroix Design, a global branding firm specializing in transforming customer experiences for consumer packaged goods companies, financial institutions and retailers. He is a member of the Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, and has sat on the board of the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers, Packaging Association of Canada and the Association of Professional Futurists.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Ideas, not AI, will decide who survives in 2030

In a world where everything can be personalized and optimized, there’s only one true differentiator left: ideas. (Adobe Stock)

AI will undoubtedly shrink the marketing services industry. Or so that’s the opinion of industry paper Ad Age via author Barry Lowenthal in a recent piece a few weeks back. Thought it worthwhile to share again especially to those of you who may not have seen it yet.

Many of the functions agencies are paid for today—targeting, media planning, asset versioning — are already being handled faster and cheaper by machines.

Yet the most successful agencies in 2030 won’t be those with the biggest AI budgets; they’ll be the ones still capable of original thought.

Since the explosion of generative AI, holding companies have raced to future-proof themselves, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the technology. They’ve hired engineers, signed vendor deals and built proprietary tools. The logic is that automation improves margins by enabling more work to be produced with less overhead, and it’s attractive to clients.

But here’s the problem: Everyone is doing the same thing.

AI platforms might look different, but they’re powered by the same foundation—similar models, trained on similar data, offering similar outputs.

AI is a great equalizer. While early investment and enterprise deals offer short-term advantages, the tools are ultimately accessible to all. As technology becomes commodified, there’s only one true differentiator left: ideas.

In a world where everything can be personalized and optimized—where every ad element, from celebrity to color palette to music cue, is engineered for conversion—what cuts through is the unexpected.

Zany, emotional, human ideas. The kinds that make people laugh out loud, tear up or text a friend because it hit a nerve. The kind no algorithm can predict because they come from life experience, not data.

Those ideas aren’t born from prompts or dashboards, but from humans living messy, interesting lives—wandering museums, walking unfamiliar streets, swapping stories at a dive bar.

The agencies that stay relevant in an AI era will be the ones that protect this kind of cultural immersion. They’ll hire for life experience, not just technical literacy. They’ll measure inspiration like they do performance, instead of grinding their teams into creative exhaustion. They’ll reward originality over speed and efficiency. 

If the goal is to survive the next five years, curiosity and creative instinct must be treated as core competencies.

That means rethinking workflows to allow time for discovery, not just delivery. It means protecting those unproductive long walks and deep rabbit holes.

The payoff won’t always show up neatly in a dashboard, so it will be a challenging pitch to the CFO. But in a world where AI devours everything else agencies in once thought made them valuable, it’s the only bet worth making.

That’s the future. And no, you can’t buy it; you have to nurture it.

********

I agree with Mr. Lowenthal, original thought leading to creatively inspired ideas will and must lead the way. I’ve been involved in this business for several decades and I realize that the industry has turned into a young person’s game. Most have grown up with AI and consider it the “standard.” That is unfortunate. It still must be considered a tool in the work belt of the creative person who’s developing the idea. It can’t be used as the end-all. That is unless sameness is one’s idea of creative thought.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Brands should align data and creative from the start

Adobe Stock

An unlikely pairing some would surmise but they’re actually made for each other. In another of various selected articles from AdAge, this article I read recently by Matt Kaupa discusses how best for brands to align data with creative and do so from the beginning. Developing and studying one or the other separately won’t do any good.

At first glance, “data” and “creative” feel like opposites. One loves structure, the other color. One obsesses over decimal points, the other ellipses. But when they team up, the results can be surprising. And the best work happens when they collaborate from the start—not when data shows up at the end to judge. Here’s how to get there.

Don’t wait until after launch

Too often, data gets invited to the party only after a campaign is out in the world. At that point, it’s just there to grade the work, not shape it. Data and creative are two ingredients in the same dish. If you taste the soup only after it’s served, you can complain about the flavor—but you missed your shot to add the seasoning.

Strategy: Bring analysts into the creative kickoff. Audience insights—demographics, psychographics, behaviors, even reactions to past campaigns—can shape tone, format and story direction from day one. If you want to measure success, then why wouldn’t measurement help guide the strategy?

Example: Want to talk to busy moms in Charlotte? Don’t guess. See what they actually engage with at 10 p.m. Trying to position a brand as “premium” but still “relatable”? Let sentiment data show the words they use—not the words you wish they used.

Speak in the audience’s words

Every brand has its own vocabulary, but if your audience doesn’t speak that language, you’re basically shouting into the void. It doesn’t matter how clever your copy is if no one understands it—or worse, if it feels out of touch.

Strategy: Pull top organic search terms and social comments into the copy deck. Use their words, not yours.

Example: In industries like health care or finance, expert language doesn’t always translate. Otolaryngology? That’s just an ENT.

Don’t ignore A/B test losers

Everyone loves a winner, but the losing versions of a campaign are often way more interesting. They show you where instincts clashed with reality—and that tension is where new ideas live.

Strategy: Treat every test as a learning lab, not just a scoreboard. Every version has a story to tell—whether it’s what to do, or what to avoid.

Example: Sometimes insights come from a single weird data blip. Why did that version spike in Wisconsin? It didn’t have anything to do with cheese—or overrated football teams (skol!).

Let dashboards tell a story

Dashboards don’t have to be painful. But let’s be honest: They usually are. They’re dense, ugly and built for people who already live and breathe numbers. For everyone else? They’re more like a punishment than a resource.

Strategy: Co-build reporting visuals with designers so your dashboards are as compelling as your campaigns. When data looks like a story, people actually use it. Also, dummy-proof your insights: structure data and visuals in a way that reduces the number of assumptions—especially wrong ones—that your audience has to make.

Example: Imagine if your media dashboard looked less like a spreadsheet exploded and more like an infographic—highlighting trends, telling a narrative, and pulling out the “so what” at a glance. One client stopped ignoring their reports entirely once we reframed their monthly dashboard like a campaign storyboard. Suddenly, the CFO wasn’t just tolerating the data—he was quoting it in meetings.

Flip feedback into fuel

Brands collect mountains of feedback but rarely use it for anything more than “good job” or “try again.” What if, instead of treating it like a report card, you treated it like raw material? Customers are basically writing copy for you every day.

Strategy: Use real-time listening tools to turn survey responses or social reactions into iterative campaign content.

Example: Imagine a spot stitched together directly from customer feedback. Or a campaign whose copy comes entirely from what people are saying online.

Wrap smarter

When the campaign’s over, most people move on to the next thing. But the wrap-up is where the hidden treasure lives. Go beyond “what performed” and dig into why—because those answers set you up for the next win.

Strategy: Cluster analysis can reveal new audience segments. Performance patterns can challenge assumptions. Maybe Gen Z does like long-form after all—just not when you lead with product shots.

Data shouldn’t chase creative, and creative shouldn’t wait for data. The smartest work happens when both teams co-own the problem from day one. Remember that data isn’t just numbers. Just as we need to speak our audience’s language, we also need to speak the creatives’ language. Incorporate qualitative data—social comments, organic searches, reviews, surveys—to make sure we don’t lose the forest for the numbers.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Will branded experiences outperform ads by 2030?

Some say yes but CMOs are still chasing ads while consumers crave something beyond a screen. I recently ran across an article in AdAge about this and thought it worthwhile to pass on. Seems like the industry is changing right before our eyes. It’s difficult to keep up let alone try to figure out where it’s headed years from now. Hopefully this article will clarify some of the mystery.

The rules of attention have changed. Ads cost more than ever but work less than ever. People are paying to skip, block or scroll right past them. But experiences? They’re lining up for those and sometimes paying to get in.

Look at Lollapalooza, Coachella or the US Open, where the brands aren’t a backdrop, they’re part of the headline. Festivals and big cultural moments aren’t just about music or sports anymore; they’re about the branded experiences people talk about long after the event ends.

The disconnect is clear. Netflix has 247 million subscribers paying to avoid ads. Spotify Premium has 220 million doing the same. Every one of those subscriptions is a consumer saying: “My attention is valuable enough that I’ll pay to protect it.” Yet advertisers keep pouring money into channels people are actively opting out of. That’s not a strategy; that’s a slow leak.

Meanwhile, experiential is thriving. The category grew 10.5% last year to $128 billion. Why? Because instead of interrupting what people want, it is what people want. A great branded experience doubles as entertainment, content and memory. It creates emotion, builds loyalty and turns people into advocates.

Vibrant Urban Pop-Up Storefront Transforms Cityscape with Interactive Marketing and Philanthropy – Adobe Stock

Younger consumers are driving this shift fastest. They don’t just want to sit back and watch a brand throw messages at them. They want to take part, contribute, belong. Creator culture proves it, and experiential is the live version of that same energy.

Action above ads. Experience above everything. The brands that win are the ones that stop interrupting what people care about and become what people care about.

The shift is already happening. The only question is: Will you lead it, or watch it pass you by?

Well?

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Advertising Ethics Must Become a Core Creative Capability

Ethics. A word that is at times used too little because most people don’t think ethics exists any longer. It has been said that a man or woman is not truly whole if he or she does not possess ethical behavior within. It’s has become painfully obvious that some of us don’t. That’s sad.

It’s particularly troubling in marketing and advertising. For years those industries, especially advertising, had a lower ethics image than used car salesmen. Fortunately, that image is not as bad as it was. Today’s environment and enhanced creativity has increased the need for a true belief and practice of ethical behavior in what the industry puts forth to the consumer.

The following article is a good dissertation on the importance of ethics in advertising and its crucial need when developing creativity.

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If the world’s most prestigious stage for creativity can be gamed, what does that say about the structures behind the stories we tell?

There are still advertising professionals who treat ethics as something to call in after the crash, never to integrate into the system. 

The Cannes Lions cheating scandal has exposed a fracture at the heart of advertising: a growing contradiction between the public ideals that the advertising industry promotes and the problematic business behaviors behind the scenes.

In the advertising industry, we like to think of ourselves as storytellers. But in truth, we are choice architects. We shape how people see, feel and decide, often invisibly, powerfully and at scale. That is a position of enormous influence, and it carries a moral impact.

As legal scholar Cass Sunstein has long argued, even small nudges can have major consequences. What we design into our messaging, the defaults, the frames and the incentives, can improve lives or quietly exploit them. In advertising, as in public policy, how we shape choice matters as much as what we say.

Yet, astonishingly, there are still advertising professionals who treat ethics like outsourced IT support: something to call in after the crash, never to integrate into the system.

This is not just shortsighted. It’s reckless. Ethics is not a bolt-on; it is the foundation. No trust, no transaction. Ethics cannot be outsourced; it must be embedded into every campaign as a priority capability.

The ethical advantage

Advertising thrives when people believe in it. Yet today, surveys show consumer trust in advertising hovering near historic lows. Greenwashing, data misuse and AI-manipulated content have all made audiences wary of what they see. Worse, new entrants to the profession increasingly ask: Does this industry reflect my values?

The answer must be yes. But only if we earn it.

Ethical advertising isn’t a compliance checkbox; it’s a design choice. And it can be a competitive edge. Agencies and brands that adopt clear ethical standards, disclose targeting criteria, evidence-backed sustainability claims and consent-based personalization are not only preempting legal risk, but signaling integrity. And integrity is sticky.

Consumers, employees, shareholders and customers all want to work with firms they can trust. That trust must be built by actions, not taglines.

The role of learning and professional development

Ethical decision-making in advertising isn’t instinctive; it’s learned. As the landscape evolves, so too must the frameworks and training that guide professionals in the field. We are entering an era where fluency in ethical reasoning is as essential as creative talent or data literacy. This is the professional norm in law, finance, medicine, architecture, engineering, real estate and most other major professions.

That’s why continuous learning matters. Whether you’re navigating consent-based data use, sustainability claims or AI-generated content, knowing how to assess what’s fair, transparent and responsible requires both study and structure. Ethical practice is not just a matter of personal judgment; it’s a professional discipline. 

What comes next

Ethical practice doesn’t constrain creativity; it liberates it. When boundaries are clear and trust is high, bold ideas flourish. When young professionals believe they’re part of something credible, they stay. And when clients see ethics as a lever, not a liability, better work gets made.

The Institute for Advertising Ethics is an organization that spearheads ethical standards in education of our profession. I am a founding member and firmly believe in the continued development of the professionals in our industry. Ethics is a standard of practice we dare not let go to the wayside. After all, excellence in creativity is at stake, along with our reputation as practitioners of the industry.

‘AI Will Not Save Advertising’ – Apple’s Tor Myhren

The marketing leader opened Cannes Lions by arguing for human craft as the industry’s superpower.


“There’s no AI more capable of making us feel than the human mind,” Myhren told Cannes Lions attendees. (Tim Nudd/Ad Age)

This is the week of the Cannes Creativity Festival in Cannes, France, which some of you are aware. As such, commentary and opinions on the global advertising and creative community are being espoused far and wide. This blog shares some of that with you like this piece from BRITTANEY KIEFER. Brittaney is Adweek’s creative editor based in London.

Like advertisers from Coca-Cola to Google, Apple has previously caught backlash for seemingly elevating technology’s power above human creativity. 

But on the first day of Cannes Lions, Apple marketing leader Tor Myhren made a case for human creativity as the industry’s savior and superpower.  

Like last year, AI will likely be a hot topic at Cannes Lions. There’s both good news and bad news when it comes to AI, according to Myhren, vice president of marketing communications at Apple, which is Cannes Lions’ 2025 Creative Marketer of the Year. 

“The good news is AI is not going to kill advertising,” Myhren said on stage Monday. “The bad news is AI is not going to save advertising. We’ve got to save ourselves, by believing in what’s always made this industry special: human creativity.”

Will Creators Be the Future of Cannes Creativity?

Apple has long been a creatively esteemed brand, so Myhren’s talk drew a large crowd. But his comments were also notable after the company drew backlash last year for its “Crush” ad, which depicted a hydraulic press flattening artistic objects such as musical instruments, paint cans, and a camera.

Some critics called the ad “soul-crushing” for its portrayal of the destruction of creative tools, and it tapped into creative people’s fear about how tech like AI could jeopardize their professions. Myrhen apologized for “Crush” at the time, saying, “We missed the mark.”

In his Cannes remarks, Myrhen shifted the focus away from technology to the human talent at the heart of the industry. “Human touch is our superpower,” he said. “It’s the secret to building long-term brand love.”

For those still fearful about AI’s potential destructive power, Myhren ended his speech with a call to action: “AI will ride shotgun and be the best creative partner this industry has ever seen,” he said. “But we’ve got to drive.”

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.