The age of impermanence is here. As the North American head of a small creative agency, I’m seeing several trends that tell me this is so. First of all, the brand and agency models are shifting; lengthy retainers are being replaced by flexible, project-based relationships. That, coupled with the workforce becoming ever-more fluid. There’s been…
Not all that long ago, if you pictured a commuter on a train platform, they would likely be reading a newspaper or sipping coffee. Flash forward to now and the same commuter might be planning a party, test driving a car or fighting for survival in a zombie apocalypse–all from their mobile device. Thanks to…
Voice AI has opened a new frontier in marketing, and we’re already seeing the emergence of winners and losers. Moving forward in an automated world where value is all there will be casualties, and brands that sell illusions will be the first to die. Much has already been written about how Amazon, Google and others…
Like many, I followed Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony closely. I couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic as I realized Zuckerberg’s biggest challenge would be explaining to Congress what exactly Facebook does in the first place. As I watched Zuckerberg field questions, two things became clear: People don’t understand how Facebook’s advertising model works. Facebook…
I don’t think Tim Mapes, chief marketing officer at Delta Air Lines, woke up on Jan. 1 this year with the idea that the new personification of the Delta brand in 2018 would be an unabashedly left-wing progressive. I also don’t think he had a standing meeting each week in 2017 scrutinizing each of the…
The Domino’s drone has just whirred into the night, leaving me a steaming-hot pepperoni and jalape?o pizza. Nest has chilled the air to a perfect 67 degrees with 41 percent humidity, filling my living room with a hint of pine, my favorite scent. As the large wall across from my couch lights up with a…
We’re in the midst of a highly anticipated time in the marketing world: the season of Upfronts. But before you get all excited about your ad buys, you may want to reconsider where you spend your money. Those dollars you’re putting toward multi-million dollar sponsorships, paid search campaigns and banner displays–how much are they really…
The best interests of businesses and societies haven’t always been on different trajectories. From the Industrial Revolution to the birth of modern economies, these two were often unified. Innovation in business went hand-in-hand with improvement to quality of life, and the ambitions of business and society were fundamentally intertwined. Railways, for example, lowered shipping rates,…
There has been a vocal group of marketers and spectators alike claiming that the end of the “brand website” is upon us. As recently as this year, we’ve seen discussions of major brands likely to shut down their current website presence. The claims are rooted in many truths of today’s digital landscape: fractured experience across…
What used to be an almost Hatfield and McCoy-type of relationship has recently become more like All in the Family, bumps in the road included. Data and creative have finally tied the proverbial marketing knot. The courtship has been steadily evolving for the last year or two, but recent events have brought data squarely to…
Do you sometimes feel like TV advertisements are talking directly to you? In today’s advertising landscape that may, in fact, be the case. Addressable TV gives advertisers the ability to define an audience based on data and serve different ads to that particular audience regardless of the program they are watching. CEOs are constantly thinking…
Long gone are the days when b-to-b companies could just poach successful salespeople–with their big Rolodexes of past customers–who then close deals within 12 to 18 months. Today, the sales cycle entails software-driven processes that last only around three or four months. Not only have things sped up considerably, but the marketing landscape has also…
Recent advancements in machine learning are significantly changing the advertising landscape. Over the past year, improvements in the technology have enabled marketers to start measuring real net profits from ads and allow small advertisers to effectively compete with large advertisers on a more even playing field. Thanks to machine learning, advertising platforms such as Facebook…
While it’s no secret that the television industry is experiencing significant transformation, brands continue to invest in the medium since it’s still seen on Madison Avenue as one of the more effective ways to reach consumers. That explains why the Upfronts remain one of the more important events on the advertising calendar. It offers media…
This year’s NewFronts are making some big changes, including a planned stop on the West Coast, but the biggest change impacting digital content creators and advertisers this year will be the consumer. The way we watch has transformed, and consumer expectations are higher than ever. It’s time to put the viewer at the center of…
The idea that blockchain technology can be a savior for a broken ad tech supply chain is gaining momentum. After all, it promises to bring advertisers and publishers closer together, streamline payments and allow providers to compete on value instead of through black boxes and arbitrage. If blockchain succeeds, it could spur serious innovation. But…
One of the main barriers to blockchain acceptance in media is its rhetoric of disruption. While it’s true that blockchain promises major innovations for publishers, such as better solutions for managing attribution, helping readers access and discover relevant content, building trust and reputations systems and more, the rhetoric of disruption doesn’t clearly illustrate the various…
Digital advertising is broken. Despite significant evolution and development over the last two decades, participants are unhappy and performance continues to deteriorate. I feel the core of this is that the advertising value exchange is incomplete. Even as digital media spend surpasses $100 billion this year, performance will disappoint and viewers of ads will come…
During a recent trip to the chiropractor, it occurred to me that technology vendors and marketers are way out of alignment when it comes to measuring the impact of marketing programs. The tension began several years ago when a new software category emerged, clinically dubbed “marketing automation,” which promised to turn the craft of marketing…
Amazon is releasing new Alexa experiences for kids and parents, including the Echo Dot Kids Edition, which it says allows children to access age-appropriate content with their voices. But it begs the question: Do children need voice-enabled devices and services to access said content? And just because Amazon–or any platform–can make a voice assistant for…
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
