The future does not belong to brands that choose between infrastructure and imagination. It belongs to those that build both. This week’s stories make that tension visible. Instagram experiments with creative imperfection while conversational AI reshapes discovery. Coach turns literature into luxury symbolism. adidas builds a surreal cultural universe around an icon. Spotify and Liquid
This week’s stories show brands navigating a shifting power dynamic. Meaning is no longer assigned by scale, spend, or spectacle, but by credibility, authorship, and emotional truth. From Airbnb turning “home” into competitive advantage for Olympians, to Dollar Shave Club choosing defiance over censorship, to legacy brands remixing culture with humor, family, and self-awareness, the
I don’t tend to measure years by how busy they were. I measure them by what changed. How my thinking evolved. Where my energy shifted. What I stopped tolerating. What became clearer than ever. 2025 sharpened my point of view. It reinforced what I believe about storytelling, leadership, and growth. It pushed me into bigger
AI scam farms are using deepfakes to run billion-dollar fraud rings. Pine-Sol is turning floor cleaner into TikTok chaos. Heinz wants you to drink ketchup. And CMOs? They’re dropping like flies. This week’s stories show how fast marketing, culture, and reputation can flip — from crisis to comedy, from absurd to iconic. This Week’s Lineup
Culture-shaping trends, provocative questions, and actionable insights from the frontlines of marketing’s future If you didn’t make it to SXSW London this year, don’t worry, I took notes. And not just because I’m a keynote speaker and marketing leader who loves a good trend. I was on the hunt for the ideas CMOs and marketing