This week’s stories reveal a shared reality marketers can no longer avoid: trust has become a visible line item. AI makes content faster, cheaper, and more abundant, but it also introduces friction, skepticism, and new forms of brand risk. From uncanny AI video to staged paparazzi moments, from museum-worthy IKEA furniture to Wikipedia’s human proof-of-work,
This week’s issue examines how brands are responding to a shared tension: audiences are overwhelmed by volume, automation, and synthetic sameness, yet still deeply responsive to stories that feel intentional, human, and culturally fluent. Google turns AI adoption into nostalgic rivalry. Lego reframes AI fear through trust and education. Equinox rejects synthetic imagery by making
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
With every year, marketing becomes bolder and more creative, pushing the limits on what’s possible. Across hundreds of stories featured in The Marketer’s Storybook newsletter, a clear pattern emerged: the brands that won didn’t just dazzle us with innovative campaigns and creative, they told better stories. Stories rooted in culture. Stories shaped by creators. Stories
Boots puts pharmacists on standby in cafés and parks. Bradley Cooper defends football’s honor with a wink. A nine-year-old’s drawing powers a global creativity chain. Nike asks a hard question and hands athletes a simple next step. This week’s newsletter is about simple marketing ideas paired with serious distribution and proof that shows up on