Thinking

Ironically, in the age of AI, that may be exactly why brands should reconsider it.  We are entering a world where polished, competent communication is abundant. AI can now write headlines, captions, scripts and campaign ideas with frightening efficiency.

When I started in advertising over four decades ago, logos and taglines were sacred.  You didn’t “place” a logo. You installed it.

Where is the love? (Where is the love?)Where is the love? (Where is the love?)Where is the love? (Where is our love?)Where is the love? It used to be table for two, just me & youNow is ah whole set a people in the stew You told me that you didn’t love himAnd you were gonna say goodbyeBut if you really didn’t mean itWhy did you have to lie? Once a upon a time, I was your worldThe only way your products got sold If you had had a sudden change of heartI wish that you would tell me soDon’t leave me hangin’ on the promisesYou’ve got to let me know Influencer, in-house graphics, CanvaFreelancer, 99 designs , your new fella Oh, how I wish I never met you (won’t go that far)I guess it must have been my fateTo fall in love with someone else’s loveAll I can do is waitThat’s all I can doAy, yeah Now AI come and you stop callingMe and my accountant now bawlingBut I’m not giving up on youAll of dem just passing thru If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to youA good wukkin’ ol’ ting, better than that whole crewI…

Half of your Influencer budget is wasted.(You just don’t know which half) Confession: I wasn’t always a fan of influencers. But I have come around, because people trust them. Influencers have moved from the fringes of marketing to its front lines, yet they still sit awkwardly between channels. Are they PR? Digital? Word of mouth? The answer is yes. They’re the new distribution system for social proof.  Marketing frameworks I grew up on named the big five drivers as: advertising, PR, direct mail, sponsorships/events, and digital. Today, we should add Word of Mouth and Experiences/Community. Influencers live where those three overlap: credibility, scalability, and conversation. When (and When Not) to Use ThemThey work best when you need relevance fast, demonstration, or borrowed trust, like food, beauty, or tech tutorials. They struggle when the category is low-interest or heavily regulated. One FMCG marketer said:“An influencer is repeatable word of mouth. You’re paying to make it happen on Tuesday, not hoping it happens in six months.” In B2B, it’s the same idea, just slower: credibility beats reach. Think respected experts, not entertainers. Macro, Micro, and the Mix (in T&T numbers)Macros (25K+) bring signal and speed. Micros (10–25K) bring engagement and local relevance….

“Someone found a letter you wrote me on the radio, and they told the world just how you felt” “Cause they said it really loud, they said it on the air / On the radio, whoa-oh-oh-oh” – Donna Summer We know digital advertising is dominant: across the US, Canada, the UK and the Caribbean too, digital channels have gobbled up most budget share over the past five years. But some real-world numbers show why radio deserves a spot in your mix. In the US, AM/FM still commands the majority of ad-supported audio time. In Canada, live and streamed radio reaches roughly 80 % of adults weekly in key markets. In the UK, commercial radio just posted a record listening share despite streaming growth. No Caribbean data is available except for Media InSite Caribbean, who I’m hoping will add their expertise to this post. Here’s what the experts say: “Investing ~11% of your campaign budget in radio can double effectiveness.” — Mark Ritson “Least expensive medium with the largest reach.” — Bob Pittman (of iHeartMedia) “Enduring power of radio… innovation and connected devices keep radio strong and relevant.” — Matt Payton (CEO of Radiocentre) “Mass-reach channels drive the biggest long-term effects;…

Country brands do it.FMCG brands do it.Banks do it.Ad Agencies do it.Plenty sectors do it.All over the world. Brands give themselves awards.They pay to receive them.They pay to collect them in fauncy ceremonies that often involve tuxedoes and long dresses.They pay for the pictures of themselves paying for awards and then pay to put it in the press and all over the place.They shop at award factories and leave with a shelf full of validation. All so they can say,“Look! Someone with a spotlight machine says I’m a star.” And for a moment, for just a moment, the world believes them.  But what sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bam bam. Because awards don’t make you better. Results do.  You can’t buy results; only build and invest sweat equity. Work that connects people to brands in distinctive ways, in the case of ad agencies. So what if we agencies recognized the real stars?The creatives, the thinkers, the doers.The workers who sweat, sketch, code, edit, and make the connections happen.  Not the snake-oil salesman buying empty accolades to varnish their reputation. We could:Celebrate peer-to-peer recognition, where colleagues honor each other’s contributions. Send personalized notes of gratitude that actually show…