When AI wearable company Friend blanketed New York City with ads last month, there was significant backlash. Many of the company's ads (which included rage-baiting copy like, "I'll never bail on our dinner plans") ended up defaced with graffiti that called the product "AI trash," "surveillance capitalism," and a tool to "profit off of loneliness."
Marketing is often undervalued, which is not news to many reading this newsletter. When companies are looking to make budget cuts, they often begin by looking to their marketing teams and campaigns. But a new white paper from insights company TransUnion and marketing trade organization MMA Global uses their Brand as Performance (BaP) framework to determine the true value of campaigns, and finds that traditional measurement methods have undervalued brand marketing's impact on sales by as much as 83%.
In July, Sundberg published a newsletter headlined "1 in 3 Feed Me readers surveyed use a GLP-1." Despite being sponsored by a company that sells weight-loss medication, the post doesn't shy away sharing its negative perceptions. In one anonymous quote submission, a reader said, "It's kind of cheating, shouldn't we all work to get healthy, not thin?" Another said: "I am still embarrassed for other people if they get on them."
First, changes to the search landscape, which have companies thinking about visibility and LLM citations over SERPs and clicks, are seen as brand marketing efforts. But brands also made news by taking actions that seem to go against their brand values or upset customers. Southwest Airlines, which for years touted "Bags fly free" started charging for checked bags. Cracker Barrel tried to update its logo and faced a backlash from its customer base that threw the brand into national politics.
Vodafone made a commercial starring an AI avatar posing as a real lady. This is interesting because Vodafone is a major global brand and not a fly-by-night TikTok company using a ridiculous deepfake of Jackson Galaxy to sell cat toys. The tells in the commercial are obvious and what one would expect. The AI avatar's hair is a bit off, which ruins the charade that this is a real person.
It was the ideal duration for those watching at home (mainly women) to become familiar with a product and (hopefully) become convinced of its benefits. Sixty seconds was chopped to thirty in the 1970s - not because of changing attention spans, but because of cigarettes. To make up for revenue losses following the ban on cigarette adverts, television networks started shaving down ad lengths, and this shaving continued into the 1980s, when 15-second commercials were introduced.
Deema has an impressive background, spanning Xbox, Microsoft, YouTube, Google, Flipboard, Unity, Scribd and Figma. She joins us to share her experiences and insights on the fast-paced changes in marketing and tech, primarily driven by AI advancements. Our discussion covers the resurgence of brand marketing, the evolution of advertising and how AI is transforming creative and performance marketing. Deema also reflects on her involvement with nonprofits and the potential of AI to revolutionize this sector.
Most importantly, her ring with an Old Mine cut diamond the size of a gigantic movie theater ice cube came courtesy of Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry. Brides magazine interviewed Benjamin Khordipour, a specialist in antique and vintage jewelry, who estimated the rock's cost at around $550,000. The ring was handcrafted in 18k yellow gold and the center diamond is set with needle point prongs that perfectly match the antique style. Smaller diamonds and hand-engravings adorn the shoulders of her setting, Khordipour said.
