There’s a moment – brief, almost imperceptible – when your audience decides what to do with you. Stay… or leave. Lean in… or scroll past. Engage… or ignore. That moment lasts about seven seconds. And in today’s environment, it’s often even shorter. We like to think people carefully consider messaging, weigh value propositions, and thoughtfully...
“Advertising doesn’t create a product advantage. It can only convey it.” Bill Bernbach. Now, many of you who are practicing modern day marketing might be saying to yourself, who the heck is Bill Bernbach. Well, it takes a real ad junkie to know that Bernbach was the godfather of modern advertising. One of the greatest...
This may be the last year we formally rate Super Bowl commercials. Like a lot of things in culture, the sizzle feels like it packed up and left the building. We’ve been circling this thought for a few years now, but this season made it unmistakable: the “commercials” are no longer the event they once...
Mentorship is having a moment again. Programs are being announced, structures are being formalized, and metrics are being discussed. All of that has value. But at its best, mentorship has never been about systems. It has always been about people. That’s why Moroch Partners’ recent announcement of the Jack Phifer Mentorship Program stopped me in...
You did everything “right.” You chose a major. You completed internships. You sought mentors. You landed a job. You worked hard, stayed late, learned the ropes, and built a résumé that actually looks respectable. And now, ten years in, you find yourself asking a quiet but persistent question: Did I pick the right career? This...
There’s a saying that’s been floating around boardrooms for years: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I heard it again today, and it stopped me in my tracks. Not because it’s new, but because it’s still undeniably true, and nowhere is that truth more visible than in the advertising agency industry. Advertising loves strategy. · We...
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. A time that invites us to pause, to reflect, and to give thanks. And yet, when we look around, it can feel like gratitude is in short supply. We live in a world that emphasizes what’s wrong over what’s right. Complaints travel fast, and it’s easy to get caught...
After decades in the ad world, I’ve come to a depressing conclusion: most marketers don’t write anymore, they recycle. They don’t create language; they repeat it. Every time a buzzword pops up, the herd stampedes. Suddenly everyone’s “leveraging synergy” to “move the needle” with “innovative solutions.” The result? A chorus of copy that sounds like...
In today’s world, anyone and everyone can generate a website in seconds. It’s true. AI can spin one up before your coffee cools. There are templates galore — drag, drop, done. But let’s be honest… does fast mean effective? Sure, it’s easy to click your way to something that looks like a website. But what...
It’s no secret: people don’t trust advertising the way they used to. Scroll through your feed, and what happens? You swipe past the banner, skip the pre-roll, or click “skip ad” the moment it flashes on your screen. In fact, surveys show that younger generations, especially Gen Z, are more skeptical of advertising than any...