Meeting planners are inundated. Emails. LinkedIn messages. Cold outreach. “Just checking in” follow-ups. Most of it gets ignored. Not because planners are dismissive, but because the majority of outreach feels interchangeable. Same language. Same promises. Same lack of relevance. So, what actually breaks through? Here’s what 78Madison has concluded (from years of trial and error)...
Imagine your brand walking into a room. Not your logo. Not your website. Not your tagline. Your brand as a person. Do people lean in… or slowly look for the nearest exit? It’s a simple question, but it cuts straight to the heart of brand voice. Because whether you realize it or not, your brand...
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...
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...
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...
Each year, September 11 comes and goes. We see the posts, the hashtags, the photos of the Twin Towers, flags waving in the breeze. For many, it has become another “day” on the calendar. Something to acknowledge out of tradition, then move past as life continues. But if that is all it becomes, then we...
I love AI. I really do. In the advertising world, it’s like suddenly having a 24/7 creative department that never sleeps, never complains about deadlines, and doesn’t charge overtime. It can spit out headlines, draft scripts, create art, and even suggest campaign strategies in seconds. Incredible, right? But here’s the danger: AI’s brilliance can make...
At a recent Q&A with business students, I was asked a refreshingly honest question: “What do clients really want to know from advertising agencies?” Not what agencies hope they’ll ask—but what they’re truly thinking. I applauded the question because it hit a nerve in the right way. Too many agencies still hide behind smoke and...
In the fast-paced, algorithm-tuned world of modern marketing, where AI writes headlines, digital platforms change by the minute, and customer data fuels every strategy, you might wonder: Are the old advertising books still worth reading? Can anything written in the age of Mad Men possibly help in the era of machine learning? The answer is...