Ideas Shaping Our Thinking

Observations and points of view on brand, technology, and advantage.

  • “Before people decide what they think of your message, they decide what they think of you.”

    —Shari Levitin

    It works for salespeople. And it works for brands. Connect with emotion, sell with information.

  • The future of Brand is Brand-as-API

    Today, brand data lives on your website.

    In the future, it will live instead of your website.

    By encoding emotional resonance and structured data into a unified system, organizations can move beyond disruptive advertising (attention) to capturing exponential growth through seamless, automated interactions (intent).

    As agentic interaction becomes the default, modern brands must be machine-readable—and human-lovable.

  • Tech Makes Output. Taste Makes Value.

    AI provides ideas and execution at speed. But in an age of automated output, the ability to choose what resonates and what matters becomes strategic edge.

    Why Taste—not Talent or Tech—Offers the Real Advantage

    Abundance doesn’t create advantage. Taste is revealed in what gets cut.

  • “If you want to make the wrong decision, ask everyone.”

    —Naval Ravikant

    Distinction rarely survives consensus.

  • Brands matter. Point of view matters more.

    Brands don’t become distinct through design alone. They become distinct when they stake a clear position.

    Point of view is what gives a brand meaning.

    Conviction precedes branding. That’s where real differentiation begins.

  • “Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly.”

    —David McCullough

    Clear writing isn’t a communication skill. It’s a thinking skill.

  • The Age of Effortless Execution

    We’ve been told ideas are cheap and execution is everything.

    That belief was shaped by a world where building took time and resources.

    AI has changed that math.

    Execution is accelerating. Output is everywhere.

    What remains scarce is originality and judgment—the ability to decide what’s worth building in the first place.

    Effortless execution multiplies output. Strategic judgment creates advantage.

  • Will the K-shaped economy change who your brand targets?

    The economy isn’t splitting evenly. Your marketing can’t either.

    The K-Shaped Economy Is Here. Here’s How Brands Should Respond

    When opportunities diverge, one-size-fits-all marketing becomes a liability. Winning strategies are calibrated to distinct trajectories.

  • “It’s important for us to remember, as marketers, that we’re in a very delicate position within a turbulent time. Consumers are not just looking for convenience — they’re searching for meaning.”

    —Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia

    Meaning isn’t a message layer. It is the standard by which people judge brands. Convenience gets attention. Meaning earns loyalty.

  • Kidlin’s Law

    A problem well stated is half solved.

    Writing it down works because it:
    » breaks mental loops
    » exposes gaps
    » turns overwhelm into action

    Complex problems feel hard because they’re undefined. Writing them down turns uncertainty into action.

  • Emotion is Currency. Campaigns live or die on whether they feel worth engaging with.

    —ChatGPT

    Performance doesn’t disappear when emotion enters the room—it compounds. Feeling is how value gets priced.

  • When should you use emotional vs informational ad creative?

    Use informative ads for practical products, and emotional ones for pleasurable ones.

    When to Use Emotional vs Informational Ads

    Emotional ads don’t exclude information. They give it context and meaning worth remembering.

  • “Customers are very good at telling you what they’d add. They’re terrible at identifying what should be removed. And you don’t end up with a good product just by adding everything. Don’t act on customer requests; act on their behalf.”

    —David Heinemeier Hansson

    Customers expertly reveal friction. Sound strategy decides what to remove and from where.

  • Solve problems like Einstein.

    “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes understanding it.”

    1st: Identify the Problem
    2nd: Determine the Root Causes
    3rd: Define the Goal
    4th: Develop Solution Ideas
    5th: Evaluate and Implement

    Most solutions fail because speed applied to the wrong problem only gets you the wrong answer faster.

  • Great writing is great editing.

    —Unknown

    Clarity isn’t created when you add more. It’s revealed when you remove what doesn’t matter.

  • Is more better, or is more just more?

    The AI race isn’t just model versus model; it’s also AI versus human. AI is already winning in quantity, but what about quality?

    More Articles Are Now Created by AI Than Humans

    Quantity is not an advantage; discernment is.

  • Mediocrity is often disguised as “best practice.”

    —Yossi Kreinin

    Best practice is always the baseline. Advantage comes from knowing when to push beyond it.

  • Is a brand refresh the new ad campaign?

    The strongest marketers utilize their brand identity and creative campaigns in tandem to deliver purpose and experience.

    Why Marketers Keep Refreshing Brands Instead of Betting on Splashy Ads

    Campaigns are louder when the brand behind them actually stands for something.

  • The Future Belongs to Applied Intelligence

    Master artificial intelligence, or be mastered by it.

    A divide is emerging. Leverage is shifting towards those who adapt.

    Unfair advantage doesn’t go to those who use AI most—it goes to those who use it best.

  • Are taglines and slogans interchangeable?

    The answer is “no.” The difference between a tagline and a slogan is nuanced, but one tends to stick around while the other has a limited shelf life.

    On Writing a Tagline (and Pitching It, Too)

    Taglines are commitments that illuminate the brand. Slogans drive campaigns forward.

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