you create the conditions for people to do the things they’ve always wanted to do

Seth Godin on the status games aspect of strategy

Forrester has made its 2025 predictions 🔮

In: “Brand smart”
Out: Brand safety

embracing new practices like swapping keyword exclusion lists with lists of publishers to include in their campaigns.

Out: TikTok ban in 2025
In (again): SEO-powered AI

Out: In-housing
In: Agencies (out-housing? (depends on the agency, I guess))

Welcome to the totally predictable ad market circus

Rather than normalcy, we’re finding huge spikes of inefficiency as everybody scrambles to crunch ad campaigns in before the big BFCM weekend.

Most platform cost per metrics are up and brands are trying to make up for lost time.

Customer mindset is boomeranging post-election.

Enjoy some turkey today and slow down a bit.

Beware negative social proof. a.k.a. the “well, if everyone else is doing it…” effect

Definition = if you make an unwanted behaviour seem commonplace, more people will perform the unwanted behaviour.

Negativity is a downward spiral. And one hard to harness.

Be aspirational.

It’s easy to focus on winning but I think have to focus more on how not to lose than you do on how to win.

Because how not to lose is more controllable than how to win.

When you’re trying to win championships you can’t focus on winning championships. You have to focus on what goes into the process of winning but also how can you prevent losing by doing the things that are simplest to do under high duress.

-Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla