We’ve officially entered the era of Marketing Musical Chairs, except the music stops every 12 to 16 months, and it’s always the CMO left standing.

Why? Because the CMO role has become a lame duck gig. Disposable. Decorated. But damned. The title still sounds powerful, but it now often means: “You’re the first to go when growth stalls, vibes are off, or someone in the boardroom starts reading too much Martech Today.”nestly, who has that kind of time?

One of the questions I get asked most is: “How do you come up with your ideas?”

The honest answer? We ask better questions than everyone else.

As I wrote yesterday, At The Idea Integration Co., we use a CIA-inspired framework called WoMBAT, short for What Might Be All The… It’s my secret weapon. It forces us (and our clients) to explore wide, weird, wonderful thinking before we narrow in on a final concept. It stops us from jumping at the first idea, and pushes us toward the right one.

People often ask me, “Saul, How do you come up with your ideas?” or “Saul, How do you think the way you do?” It’s not magic, and it’s not luck. It’s a process. A way of approaching problems that I’ve honed over years of experience in marketing, branding, and creating campaigns that grab attention and spark conversations. And the secret sauce?

It all comes down to WoMBAT.

Let’s get real for a second, when it comes to knowing what’s best for their customers, many brands are flying blind. They think they know. They have assumptions, gut feelings, and internal discussions that reinforce their own biases. But the truth? Some of them don’t have the slightest clue who their customers actually are, what they really want, or how to effectively connect with them.

Imagine this: you’re at a baseball game. The pitcher on the mound is known for one thing, his knuckleball. It’s unpredictable, almost impossible to hit, and when executed correctly, it’s a game-changer. But despite its potential to dominate, very few pitchers actually use it. Why? It’s difficult to master, it requires finesse and practice, and it’s just… not trendy.

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM) is the knuckleball of the marketing world.

Creativity is being devalued, and it’s not just a problem—it’s a crisis. If we don’t wake up to what’s happening, we’re heading for a future where getting paid to be creative could disappear entirely. Let me explain.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen a troubling trend in industries like advertising and marketing. Agencies are laying off some of the best creatives out there, replacing them with AI-driven tools that are unproven, uninspired, and—let’s be honest—incapable of matching human insight and nuance. Yet these agencies are still charging clients top dollar, pretending the magic is still there. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

Disruption is an overused word. It can mean a lot of different things, but at its heart it’s a catch-all for pushing the limits of something. In the case of disruptive marketing, it can mean pushing the limits so you can be where your customers or prospective customers are. Sometimes that means going to a competitor’s conference (or any conference) with or without permission.