Bringing in a consultant or agency is a big decision. I get it, it’s a serious investment. It’s not just the money, which can easily creep into six figures, but the time and energy spent getting someone up to speed on your business. Typically, it takes weeks (or months) before they’re even ready to deliver something meaningful. And honestly, who has that kind of time?

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.

In my last post, I said this: “Brands can no longer afford to keep operating at arm's length from their customers.” We’ve spent the past few years obsessed with growth hacks, automation, and data, but as we gear up for 2025, it’s clear that the tides are changing. The world is more unpredictable than ever, and the brands that thrive will be the ones that rediscover the power of community and bring back the human connection they’ve lost.

I rarely make these prediction posts because I think I would say the same thing every year, and then people would say I have no original thoughts, but as we gear up for 2025, there’s one clear thing: brands can no longer afford to keep operating at arm's length from their customers. We’ve spent years obsessing over growth hacks, data analytics, and automation, but the tides are changing. The world is about to get a lot more unpredictable, and consumers are more empowered than ever before. To thrive in the coming year, brands need to rediscover something that many have lost sight of — the power of community and being human.

If you have ever seen me speak at a conference or listened to any of my podcast interviews, you will know I am a little bit of a broken record when it comes to my belief that brands need to stand out and be different. There are a lot of ways to be different, but no matter what anyone tells you, meaningful difference is the cornerstone of brand value.

Many years ago, working with a data research client, we conducted an experiment where we created 3 new brands. These brands were over the top "offensive" and were supposed to turn people off and insight rage. The three bands (pictured) were a beer brand for older men who love barely legal women, a soda for women who were victimized by #MeToo, and my favorite, Thong Diapers.

I’ve recently started rewatching Mad Men, and honestly, it’s just as brilliant the second (or third) time around. What I love most about the show isn’t just the retro aesthetic, the cutting dialogue, or the messy, fascinating characters. It’s the focus on ideas—the why of marketing and advertising. Yes, it’s fictional, but there’s a truth in how the show portrays the power of ideas to shape culture and drive desire. Watching Don Draper pitch his heart out in that smoky boardroom feels more relevant than ever, even in a world where we’ve swapped cigarettes for smartphones.

Tomorrow is my birthday (so be nice to me and share this post), and November 1st is the 15th anniversary of starting The Idea Integration Co. Inc. In those 15 years, we have grown, reinvented ourselves a few times, and had the absolute honor of working on cool projects with brands we love.

I have been doing 1:1 personal branding coaching with people, and one of the exercises I ask them to do is write their obituary. Pretend it is 25 years in the future and write about what they accomplished. It is part aspiration (looking forward) and part self-reflection (looking backward) so people can list accomplishments that are earned and desired.

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.

In the fast-paced world of marketing, trends come and go like passing storms. But amidst the ever-changing landscape of buzzwords and metrics, there's one constant that successful companies prioritize: the human element. In an era where bounce rates, impressions, and data analytics reign supreme, it's essential to remember that behind every number and acronym, there's a human being with emotions, desires, and needs.

A client asked me this week if I thought he had achieved "product-market fit" and I said, "Not even close."

However you define product market fit, I define it as "would your customers notice or suffer if you died/went out of business.

I wasn't trying to be mean, but it was an honest answer because the product has no identity for whom it is designed.

Now I could easily write 2000 words on what product market fit is and how to measure etc, but instead, let's talk about the thing few people discuss in this conversation, which is how "niche" your business is. I have seen many times brands try to be everything to everyone instead of being the only choice for a few. That few could be hundreds of thousands of people and be the foundation of building a billion-dollar company, but those "few" must all look and smell the same. That could mean the same industry or similar geography or many other similarities. The quickest way to product market fit is (in my opinion) finding that niche that isn't being served and overserve them.

I recently finished reading Peter Levitan's new book "How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency". I enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it; only a little of it was new to me because I have seen or heard most things in the almost 15 years I have been running my agency, but one thing I did take to heart was his chapter on having a one-page business plan.

I get asked all the time if I have kids, and I always answer the same way. "I have been traveling 100 thousand miles a year for work for a decade and often relied on the kindness of strangers to save me from boredom, so I am sure I have at least a few" (if you are an HR professional, please note that this is just a joke) but the truth is I do have babies all over North America and even a few in scattered around the UK, Brazil, and Australia.

The babies I am talking about are my ideas and my work.

I read a report recently that said that crying in a movie reveals high empathy, social awareness and connection – all aspects of emotional intelligence. As such, it is an indicator of personal strength rather than weakness.

I am two months into the Voitures Extravert project, and I am excited that we are starting to see some wins. When I was writing the marketing plan, I laid out several hypotheses about how to launch a luxury car brand in the US and wanted to prove them about marketing to HNW individuals.

I was recently interviewed by the nice people at Startwell, and we talked about “the brands that stand out from the pack usually win.” I believe this, preach this and live this. You will see this in my talks, in my work, and, more than anywhere else, in my pitches.