The Overthinkers

Ad tracking has become one of the most common tools of "modern advertising". But as regulators start legislating more and more against it (and some big tech companies taking stances "protecting" us from it), one has to wonder, what will happen to the advertising industry? Do we go back to the bright ages of creativity? Do small businesses lose a key competitive advantage? Is it all a storm in a teacup anyway and we end up simply using contextual targeting?

While TV isn't dead (at least not yet), there has been a clear trend towards a diminishing inventory and massive changes in watching behaviors. With advertising being so heavily reliant (at least historically) on TV advertising, could that industry survive it, or are we headed towards mostly performance based advertising?

Strategy might be too important to be left to the strategist. Does a "strategist" need them to champion - or even to formulate - it? Or is that more of a shared responsibility anyway? And if not, what would that say about the future of strategy as a profession?

Portfolio schools have proven effective at giving many people the chance to learn practical (and sellable) skills that made them ready to join advertising teams. But in light of the news that Creative Circus will be closing at the end of the year, we asked ourselves whether those curriculums were still relevant, or whether this may be the first domino to fall?

Innovation is on most corporations' agenda, but not on many's list of achievements. This week, we're joined by three exceptional innovation leaders to discuss how companies can better foster a culture of innovation:

- Lan Guo, User Research Manager, Business Messaging @ Meta

- Mary Catherine Plunkett, Sr Director Customer Success Design @ Autodesk

- Leslie Llado Social Enterprise Lead @ Splash International, an NGO designing child-focused water, sanitation, hygiene, & menstrual health solutions in Asia & Africa.

Purpose (the "making society better" kind) has been hailed as a great booster for business. While the practice is likely valuable, do we really see difference between brands that have a strong purpose and those that do not? In this episode, we talk about the way purpose influences reputation, perception, and maybe business results.

Subscription revenues is the new black in the world of business. Investors love them and tend to highly reward companies that can demonstrate not just revenues, but recurring revenues. Subscription markets even follow different loyalty patterns than repertoire markets. But is that really the future of business, and aren't there inherent limits to the model?

Strong leaders/founders can often shape the future of brands - Steve Jobs and Apple, Elon Musk and Tesla etc. In recent years, we've also seen the explosion of major content creators and influencers able to give brands some wings. Is this becoming the new playbook? And with a media world fragmenting and revolving more and more around people, should we expect it to be essential for brands building?

This week we're joined by the lovely Kim Mackenzie, founder of Ladies Who Strategize, a marketing strategist community specifically for women and non-binaries. In the episode, she tells us why she created it after years spent in New-Zealand, the spirit behind her community, what makes is so great and what she wants to see in the future.

On the heels of the Coinbase turmoil that made some waves this week, we ask ourselves what has led us to this position where agencies struggle to get credit for their work - and often struggle to even be seen as a valuable actor in the advertising industry?