TRENDSETTERS
The Grumpy Innovator: Why Good Ideas Don’t Always Win
Costas Papaikonomou on disruption, decision-making, and the overlooked power of the obvious. Innovation has become a kind of corporate reflex. When growth slows or markets shift, the instinct is often the same: disrupt, reinvent, transform. But according to Costas Papaikonomou, an innovation expert, entrepreneur, co-founder of Una Terra, and author of The Disruption Fallacy and […]
Retail Media, Connected Commerce & the New CPG Playbook
A conversation with Mary Katherine “MK” Woltz of Danone on how media is being redefined—from a channel to a growth system. Media Isn’t Supporting Commerce Anymore It’s becoming inseparable from it. For years, retail media was treated as an extension of shopper marketing—a powerful but contained layer focused on conversion. That distinction is disappearing. As […]
From Performance to Protection: How ROCKWOOL Is Reframing Marketing in a Changing World
In a market defined by pressure on costs, on supply chains, and on expectations, brand performance remains essential. But increasingly, marketing is being asked to do more than communicate performance; it must clarify what it enables and why it matters now. At ROCKWOOL, that shift is taking shape in a deliberate and meaningful way. With […]
At 50, Habitat for Humanity Looks Forward: Opening the Door to What Comes Next
Fifty years after its founding, Habitat for Humanity stands at a rare intersection of legacy and urgency. What began as a bold experiment in community-driven housing has grown into a global movement that has helped more than 65 million people access safe, decent, and affordable homes. Yet, as Habitat marks this milestone, the organization is […]
Why Media Excellence Now Means Doing Less — and Doing It Better
Adam Benaroya on strategic simplification, reach plus relevance, and the growing challenge of retail media measurement. In a marketing industry increasingly defined by dashboards, data layers, and expanding channel choices, Adam Benaroya has been advocating something refreshingly counterintuitive: strategic simplification. Over the course of his career — spanning leadership roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Johnson […]
Reinventing the Familiar: How Fujifilm Is Turning Transformation Into Belief
When Anthony Farina talks about joining the Fujifilm Corporation, he doesn’t describe it as a career move. He calls it, “Stepping into one of the most compelling transformation stories in modern business.” For decades, Fujifilm was synonymous with photography. Today, it is a diversified global company spanning healthcare, life sciences, advanced materials, and imaging technologies […]
Marketing Is No Longer the First Conversation — Say Acumion’s Founders
Sebastian Vedsted Jespersen and Kasper Ulf Nielsen contend that AI-mediated discovery is compressing differentiation into summary — and that brands must now encode proof to avoid flattening into parity. It is always wonderful to see our Internationalist Innovators do well. It is rarer to watch two of them quietly build something that may alter the […]
The Longevity Blind Spot: What Better Not Younger Reveals About Marketing in a New Age-Inclusive Economy
Founder Sonsoles Gonzalez on brand evolution, ageism in marketing, and why the industry must rethink its assumptions about relevance, confidence, and growth. For decades, marketing has quietly operated on an outdated timeline. Career momentum peaks early. Innovation belongs to youth. And women, in particular, are often treated as if their relevance fades just as their […]
Marketing at the Crossroads: Bob Liodice on AI, Authenticity, and What Comes Next
ANA’s CEO Discusses Trust, Brand Loyalty, and What Marketing Must Get Right in 2026 As marketers enter 2026, the tension between acceleration and trust has never been more visible. New technologies—especially AI—are unlocking extraordinary possibilities, yet recent consumer backlash to AI-generated advertising is reminding brands of a timeless truth: innovation without authenticity erodes trust. That […]
Identity, Trust, and the New Rules of Nonprofit Marketing: Insights from Jon Lee of Lerma
Nonprofits are often the first to feel cultural change—not because they’re different from brands, but because the stakes are higher. When people give their own money rather than spend it, their motivations are more revealing, their expectations more demanding, and their tolerance for misalignment far lower. That’s why the shifts happening in nonprofit marketing today—around […]