MarketingShifts
Trusted Enough to Become the Answer
TRENDSETTERS | Martyn Etherington, CMO of BMC Software. There was something refreshingly grounded about speaking with Martyn Etherington recently. At a moment when much of the marketing conversation around AI feels dominated by acceleration, automation, and speculation, Martyn’s perspective was strikingly simple: the future may belong less to louder brands — and more to trusted […]
THE EDIT | When Proof Becomes the Concept
Some brands are still focused on visibility. Others are beginning to recognize that visibility alone is no longer enough. In an environment shaped by skepticism, overload, and constant exposure, marketing increasingly faces a different challenge: not simply getting attention, but demonstrating credibility, usefulness, transparency—or even self-awareness. This week’s examples from Shein, a Finnish bakery brand, […]
The Evolution of Purpose: Ten Years of Marketing Signals Under Pressure
An INSIGHTS analysis from The Internationalist. For more than a decade, the marketing industry has debated the role of purpose. At times the concept has been celebrated as the future of brand building. At other moments it has been criticized as performative, political, or unsustainable. Both interpretations miss a more important reality. Purpose has never […]
From Puppets to Vinyl to Dogs: A Holiday Marketing Spirit That Signals a Bigger Shift
Why 2025’s joyful, imperfect holiday ads may be previewing marketing’s next big chapter. Holiday advertising always offers spectacle and sentiment, but 2025 may be remembered as the year marketers collectively embraced imperfection—leaning into instinct, nostalgia, and unpolished humanity to cut through the noise of an AI-saturated world. A Dog With a GoPro Steals the Season […]