Edition 101. AI gets love from small businesses, Heinz makes a stretch for game day, and HubSpot gives us a new marketing “loop” to think through. 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. 81% are excited about AI, but... Inc. / Getty New survey data, in partnership with PayPal and Google, shows that 81% of small business owners are “excited about AI,” but only 47% use it daily. Translation: we’re AI-curious, but not fully AI-committed. Small businesses are using it where the...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Edition 100. Welcome to Edition 100 of The Brand Bloc! Our Centennial 🥳 Are we now too old to be moving as fast as modern marketing and media? Let’s dive in. 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. Less toxic, more inspo Pinterest Pinterest is making a bold move for the title of “least toxic app in the room.” Its new campaign encourages people to get off social media, with the line: “The best thing you can find online is a reason to go offline.” In the 60-second video spot, a...
15 days ago • 2 min read
Edition 99. Platform power moves, consumer self-expression, and the rise of the $99 “AI CMO.” 👀 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. When influence pays. Meta Meta is paying creators to post on Facebook. Its new Creator Fast Track offers three months of guaranteed pay, with established creators eligible for $1,000 a month if they have 100,000+ followers, and $3,000 a month for 1M+. They also get extra reach on Reels. Key takeaway: platform distribution is now so valuable that...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Edition 98. I interrupt our regular five-byte format to share an email confession that could drive more revenue for your business 💰 But! Before I get into it… 3 short brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. What’s old is new again. Wall Street Journal The generation raised online might be the one giving the mall its second act. TikTok and Instagram culture is sending Gen Z into malls to film, hang out, and shop. 62% of their purchases happen in physical stores (perhaps for the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Traps for content copycats, the AI habit *68%* of people admit to, and the second life of content (with a strategy, too). 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. The Internet still wants answers. Ask Jeeves Back in the day, Ask Jeeves led Search. The name said it all. Ask someone (once upon a time, Jeeves) a question, get an answer. The habit hasn’t changed. But the medium has. A recent consumer sentiment survey found 68% of consumers used at least *one* AI tool in the past...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
When the Internet becomes the brand product team, and why your new “team” might be on a Mac mini. 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. Rare, but happening: ads have entered the AI chat. Reddit Ads in ChatGPT are here. And it’s a quiet rollout. Brands like Best Buy, Fiverr, and Expedia (and even The Knot) have already appeared. Their ads are inside prompt-related responses as part of OpenAI’s early ad pilot. But scale isn’t the strategy (yet). Here’s the data... An AI search...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Edition 95. Big productions used to win. Now AI is leveling the playing field. The AI marketing tools, ad formats, and brand campaigns winning right now? Let’s dive in. 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: Yes, it‘s Captain Planet. This will make sense by the end ;-) 1. Small biz, big views. “He was pulled into a drain pipe after being caught in a flood.” What a hook! The AI scene brings it to life. But here’s the real plot twist… (Actually, I won’t spoil it… yet) A...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Edition 94. Nobody reads ads, a new 45-page report reminds us. But a platform shift is reshaping brand discovery, and *this* three-hour masterclass is commanding views in a swipe-first world. 5 brand bytes to inform and inspire you this week: 1. The “Algorithmic Era” is here. Dentsu Dentsu, a global ad and media network, released its 2026 forecast. The report distills its findings into these three truths: 👉 We crave simplicity👉 We crave connection, and 👉 We tune out ads. It maps how AI,...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Edition 93. In case you’re among the 100+ million people set to tune in to the Super Bowl tonight, I’ll keep this edition light (and fun). 5 fun email facts to inform and inspire you this week: The email provider I use for e-commerce, Omnisend, dropped a “Year in Email” recap this week. The “fun edition” 🤪 They analyzed over 26 *billion* emails (yes, billion with a B) — to spot playful patterns instead of performance benchmarks. Because sometimes we need a break from the serious numbers and...
3 months ago • 2 min read