Marketing has more data, technology and specialist expertise than ever.

But is all that sophistication actually making marketing better?

In this edition of The Barber's Brief, Marc and Vassilis unpack five stories that all raise different versions of that question.

First, AI assistants are increasingly embedded in how people discover and evaluate products, yet they still rank near the bottom of trusted sources for shopping recommendations. Marc asks whether AI will eventually become a reliable source of marketing knowledge or simply produce increasingly confident averages of everything we've already said.

Then, V looks at PepsiCo's decision to consolidate its global media business with Publicis under a single operating model spanning strategy, planning, activation, data, identity and technology. The bigger question: has fragmentation itself become one of marketing's biggest effectiveness problems?

Marc follows with the $700 billion MarTech delusion. One former privacy executive pulled her own data-broker profile and discovered she belonged to 500 segments, simultaneously classified as male and female, low income and high income. Research discussed in the episode suggests purchased targeting data can sometimes perform little better than chance, while contextual targeting may outperform it at lower cost.

Then comes something refreshingly simple.

The UPS Store has introduced its first brand character, Blu, designed to help expand the brand's mental associations beyond shipping into printing, shredding, mailboxes and other small-business services. V argues the opportunity isn't simply creating entertaining advertising; it's building a distinctive memory structure that can work across multiple buying situations.

Finally, Marc's Ad of the Week goes to Canva's Wild Design: handcrafted stop-motion advertising in an era where almost anyone can generate something instantly with AI. The campaign combines showmanship with salesmanship while continuing to invest in a recurring character as a potential distinctive asset.

More technology doesn't automatically mean better marketing.

Sometimes the advantage may come from making the whole system work together — and remembering the fundamentals underneath it.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to the Barber's Brief

01:58 Why Shoppers Use AI But Don't Trust It

03:01 Who Do Consumers Trust for Recommendations?

04:13 The AI Credibility Gap

05:09 When Low-Evidence Categories Reward the First Answer

06:23 Does AI Know Marketing Effectiveness?

08:18 Is AI Learning From Its Own Slop?

09:01 PepsiCo's Massive Global Media Shift

10:29 The Problem With Marketing Specialization

12:24 Is Fragmentation Hurting Marketing Effectiveness?

15:15 The $700 Billion MarTech Delusion

16:02 When Audience Data Is Completely Wrong

17:30 Does Targeting Actually Work?

18:42 Did MarTech Solve the Wrong Problem?

19:15 What Should CMOs Do With Their MarTech Stack?

21:31 The UPS Store Introduces Its First Brand Character

23:25 Blu as a Distinctive Brand Asset

24:21 Why Brand Characters Need Consistency

25:41 Are Brand Characters Really Making a Comeback?

27:20 Marc's Marketing Effectiveness Haiku

28:05 Ad of the Week: Canva's Wild Design

29:05 Showmanship Meets Salesmanship

30:22 Building Distinctive Assets Over Time

31:51 Why Canva Chose Craft in the Age of AI

34:18 What's Coming Next

35:38 Stay Sharp

Episode Links:

Shoppers ask AI for help but don't trust its advice

Link: https://www.emarketer.com/content/shoppers-ask-ai-help-don-t-trust-its-advice

PepsiCo hands global media to Publicis amid transformation at CPG giant

Link: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/pepsico-hands-global-media-to-publicis-amid-transformation-at-cpg-giant/829556/

The $700bn Delusion

Link: https://www.mi-3.com.au/26-06-2024/data-delusion-does-using-data-target-specific-audiences-advertising-actually-make

The UPS Store enlists first brand character to support franchisees

Link: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/the-ups-store-enlists-first-brand-character-to-support-franchisees/829215/

Ad of the week - Canva - Wild Design

Link: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/wild-design-f89d06d3-3b9d-4cd0-95de-189714c47446