WOW. You are like soooo behind. It’s a total game-changer for marketing so you really need to, like, get on board. Ok but am I the only one who’s sick and tired of being told every 3 days that there’s a new so-called groundbreaking concept that’s going to revolutionise our entire industry? Especially when you do a little digging and realise that “mindblowing” new frontier is really just another piece of BS jargon? So, how do you know when you really do need to pay attention to what someone claims is an industry shift, and when to just tune out? [Here’s how]

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

Argos, apparently. They’ve created, and I’m not even joking, lad, a wooden "influencer kit" aimed at toddlers. It includes a tripod stand, a miniature camera with an adjustable aperture lens, a smartphone model, a tablet, and a microphone. All the items can be stored in a carrying pouch.

Apparently it's meant to “cultivate children’s storytelling skills and creativity through career role-play.” – Errrrr, more like normalise the messy world of digital labour and prematurely expose children to the pressures of online visibility. Did we not just see the whole “social media causes severe irreversible harm to children” thing happen with Meta? Hard pass.

But wait, there’s more! "Five Nights at Epstein’s" is a game going viral at US school campuses. We are in hell, I think. I died in 2019 and we are in hell.

In the game, available via a web browser, players pretend to be sexual assault victims trapped on Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious island. They have to hide from security, cameras, and surprise attacks from Epstein himself. Merve Lapus’s 13-year-old daughter told her dad she was horrified that whenever her teacher stepped out of the room, the kids in her class would play the game. She also said it troubled her that it seemed to disconnect them from the face that there were real life victims. Regularly talking and laughing about the game was almost “dehumanising” she said. That’s an understatement.

Some good news so you don’t end this segment with existential dread (not too much anyway). After months of debate over LLMs on Wikipedia, 20 volunteer editors accepted a new policy that prohibits using LLMs to create articles for the online encyclopaedia. With no real guardrails for LLM’s, editors were essentially becoming overwhelmed with the sheer number of administrative reports centred on LLM-related issues. I’m praying this empowers other communities to decide whether AI is welcome in their spaces. Wikipedia is one that should absolutely be left to the humans, for the humans and by the humans. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer

I was doing my usual morning browse when I saw Adweek had published a sponsored article declaring the signal economy as the new secret to brand growth.

Guys, I've literally worked in marketing for four years and I struggled to understand parts of it. Not because I'm stupid or I don’t know how to do my job. Because it's deliberately obscure jargon wrapping a relatively simple concept in enterprise software sales language.

There's always a new fkn secret.

But how do we know what's actually worth our brain space versus what's just buzzword soup designed to sell measurement platforms?

Strip away the jargon and the signal economy is this: Your apps and websites generate data about customer behaviour > AI systems use that data to optimise marketing > brands with better data infrastructure will have an advantage as AI automates more marketing decisions.

That's it.

It talks about how apps are uniquely valuable because they capture authenticated users and transactional behaviour in controlled environments. Which is just saying apps have better first-party data than websites.

The piece emphasises that measurement infrastructure translates raw events into comparable outputs like attribution, incrementality, and ROI. Translation: you need analytics software to make sense of your data.

The author works for a measurement platform company. This is a sales pitch.

The signal economy, the creator economy, the attention economy!!! Can’t forget the experience economy. What next! Each one gets positioned as the fundamental shift you can't afford to miss.

This proliferation happens because enterprise software companies need new angles to sell existing products. Consultancies need new frameworks to justify their fees. Industry publications need fresh angles to attract readers and sponsors. Everyone benefits from making marketing sound more complex than it actually is.

First-party data has LITERALLY always mattered. Measurement has always been important. AI automating more decisions based on data isn't revolutionary - it's evolutionary.

When you encounter new marketing jargon, ask: what is this actually saying underneath the buzzwords? Can I explain this concept in normal language to someone outside the industry? If I can't, is that because the concept is genuinely complex or because it's deliberately obscured?

Is this coming from practitioners sharing what actually works? Or is it coming from vendors selling platforms, consultants selling services, or publications that benefit from sponsored content? The signal economy article is sponsored by a measurement platform. That context matters.

Look for concrete examples and specific applications. Useful frameworks show you how to implement them. Sales pitches disguised as thought leadership stay vague and aspirational.

If the article doesn't give you actionable steps, it's probably not meant to help you - it's meant to make you feel behind so you buy something.

First-party data mattering more as third-party cookies die and AI automates decisions, yeah, those things are real. Having infrastructure to actually use that data well - also real!

The signal economy as presented in that Adweek article however. Sales pitch wrapped in unnecessary jargon.

You don't need to adopt their specific framework or terminology to understand that apps generate valuable customer data and measurement platforms help you use it. Hello? Don’t play in my face, that’s a tale as old as time.

Understand your customers, create value for them, measure what works, optimise based on data. Yada-yada-yada. Those fundamentals don't change just because the jargon does.

And the jargon will change, because marketing will always generate new jargon.

New economies, new eras, new secrets to growth. Some will be genuinely useful reframes of how things work. Most will be repackaged basics wrapped in enterprise language designed to sell platforms and services.

You don't have unlimited brain space for buzzwords that might be obsolete in six months. Sh*t, I sure as hell don’t anyway. Focus on understanding actual customer behaviour, creating genuine value, and measuring outcomes. The jargon will keep changing, the fundamentals won't.

The signal economy is probably fine as a concept. But if you've worked in marketing for four years and struggle to understand the article explaining it, that's not a you problem. That's a jargon problem.

And you're allowed to just... not participate in it.

You’re welcome x

-Sophie Randell, Writer

The “nevermind, don't need you, never did” trend comes from social media content creator @bigekane. It captures that exact moment when someone gives you even a hint of attitude and you are immediately over it.

People are using this trend to highlight those painfully relatable moments, like calling your sibling and they answer with attitude, asking a coworker a question but they didn't help at all, or ringing someone and instantly regretting it because of their tone. It's all about that internal “actually I'm good” moment that turns into pure comedic pettiness.

Using the audio, set up a scenario where you need something or are reaching out to someone all while mouthing “nevermind, didn’t need you, never did”. Add on screen text like “when I…” or “when he or she…” depending on the situation. Play into the dramatics. You can keep it subtle with just facial expressions or go more exaggerated if that fits your style.

A few ideas to get you started:

-Fiona Badiana, Intern

Hey Cath!

If you don't already have one, create a sign-up flow that gets new subscribers excited to get your emails. This should include a Thank You page they see after signing up, which tells them what kind of content they're going to get. You should also create a Welcome Email that reiterates the value they'll get from your newsletters. This email should also tell them how to move your newsletter to their primary inbox.

Next, I’d suggest you A/B test your subject lines for every email you send. In my experience, this is a really good way to increase your open rates. Finally, ask your subscribers what problems they are having as it relates to your services. Then, create newsletter content that addresses those. The only way to keep your subscribers around is to provide content they find valuable!

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.