Jenny Campbell

Attention is the new currency. Get the playbook behind how top agencies are cashing in on conversions: https://lnkd.in/e98CiTyw High-performing teams are breaking down silos, integrating stacks, and aligning brand with performance to drive consistency across the funnel. Download our latest research report to see how top marketers are shaping their conversion strategies: https://lnkd.in/e98CiTyw

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We’re in a new era of brand partnerships. Not the safe, predictable ones. The crossovers that don’t make sense on paper but work in the real world. Aura x Talkspace. Touchland x CROCS. Heinz x Absolut Vodka Some simple rules separate the winners from the gimmicks: → There has to be shared audience visibility. No overlap, no point. → Values need to line up, even if aesthetics don’t. People feel when it’s forced. → Both brands need to carry weight in trust and promotion. → The creative has to actually surprise people. That’s what drives organic attention. When it’s done right, you get things like the Liquid Death x Dr. Squatch (two OpenFortune 🥠 clients!) drop, exclusive at Target, sold out in under a week. Brands are realizing collabs are one of the fastest ways to expand reach. And the smartest ones aren’t staying in their lane.

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Obermeyer’s Next Ascent: How A Legacy Mountain Brand Is Scaling New Heights Legacy can be both a gift and a burden. For heritage outdoor brands, the pressure to stay relevant has never been greater. Amid accelerating climate change, digital disruption, and shifting consumer values, Obermeyer is redefining longevity – not by abandoning its heritage, but by thoughtfully evolving its core without compromise. “You can never fill a legend’s shoes,” CEO Kris Kuster says. “You have to pave your own way, while protecting what made the brand matter in the first place.” Read my full Forbes story on Sport Obermeyer: https://lnkd.in/g2t2hhqr 

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Bill Bernbach once said "creativity is the most powerful force in business". He was right. But that was 70 years ago. I was Creative Director in an Omnicom agency and loved that idea, but market forces have changed. Businesses no longer rely on creativity to succeed, and traditional agencies have become irrelevant. Today, creativity lives in product teams, data labs, and customer experience departments. Companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix grow through constant experimentation. They don’t gamble on silver bullet campaigns. They’re more forensic. They spend incrementally, test relentlessly, and use every interaction to shape how people feel about them, co-creating the offering alongside strategies like content marketing. It's creative, just not the kind agencies recognize. Meanwhile, the ad world kept playing Don Draper. Consulting firms filled the gap. BCG X, KPMG Ignition, PwC Experience Centre, helping clients design products and services that actually work. The only ones who missed this are the ad guys themselves…they're still selling billboards, so here we are again, listening to their hackneyed nostalgia about legacy notions of creativity. Traditional agencies cling to the myth that big ideas change everything. But modern companies know better. They measure, refine, and adapt. They see creativity as a process, not a pitch. Pragmatism beats legacy creative. Consolidation among advertising holding companies makes it clear: the old agency model, once built on independent creativity, is dying. By all means, toast the glory days of the '80s and '90s, but creative culture has yielded to practicality. And there’s no going back.

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🧠Independent Agencies often provide Big Thinking without the Big ZIP Code There’s a persistent myth in our industry: that the best creative and media talent only lives in New York, LA, or Chicago. But right now, some of the most ambitious, strategic, and award-winning work in the country is coming from independent agencies in DMAs ranked 25 through 50—the cities often overlooked, under-briefed, and underappreciated. Let’s clear that up. 📍 DMA #27 – Nashville GS&F (revived as a fully independent shop) is driving standout creative for LP Building Solutions and KFC Southeast co-ops, pairing local insight with national polish. Their recent work on the “Build Bold” platform just earned a 2024 ANA B2 Award. 📍 DMA #33 – Raleigh-Durham Baldwin& helped launch Kioti Tractor’s “Together We Rise” campaign with sweeping, cinematic storytelling—picked up in The Drum for its authenticity and edge. A brand that easily could’ve gone with a New York AOR chose Raleigh talent instead. 📍 DMA #37 – Columbus, OH Ron Foth Advertising brought home a National Addy for their work on Columbus Zoo, blending VR, TikTok creators, and traditional media to drive foot traffic in a post-COVID tourism slump. Ad Age spotlighted it as a smart regional turnaround story. 📍 DMA #43 – Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville Brandon Agency launched a hyper-targeted campaign for Fish Hippie, a Southeast lifestyle brand, combining high-impact Amazon DSP with storytelling content. Their media mix strategy was featured in a recent Digiday roundup on DTC regional growth. 🤔 So what do all these agencies have in common? They’re not in holding company cities. They don’t need a SoHo loft to win the pitch. And they’re absolutely crushing it. ⸻ If you’re an independent in a mid-sized market, here are three ways to win more national attention and new business: 🎯 Market size ≠ market value. Don’t compete with big shops on scale. Compete on focus, responsiveness, and authenticity. The best brands know a good idea can come from anywhere. 🎯 Build a national body of proof. Use targeted awards (like the Addys, Effies, and ANA B2), earned press, and platform-native case studies to showcase what makes you great. When the coasts are bloated, nimble wins. 🎯 Leverage regional wins into national momentum. Use your biggest regional client success to ladder up. Brands are watching—especially in tourism, higher ed, healthcare, and B2B verticals. ⸻ 🍾 Clients aren’t just hiring agencies in big cities anymore. They’re hiring agencies that understand their business, move faster, and make every dollar work harder. What market is on fire 🔥 that shouldn’t be missed??? Want to talk about it on our Rise of The Independent podcast? Tag your team below 👇 #solvedontsell NOTE: MiO Marketplace provides #independentagencies the tools & tech they need to succeed. Win and keep more business with MiO!

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I've always believed that the most impactful connections happen in the physical world—when people can try, touch, and experience products for themselves. In this new piece for WARC, coauthored with Andrew Lipsman, we unpack the rise of Experiential Retail Media: why it matters, how it works, and the role identifiability plays in creating closed-loop, in-store engagement. The future isn’t just digital. It’s physical, personal, and profoundly scalable. Link in comments #RetailMedia #ExperientialMarketing #ShopperEngagement #MeasurableMedia #Freeosk #MarketingInnovation

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It’s not Green Fatigue. It’s Future Fatigue. And for brands, getting this distinction wrong could cost more than just relevance; it will cost long-term trust. I often do workshops around what I call "Future Fatigue" in my Future Series, and it’s about understanding a consumer who is tired of broken promises, unclear progress, and the emotional burden of carrying the future alone. But Future Fatigue is broader than climate. It’s about economic instability, social fragmentation, and a culture that makes change feel both necessary and impossible. It’s emotional, not rational. And this changes the game. Brands must stop asking, “Why aren’t consumers doing more?” And start asking, “How can we help them feel capable again?” "How do we ease the grinding feeling of discomfort?" Because this isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about showing up better and fitting into reality. With empathy, realism, and tangible proof that doing good doesn’t have to feel heavy, it’s life-enhancing, not life-changing. This is the kind of insight you should work with, translating emotional undercurrents into strategic direction, storytelling, and consumer-centric activations with a mission to win the consumer game. Turning consumer research, market intelligence, and creative thinking into strategies and activations. Curious how Future Fatigue is reshaping your audience’s mindset and what that means for your brand strategy? Let’s talk. #FutureFatigue #GreenFatigue #fashion #sustainability #trends #future #SustainableConsumer #FashionSummit #BrandStrategy #ConsumerInsights #FutureSeries #AboveTheClouds #SustainableBrands #luxury #highsnobiety #cphfw #ciff #pittiuomo

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