A journalist’s take on navigating the industry: we’re trapped in a cycle of chasing visibility
We hosted Founding Editor of Campaign and previous Editor at The Media Leader, Omar Oakes, at Discovered, Journey Further’s flagship event to help senior marketers get ahead within the changing digital landscape.
Omar has spent over a decade covering the media and advertising world from the inside, so gave a journalist's perspective on the challenges facing marketers today in the midst of the AI-era, where being visible isn’t enough anymore.
We know the marketing industry is changing. Budgets are tight and, though brands are becoming more efficient, outcomes are down. Since COVID, advertising ROI is up 4% but net profit generated by advertising has fallen 11%.
Measurement is also improving all the time. With detailed dashboards, campaign optimisation in real-time and sophisticated testing, tracking has never been so efficient. Omar argues this could be coming at the expense of long-term brand growth.
This focus on measurement could be having detrimental results for marketers. That’s because of marketers’ natural tendency to optimise for what can be measured, like clicks, conversions and interactions, when these metrics only tell half the story. They signal the behaviour of those ready to buy, overlooking the much larger audience who aren’t yet in the market.
For Omar, brand building is the key to success. He spoke about the example of Pampers, which he’d personally chosen, solely on the power of their brand, long before becoming a parent and needing to buy nappies. Though short-term performance tracking can be useful to deliver immediate results, brand building truly drives demand long term.
This measuring of short-term signals, which Omar calls the efficiency trap, focuses too heavily on ROI alone. Performance marketing works, but it needs brand building for the two to work together.
Marketers who make decisions based on what performs best in the moment may also lose distinctiveness. Omar called on his experience in digital publishing, where constant testing of headlines, captions and imagery, led to all networks creating strikingly similar content. Instead, let the tone of voice and authenticity speak for themselves when it comes to your brand, and the genuine reach will follow.
Omar spoke on the industry’s obsession with efficiency, with AI making it easier to produce large amounts of content very quickly.
He used the example of AI-generated LinkedIn posts. These can sound extremely polished, yet lose that genuine tone which leaves them completely without a distinctive feel. Omar described this as a sea of familiar phrases, predictable structures and interchangeable messages. Brands should ask themselves, “Is this specific to my brand, or could a competitor say exactly the same thing?”. Simply put, is this true and is it ownable?
Memorable marketing often embraces what makes a brand truly different. For example, Avis’ slogan of “We Try Harder” which turned downfall, they were constantly second in the market, into a reason to choose the brand. This created a story that customers could remember and resonate with. Or Marmite’s “Love it or hate it” honest campaign where half the country hating its product, became its core strength. It’s this courage that Omar highlights as a true success story for brands in the era of AI.
Omar brought the idea of narrative debt into his presentation. He referred to the type of language brands see as safe, vague enough to cover up weaker positioning.
Though marketers may already be aware of what makes their brand distinctive, communicating it can be a different story. With legal concerns, disappointing test results or external opinions, brands may bow to pressure, diluting their message as a result.
Safer brand decisions in the short-term, will lead to generic language, and a far less recognisable identity. It’s tempting to want to return to comfort when communicating your message on a large scale. Instead, be clear, genuine and specific.
Discovery is changing. Standing out is becoming harder still as people turn to AI to find brands. Omar described how being found and being remembered used to be two separate challenges. In the past, brands could simply invest in Paid Search and appear in the top search results. Then, Digital PR to secure coverage with journalists and build their brand.
Because of AI-powered search, a single answer or a short summary now fully sums up your brand. Gone is the era where paid visibility could shape how a brand appeared. Information from across the internet, including those external publications like Reddit, Trustpilot and specialist blogs, are drawn on by the chatbot.
Omar confirmed that the most important information online isn’t actually what a brand says about itself, but what is consistently being said, in all of the places, over time. This is the shift to ‘everyone relations’, where reputation is no longer in the hands of journalists, influencers, or even carefully built brand positioning. It’s built by it all – so it all needs to align. As Omar pointed out, “You can buy the ad next to the answer. You can’t buy the answer”.
Brands need to understand what customers, reviews and communities are saying about them, and they need to address any disconnects.
Earn the memory, not just the click
Omar's central message was that brands need to think long-term when it comes to visibility.
Optimising every interaction – responding to trends, publishing vast amounts of blog content and so on – can make brands lose their uniqueness. Brands need to focus consistently on what makes them truly distinctive, and go from there.
Brands shouldn’t chase every opportunity for a click. This means recognising not everything can be fixed with communications alone. Addressing complaints, for example, rather than just focusing on messaging. Good marketing helps the wider business understand and resolve underlying problems: fix the true thing, not just the story.
Every brand is competing to be seen; Omar concluded that the true focus should be on being remembered.
Omar has spent over a decade covering the media and advertising world from the inside, so gave a journalist's perspective on the challenges facing marketers today in the midst of the AI-era, where being visible isn’t enough anymore.
Adapt to a changing marketing landscape
We know the marketing industry is changing. Budgets are tight and, though brands are becoming more efficient, outcomes are down. Since COVID, advertising ROI is up 4% but net profit generated by advertising has fallen 11%.
Measurement is also improving all the time. With detailed dashboards, campaign optimisation in real-time and sophisticated testing, tracking has never been so efficient. Omar argues this could be coming at the expense of long-term brand growth.
This focus on measurement could be having detrimental results for marketers. That’s because of marketers’ natural tendency to optimise for what can be measured, like clicks, conversions and interactions, when these metrics only tell half the story. They signal the behaviour of those ready to buy, overlooking the much larger audience who aren’t yet in the market.
For Omar, brand building is the key to success. He spoke about the example of Pampers, which he’d personally chosen, solely on the power of their brand, long before becoming a parent and needing to buy nappies. Though short-term performance tracking can be useful to deliver immediate results, brand building truly drives demand long term.
Look beyond short-term signals
This measuring of short-term signals, which Omar calls the efficiency trap, focuses too heavily on ROI alone. Performance marketing works, but it needs brand building for the two to work together.
Marketers who make decisions based on what performs best in the moment may also lose distinctiveness. Omar called on his experience in digital publishing, where constant testing of headlines, captions and imagery, led to all networks creating strikingly similar content. Instead, let the tone of voice and authenticity speak for themselves when it comes to your brand, and the genuine reach will follow.
“The more efficiently we try to be seen, the less we’re actually remembered.”
Don’t let optimisation be your brand’s downfall
Omar spoke on the industry’s obsession with efficiency, with AI making it easier to produce large amounts of content very quickly.
He used the example of AI-generated LinkedIn posts. These can sound extremely polished, yet lose that genuine tone which leaves them completely without a distinctive feel. Omar described this as a sea of familiar phrases, predictable structures and interchangeable messages. Brands should ask themselves, “Is this specific to my brand, or could a competitor say exactly the same thing?”. Simply put, is this true and is it ownable?
“The content that we’re producing is converging. We’re all starting to look the same.”
Memorable marketing often embraces what makes a brand truly different. For example, Avis’ slogan of “We Try Harder” which turned downfall, they were constantly second in the market, into a reason to choose the brand. This created a story that customers could remember and resonate with. Or Marmite’s “Love it or hate it” honest campaign where half the country hating its product, became its core strength. It’s this courage that Omar highlights as a true success story for brands in the era of AI.
Have the courage of being specific
Omar brought the idea of narrative debt into his presentation. He referred to the type of language brands see as safe, vague enough to cover up weaker positioning.
Though marketers may already be aware of what makes their brand distinctive, communicating it can be a different story. With legal concerns, disappointing test results or external opinions, brands may bow to pressure, diluting their message as a result.
Safer brand decisions in the short-term, will lead to generic language, and a far less recognisable identity. It’s tempting to want to return to comfort when communicating your message on a large scale. Instead, be clear, genuine and specific.
“The stuff that we call those imperfections. That’s the good stuff. Those idiosyncrasies.”
Turn public relations to ‘everyone relations’
Discovery is changing. Standing out is becoming harder still as people turn to AI to find brands. Omar described how being found and being remembered used to be two separate challenges. In the past, brands could simply invest in Paid Search and appear in the top search results. Then, Digital PR to secure coverage with journalists and build their brand.
Because of AI-powered search, a single answer or a short summary now fully sums up your brand. Gone is the era where paid visibility could shape how a brand appeared. Information from across the internet, including those external publications like Reddit, Trustpilot and specialist blogs, are drawn on by the chatbot.
“What you have to do is find what is publicly being written about you that’s contradicting the story that you’re telling.”
Omar confirmed that the most important information online isn’t actually what a brand says about itself, but what is consistently being said, in all of the places, over time. This is the shift to ‘everyone relations’, where reputation is no longer in the hands of journalists, influencers, or even carefully built brand positioning. It’s built by it all – so it all needs to align. As Omar pointed out, “You can buy the ad next to the answer. You can’t buy the answer”.
Brands need to understand what customers, reviews and communities are saying about them, and they need to address any disconnects.
Earn the memory, not just the click
Omar's central message was that brands need to think long-term when it comes to visibility.
Optimising every interaction – responding to trends, publishing vast amounts of blog content and so on – can make brands lose their uniqueness. Brands need to focus consistently on what makes them truly distinctive, and go from there.
Brands shouldn’t chase every opportunity for a click. This means recognising not everything can be fixed with communications alone. Addressing complaints, for example, rather than just focusing on messaging. Good marketing helps the wider business understand and resolve underlying problems: fix the true thing, not just the story.
Every brand is competing to be seen; Omar concluded that the true focus should be on being remembered.
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