Opinion

I never got to meet Bill Bernbach, but the man had one hell of an impact on me. My first job in advertising was when I was recruited from an agency that mostly built websites to start the San Francisco office of Tribal DDB. They handed us a book of Bill Bernbach quotes on our first day.

In our last post, we explored how cybersecurity brands can stand out amid a sea of sameness. Today, I want to push deeper—into a distinction I hear too rarely: branding vs. brand-building. And I’ll walk you through a real example: how we brought the power of both to life for Recorded Future’s biggest Predict conference yet.

In times of intense political division, purpose marketing feels like navigating treacherous waters. And let's be honest, with all the brands trying to "take a stand" these days, there are a lot of marketers getting seasick.

Here's a breakdown of the key changes and how Traction can help you adapt your strategies to succeed in this new era of search.

Yesterday, I had the honor of being invited to speak on the topic of “Building a Brand in the AI Era” at the CMO Alliance Summit in San Francisco.

In an article for the ANA Industry Insights report, our CEO, Adam Kleinberg, examines the perceived declining relevance of the CMO role amid high-profile departures and evolving mar-tech demands. He discusses how the need for rapid marketing results clashes with slow tech implementations, suggesting a rebrand of the marketing leadership role to better align with modern business needs.

This week, Digiday wrote a story on how Traction is revolutionizing client services with former brand-side talent and how Lauren Evans joined Traction and was promoted to lead our client service team after spending 9 years growing lululemon from a $500M to a $6B business.

With the rise of GenAI and all the hoopla around it, it’s hard for marketers to see the forest from the trees. We're poised for more turbulence and disruption than ever before. Here are nine of the biggest challenges CMOs will need to navigate in 2024.

It’s no secret: e-commerce is driving a tsunami of change across the retail landscape.

Traction's Neil Cohen authored a blog post on how "The Pendulum Swings Back to Brand" in a prestigious Scandinavian trends journal, TID & Tendenser.

Over 300 people showed up in New Orleans for the Digiday Media Buying Summit last week.

Marketing is in a time of rapid evolution. Get out your bitters and soda, because we are full-on experiencing the post-COVID hangover.

The retail industry is getting turned upside down. A confluence of massive shifts are swirling around in the air, and creating a perfect storm that is sure to create massive upheaval over the next couple of years.

Adobe just paid an eye-popping $20 billion for Figma, a company some people are hardly familiar with. Many may be scratching their heads, wondering ‘WTF?’

You’ve probably seen people practicing Tai Chi in the park and seen it touted as a meditation and wellness practice. But the principles of Tai Chi can also apply to business.

Corporate Social Accountability beats CSR. Focus on growth while doing actual good—not just talking about it—to build lasting brand loyalty and trust.

Soaring inflation, the supply chain crisis and the ongoing pandemic will provide a backdrop as marketers tackle challenges and opportunities from cookie deprecation to the Great Resignation to the rise of the Metaverse.

Yesterday, leaders from Audi, Kellogg, FabFitFun, CMRA, Saxx Underwear and Applegate Farms joined us for a conversation about how brands can navigate purpose, politics and disruption.

Almost three years ago, Traction introduced an HR policy called Days of Action, giving our employees two days of paid leave to participate in our democracy however they see fit.

Last Friday, Traction hosted a Roundtable Zoom session with a group of CMOs and other senior marketers from brands big and small to discuss the challenges and opportunities of finding a silver lining in a downturn.

A 2014 Gartner survey suggests that "89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, versus 36% four years ago." That is an astounding shift.