How E.l.f.'s Comedy Special Cracked the Gen Z Health Message Code You can't lecture Gen Z into healthy behavior. But you can make them laugh their way into it. Their "Sunhinged" comedy special hit 10 million views in week one. 64% of Gen Zers often forget to apply sunscreen. 75% of Gen Z wants brands to "make them laugh." 90% of people are more likely to remember a funny ad. More importantly, it solved a problem every health brand faces. How do you get young people to care about boring but...
24 days ago • 5 min read
WhatsApp just turned their parent company's biggest weakness into marketing gold. While every tech company runs from privacy scandals, WhatsApp ran toward them. They made "we can't see your messages" the loudest promise in their marketing. The result? The biggest ad awareness jump of any UK brand in 2025. Research Intelligence 45 minutes dedicated multi-AI research ✅ 25+ sources across 3 AIs ✅ 12 primary company sources✅ 5 industry regions covered ✅ 8 cross-industry patterns confirmed THE...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Introduction Dove figured out something brilliant in 2004. They weaponized a devastating statistic against their entire industry. Only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful. The beauty industry was selling to 98% of people who felt excluded by their own advertising. Smart CMOs saw the opportunity immediately. While competitors chased the same 2% with perfect models, Dove claimed the abandoned 98%. The result? Sales doubled from $2.5 billion to $4 billion in one decade. Research...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Stop Fighting Your Real Competitors. Fight Someone Else's Instead. How Chili's 31% Sales Surge Proves Category Crashing Beats Category Fighting Chili's "Fast Food Financing" pop-up storefront showing garish payday loan aesthetic strategically positioned next to McDonald's in Manhattan's Union Square. Source Chili's Grill and Bar via Restaurant Dive. Introduction Chili's just made McDonald's look expensive. Think about that for a second. A casual dining chain beat fast food at its own game....
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
How Under Armour's "Memory Equity" Strategy Outperformed New Campaigns When Psychology Beats Product Features Here's what caught marketing leader's attention about Under Armour's approach. They didn't launch a new campaign. They revived a winning formula. While competitors spent millions creating fresh creative, Under Armour brought back their 2021 Flow State Challenge as part of their 2025 brand repositioning. The strategic move? Banking on "memory equity" over net-new spend. Smart brands...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
How Smart Brands Skip the Party and Own the Hangover Coors Light's "After-Moment" Strategy Outperformed Competitors Spending Triple Their Budget 6 min read Super Bowl advertising just broke. Coors Light proved it. [Photo: Times Square billboard featuring strategic "refershment" typo] Strategic vulnerability in premium media placement demonstrated authentic brand connection over polished competition. Source: Campaign Analysis via Campaign US While competitors spent millions fighting for...
2 months ago • 6 min read
Welcome to The Strategy Signal Today we'll be talking about... Copywriting with AI is officially dead (Strategy Signal lives) And your preview arrives Tuesdays Welcome to The Strategy Signal Website is coming! Today marks the official evolution. "Copywriting with AI" becomes "The Strategy Signal: See What Works." Over the past two emails, I've shared why I'm making this transition and what strategic intelligence means for your work. Now it's time to deliver on that promise. What you can...
3 months ago • 2 min read
The Value Proposition Today we'll be talking about...What "strategic intelligence" means for you Introduction In the last newsletter, I shared why I'm evolving from copywriting tactics to strategic intelligence. Or is it "strategery...?" Today, let me show you exactly what that means and why it makes you more valuable. Here's the difference in action. Let's say you're analyzing LinkedIn's recent "Only on LinkedIn Ads" campaign. Most marketing content focuses on the tactics: "Notice how they...
3 months ago • 3 min read
From Copywriting Tactics to Strategic Intelligence Today we'll be talking about... ...Why I'm evolving beyond copywriting and what that means for you. When I started "Copywriting with AI," I thought I was solving the right problem. AI prompting for better headlines, faster copy research, clever psychological triggers. But after a year of diving deep into copywriting as both practitioner and teacher, I had an aha moment. The bowling alley moment. I was bowling with friends recently, and there...
3 months ago • 4 min read