A worthy addition to your inbox
I’m incredibly excited about the newest offering to our growing newsletter lineup: CMO Insider.
Helmed by Lara O’Reilly, this weekly newsletter unpacks the companies and leaders shaping marketing, advertising, and the creator economy. She’s delivering sharp scoops and insightful analysis to your inbox every Wednesday.
I checked in with Lara to let her explain the newsletter’s vision and focus.
Lara, what are you most excited about with your newsletter launch?
Opening my reporter’s notebook to give you the inside scoop about what’s really happening in the marketing world. I want to break down the power, money, politics, and anxieties behind all the latest moves.
What’s the most important thing on CMOs’ minds this year?
Growth. That’s never not been a priority, of course. But AI ups the ante. Easy access to AI tools means practically anyone in the organization can become a marketer now — or at least think they can — with a few prompts. It doesn’t mean their ads or logos are actually any good, though. With AI added to the mix, marketers are under more pressure than ever to prove their strategies are actually moving the needle for their businesses.
We cover MrBeast and the creator economy a lot. Some are saying the age of social-media superstars is fading. There might not be another MrBeast as we know it. What’s the next evolution in the creator economy?
More high-profile individual creators — or troupes like Dude Perfect — are morphing to become media and entertainment businesses, with professionalized corporate structures. At the other end of the scale, we’re seeing the rise of niche creators with more people making money from posting content online than ever. Big brands are responding by taking a leaf out of Unilever’s book and dramatically upping their influencer marketing budgets. It doesn’t mean that all creators are getting big paydays, however, because the marketplace has become so saturated.
In your first edition, you highlighted an absolutely wild story of the mystery surrounding an OpenAI device ad hoax and a recent new twist. What’s your theory on what’s going on here and how this all plays out?
It’s such a strange yarn. My first thought was that a production studio was trying to generate an online buzz for an upcoming Skarsgård flick. Now, after seeing the video of US Chief Design Officer and Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia sporting this mystery hardware device, I’m leaning more towards the idea that a tech startup is building toward a big reveal. Whoever’s behind it clearly has connections!
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