Kyle Sergeant

Spent the past four months or so onboarding into a new role. Very excited for where it can go. This is how I view the discipline I'm going to build a team around. kylesergeant.substack.com/p/welcome-to-a…

Let's talk about the word "strategy." Strategy is not a proper noun. It's not a proprietary process. There's no one singular way to do strategy. And there's nothing dumber than debating what is and is not strategy. Not to go high school teacher on you, but the dictionary defines strategy as "a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim." That's it. Strategy is a plan to win. And there are so many ways to win! We all work different jobs for different companies with different needs. We should all have different approaches to strategy! We can always learn from each other and borrow a % of each other's strategies, but strategies can and should be unique. Sure, there's some nuance in the layers underneath strategy. You'll hear "those are tactics, not a strategy." You'll hear traditionally trained advertising strategists preach their planning processes and admonish anything that's not a perfect "insight" or framed in a polished brief. You'll hear debates about what is and is not social media strategy. But even then—so, so, so many companies have wildly successful marketing without using those forms of strategy. Different workstyles are forming as new hybrid jobs emerge. Strategy is your theory on how to win. And before you launch a single tweet, or a single marketing initiative, of course you should have some strategy, even if a brand new social network launched 5 minutes ago. It's your initial strategy! And you, a smart person, will adapt your strategy as you learn and grow and discover. But to argue about what strategy is, or when it's appropriate to build a strategy? That's just silly.

The story arc is different for YouTube and TV ads. That's why you should make different ads for different media in the same campaign. ⁦@tomroach⁩ at #canneslions2023

🔥🔥🔥 @MarcosAngelides

@paulmarkbailey Didn’t HERTZ (or another rental car co) back in the 70s/80s use “we’re second, so we have to try harder” as their positioning?

@shaneoleary1 100%. Gotta do the work to figure out the nuances for your brand. Have seen wear out on TikTok somewhat follow their guidelines. Have seen messages run on META for over a year that always best client benchmarks.

The usual boring answer is that the truth is somewhere in the middle and depends on a host of complex, layered elements like platform, creative message, media weight, targeting.

Creative wearout is becoming a divisive topic. On one hand you have lots of research telling good creative doesn't wear out. On the other, evidence from platforms like TikTok, Meta & Google that wearout impacts on metrics like VTR and conversion. Who's right? Probably both.

Too often we reward people who solve problems while ignoring those who prevent them in the first place. Instead of glorifying those who run around putting out fires, we need to create an organizational culture that empowers everyone to act responsibly at the first sign of smoke.

@shaneoleary1 Love to see that!

@KSergeant86 Lots of good ex agency people working for Meta in UK/Europe and mixing platform knowledge with marketing science fundamentals. twitter.com/shaneoleary1/s… linkedin.com/posts/andechil…

'Creative is king' 'Go broad or go home' Paid social default advice has totally flipped from 'uber precise targeting with the creative as an afterthought' to 'focus on broad reach and creative is your most important lever'. Funny how things have come full circle.

@shaneoleary1 Then I think we’re seeing different agency/client presentations from them. In Canada, I’ve never seen them make reference to any of that work besides Nielsen. 2022 META Summit here had a lot of what you mentioned with no link to the principles/sources.

@KSergeant86 I'd disagree with that Kyle! Meta have been talking about this for years and pointing out HBG as well as working with Binet, Nielsen etc. Don't think they're making it out as their own idea at all!

@shaneoleary1 Gotta give credit to the METAs out there. They flip their scripts & make it seem like the basic principles were their ideas.

(I've said this a few times now, but it is just amusing/heartening to see this flip considering how many rows were had over the years about the fallacy of over targeting on social using crap creative. Pretty much every media channel follows similar basic principles.)

Be the biggest fan of the people you care about ... Show them you care. Make them look good. Unconditionally support them. Catch them when they stumble. Remind them of what they do well. Help them accomplish their dreams.

@alexjmurrell Curious to know how they defined “strong advertising?”

@apierno Related/rising topics in Google trends data. Podcasts - how are genre specific shows talking about a topic? Quarterly business financials - good way to see how competitors view their consumers.

A collection of 95 trend reports for 2023, gathered by Dan Barker @danbarker drive.google.com/drive/mobile/f… Plus a map of the forces behind them djc1805.medium.com/the-vibe-shift…

Are conversion rates and cost per conversion mutually exclusive?

@JCPHankins @djc1805 @alexjmurrell Creators don’t need brands, but influencers do. That’s the concept I have in my head.

@djc1805 @alexjmurrell Mr beast.. has talent. Is he an influencer or creator or just a celeb now... "Influencers are defined by their output (impacts/impressions) creators are defined by their outcomes.. (influence in a sphere)

books!

Taleb on the central problem of Big Data In Everybody Lies

Did not know nonfiction were a thing. About 10% into their site now & WOW. AMAZING episode ⁦@rachelmercer⁩ ⁦@LeShann⁩ podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the…