Given that, most alcohol brands have completely avoided the platform, and because of that avoidance, there is a TREMENDOUS opportunity for liquor/spirits/wine brands to use the platform to gain attention in an uncluttered space.

Momentum, humanity which results in BAD DATA were completely ignored. The .3% and .2% recommendations came from completely different environments (full season) from completely different teams (the 49ers are an elite team vs. some regular season teams that didn’t even make the playoffs.) To completely ignore how the players playing the game were reacting and the way the game was playing out is a disservice.

2024 offers the opportunity to reevaluate the previous year’s programs and analyze what worked, what could’ve performed better, and more importantly, how the data can influence this year’s strategies.

It’s just much more interesting to learn about the challenges that people and companies have overcome to get to the success they’re experiencing. Or maybe they’re not experiencing success. Maybe they’re still struggling. And going through the struggle with them is relatable… even inspiring. The drama is in the struggle. It’s not “I got $10 million to start the business, and we SOMEHOW made it work.”

To be truly innovative, you have to encourage a culture of risk and failure. That risk should of course be well planned, thought out, and considered in terms of business opportunity, but you should certainly not just say “We’ve always done it this way.” and be done with it.

…It’s a great way to play with this type of media exposure with a tongue-in-cheek nod to what's happening. But the fear is that many brands are going to try and take the easy way out, and just have a celebrity with a high Q-quotient do some commercials with their product and call it a day.

When I launched SALUK & CO. after some time with an incredible company like PepsiCo, I initially gave up on the possibility of working with a company like that. I figured, until I experienced significant growth, scale would be an impediment to working with a brand of that magnitude. But after a few months, having an opportunity to work with brands like Blackened Whiskey, Invivo Wines, Bluecoat Gin, etc. on national and regional campaigns something dawned on me. Companies who aren’t working on at least some projects with independent agency, are getting absolutely hosed.

And yet…recently, under everyone’s noses, there’s been an opportunity that still far too few are utilizing. In July 2021, college athletes were given the right to make money with the passing of new name, image and likeness (NIL) policy. This meant that brands could reach out to athletes who have arguably more supportive following than their pro counterparts, and at a fraction of the cost.

As a freelancer or studio-owner, you’re never going to win every pitch. Far from it. Our business is one where being able to deal with rejection is part of being successful. It can be demoralizing to lose out on a piece of business because someone is going to do work on spec, or to lose out to someone’s nephew who can do “it” cheaper.I hope that if you, like me, love our crazy industry, you’ll find ways to differentiate your work and value it the way that it deserves to be valued.

Surprise is a successful marketing tool across all verticals. As marketing functions have become overwhelmingly analytical, there is a lack of data & research showing the success of programs that are willing fly the flag of bravery.

The point is that often, in business, we see the finished product, but not the struggle that it took to get there.

Over the past five years, outside of the holiday buying months of November-December, the highest U.S. monthly retail sales for beer/wine/liquor stores are May, June and July (source: Nielsen). The opportunity to establish, grow, or revolutionize your brand during those months is YUUUUUGE! (that's my Mike Francesa voice).

The pandemic was challenging for many reasons, but it did prove out that both small and large-scale companies can efficiently run their business with the majority of their workforce working from home. Pandora’s box was opened. Some companies welcomed the opportunity, shedding expensive real estate commitments, helping their margins.

“This is where, especially towards the end of the 2000’s, I started hearing about the various media that was supposedly dead or dying. At some point or another radio, display, out of home, and print all had been declared dead.”

“Balance is not something you find, it’s something to create.”

This is a story about the futile attempt at fighting technology.

You woke up this morning and you think it's passed you by.