May 28, 2026 · 44 min · 10 segments
Most marketing teams are drowning in output and starving for meaning. The more they feed the machine, the more the machine becomes the creative director — and somewhere in the noise, the person on the…
Julianne DeVincenzoGuest
Dan ReidGuestJoshHostRossHostIt feels like we're at an interesting point where a lot of people are kind of seems like trying to replace that idea with just this performance marketing data AI combo of, like, we can just throw a bunch of shit at the wall and test it and see what works.
I'd love to hear kind of your take on why that more, you know, manual approach to, to brand storytelling s- is still important and still relevant.
I think it's, um, you know, a big mistake I think people are currently working, like, towards if we forget that there's a person on the other end.
Um, I mean, we all got into marketing or I know why I got into marketing, right? To tell a story, to make somebody feel something, and I think that we're completely forgetting that by feeding the machine, right? Like, you know, the calendars became the creative directors and the volume became, like, a definition of good, and then the strategy that started serving the machine was, like, you know, turned the other way around.
So I think that, you know, work passes through people like water on, like, through a screen, and technically, like, you're not being present anymore for understanding why people are buying.
Um, and I feel that's what, you know, the AI slop is completely turning into.
Um, and I just, I don't really wanna be in a world that doesn't value storytelling.
Um, and as much as, like, I'm, I've found AI useful for a number of things, including our own products, but I still use this when I'm coming up with stories because that's part of why I got into this be- to begin with, is the challenge of coming up with those stories and solving those problems.
One of my things right now is I, I don't like when people kind of latch onto the current theme and they don't unpack it.
And, like, right now the, the big theme in our, in our world is taste, right? Like, everyone's talking about taste in the, in the age of AI.
And to your point, Dan, like, s- visual storytelling has been around for thousands of years, but in Q4 of last year, I remember it was like we rediscovered that, that term, that idea.
Everybody was talking about on LinkedIn storytelling, right? Um, but very few people were talking about what it is.
And so I'm just curious to hear from you all, how would you define it, and what are some of the things that you're seeing folks do right now that represent basically the antithesis of storytelling?
storytelling?When you mention taste, it's something that's, like, very, like, top of mind for me, right? Like, you could have agents understand, like, research and briefs, et cetera, but it- that judgment and the taste and the relationship with, like, creative and strategic works, like, that really requires the understanding of a, another person, like, of humans, and I feel like that's a big friction point.
Um, and I think taste lies in all different areas across where Dan and I sit, right? Like, where, where can you bring that in? And then also, who's deciding it, I think is pretty-- a big area that people are really under, under-investing in, right? That get, get as much out as humanly possible, but not understanding the person reading it on the other end.
I think what is kind of brilliant is that the bar is so low, particularly with our competition, that, um, what we're doing with our new rebrand, I think addresses a lot of those concerns that we've had about our own brand as far as standing out, telling strong stories, um, and just not looking like everyone else, 'cause that's the easy, that's the easy route.
I feel like being safe and looking like everyone else, you probably hear this every time someone comes on, but they say it 'cause it's true.
Yeah, I'm curious to dive into that a little bit more, which is, like, uh, one of the things that we hear a lot about is that brands needing to have, like, a, a unique perspective or a strong point of view.
That's something that we think a lot about as sort of the foundation of a, of good brand storytelling is, like, having something to say, actually.
Um, curious, like, what do you think defines, like, having that strong point of view, and what does it look like when someone, when a brand has that versus just sort of maybe a more performative take on that?
It feels like we're at an interesting point where a lot of people are kind of seems like trying to replace that idea with just this performance marketing data AI combo of, like, we can just throw a bunch of shit at the wall and test it and see what works.
I'd love to hear kind of your take on why that more, you know, manual approach to, to brand storytelling s- is still important and still relevant.
I think it's, um, you know, a big mistake I think people are currently working, like, towards if we forget that there's a person on the other end.
Um, I mean, we all got into marketing or I know why I got into marketing, right? To tell a story, to make somebody feel something, and I think that we're completely forgetting that by feeding the machine, right? Like, you know, the calendars became the creative directors and the volume became, like, a definition of good, and then the strategy that started serving the machine was, like, you know, turned the other way around.
So I think that, you know, work passes through people like water on, like, through a screen, and technically, like, you're not being present anymore for understanding why people are buying.
Um, and I feel that's what, you know, the AI slop is completely turning into.
Um, and I just, I don't really wanna be in a world that doesn't value storytelling.
Um, and as much as, like, I'm, I've found AI useful for a number of things, including our own products, but I still use this when I'm coming up with stories because that's part of why I got into this be- to begin with, is the challenge of coming up with those stories and solving those problems.
One of my things right now is I, I don't like when people kind of latch onto the current theme and they don't unpack it.
And, like, right now the, the big theme in our, in our world is taste, right? Like, everyone's talking about taste in the, in the age of AI.
And to your point, Dan, like, s- visual storytelling has been around for thousands of years, but in Q4 of last year, I remember it was like we rediscovered that, that term, that idea.
Everybody was talking about on LinkedIn storytelling, right? Um, but very few people were talking about what it is.
And so I'm just curious to hear from you all, how would you define it, and what are some of the things that you're seeing folks do right now that represent basically the antithesis of storytelling?
storytelling?When you mention taste, it's something that's, like, very, like, top of mind for me, right? Like, you could have agents understand, like, research and briefs, et cetera, but it- that judgment and the taste and the relationship with, like, creative and strategic works, like, that really requires the understanding of a, another person, like, of humans, and I feel like that's a big friction point.
Um, and I think taste lies in all different areas across where Dan and I sit, right? Like, where, where can you bring that in? And then also, who's deciding it, I think is pretty-- a big area that people are really under, under-investing in, right? That get, get as much out as humanly possible, but not understanding the person reading it on the other end.
I think what is kind of brilliant is that the bar is so low, particularly with our competition, that, um, what we're doing with our new rebrand, I think addresses a lot of those concerns that we've had about our own brand as far as standing out, telling strong stories, um, and just not looking like everyone else, 'cause that's the easy, that's the easy route.
I feel like being safe and looking like everyone else, you probably hear this every time someone comes on, but they say it 'cause it's true.
Yeah, I'm curious to dive into that a little bit more, which is, like, uh, one of the things that we hear a lot about is that brands needing to have, like, a, a unique perspective or a strong point of view.
That's something that we think a lot about as sort of the foundation of a, of good brand storytelling is, like, having something to say, actually.
Um, curious, like, what do you think defines, like, having that strong point of view, and what does it look like when someone, when a brand has that versus just sort of maybe a more performative take on that?
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