Tali Hayhoe

Will the marketing team at H&R Block please stand up? 🎤 I'm an unabashed Bravo girl, spending much of my free time logging into Peacock and mentally bracing for ad breaks every few minutes. So when H&R Block served me a 5-second ad that simply said "this ad break has been written off by H&R Block” I was stopped in my tracks (snack in hand of course). That's the whole game, right there. We talk so much in marketing about innovation, emerging channels, the next platform, the next format. And look, I love a shiny new thing as much as anyone. But sometimes the highest-leverage move isn't finding a new channel. It's doing something unexpected inside the ones you're already buying. H&R Block didn't reinvent the media plan. They reinvented the moment. They took a placement everyone ignores and used the context of it as the creative itself. Five seconds. Maximum relevance. That's the craft of it. Not sexy, not a case study you're pitching to your board as "disruptive." But it stopped me cold, and I'm still thinking about it weeks later. The question I keep coming back to: what are the "boring" placements in your current buy that you could flip on their head? Sometimes the lemonade is already in the brief. You just have to make it. Happy (almost over) tax season. 🍋

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The biggest marketing culture shift in 2025 is that a brand strategist is grappling with CAC, LTV, ROAS, and performance managers are scratching their heads over cultural insight, storytelling, tone, and positioning.

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Wellness marketing is evolving. It's no longer just about promoting products; it's about crafting deep experiences that truly resonate with consumers. Our Managing Director, Nicole Turner, recently sat down with Athletech News to discuss how MERGE blends storytelling with technology to create personal, intuitive, and emotionally connected experiences. Learn how data-driven personalized experiences are turning engagement into loyalty in the Athletech News Wellness Report: https://okt.to/kYcgO5. #Wellness #AI #Personalization #ConsumerExperience #DataDriven #AthletechNewsATN

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“We confuse the dopamine of a viral campaign for the discipline of a compounding business. Obsess about solo stunt advertising at the expense of consistent, strategic marketing strategy across everything that includes but by no means is limited to communications.” I love a good stunt, but it’s a shame that so many large organizations ignore the effectiveness of compounding, consistent creativity.

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I’m excited to share the first workshop in our new Chicago Brothers skill-building series—built directly from what our members told us they want more of: practical growth tools that translate into real career momentum. Kicking off with Esther (ET) Franklin and Paul Johnson on executive presence—clear communication, stronger updates, stakeholder confidence, and showing up with calm authority when it counts. March 17 | 5–6pm CT | Virtual (see sign up link in comments) Free Rising leaders in marketing/advertising/media: if you want to level up how you communicate in rooms that matter, don’t miss this.

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Would love people's opinions around something I keep noticing across social channels: 1. A brand visibly spent tons of money on ad campaign. 2. Launched it. 3. Turns off comments on all social posts related to new ad campaign. My perception is always negative. I think brands should always have a conversation with their audiences, especially when and where they fail. Failures are an opportunity to show who you really are. When Final Fantasy XIV first launched, it had widespread criticism and low player retention. Naoki Yoshida (producer and Director of FFXIV) response/philosophy: "A complaint is worth twice as much as a compliment....If citizens are complaining, it means they still care" The 2.0 release learned from the feedback and massively revamped the game. Building the FFXIV into the majorly successful MMORPG we know today. If you read this far. What are your thoughts? #gaming #branding

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I had a great time chatting with Kendra Barnett from ADWEEK and Peter Giordano from DoorDash about the state of the industry as we enter 2026 at CES last week. We discussed how critical transparent, meaningful partnerships can create enormous value for brands as they try to reach their consumers across the entire consumer journey. My biggest piece of advice for brands as we begin the year is to be intentional. The winners in the year ahead will be able to clearly articulate who they are reaching, where they are reaching them, and what outcomes they are generating. If any of this isn't considered or worse yet, obscured, we need to take a giant step back and consider what is going unsaid.

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🌀 4 CMOs in 5 years. What’s spinning faster. Peloton bikes or its brand leadership? This week, Peloton named its fourth CMO in just five years. While change can spark ideas, inconsistent marketing leadership weakens brand equity and trust. 📉 Every reset risks losing momentum. New vision, new tone, new campaigns… but no consistency. Data tells us the story. 👉 Brands with consistent presentation see up to 33% more revenue 👉 Consistency builds trust, recognition & loyalty, says Forbes 👉 Aligned brands outperform financially, per Deloitte × WSJ 💡 Marketing isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about compound storytelling. Cohesion beats chaos. The takeaway? Consistency isn’t boring. It’s your brand’s superpower. Especially when want to climb uphill. Feel free to comment if you want the sources send per DM. #BrandBuilding #MarketingLeadership #Peloton #CMO #Strategy #BrandConsistency #Forbes #WSJ #Deloitte #MarketingMatters

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Walmart is shifting perception and redefining their brand with the “Who Knew?” marketing campaign—powered by real conversations on Reddit. #OOH https://lnkd.in/g_FGee2h

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Merchant Center promos are one of the easiest wins in e-comm… and most brands never switch them on. If you’re running Shopping / Performance Max and your offer’s only living on the landing page, you’re making customers work too hard. What promos do (when set up properly): 1) Put your offer right in the ad (promo badge on Shopping) 2) Improve CTR + CVR without just cranking bids 3) Pre-qualify clicks (fewer tyre-kickers, better conversion rate) 4) Give PMax something stronger to lean into Promos that tend to work best: - Money off (£10 off £50) - % off (when AOV supports it) - Free gift (brilliant for health brands) - Free shipping (still underrated) Quick rule: whatever the badge says, the landing page must match. Google’s not forgiving on that. If you want, DM me and I’ll tell you the 3 promo types we usually test first based on your AOV + margin. Phil

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"Brian Wieser, media analyst of Madison and Wall, projects that #rising categories for total TV will include healthcare, financial services, pharmaceutical, travel, gambling/recreation and retail. Declining categories are expected to include telecommunications, consumer goods, apparel, restaurants, automotive, and food and beverages." #upfronts #tv #budgets #categories #media

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Shout out to our very own Saurabh Channe and your "hot take" that agentic capabilities will drive better personalized experiences for guests through AI powered decisioning! Love it.

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Media should be accountable for measurable business outcomes. Full stop. At Quad—and through Rise—that’s always been the standard and requirement. Now, with In-Store Connect, that accountability extends all the way to the shelf—where decisions happen and sales are won. Not just impressions. Real, measurable impact.

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So all my commerce media connections - what did you think of the Claude AI ads that dropped during the Superbowl? I feel like a number of us have been having dialog on how to approach ads in AI tools, and I honestly wonder if we polled consumers what the mindset will be. As all of us in the biz know, Open AI's ad plans are not integrated as these commercials insinuate to which- Sam Altman fired back a bit of an overreaction already. But either way, many Chatbot users share very personal information with these LLM's. Many use them for counseling and advice, and within your account the memory stays intact. While to be fair Amazon knows more about me than I'd probably like, based on my purchase behavior, I am not sharing my deepest darkest secrets with Rufus. Will this level of very personal data, be used in ad targeting? Examples like anti-depression or anti-anxiety medication, bankruptcy services, marriage counselors, dating apps, supplements as featured in the commercial in the screen shot below, could capitalize on the information being shared. Are users getting warnings or updates on how and if the chat information is being used, and is it crystal clear or buried in some massive updated user agreement? Curious on your take and if that gave you any pause, as you ready budget to hit go once the beta's end and we all can run ads! I am sure ton's of people use Chat GPT for pet care advice..... (this post is 100% my own thoughts and not related to my company) Links the ads in comments.

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Nielsen notes the impact of Retail Media Networks in their 2025 Marketing Report. They're being deployed across the entire consumer journey.

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Retail media teams are doing more with less. More platforms, more data, more complexity, and rarely more headcount. Signal to Scale is built for the leaders figuring out how to change that. One day in Chicago with the people, perspectives, and product announcements shaping what comes next. Sessions cover agentic AI, full-funnel strategy, measurement, and the AI infrastructure behind it all. And everyone in the room is a brand or agency leader who's serious about what's next. I'm looking forward to joining Kiri Masters and Lee Dunbar for the opening keynote on how AI-enabled shopping is reshaping the economics of retail media, sitting down with Lars Djuvik, Colleen Cigliano, and Kris McDermott to get practical on AI infrastructure, and closing out the day with @Matt Yu to share what we've been building here at Xnurta. Swipe to see what a day at Signal to Scale looks like. ➡️ Save your spot: https://okt.to/WYp3o7

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As a marketing leader, I’ve seen multi-crore campaigns fail for one simple reason: The brand was talking about itself. One book that fundamentally reframed how I look at communication is Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. At its core, the book introduces the SB7 (StoryBrand 7-Part Framework) — a structure inspired by classic storytelling: 1. A Character (Customer) 2. Has a Problem 3. Meets a Guide (Brand) 4. Who Gives a Plan 5. And Calls Them to Action 6. That Helps Them Avoid Failure 7. And Ends in Success Simple. But powerful. What Makes This Book Strategic — Not Just Creative Miller makes one argument very clear: - Customers don’t buy the best product. - They buy the product they understand the fastest. Clarity reduces cognitive load. Confusion kills conversion. In boardrooms, we often debate brand architecture, feature hierarchy, and campaign tonality. But in reality, most websites fail within the first 5 seconds because they don’t answer: -What do you offer? l How does it help me? l What should I do next? Real Usage Cases (Where This Framework Works) #Website & Landing Page Optimisation When we repositioned the messaging for a consumer-facing brand, the shift was simple: * From: “We are India’s fastest-growing X platform.” * To: “Sell your car in 24 hours. Zero paperwork stress.” The hero section moved from brand achievement to customer outcome. Bounce rates dropped. Conversion rates improved — not because of design changes, but clarity. - #Sales Decks & #Investor Pitches Instead of leading with market size and valuation narrative, we structured the pitch like this: * The customer problem (pain quantified) * Current frustration in the ecosystem * Our role as the guide * A simple 3-step solution * Risk of inaction Result? Conversations became sharper. Decision-making cycles shortened. Internal Brand Alignment One underrated impact of *Building a StoryBrand* is internal clarity. When marketing, product, and sales align around: - Who the customer is - What problem we solve - What success looks like Execution friction reduces dramatically. The Leadership Takeaway The biggest mistake senior marketers make is assuming complexity signals sophistication. It doesn’t. Clarity scales. Confusion costs. In high-growth environments — especially in India where consumers are hyper-exposed to options — brands that win are the ones that communicate simply, repeatedly, and confidently. This book is not about storytelling as art. It’s about storytelling as a conversion system. And in 2026 — where AI can generate content in seconds — clarity will be the ultimate differentiator. If you’re leading marketing, ask yourself: Are you the hero in your messaging? Or is your customer? Because the moment you become the hero, you’ve already lost the story. #MarketingLeadership #Brand #Marketing #BrandStrategy #Storytelling #CMO #CustomerCentricity #thoughtleadership

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Eh-fectiveness Insight #2: Winter It's February. You're under a blanket streaming Schitt's Creek for the third time with a bowl of soup in hand. You are not the same consumer who was grabbing a two-four and trying to beat the traffic to the lake on a Friday afternoon in July. Every Canadian knows winter changes how people feel. So why do most brands write one brief that covers the full year? The benefits your audience is looking for in January are different from July, but the strategy, the positioning, and the media plan are staying the same. Build your plans for how Canadians actually feel and act in each season, not for some averaged-out consumer who doesn't exist in any particular month. This is the second in my 10-part Eh-fectiveness: Marketing Effectiveness for Canadian Brands series. Full section attached. If you missed Insight #1 on immigration and the buyer pool, it's on my profile. Follow me and EffectiveGrowth to catch the rest.

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