✾ Justin Moodley

Everyone’s suddenly “shocked” that clients care about outcomes? Let’s be real. That’s not new—it’s just louder now. Yes, relationships matter. I’ve built my career on them. But let’s stop pretending they’re valuable on their own. What clients actually value is performance. Solutions. Growth. They want partners who understand their business and deliver against it. This article suggests the industry’s shifted toward an unhealthy obsession with outcomes. I’d argue the opposite: we finally have the data, tools, and pressure to make good on the promises we’ve been making for years. The danger isn’t measuring outcomes—it’s mistaking the fastest route for the best one. Aggressive retargeting, last-click thinking, and buzzwords don’t build lasting value. Strong partnerships + clear strategy + consistent performance = real outcomes. That’s always been the game. It’s not about abandoning relationships. It’s about building them on what actually matters. #AdTech #BrandStrategy #RealTalk

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Are you world-class at what you do, but struggling with a "lopsided" business? Most solo operators focus entirely on Discovery (Social Media) while ignoring the two layers that actually stabilize revenue: Capture and Nurture. In this week's issue of the Owned Growth System, I break down: The "Billboard vs. Home" trap of LinkedIn (and all social media). How to stop "leaking" future revenue at the gateway. The "Volatility Test" to diagnose your distribution health. Stop building on rented land. Start building a system you own. Read the full breakdown here https://lnkd.in/gYGC9Rhm

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I'm always being asked why we should continue to spend money on billboards (and other traditional media). But the data says we’re not the only ones. Traditional media still holds nearly 20% of all US ad spend. I’m sharing how I think casino marketers should rethink OOH, radio, and even linear TV—and how to frame the budget conversation for your GM. Listen wherever you find your favorite podcasts. #CasinoMarketing #Podcast #MediaPlanning #CasinoAdvertising

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Awareness isn't strategy...it's theater. For over a century, marketers treated visibility as a goal instead of a byproduct. The result? Budgets drained on exposure that doesn't convert. It's time to fund activation, not recognition.

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Great short podcast on best practices when using AI in advertising. Many major brands have pulled back on using AI in their advertising since this was published.

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Are “Answers” the New Front Door to Marketing? Is the future of brand management about "Negotiating Truth" through answer engines? That’s exactly what we explored this morning at the launch of BrandRank.AI ’s new eCenter office in Cincinnati’s OTR — with customers, investors, partners, and community leaders -- and the discussion couldn’t have been more timely. For 20+ years, marketing and brand visibility were defined by the 10 blue links of Google. The holy grail was landing on page one. But today, we’re living in the Answer Economy. Platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Summaries, and Amazon Rufus don’t hand you a list of options — they deliver a single synthesized answer. My co-founder Hank Hudepohl walked us through the arc of this disruption: From early discovery (AltaVista, Yahoo, Google PageRank) where websites mattered most. - To the snippet wars, when brands cried “piracy” as Google lifted fragments of their content. - To the ad era, where organic visibility was crowded out. - To today’s Answer Engines, where AI harvests narratives about your brand from everywhere — with or without your input. As Hank put it: “We’ve gone from chasing search rank to competing for presence inside the answer itself. That changes everything.” Our panelists brought the idea to life: Elisha Herrmann Hermann (Amazon Web Services (AWS): Trust signals — reviews, ratings, data integrity — are what drive answers, not old SEO tricks. Nate Sowder (Fifth Third Bank): “Search is no longer navigation, it’s negotiating truth.” He also highlighted how employees adopt AI tools regardless of IT bans — a reminder that adoption is unstoppable. A few insights that really hit home: 🔹 Transparency is the input; trust is the output. 🔹 Less than 20% of brand websites are AI-ready. 🔹 Private label is thriving because algorithms optimize baskets for value, not marketing spend. The implications are massive: - If you’re not in the answer, you may not exist. - If your sustainability or product claims don’t align with AI perceptions, you risk credibility (or worse). - If you’re not embedding proof points into your digital footprint, Reddit, Inc. threads and Wikipedia edits will write your story for you. We’re at a new AltaVista-to-Google moment — only this time, the leap is larger, the adoption faster, and the stakes far higher. 👉 So let me ask you: As AI answer engines rewrite the rules of discovery, what’s your strategy to ensure your brand is not just found — but TRUSTED? (BTW... here's the playlist from our event if you want so "sing and learn." https://lnkd.in/gaFNgg2G Sherrie Kinderdine Adam Bittner, MBA Anu Vora Glenn Platt Sean Kwiat Hector Soto Reyna Christopher Brown Chris Hood Monica Penagos John Carmichael David Rennie Christopher Ford Sean Rugless Maurice E. Coffey, II Chetan Parekh Ann Mooney Leigh Radford Shiv Singh

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Association / KCMA credibility anchor This week, the Interline page that drew the strongest repeat signal wasn’t a generic service page — it was a client proof page. That tells you how B2B decision-makers behave: they verify capability before they ever reach out. KCMA is one of those verification checkpoints. 👉 https://bit.ly/49rIzB7 #B2BMarketing #AssociationStrategy #AudienceSignals

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On the latest episode of the Aperiam Podcast Joe Zawadzki and I are joined by Erica Chriss to unpack why “attention” is more than a buzzword—it's continuing to become the new currency of advertising. The Attention Awakening. We cover:  What attention metrics really mean  Why omni-channel chaos demands a normalized metric  How attention bridges brand, performance, and publisher value  Where AI helps (and where it doesn’t—yet) Listen on all your favorite podcast platforms or see the link below #AperiamPodcast #AttentionEconomy #AdTech #MarketingMeasurement #Omnichannel #AIinAdvertising #MediaMetrics

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Vanity metrics will tell you how many, but not who. You can rack up 90+ engagements in a day… but if they’re not your target audience, you’re just making noise. The real win? Precision over volume. Because the right consumer is the one who actually remembers and acts. Here’s the link to the full video: https://lnkd.in/euFNtT_a #PortMA #TargetAudience #ExperientialMarketing

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Most brands think they’re doing omni-channel marketing. They’re not. They’re spray-and-pray. They’re guessing. They’re siloed. And their customers can feel it. We just published a no-BS breakdown of what makes real omni-channel strategies work—complete with examples from brands like Amazon, Netflix, and Nike. In this post, we cover: Why siloed teams = broken customer experience How to weaponize your data across channels What loyalty really looks like in 2025 (hint: it’s not coupons) Read it now: https://lnkd.in/gNF_vu4B #marketingstrategy #omnichannel #digitalmarketing #customerexperience #RefractROI

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Addi wouldn’t look the way it does today without early trials & honest feedback. People sat through demos, tested early versions of the tool, and shared what made sense (and what didn’t). That input really helped shaped the direction of the experience we are creating. This is one of the things I love about the Kansas City community, and the broader network around our Addi team- people's generosity to share time and perspective. We highlighted a few of them here, but there were many others who helped move this forward early on: https://lnkd.in/gwQjfE_w Erin Christensen / KC Tech Council Blish Mize Connor / BLISHFUL THINKING LLC Michael Hiatt / Steel City Media Rachel Asaro, PCM, CDMP / i.c.stars |* Kansas City Dr. Michelle Robin & Bayleigh Soza / Your Wellness Connection & Small Changes Big Shifts

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Welcome to another data-driven episode of Build a Better Agency! This week, host Drew McLellan sits down with returning guest Lee McKnight to break down the results of RSW/US’s freshly released 2025 Agency New Business Survey. Together, Drew and Lee unpack the real-world challenges and emerging opportunities that agencies—especially small and midsize firms—are facing as they gear up for the rest of 2024 and look ahead to 2026. Drew and Lee explore the survey’s biggest takeaways, including the persistence of economic uncertainty, longer sales cycles, and increasing client budget constraints—all pain points that seem to be universal across the agency landscape right now. You’ll hear candid discussions about the so-called “pipeline crisis,” with a striking 93% of respondents saying their agency’s growth engine isn’t firing on all cylinders. But it’s not all doom and gloom—Lee shares evidence that more agencies are stepping up their business development game, investing in content, and getting proactive with new business strategies. The conversation dives into specific tactics agencies are leaning into, from ramping up their content marketing efforts to productizing service offerings and rethinking referrals. They unpack why building a sustainable, always-on new business machine matters more than ever, and touch on the evolving relationship between agencies and in-house teams. Plus, the duo discusses how smart use of AI is shaping prospecting, research, and content—while still emphasizing the irreplaceable value of the human touch. Don’t miss this in-depth analysis if you’re determined to make your agency stand out in a crowded marketplace. You’ll walk away with actionable insights on increasing your agency’s visibility, keeping your new business pipeline healthy, and navigating the rapidly shifting marketing landscape with confidence. If you’re looking to end the year on a high note and get ahead of the competition in 2025, this episode is packed with the expert perspective you need. https://bit.ly/4gJA2gi [Sponsored by White Label IQ: https://bit.ly/3abMMrU]

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A seasoned stockpicker is sounding the alarm on AI and Big Tech, drawing parallels to the dot-com bust and suggesting current risks could be even more severe. This article from msn.com explores the potential fallout. #AI #BigTech #Investing

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"Performance, ideally measured by the cost per incremental outcome, must be the final judge of how valuable a media product is."  A good read from our head of data analytics TJ Walz for those of you tracking the evolution of media measurement.

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