Design Indya

This week’s read is a must if your work involves navigating marketing budgets, and the constant pressure to improve metrics:

“Marketing’s Misleading metric”
Alex Murrell

Murrell critiques the industry's absolute obsession with Return on Investment (RoI), calling out the dangerous trap of making it the ultimate KPI for brand-building.

While RoI is treated as a sacred, unquestionable metric, his argument exposing its mathematical and strategic flaws is completely bulletproof.

This piece cuts through the noise of modern marketing, offering a way to think about:

1️⃣ why confusing relative efficiency with absolute effectiveness actively reduces a brand's total profit,

2️⃣ how the "RoI trap" forces brands to slash media spend, simply because efficiency naturally drops as you scale,

3️⃣ and why chasing the highest ratio forces you to "preach to the choir" (targeting existing heavy buyers) instead of acquiring the new, light buyers actually needed for growth.

💥 The most gut-punching invitation to think?

"Trying to maximize RoI is a good way to destroy your brand."

Murrell quotes Les Binet and sarah carter to land his point about how setting RoI as THE goal creates a dangerous, perverse incentive.

Just like the archaeologists who offered a reward for finding Dead Sea scrolls unintentionally caused people to tear the priceless parchments in half to double their payout, marketers are tearing apart long-term potential just to hit a ratio.

RoI is a perfectly valid metric for short-term, tactical sales activations. But using it for long-term brand building will trap your brand in a doom loop—shifting investment away from future growth just to capture immediate, but shrinking, returns.

So which path will you choose long-term?

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[marketing effectiveness, return on investment, ROI trap, Alex Murrell, marketing strategy, brand building, advertising metrics, business growth, performance marketing, marketing efficiency vs effectiveness, Les Binet, Mark Ritson, media spend, customer acquisition, Goodharts Law, perverse incentives, short term vs long term marketing, brand investment, marketing science, B2B marketing]

In advertising, internal alignment often feels like progress.

Meetings move smoothly. Disagreements soften. Momentum appears intact.

But alignment and clarity are not the same thing.

Over time, teams learn which observations travel easily — and which ones stall the room.

When difficult truths are postponed, misalignment doesn’t disappear. It accumulates.

Sometimes the constraint isn’t strategy. It’s what goes unsaid.

What would you say if you could speak freely?

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MINT

A short provocation.
One question
Meant to reset default thinking in advertising.

No tips. No hacks.
Just better questions.

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[advertising strategy, marketing strategy, brand strategy, strategic thinking, creative strategy, marketing insights, brand positioning, category strategy, consumer behaviour, marketing leadership, business strategy, brand growth, modern marketing, agency strategy, advertising leadership, marketing analysis, strategic planning, innovation thinking, decision making, brand development, organizational culture, disruption]

This week’s read is a must if your work involves brand strategy, creative direction, or defending your ideas in a boardroom:

“Is Everything BS?”
Rory Sutherland, Behavioral Scientist |

In this brilliant essay adapted from his 2021 talk from Consulting's , Sutherland explores what happens when strict economic logic collides with the unpredictability of human behavior, offering a way to think about:

1️⃣ why treating business problems like physics equations, where past data perfectly predicts the future, fails when dealing with complex human systems,

2️⃣ how psychological variables like scarcity, mood, framing, and story can dramatically shift sales without ever changing the product or its price,

3️⃣ and why demanding that every creative idea makes strict logical sense before it is tested artificially narrows your entire solution space.

💥 The most crucial insight?

We have built a bizarre decision-making process where reductionist math often comes first, and creativity comes last.

Sutherland perfectly captures the marketer's ultimate dilemma: when a product isn't selling, a boardroom full of executives will immediately demand to drop the price.

But what if the real answer is simply adding a psychological dimension? What if the answer is just to "make it pink"?

If we obsess over what makes rational sense based on past data, it becomes a massive constraint on innovation and experimentation.

To win in a landscape driven by human unpredictability, brands shouldn't just test the things that make sense, but find the bravery to also test the things that don't make any sense at all.

Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/e62mS452

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[behavioral science, consumer psychology, behavioral economics, Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy, creative problem solving, decision making, marketing strategy, consumer behavior, human psychology, irrational behavior, choice architecture, placebo effect, social proof, scarcity value, innovation strategy, business creativity, lateral thinking, counterintuitive ideas, testing variables, decision hygiene, cognitive bias, marketing insights]

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In advertising, popularity is often mistaken for effectiveness.

Brands monitor sentiment. They track reactions. They optimize for approval.

But approval and impact don’t always travel together.

Some truths feel risky not because they’re inaccurate, but because they disrupt comfort.

But strong brands don’t simply reflect culture. They actively shape it.

What truth would your brand say if consensus weren’t the goal?

Think about it.

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MINT

A short provocation.
One question
Meant to reset default thinking in advertising.

No tips. No hacks.
Just better questions.

__



__

[advertising strategy, marketing strategy, brand strategy, strategic thinking, creative strategy, marketing insights, brand positioning, category strategy, consumer behaviour, marketing leadership, business strategy, brand growth, modern marketing, agency strategy, advertising leadership, marketing analysis, strategic planning, innovation thinking, decision making, brand development, culture, disruption]

This week’s read is a must if your work involves brand building, long-term creativity, or advertising that earns its place:

“Timeless Lessons for Building Brands Through Creativity”
Marc S. Pritchard — Chief Brand Officer,

This essay by Pritchard, one of the most enduring voices in global marketing, offers a way to think about

1️⃣ why knowing your consumer still changes everything,
2️⃣ why advertising should be built to last,
3️⃣ and why consistency, not reinvention, drives brand growth.

💥 The most provocative takeaway?

Pritchard's unapologetic rejection of the word "content."

He argues that the digital drive to "catch the algorithm" has hijacked the industry, trapping marketers on a "hamster wheel of content activity, often devoid of craft".

Instead, he challenges us to abandon this cycle and fall back in love with the true art and science of advertising.

Why?

Because consumers deserve our highest level of craftsmanship.

Read it here: https://lnkd.in/ght_wuGQ

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This week’s read is a must if your work involves brand strategy, real-time marketing, or creating culturally relevant campaigns:

“Marketing at the Speed of Culture”
Ayelet Israeli, Leonard Schlesinger, &

This insightful Harvard Business Review piece explores how 'fastvertising' has evolved from a spontaneous tweet into a full-blown strategic capability, offering a way to think about:

1️⃣ why cultural proximity is now more valuable than production polish,

2️⃣ how showing up at the right cultural moment creates brand intimacy and shared experience,

3️⃣ and why limiting your brand to traditional, months-long approval processes is a massive risk to your relevance.

💥 The standout caveats:

1️⃣ Fast doesn't mean careless

You still need judgment, taste, tone, and teams you can trust. And that brings us the second caveat:

2️⃣ AI isn't the whole answer.

While Generative AI can turbocharge production speed, it cannot replace human judgment.

AI can’t sense timing, understand emotional subtext, or tell when a joke crosses the line into cruelty.

Bottomline:

The authors argue that true 'fastvertising' demands an "unwavering filter of humanity," proving that to win in a fast-paced culture, brands must act like responsive, self-aware people.

Read it here: https://lnkd.in/e5ESau45

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[fastvertising, real time marketing, newsjacking, marketing at the speed of culture, cultural relevance, cultural proximity, viral marketing strategy, real time brand response, striking while the iron is hot, earned media value, brand equity, free publicity, shared consumer experience, building brand intimacy, brand visibility, humanizing brands, emotional connection in advertising, zero sum branding, agile marketing teams, overcoming marketing bureaucracy, cross functional creative teams, generative AI in advertising, AI content generation, marketing speed and scale, AI and human judgment in marketing, Maximum Effort advertising, Ryan Reynolds marketing strategy, Oreo Super Bowl blackout tweet, Aviation Gin Peloton response, IKEA Game of Thrones manual, KFC FCK apology ad, brand crisis management, marketing case studies]

In advertising, strategy often rests on things we treat as obvious.

Who the audience is. What the category allows. What will or won’t work.

Over time, these beliefs settle into certainty. Not because they’re tested repeatedly — but because they’re repeated confidently.

The risk isn’t having assumptions. It’s forgetting they’re provisional.

Sometimes the most strategic move isn’t a new idea.
It’s a questioned belief.

What belief would you question this week?

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MINT

A short provocation.
One question
Meant to reset default thinking in advertising.

No tips. No hacks.
Just better questions.

__

[advertising strategy, marketing strategy, brand strategy, strategic thinking, creative strategy, marketing insights, brand positioning, category strategy, consumer behaviour, marketing leadership, business strategy, brand growth, modern marketing, agency strategy, advertising leadership, marketing analysis, strategic planning, innovation thinking, decision making, brand development]

In advertising, brands accumulate more than equity.
They accumulate self-image.

Over time, that self-image becomes something to preserve — what feels on-brand, what feels off-brand, what would feel “like us.”

Protection is natural.

But when identity becomes too precious, it can quietly narrow the range of acceptable moves.

Starting from scratch isn’t about discarding history.

It’s about noticing where loyalty to it may be limiting ambition.

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MINT

A short provocation.
One question
Meant to reset default thinking in advertising.

No tips. No hacks.
Just better questions.

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[brand strategy, brand identity, brand positioning, brand reinvention, brand transformation, brand legacy, brand evolution, advertising strategy, marketing leadership, creative strategy, brand growth, brand architecture, rebranding, brand thinking, modern marketing, agency strategy, marketing insights, brand development, business strategy, brand purpose]

This week’s read is a must if your work involves brand systems, product storytelling, or design with a point of view:

"Design by "
Dieter Rams — Speech at New York, 1976

Long before “sustainability” and “purpose” became branding buzzwords, Rams was asking what design was really for — and what kind of world it was shaping.

This speech by Rams, the man who inspired 's iconic design philosophy, offers a way to think about

1️⃣ why usefulness beats novelty,
2️⃣ why clarity should be quiet,
3️⃣ and why design, even in advertising, should be an act of responsibility.

The speech isn't about advertising but something far more fundamental. Worth its weight in gold as an invitation to think.

Link in comments.

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[Dieter Rams, design philosophy, product design, responsible design, minimalist design, brand systems, creative direction, long-term thinking, advertising ethics, design for good, design thinking, Vitsœ, timeless design, honest design, human-centered design, branding clarity, advertising culture, brand strategy, agency creatives, weekend read, must read essay, iconic speech, minimal branding, campaign strategy, design discipline, creative standards]