Lindsey Giardino
Lindsey Giardino is a freelance writer based in Iowa. She's worked with clients ranging in industries from higher education to healthcare to technology and beyond. She dubs herself a lifelong learner, an avid reader, a sub-par cook, and a tries-her-best mom to two little boys.
CPG Branding in a Digital-First World: Daring vs. Dull
Walk down any grocery aisle or scroll through any ecommerce app, and you’ll notice the same trend: CPG brands fighting for attention in a world that scrolls faster than it shops. The rules for the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry have changed. Today, visibility is no longer won by shelf placement alone. It’s earned through relevance, personality, and digital…
The Risk of Looking Wrong: TBWA\NEBOKO’s CCO on Centraal Beheer’s Typo Play
When Brands Break the Rules: What happens when a mistake becomes the idea? Some of the best advertising ideas don’t look right—until they are. When Brands Break the Rules explores campaigns that challenged internal expectations and redefined what “good” creative looks like. In this edition, TBWA\NEBOKO’s CCO explains how Centraal Beheer turned a typo…
Inside Lululemon’s Power Struggle Over What the Brand Should Be
Lululemon has been in a pickle since Chip Wilson, the founder, jumped the fences and publicly vented against the brand’s policies in a Wall Street Journal ad. Lululemon experienced a challenging period from 2024 to 2025. However, Lululemon didn’t lose its footing because athleisure fell out of fashion or because consumers suddenly balked at premium pricing. The…
AI Marketing Didn’t Replace Marketers—It Exposed Better Ones
AI marketing has officially moved out of its hype phase. As we move into the year 2026, the conversation is no longer about whether brands should adopt AI tools for marketing; that decision has already been made. The real question now is how much control marketers should give to AI, and where it should be stopped. As brands have implemented automation-centric strategies over…
The AI Readiness Gap Is Holding Commerce Back in 2026
Brands and retailers feel pressure to protect their margins and keep operations stable, while also needing to innovate and grow. This tension is shaping commerce strategies as we head into 2026. It’s clear that adding more tools won’t make businesses faster or more agile. Real speed comes from having clean, connected data that helps teams work quickly and…
Still Marketing the Hard Way? Meet the AI Marketing Tools Changing the Game in 2026
The marketing landscape has undergone significant changes over the past year. In 2026, it has become the most competitive and dynamic marketplace that marketers have ever faced. Audiences are fragmented across different channels; expectations for personalization are higher, and competition is intensifying, meaning intuition alone can no longer guide marketing strategies. And that’s where AI marketing tools come in. These intelligent systems streamline tasks, uncover insights, automate experimentation, and help marketers break the repetitive cycle of planning, execution,…
AI Marketing ROI in 2026: Data-Backed Insights vs Dashboard Illusions
For many years, AI ROI in marketing was treated like a “get out of jail free” card. As long as agencies and brands were “building,” nobody asked tough questions regarding AI. Dashboards remained cluttered, activity looked impressive, and automated actions were mistaken for progress. However, in 2026, that grace period ended—with no more “free” passes. CMOs, CFOs, and brand custodians want proof. They want actual, defendable, and quantifiable…
The Streaming War in 2026 is about Urgency, not Growth
Before 2026 even dawned, the Academy Awards announced its move to YouTube streaming for its 101st award show in 2029. The contract is signed for five years. Netflix vs. Paramount is far from over, and Warner Bros. is taking its sweet time before making any decisive moves. Taken together, these developments signal something bigger than one-off distribution…
AI Backlash Hits Big Brands: What Went Wrong and Why Fans Are Mad
For a while now, AI has been one of marketing’s biggest flexes. Pitch decks led with it. Campaigns built it into the creative idea. Press releases couldn’t stop mentioning it. If you don’t have an “AI-powered” brand, are you even pushing it forward? But now, the environment has changed. Consumers are fighting back. Employees are asking more complex questions about how and why AI is being…
The Downfall of Influencer Marketing is Giving a Way to Creator’s Economy
The future of influencer marketing relies on people, not brands. That may be hard to accept. Viewers, once captivated by influencers, are seeing things differently. Inflation, inauthenticity, fatigue, endless ads, and constant consumerism impact everyone. Over time, brands have exploited influencers and their potential to develop independent identities. As influencer marketing reaches its ‘washed-up’ phase,…