World Intellectual Property Day has rolled around for 2026, and it’s got us thinking about just how much can change within a relatively short period. IP laws are in constant limbo, trying to establish what is and isn’t “fair game”.

One of the latest regulatory points of contention centres around AI. We’re not that shocked. When the discussion around the Studio Ghibli AI generative trend was at its peak, the key argument was about the bastardisation and theft of intellectual property, and the dilution of skill.

IP regulation currently

AI and copyright

AI copyrighting is still a grey area legally, with no clear ruling yet on whether training AI with copyright content is evidence of infringement. We see this in cases like Getty vs Stability, where there’s yet to be a definitive ruling for or against such approaches. That leaves a lot of room for questions for marketers, like, is it ok to use AI in my content?

The only clear answer we can give so far is that it can’t be assumed that AI content is legally safe. AI can and may utilise protected IP of other brands to generate visual elements, copy or ads. The impacts aren’t fully understood yet, which means brands using AI could trigger legal disputes later down the line. Some of the other risks it potentially brings on are:

• Loss of ownership
• Data leaks
• Damaging trust and authenticity
• Loss of IP
• An unknowing use of protected assets and ideas.

AI clauses in contracts

The rules around business use of AI are becoming more stringent, requiring closer attention to be paid to the contracts being signed and the terms of use you agree to. The kinds of stipulations that can be found in some of these contracts include:

1. Who owns the AI-generated content
2. Liability for IP infringement
3. Whether your data will be reused

Copycat branding to be penalised

Brand assets are better protected now than ever before in some cases. Brands can no longer copy along just because it worked for another brand. Specifically, when brands don’t adapt their content or assets to reflect their own branding, this dupe approach is now much riskier.

We see this happen time and time again in the UK courts with cases like Aldi vs M&S and the Thatchers vs Aldi case, which again ruled in the appellants’ favour.

Increased costs for IP and Trademarking

For the first time since 1998, on April 1^st, the UKIPO has increased the cost to trademark and claim intellectual property by an average of 25%. With a stronger push for brands to select and prioritise what it is they want to protect.

This means you can’t just trademark anything; instead, there needs to be a stronger focus on core brand assets, protecting your name, logo and key campaigns created. High-value content, now more than ever, is protected when distinguishable with the unique elements of a brand’s IP.

What is slop?

Slop, or AI slop, is a term coined for low-quality and value, often repetitive or very generic content produced at scale with the assistance of AI.

It’s becoming increasingly common for short-form video content like reels and shorts to feature marketing slop.

Is Slop hurting marketing?

Slop definitely has an impact on the quality and output of some marketers. AI should be utilised to enhance and improve upon what already exists, rather than diluting or replacing quality marketing content. Some of the main harms slop has for marketing are:

• Reducing engagement rates, audiences won’t engage in low-quality disengaging content
• Oversaturating the content market, because its low quality makes it easier to produce, thus the churn is greater and can dominate algorithms
• Runs the risk of diluting branding, slop tends to fall in the generic, overdone category, risking the brand’s unique tone of voice being watered down.
• Audiences can become fatigued, and slop in particular can be churned out, risking boring the audience and creating a disconnect

But slop isn’t just risking negative audience response and platform performance; it can result in marketers overly relying on automation, which won’t help them stand out.  This lack of human touch takes away the depth and meaning often created in content; AI is not able to capture the same emotion or soul that a human can.

Actionable Fixes for using AI to enhance quality

The key to fixing slop is to use AI with responsibility and consideration. AI is an invaluable tool, especially when looking to polish and perfect something you’ve already created.

Editorial standards

One of the key ways this can be corrected is by setting an editorial standard. Acting as a framework for creators to work within. Think of it as a quality check before it’s released, ask yourself:

1. Is this on brand?
2. Does this make sense?
3. Is this content relevant?
4. Is the AI component noticeable? Is that the intention?

Enforcing your brand voice

Branding is a crucial aspect of content marketing, so portraying your brand authentically is especially important. Referring to brand guidelines for tone, style and messaging ensures that AI isn’t filling in the blanks with generic, non-tailored types of content.

Use AI in assistance, not as the final version

AI can be mistakenly used to recreate what was a perfectly great human-designed piece of content, when really the AI should be part of the ideation and development process. AI should not replace the thinking or creativity of a person or brand; doing so is disingenuous.

A simple workflow you could follow is to use AI to brainstorm, research and help influence structure. Your role is to then use your opinion, voice, and editorial capabilities to flesh out and produce content. AI should help to accelerate thinking, not replace it.

Does the marketing industry negatively impact the planet?

As an industry, marketing is among the worst in terms of the negative impacts it has on the planet. Ranging from more obvious concerns like data farms emitting staggering emissions, to less obvious ones around consumerism.

The impacts, whilst varied, do exist and present several long-term issues when not properly managed.

What is corporate sustainability?

Corporate sustainability refers to the business strategies taken to ensure a business’s ethical impacts don’t negatively impact their staff, environment or economy. The key point of focus for most businesses is:

• Environmental
• Cultural
• Economic
• Social

Integrated practices help to protect and preserve these pillars of sustainability. The added benefits of introducing sustainable practices include:

Having a real-time positive impact within your immediate community. Reputationally, brands that demonstrate being sustainable can build trust with customers, stakeholders, investors, and staff.

Taking on a proactive approach contributes towards reducing risks. Whether that be preventing climate change from worsening, or forging the path to long-term economic growth, without compromising the environment.

An advantage of adopting sustainability efforts is the positive financial impacts it can have, both for cost-efficiency and for increasing revenue. For instance, environmental sustainability often leads to businesses becoming more efficient with resources, using only what is needed, and reducing operational costs.

What sustainability practices can marketers adopt?

There are several practices businesses can select from to improve their sustainability efforts.

Some of the smaller, easier-to-implement strategies include walk-to-work days, carpooling policies, and producing digital-first content. Whilst some of the higher-impact, more complex strategies include things like trading or recycling schemes or switching to eco-friendly packaging.

Some of the additional approaches to being a sustainable marketing brand are:

• Using eco-friendly web servers
• Carbon footprint tracking
• Going paperless
• Partnering with influencers or organisations with sustainable practices
• Transparency around efforts

Sustainability in marketing isn’t a trend or a box to tick. It is a responsibility. As an industry built on influence, marketers have a unique opportunity to shape not just consumer behaviour, but the future of our planet. Every campaign, platform, and partnership is a chance to make more conscious choices.

Earth Day serves as a reminder, but meaningful change happens in the everyday decisions we make as professionals. By embedding sustainability into our strategies, whether through small operational shifts or larger structural changes, we can reduce harm while building stronger, more trusted brands.

The question is not whether marketing can be sustainable. It is whether we are willing to lead that change.

 Our Sustainability initiatives

It’s important to us that our environmental impact is little to non-existent. Which is why we’ve taken a look at our operations and found ways to ensure our carbon emissions are offset.

Going Paperless: One of the key decisions we’ve taken is to go paperless. We’ve eliminated printing and digitised our documents and opted for cloud storage for instant access from any location.

We utilise notebooks for meetings, which we will offset future purchases of notebooks with sustainable contributions to ensure we’re carbon neutral.

Work From Home Days: Our hybrid working model enables employees to work from home, reducing commuting and significantly lowering our overall carbon footprint.

Digital Clean-up: We also take steps to reduce our digital environmental impact. On the last Friday of each month, we carry out a “digital clean-up,” removing unnecessary emails and large attachments to reduce server load. As digital storage contributes to carbon emissions, this regular practice helps keep our systems efficient and environmentally responsible.

What we’re working towards

We are continuing to evolve our sustainability strategy. One of the next steps is introducing a quarterly green tech audit.

This will involve regularly reviewing our website performance and software stack, enabling us to prioritise energy-efficient tools without compromising the quality of our work. Sustainability starts with small, consistent actions. By making more conscious choices every day, we can reduce our impact and contribute to a more responsible future for our industry and our planet.

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is usually a long-term partnership between a brand and a celebrity/influencer, where they act as a representative of the company. Some of the responsibilities of a brand ambassador extend beyond representation; they may also need to:

• Promote the brand
• Create content for it
• Attend events hosted by said brand
• Develop a rapport with customers
• Often, ambassadors will wear the products or use services year-round as part of their contract

Brand ambassadors can be paid, though the approach will depend on the business. Some may pay per post, some brands may offer a fixed salary, while others may provide products or services at a reduced price or remove costs altogether.

What is a brand affiliate?

Brand affiliates are a short-term relationship between a brand and an influencer/celebrity, often collaborating for a campaign or the release of affiliate codes through partnerships. Some of the key tasks they may undertake during this period include:

• Sharing products on social media
• Creating promotional content
• Delivering measurable assets (on which they will measure performance)

Brand affiliates are often paid partnerships, where the engagement and sales made through their code earn them a percentage of the revenue.

What are the key differences between a brand ambassador and an affiliate?

The two roles can look very similar on the surface, but they’re quite different in their structure, motivation and relationship with a company.

The nature of the relationship is often quite different. A brand ambassador has a long-term, closer relationship with the brand. Reflecting values and identities aligned with branding. By contrast, an affiliate relationship is more transactional. They help promote products when it benefits them, without needing to be aligned with brand values.

A key difference between an affiliate and an ambassador is the payment structure. Affiliates are only paid by performance, usually earning a commission on each sale made with their tracked link or code. While ambassadors are often paid or are gifted free products and are also given exclusive access.

Expectations in terms of brand representation often differ quite drastically. Ambassadors take on a role as a face for a brand, often working on events, product launches and campaigns. They establish a relationship with both the brand and its customers.

The style and type of content created for a brand. There’s an overlap in terms of the content expectations placed on an affiliate or ambassador.  Ambassadors usually produced consent that is designed to feel authentic, with lifestyle-based content of the product being used. Affiliates are often associated with more sales-based types of content, whether that an ad, or softer types of content like their top 5 products.

Commitment levels vary for affiliates and ambassadors, but generally speaking, ambassadors are loyal to the brand, avoiding promoting any competitors. Whereas an affiliate doesn’t need to concern themselves with what brands they associate with.

Which is better for my brand: A brand ambassador or a brand affiliate?

Either role is inherently “better”; it depends on the goal. For brands, ambassadors are better for long-term brand building and trust, while affiliates are better for driving immediate sales and measurable results. For creators, ambassadorships offer stability and stronger partnerships, while affiliate roles offer flexibility and performance-based earning potential.

Each serves a different purpose depending on the goals of the brand or creator. Ultimately, the choice between a brand ambassador and an affiliate comes down to whether the priority is building long-term relationships and trust or driving short-term, measurable results.

In my previous blog on guerrilla marketing, I explored how brands use surprise, disruption and creativity to cut through the noise. But in 2026, guerrilla marketing’s not just about being unconventional; it’s about creating unforgettable, shareable, and sometimes controversial campaigns.

Guerrilla marketing is engineered to produce unexpected, high-impact interactions that spark emotional responses and people to share with word-of-mouth.

The Evolution of Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing strategies continue to evolve as audiences grow and new campaigns enter the landscape. Increasingly, we see brands hijacking culture, leveraging trending topics, events, or conversations to tap into existing engagement.

In many cases, brands are now embracing experiential storytelling. Rather than passively consuming a campaign, audiences are invited into it and become part of the narrative itself. This creates more memorable moments and, ultimately, stronger engagement.

Another emerging approach is controversy-led virality, built on the idea that attention, whether positive or negative, can fuel visibility.

Two recent campaigns show just how far brands are willing to go…

BuzzBallz & The Pink Lemonsqueezy Ring

BuzzBallz tapped into experiential storytelling by positioning its product as an engagement ring. This immediately introduces a familiar narrative, the proposal, and invites audiences to engage with it.

Viewers are prompted to ask:

Would you take this seriously? Would you say yes?

This kind of campaign draws people in, sparking online debate and discussion. It is a clever way to generate attention and brand awareness without relying solely on the product itself.

The Drama: When Guerrilla Backfires

However, guerrilla marketing does not always land as intended.

The recent film The Drama offers an example of where things can go wrong. For those familiar with the film, its underlying themes create a stark contrast with its marketing.

The campaign’s pop-up chapel activation in Las Vegas presented a tone that felt misaligned with the film’s subject matter. While the intention may have been to create intrigue and surprise, the mismatch led to criticism.

Guerrilla marketing thrives on tension, but when that tension crosses ethical or cultural lines, it can quickly turn into backlash.

The New Rules of Guerrilla Marketing

The rules are constantly changing with guerrilla marketing, but the following most certainly apply:

1. Shareability > Visibility

If it’s not TikTok/LinkedIn worthy, it’s not guerrilla anymore. Social media is an incubator for conversation and debate; if it can’t thrive in this environment, it simply won’t work.

2. Emotion is the currency

BuzzBallz → humour + absurdity

The Drama → shock + discomfort

It’s about achieving some sort of emotional response from the audience. A response is active engagement, which is a super-effective promotion tool.

3. Risk is built in

Guerrilla campaigns are inherently unpredictable. Without careful consideration, they can easily miss the mark.

What marketers can learn

It is no longer enough to simply “be different”. Brands need to be strategically different.

The most effective campaigns are built for:

• participation
• sharing
• conversation
•  

Ultimately, the key question is:

Will this spark the right kind of attention?

What is brand activism?

Brand activism happens when brands adopt causes they believe in and actively voice their opinions and support. Activism can focus on political, social, environmental, or economic issues.

Brands can take an activist stance in several ways, typically through advocacy work, mission statements, and marketing campaigns.

Is it a good idea for a brand to be an activist?

Activism in business is nuanced; not every brand should engage in it. In some sectors, activism feels inappropriate or misaligned with the brand’s positioning.

Alignment depends on the individual business and how it chooses to champion specific issues. Brands that come across as disingenuous, inauthentic, or performative are far more likely to create a disconnect with their audience.

This disconnect can cause real harm, especially when audiences lose trust or feel disengaged, leading to potential financial repercussions.

When does it work?

Activism works best when it genuinely aligns with the business. Take Lush, for example. The brand actively opposes animal testing in beauty products, which directly connects to its role in cosmetic manufacturing and its stance on animal welfare and sustainability.

Championing animal rights feels like a natural extension of the brand rather than an add-on or performance tactic.

The brand also takes a polarising stance, recognising that meaningful change does not always come from neutrality, especially when activism involves complex or emotional issues. This approach works in its favour, as audiences who share these beliefs develop strong loyalty.

Brands like Lush succeed because they back their words with action, investment and long-term consistency. They embed activism into their identity through in-store displays, merchandise and packaging.

Does it alienate customers?

Brand activism can absolutely alienate audiences in some cases. A well known example is Kendall Jenner’s campaign with Pepsi, which aimed to promote unity but instead came across as tone deaf and trivialised serious issues like police brutality.

Activism carries a real risk of backlash, particularly when audiences feel closely connected to the issues involved. If a brand shows poor alignment with a cause, it can appear dismissive or opportunistic.

Can brands still sell while being an activist?

In 2026, brands that are successful at activism don’t treat it as a trade-off against sales. Instead, they use it to differentiate and build loyalty whilst justifying brand values. When activism is executed poorly, it absolutely can hurt revenue.

In saturated markets, values are what set brands apart from others. It demonstrates they stand for something meaningful, when some brands may choose to stay quiet to appeal to more people.

It can attract the right audience for brands, creating a better audience fit. A strong brand doesn’t need everybody to be its customer; it builds a core audience.

Brand activism isn’t a guaranteed win, but it’s not a guaranteed risk either. Its success comes down to credibility. We explore businesses’ virtue signalling in our blog on Virtue Signalling in Marketing: A Faux Pas.

Final thoughts

In 2026, audiences are more aware, more critical, and more informed than ever. They don’t just listen to what brands say, they watch what they do, question why they’re doing it, and decide whether it feels genuine. When activism is treated as a campaign, it can feel hollow. But when it’s built into the foundations of a brand, it becomes something much more powerful: a reason for customers to trust and stay loyal.

Not every brand needs to speak on every issue. In many cases, knowing when to stay quiet is just as important as knowing when to take a stand. But for brands that choose to engage, consistency, transparency, and alignment are what make the difference.

Ultimately, the question isn’t whether brands can be activist and still sell. It’s whether they can do it in a way that people genuinely believe.

There is a notable shift occurring across industries, where brands are moving away from traditional influencer collaborations, such as affiliations and ambassadorships, towards offering influencers a more committed role as investors. This evolution signals a significant change in how brands and creators collaborate to promote products and services.

For many years, influencer marketing relied on:

·      Affiliate links and discount codes

·      Sponsored posts

·      Brand ambassadorships

While this model proved highly effective in driving short-term results, it created an imbalance: influencers generated substantial value for brands without holding any long-term stake in their success. As a result, these partnerships often detached influencers from contributing to sustained brand equity.

Why are influencers moving beyond brand deals?

Influencers are increasingly moving beyond transactional partnerships and seeking deeper, more strategic involvement with brands. Rather than simply promoting products, they are now looking to participate in the value they help create.

This shift is driven by the realisation that:

·      Influencers directly impact purchasing behaviour

·      Their audiences represent monetisable communities

·      Their personal brand holds significant commercial power

As a result, influencers are transitioning from promoters to stakeholders, aligning their incentives with the long-term success of the brands they support.

Why is it happening? (The Rise of Equity, Authenticity, and Long-Term Value)

Influencers play a vital role in building brand equity. It’s their ability to increase brand awareness, build trust and credibility, all while fostering customer loyalty. This level of added value enables brands to command premium pricing and sustain long-term relationships.

Influencers contribute to brand equity through something called meaning transference. This is where things like values, personality, and audience perception are transferred onto the brand. We see this kind of influencer and brand alignment with collaborations like Billie Eilish and Beats by Dre, where Billie’s aesthetic and authenticity align with the Beats position, reinforcing the cultural relevance of the product.

Where previously influencers failed to leverage their impact, now, it’s becoming more common for influencers to have a financial stake in projects they’re part of. It marks the evolution from short-term marketing outputs to long-term value creation for brands and influencers.

What does it mean for businesses?

Businesses need to consider their influencer strategies. Rather than just perceiving them as an external marketing resource, businesses must begin to treat them as a co-creator, a strategic partner, or a long-term stakeholder.

This may mean reducing the number of partnerships and focusing on core figures who truly align with the brand and therefore increase the brand equity. Offering equity or a revenue-sharing model allows the influencer to have a vested interest in the success of the brand.

Taking on this approach allows businesses to better tap into the benefits of a credible figure with connections to a wider audience and the ability to deliver sustainable growth.

Rethinking influencer partnerships in 2026 and beyond

Looking ahead, we already anticipate the trend in influencer to investors will rise. Integrating this approach into business strategies will give rise to a new hybrid role within the marketing ecosystem.

It marks a broader transformation for marketing, where ownership, alignment and authenticity are becoming more important than just reach alone.

A new publisher report suggests Google’s AI Overviews are having a major impact on organic search traffic, with clicks from traditional search down 42% across Define Media Group’s portfolio since AI Overviews began expanding in Google Search. In simple terms, that means more people are getting answers directly on the search results page, and fewer are clicking through to websites in the way they used to.

For anyone working in digital marketing, this matters because it is another sign that visibility and traffic are no longer the same thing. A brand can still appear prominently in Google, but if the answer is summarised for the user before they ever reach the site, click-through rates can fall. That is especially important for businesses and publishers that rely on evergreen content, meaning helpful pages built to rank steadily over time for informational searches.

What AI Overviews actually are

Google AI Overviews are the AI-generated summaries that now appear at the top of some search results. Rather than showing only links, Google may generate a written answer that pulls together information from multiple sources. For users, this can feel fast and convenient. For marketers and site owners, it can mean fewer visits from people who get what they need without clicking.

The biggest losses appear to be in evergreen and informational content

The Define Media findings suggest the pressure is falling hardest on informational content rather than breaking news. Before AI Overviews launched, the sites in its dataset averaged 1.7 billion organic clicks per quarter from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024. After launch, traffic dropped 16% immediately and, according to the report, never fully recovered. As Google expanded AI Overviews further in May 2025, the decline accelerated, reaching 42% below the pre-AI baseline by Q4 2025.

That does not mean content marketing is dead. It does mean old assumptions are becoming less reliable. Publishing a useful guide and expecting traffic to arrive simply because it ranks is no longer a safe strategy on its own.

Why news publishers are seeing a different pattern

One of the more interesting findings is that breaking news has held up better. Define Media says breaking news traffic grew 103% from November 2024 through early 2026 across Google Search, Google News and Discover. The reason appears to be that Google is still more cautious about using AI summaries for fast-moving stories, where facts change quickly and the risk of inaccuracy is higher.

The report also notes that AI Overviews appear much less often for news queries than for some other categories. In practice, many major news searches still trigger Top Stories instead. Top Stories is the news box Google shows near the top of results, linking users directly to publisher articles.

Google Discover is becoming more important

Another key shift is the growing role of Google Discover. Discover is Google’s personalised content feed, shown in places like the Google app and mobile home screens, where articles are recommended based on a user’s interests rather than a typed search. According to Define Media, Discover traffic across its portfolio grew 30%, and Discover and web search are now driving roughly equal traffic for the first time in its dataset.

That matters because it points to a different model of visibility. Instead of relying only on ranking when someone searches, brands and publishers may need to create content that earns passive distribution through feeds, recommendations and current interest.

What this means for marketers and clients

The main takeaway is not that search has stopped mattering. It is that search is fragmenting. Traditional blue-link traffic is under more pressure, while visibility is spreading across AI summaries, news boxes, Discover feeds and other Google surfaces.

For clients, this means performance conversations need to become more nuanced. A drop in organic clicks does not always mean a drop in relevance or visibility. It may mean Google is answering more of the query itself. That is still a commercial problem if fewer visitors reach the site, but it changes how we diagnose the issue and how we respond.

The practical response

The most sensible response is not panic, but adaptation.

• Brands should put more focus on content that offers something harder for Google to summarise away. That includes original insight, strong opinion, proprietary data, fresh commentary, first-hand experience and tools or assets users genuinely need to visit the site to use.
• They should also pay closer attention to content formats that can perform beyond classic search, including timely articles, expert commentary, brand-led thought pieces and content built with Discover visibility in mind.
• This is another reminder that digital marketing is moving away from a world where success was mainly about ranking for a keyword and collecting the click. The new environment is more complex.
• Brands still need search visibility, but they also need stronger content differentiation, broader distribution and a clearer understanding of where traffic is actually coming from.

In other words, being visible in Google is no longer enough. The real question is whether visibility still turns into visits, attention and commercial value. Right now, the answer depends more than ever on the type of content you produce and where Google chooses to surface it.

What clients should take away from this

Clients do not need to learn every technical detail behind AI Overviews. They do need to understand that the search landscape has changed. Some content types are becoming less effective at driving clicks, while others, especially timely and feed-friendly content, may be gaining importance. The winners will be the brands that stop thinking only about rankings and start thinking more broadly about attention, discoverability and why someone would choose to click at all.

What is cringe content marketing?

Cringe content marketing is a type of marketing that plays on the emotional awkwardness of certain situations. Which can be wielded to create funny, tense, and even realistic types of content campaigns.

It goes beyond social norms to find a way to create an emotional response from the audience. Being able to make the audience feel something, even if it is second-hand embarrassment, proves brands can engage audiences.

Who does cringeworthy content marketing appeal to?

The power of cringe content marketing lies in its relatability. It draws on everyday moments of awkwardness and discomfort that most people have experienced at some point in their lives. Because these situations feel so familiar, audiences across generations can recognise them instantly and respond with that unmistakable “cringe” reaction.

In many ways, cringe content simply reflects the small, human experiences we often feel embarrassed about but secretly relate to.

Does cringe or awkward content marketing work?

Cringe marketing offers a different approach to creating content for audiences. Rather than appealing to comfortable or polished emotions, it embraces awkwardness to create memorable experiences for viewers, whether the cringe moment feels enjoyable or not.

Entertainment does not have to rely solely on humour or drama. Cringe marketing allows creatives to tap into more emotionally provocative experiences and generate stronger reactions from audiences. These intense responses can help make content campaigns more memorable.

While this approach is not entirely new, it has become increasingly popular as younger audiences respond to content that breaks away from traditional and highly polished marketing styles.

Examples of cringeworthy content campaigns

“A Spicy, but Not Too Spicy Plumber” by Doritos (2025)

Doritos launched its Golden Sriracha flavour with a campaign that leaned heavily into awkward humour. The advert features exaggerated sexual innuendos and deliberately uncomfortable scenarios, creating an ad that feels both icky and attention-grabbing. By embracing this awkward tone, the campaign demonstrates how discomfort can be used to capture attention and spark conversation.

Go Compare

When we think of brands that have created recognition beyond visuals, GoCompare is one of the first that comes to mind. The over-the-top opera singer Gio Compario belting “Go Compare, Go Compare!” was intentionally designed to be an earworm. The character was loud, disruptive and deliberately irritating, ensuring the adverts immediately pulled focus.

The campaign proved that annoying or awkward advertising can still be highly effective at building brand awareness.

“Women belong in the kitchen” by Burger King (2021)

“Women belong in the kitchen” was perhaps one of the biggest failures in content marketing. While the phrase was written to grab attention, the subtext that followed, which aimed to highlight female empowerment in culinary workspaces, entirely backfired.

Instead of landing as a critique of misogyny and gender inequality, it reinforced a narrative using language that is deeply entrenched in sexism. This is a clear instance where sexism was used as clickbait rather than drawing attention to the scholarship the campaign intended to promote.

Cringe marketing sits in an unusual space within modern content strategy. While traditional advertising often focuses on polished messaging and positive emotions, awkward or uncomfortable campaigns show that strong reactions can be just as powerful. Whether intentional or accidental, cringe content can spark conversation, increase engagement, and make a brand more memorable. However, as some campaigns demonstrate, there is a fine line between capturing attention and creating backlash. For brands, the challenge is knowing when awkward humour will resonate with audiences and when it may ultimately work against them.

Digital marketing teams have never had access to more data. Advertising platforms, analytics tools, CRM systems and dashboards all promise insights into customer behaviour and marketing performance. Yet many organisations still struggle to answer a fundamental question: which marketing activity actually generates real customers and revenue?

One of the main reasons for this is that much of the customer journey still happens offline. Many high-value purchases, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, professional services and education, involve a phone call before a customer commits.

If those calls are not captured and analysed properly, marketing teams are left with an incomplete picture. Website traffic and form submissions may be tracked, but the conversations that actually drive decisions remain invisible.

By combining call tracking technology, artificial intelligence and CRM systems, businesses can build a far more complete view of the customer journey. Platforms such as Nimbata, HubSpot and Monday.com allow marketing teams to track enquiries, analyse conversations and connect those insights directly to revenue performance.

When these systems are connected properly, marketing reporting moves beyond traffic and clicks. It becomes a true commercial intelligence system.

Why phone conversations are critical marketing data

For many businesses, a phone enquiry represents one of the strongest indicators of buying intent. A person who calls a business is often much closer to deciding whether someone is browsing a website. Yet phone calls are historically one of the most poorly tracked parts of marketing.

Without call tracking technology, it is impossible to know which marketing channels generated those enquiries. A customer might have discovered the business through organic search, paid advertising or social media, but the marketing team cannot attribute the call accurately.

This is where call tracking platforms such as Nimbata play a critical role. By assigning unique phone numbers to marketing channels and campaigns, every call can be linked back to its source.

This immediately connects phone enquiries to marketing performance.

However, tracking calls is only the first step. The real insight emerges when those conversations are analysed and integrated into a broader CRM system.

A process-driven approach to connecting AI, phone tracking and CRM data

To make this system work effectively, it helps to think of the process as a structured series of stages. Each stage captures and enriches the customer data so that it becomes more valuable for both marketing and sales teams.

Step 1: Track where the phone call originated

The first stage focuses on identifying where the caller originally discovered the business. Call tracking systems such as Nimbata use dynamic number insertion on the website. This technology automatically replaces the phone number shown on the website depending on how the visitor arrived.

For example, visitors arriving from:

• Organic search
• Paid search advertising
• Social media campaigns
• Email marketing
• Direct website visits

will each see a different tracking number.

When a call is made, the system records the source of that visitor and links the enquiry back to the original marketing channel. This step alone dramatically improves marketing attribution. Instead of guessing which campaigns generate calls, the marketing team can see exactly which channels are responsible.

Step 2: Transcribe the conversation using AI

Once the call has been captured, the next stage is transcription. Modern call tracking platforms automatically convert phone conversations into text. This makes it possible for artificial intelligence to analyse the content of calls at scale.

Rather than manually listening to hundreds of recordings, AI can process transcripts and identify patterns in the conversations. This step transforms phone calls from isolated conversations into structured data that can be analysed.

Step 3: Segment callers into meaningful categories

After transcription, AI is used to categorise each call. The first classification identifies the type of caller. Calls are segmented into three main groups:

• New customers
• Existing customers
• Non-relevant calls such as sales outreach or internal staff calls

This distinction ensures that marketing teams are analysing genuine lead activity rather than operational noise.

Once this classification is made, the system moves to the next layer of segmentation.

Step 4: Evaluate the strength of the lead

Not all enquiries represent the same level of opportunity. Artificial intelligence can analyse the tone and content of a conversation to estimate the strength of the lead. For example, callers can be categorised along a spectrum from warm to cold.

A caller asking detailed questions about booking or availability may represent a high intent enquiry, while someone gathering general information may fall into a lower intent category.

This classification allows businesses to prioritise their follow-up activity more effectively. High intent enquiries can be routed to the sales team immediately, while lower intent leads can enter nurturing workflows.

Step 5: Identify the product or service being discussed

Another important layer of analysis focuses on the topic of the enquiry. AI systems can identify which product or service the caller is interested in. This provides valuable insight into demand patterns across different offerings.

For example, if a large proportion of calls relate to a specific treatment or service, marketing teams can adjust campaigns and landing pages to reflect that demand. This also helps sales teams prepare for conversations because they understand the context of the enquiry before engaging with the caller.

Step 6: Understand where the caller sits in the marketing funnel

Phone conversations often reveal exactly where a customer is in their decision-making journey.

By analysing the transcript, AI systems can determine whether a caller is:

• Gathering general information
• Comparing prices
• Checking availability
• Ready to book

Understanding these stages helps marketing teams refine their messaging. If many callers are asking basic educational questions, the website may need clearer explanations or additional content.

If price discussions dominate calls, messaging around payment plans or financing options may need to appear earlier in the customer journey.

Step 7: Capture structured customer data

During most phone calls, certain pieces of information are exchanged between the caller and the business. This may include the caller’s name, phone number, location or other relevant details.

AI transcription systems can extract this information automatically and pass it into the CRM system. In many cases, this data feeds directly into platforms such as HubSpot.

The result is a fully populated contact record without requiring manual data entry. This step ensures that every enquiry becomes a structured lead that can be tracked throughout the customer lifecycle.

Step 8: Preserve the original marketing source in the CRM

Once the call data reaches the CRM, one of the most important tasks is preserving the original marketing source.

If a customer first discovered the business through organic search, that source should remain attached to their record even if they later interact with email campaigns or direct website visits. Maintaining this source allows businesses to calculate accurate return on investment for each marketing channel.

Without this connection, attribution becomes unreliable and marketing decisions become harder to justify.

Step 9: Evaluate call handling performance

Another powerful use of AI is evaluating the quality of calls handled by sales teams, reception staff or customer service agents. Predefined training models and evaluation algorithms can analyse conversations and identify whether important steps were followed.

For example, the system may detect situations where:

• A caller raised concerns about price, but financing options were not mentioned
• A customer could not find an available appointment but was not offered a waiting list
• Key questions were not answered clearly

The system can then provide suggestions for improving call handling. This allows businesses to improve both sales performance and customer experience without manually reviewing every conversation.

Step 10: Record the outcome and next step for the lead

Another crucial piece of information is what happens after the call. AI analysis and CRM workflows can record whether the lead progressed, converted or stalled.

If a caller decides not to proceed after discussing the price, that reason can be captured. If a caller converts immediately after learning about financing options, that insight can also be recorded. Over time, these patterns reveal which factors influence customer decisions. Marketing teams can then adapt campaigns to address those concerns earlier in the customer journey.

Step 11: Automate follow-up and lead nurturing

Once this information is stored in the CRM, automated workflows can take over. CRM platforms such as HubSpot allow businesses to trigger actions based on lead behaviour.

For example:

• Sales teams can receive automated reminders to follow up with high-intent leads
• Priority leads can be routed to specific team members
• Cold leads can enter longer-term nurturing campaigns

Instead of aggressive sales messaging, these nurturing campaigns might include educational content such as guides, FAQs or blog articles. This softer approach maintains contact with potential customers without overwhelming them.

Step 12: Use CRM data to improve advertising campaigns

CRM data can also enhance advertising performance. Customer email addresses and phone numbers can be used in customer matching tools across advertising platforms. This allows businesses to retarget leads more effectively or exclude existing customers from campaigns.

In addition, lookalike audiences can be created based on existing customers. Advertising platforms can then identify new users who share similar characteristics.

This improves campaign efficiency and ensures that budgets are focused on the most relevant audiences.

Step 13: Connect the data to reporting dashboards

The final step in the process is bringing all this information together in reporting dashboards. These dashboards combine marketing data with commercial performance metrics so that businesses can measure true return on investment.

When systems do not integrate directly, connectors such as Zapier can bridge the gap between platforms.

In some cases, business intelligence tools such as Microsoft Power BI can act as a central data source that aggregates information from multiple systems.

The result is a reporting environment that shows not just marketing performance but real business outcomes.

The practical and commercial benefits of this approach

When this process is implemented correctly, the impact goes far beyond better marketing reports. It fundamentally changes how businesses understand their customers and manage their sales processes.

Some of the most significant benefits include:

• Accurate marketing attribution so businesses can clearly see which channels are generating genuine leads and revenue.
• Better use of marketing budgets by identifying the campaigns and keywords that produce the highest quality enquiries.
• Improved sales performance through AI-driven feedback that highlights where call handlers can improve conversations.
• More efficient lead management by prioritising high intent enquiries and automating follow-up for colder leads.
• Stronger customer insights by analysing real conversations and identifying common questions, objections and motivations.
• Smarter marketing messaging because campaigns can address the concerns customers actually raise during calls.
• Better customer experience as businesses refine how enquiries are handled and improve their booking or purchasing processes.
• Full lifecycle reporting showing how long leads take to convert, how many interactions were required and which marketing channels initiated the journey.
• Clear ROI measurement by connecting marketing data with real commercial outcomes rather than just website metrics.

Ultimately, this approach allows marketing teams to move beyond vanity metrics and focus on what truly matters: generating customers and revenue.

Bringing your marketing and sales data together

The combination of call tracking, AI analysis and CRM integration represents a major step forward in marketing intelligence. Instead of analysing isolated metrics such as clicks or impressions, businesses can now track real conversations, understand customer intent and measure the commercial impact of their marketing activity.

Platforms such as Nimbata, HubSpot and Monday.com allow organisations to build a connected ecosystem where every enquiry becomes part of a structured data process.

The result is clearer reporting, better sales performance and more effective marketing decisions.

Want to implement a similar system for your business?

Many organisations already have some of the tools needed to build this type of process. The challenge is often connecting those tools in a way that captures the right data and turns it into meaningful insight.

If you would like help assessing how this could work within your organisation, we would be happy to review your current setup.

We can evaluate your existing marketing platforms, CRM systems and call handling processes to identify how a similar framework could be implemented using your current infrastructure. If the right systems are not already in place, we can also design and deploy a new solution tailored to your business.

If you would like to explore how this approach could help you better understand your customers, improve marketing attribution and increase conversion performance, get in touch with us, and we will be happy to talk through the possibilities.