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.

Is there a gender bias in digital marketing? (the hidden agenda)

When we think of gender bias, we often think of the pink tax on products. The disparity in cost between products marketed to men and women, where a simple change in colour or packaging can increase the price without adding real value.

And, while that is a common issue with gender-bias in marketing, there are more subtle ways that brands tend to sneak in gender-based biases.

·         Imagery – men are frequently positioned as leaders or decision-makers, while women are portrayed as caregivers or supporters

·         Product naming – phrases like “boss babe” aimed at women, compared with words like “power,” “defence,” or “extreme” used for men

·         Tone of voice – messaging directed at women may emphasise emotion or appearance, while men are addressed through performance or strength

·         Audience assumptions – marketers often assume who the decision-maker is based on gender

The cost of business when being gender biased

Gender bias affects businesses in two key ways: brand perception and commercial performance.

When marketing relies on gender-exclusive messaging, brands risk alienating part of their potential audience. Excluding prospective customers ultimately limits revenue opportunities.

Consumers who feel misrepresented or overlooked may disconnect from the brand, eroding trust and reducing engagement. This is particularly relevant given generational shifts around diversity and inclusion, where younger audiences increasingly expect brands to reflect broader identities.

Perhaps the greatest commercial risk is competitive disadvantage. As more brands prioritise inclusive messaging, those that fail to adapt may lose relevance and market share.

Algorithmic bias

Algorithmic bias occurs when AI systems are trained on historical data that already contains social biases. As a result, these algorithms can unintentionally reinforce stereotypes or existing inequalities.

In digital marketing, this may influence who sees certain advertisements, which audiences are targeted, or how content is distributed. In some cases, biased datasets have resulted in patterns that exclude minority groups or reinforce existing disparities.

.

Intersectionality: Gender isn’t one-dimensional

Women are more than just their gender. While this may seem obvious, many digital campaigns still fail to reflect that reality.

Intersectionality recognises that people’s identities are shaped by multiple factors, such as age, ethnicity, ability, and social background. These dimensions influence how individuals experience the world and how they respond to marketing messages.

When campaigns treat women as a single, uniform audience, they risk overlooking the diversity of real experiences. A one-size-fits-all approach cannot reflect the wide range of identities that exist within any demographic.

Understanding intersectionality allows marketers to design campaigns that resonate more authentically with their audiences. Ignoring these identity dimensions, however, risks creating content that feels disconnected from the people it aims to reach.

Professional sport no longer exists in a vacuum. Athletes, coaches and even junior prospects are now public figures long before they sign their first major contract. Social media has collapsed the distance between private life and professional reputation, creating a permanent and searchable record of opinions, jokes, arguments and associations.

As a result, historic social media vetting has become a critical part of modern sport. It now influences recruitment, visas, sponsorships and long-term career security.

What was once a reactive process, triggered only when controversy surfaced, is now proactive and systematic. Clubs, agents, governing bodies and immigration authorities increasingly assess an individual’s digital history with the same seriousness as their physical performance or disciplinary record.

This article explores why historic social media vetting matters, how it has evolved, where it is used today, and what the future holds for athletes navigating increasingly complex digital expectations.

From talent alone to total profile assessment

For decades, sporting decisions were driven almost exclusively by performance metrics, injury history and character references. An athlete’s private views rarely reached public scrutiny unless they appeared in a newspaper interview or on television.

Social media changed that completely.

Platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook created public archives stretching back years, often to adolescence. Early posts were made without professional oversight, media training or awareness of long-term consequences. Today, those same posts can be surfaced in seconds.

This shift has reframed how clubs and organisations evaluate individuals. Talent remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. Decision makers now consider reputational risk alongside performance upside, particularly at elite and international levels.

In leagues such as the Premier League and the NBA, where global audiences and commercial partnerships drive revenue, reputational missteps can quickly escalate into commercial and regulatory problems.

Why does historic content carry so much weight

One of the most challenging aspects of social media vetting is that it focuses on historic behaviour rather than current intent. Posts made years ago, often in a very different cultural or personal context, are still judged through today’s standards.

Historic content matters for several reasons:

• Social media is persistent. Deleted posts are often archived, screenshotted or stored by third parties
• Past behaviour is seen as an indicator of judgment, temperament and values
• Sport operates in a highly emotional public arena where fans and media react quickly
• Sponsors and governing bodies are risk-averse and prefer certainty over explanation

Even when an individual no longer holds the same views, organisations worry about how historic content might resurface under pressure or scrutiny.

Immigration, visas and international competition

One of the fastest-growing applications of historic social media vetting sits outside sport itself, within immigration and visa processes.

Athletes applying for work visas, particularly for high-profile markets such as the UK and the US, are subject to background checks that increasingly include online presence reviews. Governing bodies and visa sponsors must demonstrate that applicants meet character and conduct expectations.

In the UK, elite sport visas are often supported by endorsements from organisations aligned with the Football Association or other national bodies. Any online content that could be interpreted as discriminatory, extremist or inflammatory may raise concerns during assessment.

In the US, visa pathways linked to professional sport can involve scrutiny from authorities operating under the Department of Homeland Security.

This has led to real-world consequences, including:

• Visa delays due to additional questioning
• Requests for clarification or explanation of historic posts
• Increased legal and administrative costs
• In rare cases, the refusal or withdrawal of applications

For internationally mobile athletes, digital history can now be as important as physical availability.

Sponsorship, brand safety and commercial risk

Beyond visas and contracts, sponsorship has played a major role in driving more formalised social media vetting.

Brands invest in athletes not just for performance, but for alignment with values, tone and audience perception. A resurfaced tweet or post can undermine years of carefully built brand positioning.

Most major sponsorship agreements now include morality clauses. These allow brands to suspend or terminate relationships if an athlete’s behaviour brings reputational harm.

Historic social media content increases perceived risk, particularly if it conflicts with:

• Inclusion and diversity commitments
• Public health or social responsibility campaigns
• Youth-focused or educational brand positioning

As a result, agents and legal teams increasingly treat digital vetting as part of commercial due diligence rather than an afterthought.

The role of agents, clubs and governing bodies

Responsibility for social media vetting is shared across the sporting ecosystem.

Agents are often the first line of defence. They commission audits, advise on content removal strategies and prepare athletes for potential questions from clubs, sponsors or authorities.

Clubs conduct their own assessments, particularly during high-value transfers, academy promotions or leadership appointments. In elite environments, this process often resembles corporate due diligence rather than traditional scouting.

Governing bodies provide the ethical frameworks that underpin these decisions. Codes of conduct increasingly reference online behaviour explicitly, reinforcing that digital actions fall within professional standards.

Together, these layers reflect a broader shift from informal reputation management to structured compliance.

Ethical challenges and fairness concerns

Despite its growing prevalence, historic social media vetting raises difficult ethical questions.

One concern is proportionality. Posts made by teenagers are sometimes judged with the same severity as statements made by adults with media training and professional support.

Another challenge is context. Sarcasm, humour and reclaimed language are often misinterpreted when stripped of their original setting. Automated tools may flag content without understanding nuance or intent.

There is also the issue of growth. Sport regularly celebrates personal development and second chances, yet historic vetting can freeze individuals in past versions of themselves.

Balancing risk management with fairness remains one of the sector’s most complex challenges.

Best practice in modern social media vetting

While approaches vary, several principles are emerging as best practice across elite sport.

Effective vetting tends to be:

• Proactive rather than reactive, allowing time for context and explanation
• Human-led, with automated tools used as support rather than decision makers
• Educational, focusing on future behaviour as much as past mistakes
• Transparent, so athletes understand what is being assessed and why

When implemented well, vetting becomes a protective and developmental process rather than a purely punitive one.

The future of digital identity in sport

As technology evolves, the scope of social media vetting is likely to expand.

New platforms, private messaging leaks and AI-generated content complicate what constitutes an athlete’s digital footprint. At the same time, public expectations around accountability continue to rise.

We are also seeing early signs of standardisation. Larger leagues and federations are developing clearer guidelines, which may reduce ambiguity and improve consistency across jurisdictions.

At grassroots and academy levels, early education will become increasingly important. Supporting young athletes to build resilient and authentic digital identities is now as essential as physical training.

Concluding thoughts

Historic social media vetting is now an unavoidable part of modern sport. It reflects wider societal shifts around transparency, accountability and reputation in a digital world.

Handled poorly, it can feel punitive and unforgiving. Handled well, it protects athletes, organisations and fans alike, while encouraging professionalism and long-term growth.

For athletes and those who support them, the message is clear. Performance may open the door, but digital history increasingly determines how far that door can open.

Calls to Ban Under-18s from social media

As of 2026, Australia has banned under-16s from social platforms in a bid to protect the younger generation from the harms of the internet. Which then resulted in a wider conversation globally about the suitability of children on social platforms.

With the alarm being raised across the world, around safeguarding measures that need to be taken. The UK  government has announced a consultation regarding the matter, in a bid to put it to the House of Commons for more permanent action to be taken.

The kinds of arguments that are being put forward in the global discussion include:

• An increased risk of addiction to mobile phone use and social media platforms
• Exposure to harmful content online
• Exposure and an increased chance of exploitation by perpetrators online
• Vulnerability to scams, phishing and malware
• Direct impact on mental and physical health

How will this impact marketing to youth?

The implications of eliminating social media, a major advertising stream for brands, particularly those in youth marketing, are yet to be seen.  If access is restricted or significantly reduced, marketing strategies will evidently need to adapt.

1. Shrinking audiences

We expect to see a reduction in the size of the audience, with fewer young people being able to support brands’ online presence. This would require businesses to find new ways to reach their younger audience. Fewer people in a younger audience would mean:

• Engagement metrics reduce
• Reduced reach
• Smaller paid-advertising demographics to target
• Diminished influencer campaigns, with a real lack of impact

2. Disruption to brand affinity

A risk associated with banning under-18s from social media is that they may become disenfranchised from brands. This would not only limit their ability to interact with or purchase from brands in the short term but could also damage long-term relationships. In effect, businesses risk alienating prospective customers and losing a valuable future revenue stream.

Eliminating early brand exposure also reduces the opportunity for young audiences to build familiarity and trust. Without consistent touchpoints, campaigns may feel culturally distant or less relevant, leading to lower engagement and weaker brand affinity over time.

3. Shifting channel strategies

The tangible impacts of banning minors from social platforms could see sales across platforms like Instacart and TikTok shop significantly decrease. Social commerce may be the first to be affected, with direct access eliminated.

Where we may expect to see a shift is in avenues like YouTube, gaming devices, streaming services, TV ads and email campaigns. This could accelerate a move back toward owned media strategies, rather than relying so heavily on rented platform audiences.

Final thoughts

Rather than wait and see the implications of potential bans, brands can pre-empt and combat with simple tasks like auditing. Establishing demographics allows brands to identify how dependent they are on an under 18 customer base.

Diversifying acquisition channels ahead of any changes positions your brand at the forefront. Getting ahead of the competition and positioning yourself as one of the first is particularly useful when trying to establish authority. 

In short, youth marketing may not disappear, but it will likely become more complex, less direct, and more relationship-driven.

Is print media still relevant in 2026?

Print media was once the fabric of marketing. Before the 1990s, almost every successful campaign was accompanied by some form of print advertising. Since then, media has shifted and evolved into something entirely new. Today, a strong marketing approach combines print and digital to deliver campaigns that land both on and off screen. So, how can print be used to better advertise a business in 2026?

It starts with intention. Where print once dominated advertising, it now plays a more focused role. Product packaging, direct mail, and large-format advertising have become tools designed to convert, create recognition, and reinforce brand identity rather than simply promote visibility.

Product packaging, in particular, has become a powerful marketing tool. This ranges from the bold PR packages shared by influencers to more subtle design choices, such as the box a product arrives in. Print has transformed; it’s less about placing a product in the real world and more about creating impact and recognition through packaging, logos, and brand ephemera that people remember.

Direct mail continues to offer its own advantages. Whether it’s a newsletter, magazine, postcard, or flyer, print can cut through the noise of the internet. It bypasses pop-ups and fast-moving content, reaching audiences without competing for rankings or algorithm placement. In an increasingly crowded digital space, physical media can feel more deliberate and more personal.

At the same time, marketers are blending print and digital in new ways. QR codes and embedded links allow customers to move seamlessly from physical materials to digital experiences, creating interaction and encouraging engagement beyond the printed page.

Billboards and banners also remain relevant, although their purpose has shifted. Rather than simply occupying space, modern outdoor advertising aims to be culturally relevant, playful, or provocative. Brands are increasingly focused on creating work that earns attention and leaves a lasting impression, rather than just delivering a message.

So, while print itself isn’t going out of fashion, its role has evolved. Brands are using print to break the mould, leaning on curiosity and creativity to create campaigns that resonate long after the first interaction.

What benefit does print media have?

Print offers several advantages for businesses, including:

• Strong support for brand recognition
• Longevity compared to digital content, allowing brands to revisit and reinforce historic branding
• Opportunities for targeted marketing through direct mail
• The ability to stand out in a crowded digital market
• A perception of authenticity and reliability, rooted in long-standing consumer trust
• A less intrusive experience, as print does not interrupt consumption in the way pop-ups or video ads can
• The ability to reach audiences who may feel overwhelmed by digital messaging

Print examples that stand out

When thinking about campaigns that stand out, the most memorable examples are often clever, playful, or simply well executed. One brand that comes to mind is Rhode Beauty, Hailey Bieber’s cosmetic brand. While the brand excels digitally, it successfully carries that identity into its physical packaging.

The Glazing Milk collection is a strong example. The milk carton-style box aligned perfectly with the product and brand identity, creating a memorable experience for recipients rather than simply delivering a product. The packaging generated excitement and conversation because it felt distinctive and intentional.

Apple is another key player when it comes to print and packaging. Its packaging is often retained for storing accessories or the product itself, reflecting both practicality and design quality. The sleek, compact presentation aligns with the brand’s premium positioning, while high-quality product imagery reinforces the overall luxury feel. Even without explicitly encouraging customers to keep the packaging, its aesthetic and functionality work in Apple’s favour.

A sector that consistently utilises both print and digital promotion is the film industry, and it works. Audiences want to interact with media that helps them understand what a film is offering before they watch it. Print materials such as posters and billboards help signpost when and where a film can be seen, while also communicating genre, tone, and theme at a glance. Just as importantly, they give viewers an early glimpse of the characters and world of the film, creating familiarity and anticipation before release.

Another standout example is the M&S Only Ingredients range, recognised for its minimalistic packaging. The design is simple but highly effective, clearly communicating a stripped-back ingredient list. This minimal approach allows the product to stand out on shelves while reinforcing a sense of transparency and honesty. In this case, the packaging doesn’t attempt to elevate the product artificially; instead, it signals a clear shift toward openness about what’s inside.

Print media in 2026 is no longer about scale or dominance; it’s about intention and experience. When used thoughtfully, print complements digital activity by creating tangible moments that audiences remember. Whether through packaging, direct mail, or outdoor advertising, print gives brands an opportunity to slow the interaction down, create meaning, and reinforce identity in a way digital alone often cannot.

Rather than asking whether print is still relevant, the better question for marketers is how print can be used more creatively alongside digital to build campaigns that feel cohesive, memorable, and built to last.

Brand marketing isn’t just about selling a product or service; it’s about representing a lifestyle, belief system, or set of values. It allows audiences to build a rapport with the brands they invest in and, in many cases, to align their purchasing choices with their personal beliefs.

What is virtue signalling in marketing?

Virtue signalling in marketing occurs when brands publicly support social or charitable causes primarily to appear caring or socially responsible. Often, this support is limited to surface-level gestures rather than meaningful action that creates real impact for the communities involved.

Why is virtue signalling a disingenuous way to connect with audiences?

When brands claim to uphold values with social or ecological significance, audiences expect accountability. If a brand’s support appears driven by profit or optics rather than genuine commitment, it signals a lack of integrity. This disconnect can erode trust and damage the relationship brands work hard to build with their audience.

Performative action strips authenticity and meaning from brand action. A common example is brands changing their profile pictures to reflect the colours of a flag or movement without making any tangible effort to support or uplift the communities they claim to stand with.

Attempting to look good by doing the bare minimum in wider social conversations often results in backlash and public critique. In these cases, brands benefit from the perception of being “good” without sustaining meaningful action or responsibly supporting the causes they align themselves with.

How do brands implement authenticity and sincerity with brand marketing?

The key to supporting causes or values as a brand is to effect change as and where possible, without needing any credit for doing so. Brands can often connect on a better level when they work with impacted communities to deliver change.

Recognition shouldn’t be the main outcome brands want to achieve, after all, that’s virtue signalling. It’s about ensuring support is there for people who are impacted, even when it’s not a day of raising awareness, rather taking independent action, unprompted by anyone, driven by a brand’s desire to make a difference.

Brands that remain educated are better positioned to support the causes they value. Understanding ongoing conversations around sustainability, the LGBTQ+ community, and socio-economic issues ensures that brand involvement is informed, respectful, and genuinely contributes to positive change.

Virtue signalling may generate short-term approval, but it rarely builds lasting trust. In an era where audiences are increasingly informed and values-driven, brands are judged not by what they say, but by what they consistently do. Authenticity in marketing is not about visibility or validation, but about meaningful action that aligns with a brand’s values long after the conversation has moved on.

Many Digital Marketers have recently been noticing spikes in direct traffic numbers in recent months, which on the surface would seem like a positive development; however alot of this new direct traffic is coming in large volumes from China and Singapore and is not in fact organic traffic but bots trying to scrape data from your sites.

How do I know if this issue is affecting my site?

You can review your direct traffic reports in Google Analytics 4 and filter by country to identify any unusual activity levels from China and Singapore. If you can see your traffic is on the rise, but the sessions are not increasing business on your site, then these nefarious bots are likely the cause.

Session durations are usually extremely low, with bott traffic often being attributed to under 3 seconds and no more. You can see how long the sessions are from specific countries using filters in GA4 to identify low-quality traffic sessions coming from China and Singapore.

Why are these bots trying to access your site?

There are several reasons bots could be attempting to access your site, but they are mainly harmless, except potentially damaging your data reporting. The bots are usually trying to harvest your data and not hack into your site for security reasons. With the recent upsurge in AI models that are trained on real-world data, many of these bots are just trying to scrape content for AI machine learning.

How can you protect your data reporting from bot traffic?

There are multiple ways to protect your data from bot traffic, including creating comparisons and using filters within GA4, but the most effective method for removing bot traffic is to create a configuration tag in Google Tag Manager that excludes any traffic from China or Singapore, which will remove almost all of your bot traffic. Obviously, if you do have organic traffic coming from China and you need to be able to report on this, there are other workarounds, such as blocking traffic through Tag Manager that is engaged with your content for less than a second, which should filter out a lot of the bots.

What this means for Marketers

While bot traffic isn’t a major safety concern, it is dangerous in the sense that it can be distorting your analytics, which need to be reliable for you to report accurately internally and externally on performance. Reporting on inflated traffic figures will only come back to bite later down the line when performance doesn’t keep up with traffic levels, making sure your reporting is accurate is extremely important to ensure a coherent strategy for growth.

Sensory advertising is a particular type of advertising which appeals to more than just one sense (vision). Whilst it can be effective, its use has to be considered, for some industries, sensory advertising is misaligned with the offering. This would be particularly applicable for B2B, Software as a service (SaaS) and finance companies.

Some sectors, however, excel because of the sensory advertising they produce. Think fashion, food and travel.  All of which naturally dominate the sensory ad space, and rightfully so.

The issue isn’t about execution; it’s about the context of the sector and the appropriateness of the sensory exploration.

Industries that naturally align with sensory advertising

Fashion and beauty

These industries thrive on the fact that identity plays a key role in consumer behaviours and engagement. The applications of these products are centred around a strong connection to touch, movement and self-perception. All of which are what make sensory representation in advertising effective.

This creates an opportunity for campaigns to feel tactile, mirroring the physical experience of the product itself. Beauty campaigns often lean into literal sensory cues, such as water, oil, skin, and light, to visually reinforce claims such as hydration, smoothness, or glow.

Similarly, fashion campaigns utilise all aspects from production to styling, capturing not only the style but the feel of the product. The result is advertising that doesn’t just showcase a product but allows the audience to imagine themselves wearing it.

Food and beverages

Food and drink campaigns are able to appeal beyond what the person sees, tapping into the memory and craving of the watcher by representing taste and smell.

Often, this category of ad content sells because of pre-existing experiences. It works by triggering memories of existing experiences, which can be highly impactful for creating successful drink and food campaigns.

Why it works for these industries

Sensation matters for these brands. It’s not about selling the audience something they don’t know or convincing them to buy it. It’s about reinforcing memories around sensations that provoke cravings and subliminally place positive memories of the product in the individual’s mind.

Audiences can easily imagine how the product feels, tastes, or moves, allowing ads to trigger emotional recall instead of explaining functionality.

It creates emotion-led decision-making for consumers. Purchasing decisions are driven by a wanting for something. These industries prove campaigns can be about more than appealing to logic; it’s about emotion.

Industries That Struggle with Sensory Advertising

The type of rapport businesses like B2B and finance companies have with their customers is fundamentally different. Using sensory-based campaigns doesn’t align with these sectors because of the complexity, risk and justifications that need to be made to make it feel authentic.

When sensory advertising is used improperly, it runs the risk of feeling distracting and disingenuous. This can create a disconnect between customers and the brand.

Some of the ways these industries can look to incorporate sensory advertising is by focusing on the messaging that supports the sensory content. Utilising calm motions instead of high-energy, action-based shots. Language that evokes trust, clarity and stability is key for helping other sensory cues feel contextualised rather than becoming an overwhelming out-of-touch aspect of a campaign.

Sensory Fit: Why Sector Context Matters

·  Sensory advertising is only effective when it aligns with how audiences already experience a product or service.

·  In sensation-led industries, sensory cues reinforce memory, craving, and desire rather than explain functionality.

·  Trust-driven sectors require sensory restraint — cues should reassure, not distract.

·  Calm motion, considered pacing, and confident language build credibility where risk and complexity are high.

·  Sensory impact is driven by contextual relevance, not creative ambition alone.

·  Industries like travel, fashion, and food succeed because sensation is intrinsic to the product or experience itself.

Sensory advertising works best when it feels natural, not forced.
It succeeds when it mirrors how audiences already engage with a category and fails when it ignores the emotional context that surrounds it.

Understanding sensory fit allows brands to move beyond imitation and design campaigns that feel credible, intentional, and human. In an increasingly crowded creative landscape, relevance, not stimulation, is what cuts through.

When clubs, federations and agencies think about social media vetting, the focus is usually on players. High-profile athletes carry public reputations, sponsorship obligations and media exposure, so scrutiny feels obvious.

But in practice, some of the biggest travel and visa disruptions now come from people behind the scenes. Coaches, analysts, medical staff, operations managers, content teams and senior executives are increasingly subject to the same digital scrutiny when crossing borders, attending tournaments or supporting international tours.

For organisations operating globally, this creates a blind spot. You can prepare your squad perfectly and still face disruption if a key staff member is delayed, flagged or refused entry because of historic online activity.

Why non-playing staff are under growing scrutiny

International travel vetting has shifted quietly but significantly over the last decade. Many countries now treat social media history as part of identity verification and background screening, particularly for work-related travel, long-stay visas and tournament accreditation.

For clubs and governing bodies, this means:

• Support staff often apply under work or temporary employment visa categories, which attract deeper background review
• Coaching and medical staff frequently travel repeatedly, increasing the chance of historic posts resurfacing
• Senior front office staff are more likely to have long digital histories tied to commentary, business disputes or political discussion
• Public-facing communications and media staff leave large digital footprints by nature of their role

Unlike players, these individuals are rarely media trained around digital risk. Many have personal accounts that pre-date their professional careers and were never reviewed with international scrutiny in mind.

The operational impact when travel goes wrong

When a visa delay or refusal affects a player, the risk is obvious. When it affects staff, the consequences are often underestimated.

Common operational knock-on effects include:

• Delayed team preparation due to missing coaching staff
• Reduced medical or performance support on arrival
• Disrupted logistics and scheduling
• Reputational damage when travel issues become public
• Increased cost from rebooked flights, accommodation changes and emergency staffing

In tightly scheduled tournaments and tours, even a 48-hour delay can create competitive and commercial consequences.

What typically triggers historic social media flags

It is rarely one dramatic post. More often it is pattern-based digital context that creates concern during screening.

Examples include:

• Old political commentary that conflicts with destination country sensitivities
• Aggressive or inflammatory language in historic debates
• Association signals such as follows, groups or repeated interactions
• Deleted content that still exists in screenshots or archives
• Public arguments tied to employers, governing bodies or institutions
• Mismatches between declared identities and public digital behaviour

Most of this content was posted years earlier, long before international travel was part of the individual’s role.

A simple travel readiness framework for support teams

A practical vetting process does not need to be complex or invasive, but it does need structure. The first step is identifying which roles carry genuine exposure. Staff who travel frequently, apply for work or event visas, represent the organisation publicly or hold operational authority should be prioritised.

Once priority roles are mapped, the focus shifts to understanding the individual’s historic digital footprint. This includes reviewing public posts, old usernames, legacy accounts, forum activity and archived content. The objective is awareness rather than judgement.

From there, content should be assessed in context. Visibility, cultural and regional sensitivity, recency and likelihood of resurfacing all matter more than the emotional tone of any single post.

The final stage is preparation. Profile clean-up, privacy reviews, briefing staff for potential questioning and adjusting travel timelines should be completed during the two to four week window before travel, when scrutiny is highest.

Why this needs to be handled professionally

Many organisations attempt to manage social vetting internally without clear structure or standards. This often leads to inconsistent decisions, personal bias and poor record keeping. It can also create tension with staff if the process feels informal, unclear or intrusive.

A professional approach introduces clear boundaries, documented workflows and accountability. It ensures that assessments are based on real-world risk rather than opinion, while protecting both individual privacy and organisational reputation. When visa delays, border questioning or compliance issues arise, having a defensible process in place provides credibility and operational stability.

Turning vetting into operational hygiene

The strongest organisations now treat digital vetting as part of routine travel preparation rather than a crisis response.

When embedded into existing travel workflows, vetting becomes preventative. Risks are addressed earlier, disruption is reduced and planning becomes more predictable. Over time this creates smoother deployments, fewer last-minute issues and greater confidence across leadership and operations teams.

The goal is not surveillance or control. It is preparation, protection and continuity.

How Intelligency supports travel readiness

Intelligency’s historic social media vetting service is designed specifically for organisations managing high-mobility teams.

We help clubs, agencies and corporate teams:

• Audit historic digital footprints ethically
• Identify real-world travel and reputation risks
• Create mitigation strategies that protect individuals and organisations
• Build repeatable readiness processes
• Prepare teams before travel windows open

Our focus is not on policing behaviour. It is removing avoidable disruption before it becomes public or operationally damaging.