OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE Y25.W19
Is this valuable? Am I valuable? OMG. Existential crisis ahoy.
What does value even mean any more?
This week, AI has been in the marketing headlines - (Sarcasm. When is it not?) - with the Zuck terrifying most agency owners, claiming that Meta will create all of the advertising creative automatically, optimise it invisibily, and create pure ROI.
Unsurprisingly, lots of hot (feverish? anxious? sweaty?) takes - many leveraging the ‘only tastemakers will survive’ argument.
Whilst I have little interest in being drawn into the discussion - it does prompt for me a larger question around what we are likely to commercially value in the future.
Zcuk’s vision leans heavily on the idea of optimising and maximising ROI. This is the odd thing about pure optimisation - if a system finds that people react more “effectively” to pictures of Paul Rudd on a trampoline covered in custard with 400x ROI, compared to a brand image of your product with this week’s core messaging - which trolley problem track are you going to pick? Are marketeers going to optimise for “taste” or commercial value?
We’ve already seen the “Created by AI” labels some platforms are attaching to images and content. How long before we see a “Created by Humans” label as a form of premiumisation?
When the cost of creation drops to zero, will our notions of what “value” means need to completely shift?
Edward Cotton suggests that we, as strategists, will need to become dualists - a leader of more than just “the process”, but decision makers and champions of the things that matter (real customer views, seeking meaning not trends, etc). I’ve previously argued that many Strategists are fundamentally makers, and those of us who go beyond thinking, and step also into action, prototyping, testing, building, creating - will survive the next wave. The best strategists are challengers, and to hold the new systems to account will be a skill too.
I don’t think charging for time will be a valid concept for much longer.
Rethinking what, where and how our value is understood, calculated and remunerated will need to be a task we all need to undertake in the coming months. It’s long been a complex task, it’s now an existential one.
What new models of value are you exploring?
EXCLUSIVE - Mara Dettmann’s new drop: “What value means in 2025”
Continuing with the theme of defining value - I’m excited that community member Mara Dettmann, who’s work we’ve linked to in previous editions, is launching her new drop via Outside Perspective.
“One of the reasons I work in advertising is because I’m fascinated with how people define value – and how we create it.” she explains.
This specific work, sparked by a conversation Pollyanna Ward about the viral videos about Chinese factories “revealing their secrets” earlier this year - led to Mara mapping eight value logics & mindsets: the ways in which people decide what’s “worth it.”
Mara launches the project here with us at Outside Perspective today, but please, share it widely.
In conversation with Mara
Q. Mara – tell us a little bit about your work and experience as a strategist. You've worked both in agencies, and client-side, as well as self-employed, and now running your own business. How has your work developed over that time?
I started my career in academia and publishing – but I’ve mostly worked agency-side. My seven years at BBH shaped everything about how I approach marketing and advertising: I joined as a comms and content strategist focused on social and digital, and left with a thoroughly deep grounding in brand growth, effectiveness, econometrics, and strategic rigour.
What ultimately helped me cut through at BBH was learning to speak the language of brand strategy and applying it to digital, content, and innovation work. I got involved in the AI x advertising conversation early on and helped instill a tech-first agency mindset through projects like “Cheat Code” lunch & learns with my creative director partner-in-crime Dillah Zakbah.
Freelancing, my first big project was with LEGO’s internal agency – a real opportunity to go deep. Overall, with Convergent Consulting it's my mission to help brands navigate the intersection of culture and technology with strategies that reflect how people actually use tech.
Q. You're posting super-regularly, with deeply insightful and smart observations on culture—how do you balance curation and client work, or do you see them as deeply integrated practices?
Writing about what’s going on in culture stops me from consuming media passively. Basically: it’s hard to doomscroll when you remember that even the most throwaway post is a signal – why is this happening, who is it for, and what does it mean?
Posting regularly also gives me structure and accountability (and yes, helps build my own brand). It’s not always easy – there are definitely late and weekend writes (special shoutout to when my kid was doing a fashion school on Sunday afternoons and I got so much writing done) – but it’s worth it because when a project kicks off, I’m never starting from zero. I’ll already know the deeper mindsets, general platform behaviours, audience dynamics, established patterns, and emerging conversations.
Basically: much of the cultural curation and thinking I do publicly goes on to inform insights, frameworks, provocations, and decks behind the scenes.
Q. Your weekly newsletter makes some fantastic observations about what's happening—what themes are vibing with you right now, what is feeling tired and overdone, and what would you really like to stop seeing?
I love the brands that know exactly who they are, who they’re for, and what role they play. They’re not trying to jump into every conversation, and they’re not thirsty. The ones I like best have a sense of humour – they’re self-aware, but don’t take themselves too seriously.
Also huge kudos to the brands that are tuned into the mood around de-influencing, underconsumption, and cultural fatigue – and are thoughtful about their place within it. Not sharing “get it in every colour!” posts, but pausing to ask: what’s actually useful here?
What feels tired? Collabs, which have gone from an often clever and genuine way to reach new audiences to the default, where brands often feel like they have to collab to stay relevant. Ditto brands commenting on trending TikToks that have nothing to do with them (“Silence, Brand,” indeed).
As for what I’d love to stop seeing altogether: growth hacks, especially of the “how I got 5,000 followers in 5 days” variety. Similarly, brands (and marketers) who chase superficial engagement metrics over deeper brand building, especially on social. Also high on my list: AI-generated LinkedIn carousels pretending to reveal “deep truths” about the industry.
Q. Much of your writing is about responding to trends—the pace of culture is relentless. Are clients making a mistake by responding to things in real-time, or is that just the pace of being part of the world these days?
It’s not necessarily wrong for brands to respond to what’s happening in real time, but the mistake most brands make is what they choose to respond to. Reacting to another brand’s moment or chasing surface-level trends isn’t a strategy, won’t make you distinctive, and is rarely sustainable.
My work on trends isn’t about helping brands jump on the bandwagon – it’s about getting them to think about the deeper drivers. What mindset is this reflecting, and how can we meaningfully connect with that, now or in the future?
Social gives brands a space to try new things, which is great. But not everything needs a response. The real challenge is knowing when to speak and when to hold back, to be intentional and not just reactive. Everything has meaning to someone, but not everything is important to you or your audience.
Q. What does 2025 have in store for you and Convergent Consulting? What sort of work are you looking forward to doing this year?
I think a big part of 2025 will be helping brands help their customers navigate a very challenging economic situation – but without inciting panic. I’ve been writing a big piece on value perceptions, with a specific section on navigating the recession in a way that isn’t exploitative, which I hope will be useful for brands and marketers alike (watch this space!).
With my co-host Joya Scarlata, I run a project all around AI mythbusting (cutting through the bs and hype) – it started as a podcast, but we’ve also worked with University of Arts London for two years running and are starting move more into AI consulting.
And I’m doubling down on the editorial and educational side: more writing (starting to get more into collabs, which I love), more talks, more published thinking. I’ve got a stack of pieces in progress, including counterpoint to the AI x taste debate and a deeper look at lived experience in strategy (and when it risks tipping into oversharing). So: lots to say, just need to carve out the time to say it.
Q. What other independent strategists and creators are you loving at the moment? Who should we be reading and following?
Rob Estreitinho, who’s doing amazing work with his Salmon Labs.
James Whatley, who isn’t just one of the loveliest people in the biz but also writes Five Things on Friday.
Joe Goulcher’s posts always make me laugh.
Becca Caddy Becca Caddy, a trend researcher who looks at why topics like star bathing are having a moment (and what it means).
Nikita Walia, who of course was featured here last week.
Amy Daroukakis, who looks at culture from a global perspective.
Pollyanna Ward Not independent, but Pollyanna Ward is one of the smartest (and, again, nicest) people in the biz, and her Substack is SO clever and every sentence is quotable.
Check out Mara’s “This week in tech & digital” over on LinkedIn.
Curiosity Stream
From our Friends
» Baiba Matisone has invited Uri Baruchin and Christopher Owens to join her to speak on Rethinking Strategy, to celebrate three years of Strategy Pints in Berlin.
» Matthew Hook and Caroline Keylock’s LookUP is running a free storytelling event on 21st May in London for charities, not-for-profits and purpose-based businesses. The theme will be StoryTelling in a Headwind.
» Anna Sampson’s work for the IPA on ageism has been published.
» Maria Izvestkina, Creative Lead at Canva, publishes the first issue of a new substack, asking if play is the missing aspect of our work - and I wonder how AI plays (electric sheep?).
» Holly Chapman explores How COS are building a brand quietly in a noisy world
» A new series of the excellent NDA podcast from Lucky Dip is in the works. If you’re not already subscribed, have a listen ahead of season three.
» Are branded mascots making a comeback? Stef Hamerlinck has spent the last two years exploring his passion, and made this excellent documentary.
&c.
» Kids with smartphones are doing better than expected - thanks Joel
» Google trying to remind everyone “something something do no evil” is still a thing - thanks Stefanie
» What happened to the American Dream? - thanks Alex
» Cultural Collapse (or not) - thanks Joel
» Why does everything look infantalised?
» Epic list of freelancers, prompted by a post from How&How
» Naming your brand from start to finish (also from Koto’s blog)
Wanna share your work, ideas or thinking with the community? - drop me a message, and I’ll pop it in the next issue. This is a scrapbook of our ideas, so please open up your brains.
Workplace of the week.
I’ve escaped my house. The wifi here is dreadful, so is the coffee. Fortunately, I have some decent beans at home, courtesy of Craft Decaf. When you can brew better at home than a cafe, you know you’re on to something good.
» Get 25% off orders via Craft Decaf ☕️
Please send photos of the coffee from where you’re working, preferably with interesting mugs.
Gigs.
Briefs discovered and curated from across the stratosphere.
Promote your brief - or tell us if you’ve found work via the project.
Social Strategist with PR experience (London,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250509-publicis.htmlVP Senior Strategist (Pharma agency required) (NY,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250509-omnicom.htmlfreelance brand strategist (US)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250509-neuemotion.htmlFreelance Sr. Creative Strategist for beer brand (NYC,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250505-michelob.htmlsocially fluent, research savvy strat director (London,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250502-pacer.htmlSenior Brand Insights Consultant (US)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250502-hims.htmlfreelance Sr. Creative Strategist. (NY,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250502-draftline.html
Hey hirers! work with our community
If you’re a business looking to work with independent strategy people - or want to build out your own virtual community of freelance strategists, across a range of disciplines, get in touch.
Whether it’s sharing your brief directly with our community (no more endless lists of comments on LinkedIn), building a bench, or dropping your freelancers in to our space - so they can also benefit from the community - we’re open to collaborate. Drop me a note.
That’s all for this week.
mk✌️
We are all just dorks, trying to make a living.
Mega appreciate the mention, love the Mara thinks about the world, fab piece 🙏🏻🙏🏻