PPPPresents for the Inbox (Four Ps #251)
Forget opening just Four Ps this holiday... Check out these 25 Ps for 2025!
What beats waking up on Christmas morning with a gift from yours truly? 🎁🎄
Just when you thought everyone was done sending emails and newsletters for the holiday... nope, NOT ME! ✉️🎅
In truth, I’m probably sleeping as you read this, because writing this last post of the year is how I’m spending my Christmas Eve. 🌙✨
While some are finishing wrapping presents, traveling to be with family, getting the cookies ready for Santa... or just ordering Chinese food 🥡🎁... I’m looking ahead at the year to come for myself and all of us. 🚀
🚧 Expect to challenge and push yourself.
✅ Expect to be pleasantly surprised & disappointed—and both at the same time.
💯 Expect exhaustion, exhilaration, but most of all, education.
⁉️ Expect to think critically and question everything again.
👣 Expect to lead, follow, and occasionally just get out of the way.
✨ Expect the unexpected, while also managing your expectations.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves with ppppredictions or pppprognostications just yet. In order to pppprepare for what’s to come, let’s first reflect on what has come to ppppass. 🎉
THE PROFESSIONAL: Reimagination, Redfined
2024 was a year many of us reimagined and redefined what marketing means... a year where we explored what happens when we challenge the status quo. 🛠️
🚀 Pace: We embraced AI tools of all kinds—from efficiency boosters to generative content creators. The speed of advancement, deployment, and iteration was unlike anything we’d ever seen. For the good, for the bad, the bold, and the beautiful, just trying to keep up with both FOMO and PFWA (penalized for waiting around) has been exhausting! 😅⚡
❤️ Passion: With community at my core, I dove headfirst into a new role as CEO of an amazing startup: Genuin. Tackling social media’s challenges head-on, we built a white-label, video-powered, AI-driven community platform for brands, advertisers, and creators. We call it a Community Media Network—it’s the real deal, putting trust back into communities again. 🙌🎥
🤖 Personalization: The role of and machine learning in automating, personalizing, and optimizing consumer engagement and community-building at scale was on everyone's lips at every conference, but does anyone think they're actually doing it well? 🎯
🎉 Party Time! While everyone is super stoked for improvements into first-party ownership, I'm much more excited about the increasing potential for zero-party data. With the revelation that humans account for only half of all web traffic (Hello, Bots!), and as privacy concerns and cookie deprecation reshape marketing strategies, this will be a topic you can't avoid in 2025. 🔐📊
🛍️ Path to Purchase: Social commerce continues to grow with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn going all in. But let’s not throw all our eggs into one basket. Algorithms, rising CAC, and murky data visibility in these walled gardens make social commerce a tricky play. And it’s no secret that Chinese ecomm sites are gunning for Amazon. Proceed strategically. 💄👗
📈 Programmatic: Before this year, whenever someone in our industry would mention "programmatic" media, or DSPs, or SSPs, or anything in adtech, my brain would immediately tune out. But this year, I stepped outside my comfort zone, learned the industry, the players, and got a good lesson in how pushing personal boundaries fuels growth. Of course, it gets me as excited as attending a webinar on the history of file folders, but you don't have to love something to be an expert in it. 📂
👩💻 Positioning for Influencer: A recent LinkedIn survey reveals that 87% of B2B buyers trust industry influencers over branded sales messages, especially during the consideration stage. Expertise, trustworthiness, and authenticity are key traits for effective influencers. Additionally, employees are powerful brand advocates, with a collective reach averaging 12x larger than their company’s.
🤝 Partnership: The age-old question -- "Build vs. Buy vs. Rent?" -- has been settled. The answer? None of the above. Debates around the best approach for brands to adopt new technologies (maybe like “Community Media Networks”) have raged forever, but we've pioneered a true partnership model that's winning for its ability to accelerate innovation without massive infrastructure investments. 🔗✨
THE PERSONAL: Raising Kids Who Care
Are they more moral than we were? Hate to break it to you, but the research says no. Empathy in college students has dropped 40% over the last 30 years. And let’s be real—just look at people like Elizabeth Holmes or Sam Bankman-Fried. Brilliant? Sure. Moral? Not so much. 🧠🧐
👩👧👦 Parental Guidance: This isn’t just about morality—it’s deeper. Creativity has been on a steady decline for decades, and let’s be honest: generative AI isn’t exactly making kids more imaginative. 🖍️ Remember the Flynn Effect, where IQ scores climbed throughout the 20th century? There’s evidence that trend started reversing in the ’90s. And get this: a 2018 UK survey found 39% of young adults couldn’t sew a button. 🧵 Sewing might seem minor, but to me, it’s a big red flag. All of this screams one thing: we’re in a moral and cognitive slump. If we don’t course-correct, things could get messy. The fix? It starts with truly understanding how each kid thinks and pushing them to grow in ways that actually matter. 🌱
🎨 Pride: Good news: my kids can sew! 🙌 My daughter is not only talented with her hands but has also discovered a real skill in drawing and art. This was also the year my son turned a corner, going from enthusiastic golfer to really good golfer! 🏌️ Seeing your kids discover themselves, excel at something, and stick with it—well, is there anything better?
🏆 Perfection: Actually, there is! Getting to participate with your kids in their activities brings joy to a whole new level. My biggest future parenting résumé accomplishment? Going undefeated as head coach in my daughter’s U-10 girls’ flag football league. 🏈 Is it weird that I dream up new plays in my sleep? 😴 And no, I wasn’t talking about Michigan Football’s national championship to start the year off... or was I? 💙💛
⚾ Playoffs: Speaking of exceeding expectations, what a year to be a New York Mets fan. (How often can anyone say that?) Coming into the season, my favorite team was projected to win 72 games and finish third in the division. Watching almost every game, they finished the year as the second-best team in the league and just landed the biggest star in the game. Thanks, Uncle Steve! 🧢✨
🌟 Progress: In the year that women's sports broke through, I couldn’t be prouder of the friends, colleagues, and “I wish we were friends” leaders across industries who helped make this happen. While I wish it had happened 20 years ago, I’m proud of the small part I played—and even prouder to be a forever fan. 👏⚽🏀🎾
💻 Persistence: As mentioned in the Professional section above, the evolution of content creation and curation is ongoing. But oh, what fun it was to post at least once a day on LinkedIn—for the third straight year! ✍️ Those posts included support for 25 podcasts, 26 Four Ps newsletters, and more video than you probably cared to watch on LinkedIn. 🎥 Here’s to keeping the streak alive in 2025! 🚀
THE PRACTICAL: The Crux of the Flux
🤖 Protect Yourself: No matter what you do, don’t fall in love with AI. Actually, don’t fall in love with an AI. Artificial companion apps, designed to alleviate loneliness, are captivating predominantly young, female users by fostering deep, therapeutic connections. Platforms like Character.ai lead this trend, with users spending an average of 93 minutes daily, surpassing even TikTok’s engagement levels. 📱 For teenage users, these AI bots provide an intimate space to share life challenges, blending utility with emotional connection. But beware: they’re also creating false dependencies—some with tragic consequences, including suicides—highlighting AI’s growing role as a deeply personal, engaging, but dangerous presence in people’s lives.
💰 Profiteering: AI search engines are diving headfirst into the ad game, and things are heating up. 🔥 ChatGPT just announced that ads are coming, and Perplexity is letting advertisers bid for spots on follow-up questions. Oh, and Perplexity? They’re already dabbling in the ecommerce sandbox with their Shopping AI tool, letting users shop directly on the platform. 🛒 For ecommerce brands, this is a golden ticket to team up with AI search engines, get their products in front of eyeballs, and position themselves as the ultimate “problem solver.” 🛍️
🎯 Precision with B2B: Earlier this year, I wrote this in a marketing strategy overview for a startup before joining Genuin, and I’m still proud of it:
“B2B decision-makers face mounting challenges in discovering products online, highlighting the need for improved navigation, clear messaging, and effective awareness campaigns. Creative plays a pivotal role, with nearly half of buyers exploring and discussing brands that use humor, strong narratives, or unique visuals. Generational and niche preferences reveal that younger buyers favor social platforms, while older ones rely on referrals. Building trust requires multiple touchpoints, as most buyers need 3-5 interactions or more before making decisions, making consistent visibility across channels essential. By enhancing discoverability, embracing creativity, and leveraging targeted channels, brands can better engage and convert B2B buyers.”
And no ChatGPT needed! 💪💼
🏢 Presence: Who returned to the office 5 days a week? Who’s sticking with 4 days? Or 3? Who never plans to go back again? And who told their employers to F off when something was mandated that didn’t fit the new world of flexibility? For some good news… looks like AI is CREATING some jobs, too!💼✌️
THE POLITICAL: Our House, Divided
2024 will be a turning point year politically, and not for the better. Kinda reminds me of 1856 in so many ways. You remember what that time was like, right?
📜 PoliSci Thesis Turns 25: In the fall semester of 1999, as a senior political science major at Penn, I posed a question that continues to guide my perspective:
"Does the person make history... or does history make the person?"
My thesis explored how various leaders either created moments that changed history or leveraged moments to shape their legacy. With every U.S. Presidential election since, this question serves as my compass for evaluating candidates, incumbents, and presidential legacies. 📖
🚦 Pushing Ahead: After the election, I wanted to give up. It wasn’t rational, but frustration was high. Despite real wins during the Biden administration—like raising corporate taxes and expanding healthcare—they failed to effectively communicate those successes - and the glaring messaging gaps were costly.
Case in point: Only 18% of independents knew about the corporate tax hikes, despite 75% supporting them. Meanwhile, skyrocketing grocery bills became the Democrats' undoing as voters blamed Biden for economic woes. Kamala Harris was left to clean up the communications mess with barely any tools, while Trump waltzed back into the White House, controversies and all. 🏛️And now, Democrats are scratching their heads, wondering why three months of ad spending can’t undo three years of silence. Brilliant strategy. 👏
⚖️ Peaching on Impartiality: Or Partial to Impeachment? The public isn’t buying the Supreme Court’s impartiality.
61% of voters believe Justices Thomas and Alito should face impeachment over undisclosed gifts and ethical concerns.
Even Independents share this view with a +12-point margin.
Without a binding code of ethics, Justices can freely favor ideological allies, leading to public mistrust. Accepting gifts from elite donors only deepens this divide, eroding confidence in judicial fairness. The call for SCOTUS reform is loud and clear—voters want accountability, transparency, and ethical governance to restore trust in the nation’s highest court. ⚖️✨
🎸 Pandemic of Pandering: In a bizarre political twist, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey admitted to faking his Spotify Wrapped results to emphasize his love for Bruce Springsteen. Claiming the altered playlist reflected his “true preferences” (his original was blamed on sharing an account with his kids), Gottheimer doubled down, citing past concerts and naming his dog Rosalita after Springsteen’s song. Was it a relatable move or calculated political theater ahead of a gubernatorial campaign? Critics weren’t convinced, pointing out inconsistencies and branding it a classic case of Spotify pandering. 🎧👀
THE PODCAST: Problem-Solving with Michelle Froah
How does an engineer end up leading global marketing and innovation? Michelle, the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at ETS shares her unconventional path on Episode 37 of the Snarketing Podcast. Highlights include:
Using AI to close skill gaps and drive talent growth
Building future-ready education solutions
Creative solutions via leadership excellence
Breaking barriers as a female engineer in tech
Proving that diverse experiences can lead to extraordinary
And if you were one of the few who read every single word in all 26 editions of the Four Ps this year, congratulations because you consumer 78,852 words in 2024. Thank you for being here, and wishing you a happy and healthy 2025!
Signing off for the year, but here's where you can find me across other channels:
BlueSky | Threads | TikTok | Youtube | Genuin
THE PROVOCATIONS: Other Things I Read & Like
For Prophets:
BlueSky continues to soar, now adding valuable click metrics - TheVerge
T-Swift’s Tortured Poets Department is #1 for 17 straight weeks - RollingStone
For Profits:
Of the 2024 Year in Search trends, 4 of the 5five were sporting events - Google
Wanna win in marketing? Go big and go blue - LinkedIn
For Pioneers
The open web is ailing. Let’s revive it - The Drum
Generative... Flavors? Oreo is using AI to create new (artificial) flavors - WSJ
Betches inks NFL deal to create content for women. Genius or offensive? - Variety
For Parents:
The root cause of messed up adults? Their parents. - NYTimes
AI Friendships that claim to cure loneliness are wreaking havoc - WoPo
45% of American teenagers say they are online "constantly” - AP
For Pessimists
Hashtags are now totally unnecessary - SocialMediaToday
The edgelord AI that turned a shock meme into millions in crypto - Wired
Social media is dying, and group chats are growing - The Atlantic