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We’re in a transitional era: how we think, write, speak, even navigate the web, is evolving (or devolving in some cases) before our eyes. Our stories this week on The Brief cover this evolution: Google prioritizes Reddit’s organic perspectives, Meta is trying to create a super app with a new AI shopping tool, and Amazon Prime joins the trend and introduces vertical feed.
In commenting on the transition this week, I was reminded that words are still powerful. I was on WWD’s podcast last week, and during our conversation I uttered the words, “Paid media is propaganda.” It became the title of the episode, they put my face next to the quote to promote on social, and I’ve gotten emails and comments both supporting (“glad someone said it out loud”) and condemning the quote (“Et tu, Brute?” from a former IPG colleague).
For context: the episode was about agentic commerce, and from a technical standpoint, that quote is factually accurate. Large language models categorize paid media the same as traditional political propaganda: a pay-to-play communication that is allowed to bend truth and reality to amplify whichever message a company or person chooses. The realization that should come from this is that, as we move through this transitional era, amplification and influence are no longer intertwined.
Don’t get me wrong, paid media and advertising will remain critical for years to come, but its role has been relegated to a key section of the orchestra, no longer the maestro that’s controlling the entire symphony. The question then becomes, who do you want to be the conductor? The algorithm? The LLMs? Or, a collaborative, cross-divisional team that knows how to create a symphony and not silos of solos?