In this ‘not in SXSW’ issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at six stories to think about next week, including: What to Call OpenAI’s new $20k agent, Profit and Progressive Advertising on IWD, Bain’s Insurgent Brands, Aberdeen’s Shift to Vowels, Costco Goes Luxury and Four Loko’s Cultural Revival or Rebrand.
In addition, we have ads from: Spain’s Ministry of Equality, Farber, KFC, Helsingin Kaupunki and Old Spice.
// Five Stories of the Week:
1.) As Costs Go Up, Will an “Agent” Sell?
OpenAI is rumored to be considering launching $20k / month specialized AI agents, offering services as knowledge workers with ‘PHD level’ expertise. The move is an extreme pricing jump from their current ‘pro’ tier of access, which weighs in at $200 / month. The 10x potential price increase signals the company’s search for significantly greater revenue from its technology as operating costs increase.
More so, it shows a shift in pricing as a tool vs. pricing as an agentic replacement to salaried workers. A $240k a year cost will put its agent on par with many human worker salaries. While AI will seemingly have a slight edge against a single human worker in this equation, to ensure positive price perception, OpenAI must be considering how to tell a wider story – where one equivalent salary invested in its technology can replace several humans. Whether or not ‘agent’ is the best analogy to achieve perceptions of wider cost savings will be an interesting challenge if this does roll out and a terrifying development for human workers. Selling an agent for 20k a month is impressive, selling a team of them for that is undeniably so. Unexpectedly, language may play as large a role in selling this technology as the innovation itself.
2.) Revisiting Profit and Progressive Advertising for International Women’s Day
As many brands backslide from social commitments, reconsider the value of social good or think it’s pragmatic to be more insular, today is a good day to remind them of what they’re missing. This #IWD25, I wanted to reshare some thought provoking research, which challenges the pejoratives against progressive advertising.
Released in 2024, the joint report from UN Women, Mars, Unilever, Said Business School and others showed that more inclusive and progressive advertising was found to deliver: greater short term and long term sales, as well as higher consideration, trial and other key brand metrics.
Its unique research used the Unstereotype Alliance’s GUM score (Gender Unstereotype Metric) to LINK evaluate advertising and look across sectors at the impact of each campaign from a revenue and brand perspective. The findings challenge the “go woke, go broke” narrative in the industry often leveraged against progressive marketing. Though badging exercises and token gestures need to go away, the opportunity for good business while doing good is important to consider everyday.
3.) Bain’s Insurgent Brands.
Consultancy Bain has released a list of their 2025 ‘insurgent’ brands – those identified within the FMCG space that are independent, have consistently grown 10x the category growth rate and have $25m or more in annual revenue. The list has some expected brands already on it (Athletic, Harry’s, Dude Wipes, etc.) alongside the new entrants (Mike’s Hot Honey, DripDrop, Odelle, etc.), but all of them share a sense of being something more than just a challenger brand. While it may seem semantic, Bain’s list is useful in providing a new definition beyond just challenging a market. The requirement to have growth and scale gives a label for brands with more action potential, moving beyond the intent to do something differently to a phase where they need to continue to scale it.
4.) Thnks fr th mmrs Abrdn.
UK fund manager ‘Abrdn’ has announced it is returning to its original, vowel indulgent name of ‘Aberdeen’ this week – four years after the original surprising name change. It may have seemed like tastes swung back, away from the vowel phobia of new media and technology naming.
More than changing tastes though, the shift highlights how a name plays a role in branding. For Aberdeen, the name change tried to associate with innovation, before becoming in their words ‘a distraction’. Therefore the shift back to greater vowel-use shouldn’t be seen as undoing a mistake, but shifting towards a new role for a name – recognizing that the name wasn’t achieving its intended purpose.
Names address challenges facing a brand, so evaluating if they’re doing so, should be a constant part of brand management. Though perhaps we should all stick to vowels for a while, the world is already challenging enough without navigating it predominantly using consonants.
5.) Costco Goes Luxury.
There is a difference between low prices and value – just ask Costco. The discount retailer has seen unlikely success with more affluent audiences and selling luxury goods. With the US economy’s middle shrinking (the top 10% of earners account for 50% of spending), brands are rapidly trying to play on one or both sides of a polarized customer base. For those brands looking to target affluence, finding a deal isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Costco’s success, 36% of customers make over $125k, shows that wasteful luxury may have given way to discount affluence for many – as the CEO states that their goal is to ‘sell a $1000 TV to someone for $500 vs. selling a $500 TV for $250’. It isn’t about the lowest price, but the biggest deal.
6.) The Reinvention or Rediscovery of Four Loko?
Is Four Loko reinventing itself? Or is it just the Y2K fashion of alcohol? Almost everything comes back in style at some point and that isn’t limited to fashion. Alcohol brand Four Loko, famous for its caffeine infused alco-buzz of the late 2000s and early 2010s is being discussed as “repositioning for Gen Z”. However, how much of this is the brand and how much is the world around it? Is culture driving the brand vs the other way around.
Like flares, going out tops and others, is Four Loko benefitting from a cultural association and specially one that it can’t really touch? A shift towards malt beverages and nostalgia means the brand, famously blamed for increasingly extreme benders across 2010 culture, can leverage “heritage”. But its communications can only go so far with this notoriety. Sending STD kits out as Covid faded is on brand for Four Loko, but nowhere near the wildest thing it’s associated with in culture.
Similar to White Claw, whose ads featured waves and freshness cues while TikTok yelled about “no laws while you drink claws”, the brand can’t responsibly or fully associate with its true perception in consumer’s minds. Lacking agency on how to build on cultural interest, the brand “reinvention” looks more like a short term opportunity out of their control..
// Ads You Might Have Missed:
1.) ‘8m. Our Voice.’ – Spanish Ministry of Equality:
On March 8th, International Women’s Day will see brands and organizations making powerful statements about women, their rights, equality and equity. While these statements are needed, valid and powerful, three new ads from the Spanish Ministry of Equality show that what isn’t said is equally impactful. ‘8m. Our Voice’ features nearly silent ads that pull back from one woman to larger groups, before finishing on statements about the unclear future of women’s rights and needed progress.
The ads take a starker turn than many celebratory IWD ads, but also highlight more in what they don’t say than what they do. From groups of silent women to implied scale, these ads demonstrate the spirit of IWD without saying it.
2.) ‘When You’re In Debt, Everything Looks Different’ – Farber:
Debt advisory and consolidation services try to empathize, but often miss the mark in relating to an audience struggling with financial debt. Canadian organization Farber has unveiled a new campaign powered by an insight that debt doesn’t just worry, it changes how those experiencing it see the world. The impact of financial worry isn’t just in anxiety, but in the cost of everything becoming more obvious. Farber’s campaign highlights this by showcasing ‘tap to pay’ icons on everyday objects – showing how watching TV or making breakfast take on a new negative aspect when financial concerns are present. Through this approach, Farber doesn’t just empathise, but shows a deep understanding of the audience they’re trying to help.
3.) ‘Original Fake Games’ – KFC:
For all of the brands that aim to ‘tap into gaming culture’ many don’t actually show an understanding of the in-jokes, annoyances and true opportunities that exist within it. KFC’s latest ads in the UAE show how gaming activations don’t have to go through the expected routes. Fake game ads are something that users across TikTok and Instagram are very familiar with. From the ‘one where you remove the pin’ to the ‘one where you shoot barrels’, these clickbait ads demo and link through to games that aren’t similar to what’s advertised.
This annoyance was an opportunity for KFC, who made each of these games real, with the Colonel as the main character in their ‘Original Fake Games’ app. Playable versions of each are available and unlock rewards for high scores. The campaign not only highlights unique opportunities to activate in gaming outside of big games, but also shows how greater ability to develop games quickly can give brands new opportunities.
4.) ‘Find Something to Do Before Someone Else Does’ – Helsingin Kaupunki:
When you have a clear truth, you don’t need a lot of time to communicate it. The City of Helsinki showed this in a series of ads, highlighting activities for teenagers by showing that if they don’t find a way to leverage their free time, someone else’s chores and tasks will fill the gap. The campaign promoted autumn activities in a way that departed from highlighting enjoyment – instead leaning into a push towards avoiding a negative effectively.
5.) ‘Unbelievably Long Lasting’ – Old Spice:
Long lasting product claims struggle with a lack of anchoring. Consumers aren’t sure how long they should last and many words normally used to convey this (“24/7”, “All-Day”) have been overused to a point of losing meaning. Old Spice’s newest ad, highlighting their products ability to last all day, has overcome this through humor and metaphor, placing an Old Spice user amongst pirates, each masterfully shown as less than hygienic, and showing how freshness can backfire. The ad also features a subtle call back to its famous ‘I’m on a horse’ line, extending the nautical theme to a sea horse and showing how brand heritage can quietly fit into a wider idea.
// Sunday Snippets
// Marketing & Advertising //
// AXE takes on the ‘long lasting’ communications challenge with a really long couch [Ads]
// Knorr takes aim at the disconnect between the ideal and reality of delivery food quality [Ads]
// What cosmetic brand Lush learned from leaving social media three years ago [Ads]
// McDonald’s shows Oscar winners’ orders the day after the awards show in their latest ad [Ads]
// UK chain Greggs blames bad weather for slow down as Brits cut back on snacking [Marketing]
// Lululemon features a 78 year old fitness influencer in their latest campaign [Ads]
// Kraft Heinz enters the alcoholic beverage space with a new Crystal Light Hard Seltzer [Products]
// Volvo’s latest all AI ad doesn’t show any cars nor does it show the full potential of AI [AI]
// JetBlue have unveiled a Super Mario wrapped plane [Travel]
// McDonald’s loses the title of ‘Worlds Largest Fast Food Chain’ to Mixue Bingcheng [Marketing]
// Technology & Media //
// The Fediverse, explained. [Social Media]
// Exploring Voice AI in banking [AI]
// Pinterest is in the middle of wading through a deluge of AI generated ‘slop’ [Social Media]
// Cinema fans are increasingly frustrated by longer pre-film ads [Media]
// Discord is apparently in talks to IPO, what does it mean for its users? [Media]
// Life & Culture //
// Anger has turned to violence as Tesla becomes the mascot for Elon Musk and the US government [Culture]
// Crocs announces a Haribo themed edition, though it’s worth stressing the Jibbitz are not edible [Fashion]
// The shifting distribution of happiness [Culture]
// A new proposal in NYC aims to protect and legalize bodega cats [Law]
// A new night train service aims to connect more of the US on overnight trains [Travel]
// Can people cling to their disgust or will Kanye West find a way to comeback? [Culture]
// Why are we paying to keep horse racing alive? [Sport]
// Two men have been arrested for sawing a Paddington Bear statue in half, no word on if marmalade sandwiches were inside [Culture]
// ‘Cheetozard’ – a Pokemon shaped Cheeto sells for $90k at auction. Imagine if it was a banana [Culture]
// Young people have contributed to slowing the decline of Christianity in the US [Culture]
// Until Next Sunday
As always, let me know what you think by email (dubosecole@gmail.com), website or on LinkedIn.You can also listen to an audio summary and discussion of each week’s newsletter on Spotify. We’re also on TikTok!
