The latest campaign controversy

Sydney Sweeney has teamed up with American Eagle to bring the “My Jeans” campaign, which has left a lot of people on the internet feeling uncomfortable.

The campaign centres around Sweeney, narrating over footage of her zipping up her jeans, talking about how genes are passed down from generation to generation, before ending on “My jeans are blue”. The campaign is meant to be a play on words, essentially referencing the genes Sweeney passes down, which are her blue American Eagle jeans.

Where the campaign seems to have gone wrong is the undertones of being pro-eugenics. Particularly with pushing a narrative about blonde hair and blue-eyed people being the preferred genetics to pass on. This interpretation of the campaign has been noted across all platforms, including TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Where the brand missed the mark is in using a play on words to create a campaign, rather than creating a campaign built on brand ethos, messaging and getting the tone right.

Another aspect where the campaign missed the mark was in reflecting the core messaging and purpose of the campaign. This was to raise money to donate to charities helping individuals suffering from domestic violence. There wasn’t a hint of this virtuous act referenced within the campaign, which left a lot of people on the internet stunned at the poor alignment between the campaign visuals and the intention of the brand.

Examples of poorly executed campaigns from the past

There are some immediate examples that come to mind when considering campaigns that have missed the mark before. It’s not uncommon for brands to launch a campaign that doesn’t resonate well with audiences.

Some key examples include the Kendal Jenner and Pepsi “Live for Now” campaign, the Pretty Little Thing latest rebrand, and we can’t forget Jaguar trying to rebrand in 2024. Let’s take a deeper look at what went wrong for these brands…

Jaguar, Copy Nothing

Jaguar made a brash decision in 2024 to completely rebrand, from the logo to the overall offering of the company. Making a landmark shift from luxury sports cars to state-of-the-art electric vehicles.

This change was not received well by audiences, with immediate backlash noting the disparity between the brand audience and the new brand being pushed. Noting that existing audience were completely neglected to be thought about when this rebrand was done.

Moving away from the timeless and classic Jaguar logo to an ultra-modern J emblem. This shift displeased people as it essentially stripped the value and quality from what was a notoriously successful sports car company.

This poor assessment of their existing and potential audience is how they ended up with a clear disconnect between audiences and the brand. Having ignored the style, lifestyles and preferences of their established audiences, the product of the campaign felt completely out of line and lacking in authenticity in terms of the Jaguar brand.

Kendal Jenner & Pepsi “Live for Now”

This is probably one of the most out-of-touch campaigns seen across the internet, with backlash so fierce it prompted responses from Kendal Jenner and Pepsi.

The campaign rolled out in 2017, featured Kendal Jenner as the campaign’s spearhead. In the ad, Jenner is positioned with a group of protestors, opposite stands the police. The objective was to communicate unity through a product, but instead, it had audiences really angry for the lack of political awareness.

The campaign was seen as problematic for utilising real social justice issues in order to promote their product, without really getting to the crux of the problems causing protests at the time.

This poorly ideated campaign received a lot of backlash in lieu of its release, with audiences describing the campaign as tone deaf and inappropriate. This campaign serves as a great example of why brands shouldn’t virtue signal to push products.

Issues in marketing

We see similar issues with virtue signalling around Pride month, with businesses simply changing logos or products to include a rainbow. Instead of creating change within their sectors or contributing to charities which make a difference.

This can demonstrate the lack of care or authenticity of a brand, when garnering sales becomes more important than the values we uphold in our society.

Did you spot any of these campaigns, and if so…what’s your interpretation of them?

What is Basecamp, and why do we use it?

At Intelligency, one of our preferred software tools to use is Basecamp. Basecamp allows us to create, monitor, discuss and complete projects with complete visibility for the client.

There are many benefits to using Basecamp. It can make project tracking simpler, especially across organisations. Being able to set to-do lists, create different project folders, and enable commenting are all features that make the collaborative process easier.

How to set up an account with Basecamp

Whether you’re launching your Basecamp account for the first time or you’ve received an invitation to a project, you may be wondering what you need to do to create an account. Well, that’s simple:

Creating an account 

Step 1: Go to the Basecamp home page and navigate to “Sign up for free”.

You’ll see a pop-up which will show you the various subscription models. For those who have been referred by their agency, don’t worry about this step as the agency will have taken care of the subscription and master account creation.

Step 2: Provide your details, which include your name, email and organisation name. Then you’ll need to set your password.

Familiarise yourself with its interface.

Basecamp is very easy to navigate once you become familiar with its interface and how the software functions.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be on the ‘All Projects’ page. This page contains all the various project folders. It’ll provide a time update beneath each project to show when there was last activity on it, as well as icons for all the contributors on the project.

To look at a particular project, click on the project card. This will then take you to the project page.

What’s on the project page?

Navigations and discussions

When you get onto the project page, you’ll see the header bar and navigation, which allows you to easily click on the item you want to focus on. In the navigation bar there is, the discussions, to-dos, files & documents and events.

In the top right-hand corner, there’s an invite button which allows you to invite new contributors to the project. Beside the invite button is the catch-up button, which allows you to have a look at the latest actions across the project.

Below is the ‘latest project updates’ section, which itemises and dates the activity on the project. Beneath this is the ‘Discussion’ section, which pulls all the latest comments from the project into view. This feature can be particularly useful when you’re unsure which to-do you’ve commented on.

You may notice an archive project button in the top right. This is a place where all previous projects that have ended can be safely stored for later access. It’s worth mentioning that free accounts cannot archive projects, and once a project is deleted, it cannot be retrieved.

The To-do list section

The To-do list section is really where it’s all happening on the project pages. This is where you can create lists with action points which can be dated, assigned to a contributor, and commented on.

Besides the to-do-list title is the ‘add a to-do list’, which is how a list begins. In our business, we take the approach of labelling them by the months; that way, we can track what’s going on month-by-month.

The itemised tasks on the to-do list can be dragged and dropped into different positions in the list, and to different to-do lists on the page. Meaning any delays or postponements can be reflected in the project.

Adding, editing & removing comments

To add a comment to a task, simply click on the text, and it will take you to a window where the task is expanded. Beneath, comments or files can be added on which is particularly handy for communicating with clients about a task.

In the comment section, there are some formatting options like numbers and bullet points to help keep any discussions structured. When you’re adding a comment, it will allow you to email and loop in project collaborators. If you need this to be seen by a client or team member, make sure to select their name in this box.

To add a file to your comment, you can click Add File or drag and drop onto the comment box. Tip: best practice is to label content as Year/month/date/ – client name – file/content title – your initials.

Comments can only be edited within the first 15 minutes of sending them. You can edit a comment by clicking edit just below the comment. This will bring the comment box back up, allowing you to perfect your comment.

The way to delete a comment is the same as editing; comments need to be removed within the first 15 minutes of the comment being added.

What’s on the calendar page?

The calendar page is very self-explanatory. It includes a 6-week calendar where you can add in specific tasks. This can be particularly handy for bigger teams wanting to check what’s going on across the month without funnelling through the to-do lists.

On the calendar page, you can create multiple calendars, allowing you to track by client or project on there. To add a calendar, navigate to the top left corner and click on Add a Calendar. Create a name and invite the members you’d like to be able to view or add to the calendar.

What’s on the everything page?

This page gathers every single comment, to-do, and file on your Basecamp. All this collated information can be particularly handy when you’re unsure where to retrieve information from, which you know has been on your Basecamp.

What is on the progress page?

The progress page aggregates all the actions and comments created on Basecamp and orders them onto a timeline, allowing you to assess the progress of a task/project on a granular level. This includes times, any discussions, any files and the project name.

What is on the Me page?

On the ‘Me’ page is essentially your profile, collating all of the activity for just you. This will open up a page with your profile, all your comments, activity and discussions you’ve specifically contributed will be compiled here.

This is useful for cutting out the noise from other contributors and project tasks, allowing you to see all the work you’ve done specifically.

How to adjust my notifications on Basecamp

Select ‘Me’ on the navigation bar. In the top left-hand corner, you’ll see ‘Your Basecamp settings’ hyperlinked. Click on this to open your Basecamp settings. Here is where you can adjust your notifications to your preference, with the ability to adjust:

• Which projects do you get notified of
• How frequently you’ll receive emails, i.e. if you want an email per action, or you’d prefer to have a summary email.
• If you’re notified when someone else completes a task
• If you want a daily summary email
• What email address are emails sent to

Basecamp Etiquette

It’s good practice to make sure you’re using Basecamp to help organise, track and provide context when needed. For instance:

Keep your discussions organised by task and topic. Comment under the applicable task for easy monitoring rather than other tasks out of convenience. In the long run, this will make finding comments and tracking that task simple and not confusing.

Tag only the necessary people. To avoid bombarding inboxes with Basecamp emails, make sure to only loop the necessary contributors into the content. If their input is not required, it’s unnecessary to loop in everyone.

Avoid creating multiple to-dos for the same tasks. This is an important one; it ensures all the information, like files and feedback, is submitted to the right comment section. Ultimately, reducing the time spent swapping between tasks only to gather information that could have been collected in one comment section.

Using comments instead of email. Because comments are already emailed to the contributors you’ve selected, cut out the additional admin of writing emails. Keep communications all on one channel, like Basecamp, to avoid overcomplicating the process.

We’d love to know if this guide has been useful for you. Let us know!

Tags and categories are labels we use on a website to create order across content, particularly on per-collection pages, where multiple pieces of content are stored. These pages are typically assigned as product category pages or blogs.

There is a distinction between categories and tags, with some similarities shared between the two and some major differences in the way they serve the search engine and the reader.

What are categories?

There are roughly 5-10 categories prescribed to a per-collection page, and the category serves as a label for a specific group, type or subject. For instance, a clothing shop will have the category of tops.

It’s used as an umbrella tag, or a starting point in the search. This means that it will likely include content or products which are more broadly defined than just the category itself.

What are tags on a website?

That’s where tags come in; they help qualify that search further by adding a label including the detail. So, to touch back upon the example from before, within the top category, you could have the unique product pages tagged with:

• Crop-tops
• Long-sleeve tops
• Vest tops
• Short-sleeved tops

The tags allow you to label that content further, so when someone is looking for a specific niche aspect in content.

Why do we use categories and tags on websites?

Tags and categories help keep content on your website organised for both those searching and search engines crawling your site. It’s a brilliant tool for creating a structure, allowing you to easily pull related tagged or categorised content for it to be displayed to the reader.

We use tags and categories to make sense of the content we put out, which allows people to easily search through a particular type of content, without being inundated with other non-relevant content.

What are the benefits of implementing categories and tags?

Structure – Brings structure to your site by grouping content that shares related topics.

Simple navigation – Allows the reader and search engines to efficiently navigate to and understand the subject of the content.

Enhanced user experiences – User experience is prioritised when content is organised, saving the time spent searching your site, and reducing dissatisfaction with irrelevant content being displayed.

Increasing the chance of discoverability – Using this content structure can make it easier for other content relating to the same category to be discovered. Typically, a category page will be made, where all the products and content are assembled onto one page, making it more discoverable.

How to properly assign categories and tags?

The best approach to take when assigning categories and tags on your website is to use a structured process.

Identifying your categories

You’ll need to begin by outlining the various products and subjects your pages include. This will allow you to narrow down your categories. For instance, a retail brand may categorise by the type of product, whereas a blogger may categorise by topic.

In some cases, sub-categories may need to be introduced, which creates a hierarchical structure between content pages. An example of where subcategories may be used is with a retail brand; they may have an overarching shoe category, then subcategories for each type of shoe.

Incorporating categories and tags on WordPress

To add a category or tag in WordPress, you need to begin by navigating to the posts section. If you’re uploading fresh content, navigate to add a post. This opens up the post creation page, which has a toolbar on the right-hand side.

On the toolbar is a section where you can create categories by simply selecting Add category. The same can be done for the tagging to, you simply need to scroll down on the toolbar to find the tag section and begin to type in your answers.

So whilst tags and categories share similarities, the way they help sort content on your website differs. Each helps to improve the structure of your site, ultimately improving the user’s experience navigating content.

What is keyword cannibalisation?

Keyword cannibalisation occurs when multiple pages on your website target the same keywords, causing them to compete against each other in search engine results. Rather than boosting your visibility, this overlap can dilute your SEO efforts and hurt your rankings.

Why is keyword cannibalisation such a problem?

Keyword cannibalisation directly impacts your content. Here’s how it directly impacts your SEO efforts:

Impacting your rankings – the greatest issue with keyword cannibalisation is the impact it can have on your rankings. Negative Impact on ranking decreases the chance of content being displayed, clicked on and engaged with.

Decreasing page authority – when your content is directly competing with more of your content, it can negatively impact your authority. It dilutes the authority you have potentially established on one page by redirecting your audience to another.

The spending of unnecessary crawl budget –if you have multiple pages targeting the same keywords, it can impact the chances of other important pieces of content being crawled. This is because Google determines the crawl budget, meaning other pieces of important content can be directly impacted because of keyword cannibalisation.

Negatively impacting conversion rates – if two pieces of content are competing with each other and one ranks higher than the other, it is going to have a higher click-through rate. You never want to compete with your content, as the goal is to create unique pieces of content that perform consistently.

Preventing and fixing keyword cannibalisation

Prevention

The key is to define the intent of your content; your intent will directly influence the way your content is ranked on search engines. Using long-tailed keywords allows you to directly answer and cater to different search intents, which would be one of the key factors in content not being ranked against other pieces of your content.

Avoid repeating the same keyword sets, diversify the words you target to make sure your content isn’t competing against each other. Coupling this with pinpointing your intent will ensure there’s no content battling to be ranked.

Monitor your content after it’s been created and look at how your content ranks for your keywords. If it’s ranking poorly, the content may need to be optimised to add more value and demonstrate to search engines it’s worth displaying.

Fixing keyword cannibalisation

Once you’re certain keyword cannibalisation is your problem, you can begin to strategise how to move forward with your different pieces of content. 

The best approach is to consolidate your content. Merging your content into one comprehensive piece can be beneficial for preserving content. You can do this by implementing 301 redirects, which will allow the original link to still exist but funnel it back into the new consolidated content.

If you think your content serves different audience intents, then optimise the content to cater to that intent. You can do this by adapting the copy and integrating more long-tailed keywords.

If you decide you need to keep the content as well as needing to keep the pages separate, then canonical tags may be the best approach for you. A canonical tag lets the search engine know which page to prioritise for ranking and indexing.

What not to do…

Whilst some scenarios might call for you to delete the page to fix a cannibalisation, its not an ideal solution. Not only can you lose the value that piece of content added to your site, but any links embedded on the page are lost.

In Summary
Keyword cannibalisation can quietly damage your SEO performance if left unchecked. By planning strategically, optimising with intent, and auditing your content regularly, you can ensure each page has a distinct purpose, helping search engines and users alike navigate your site more effectively.

Google could soon face new rules in the UK that may change how businesses appear in search results and how digital ads are bought and displayed, particularly as AI becomes a bigger part of search.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which ensures fair competition between businesses, is investigating how Google runs its Search and Advertising services. Their main focus is on Google’s new AI-powered search features, which often show AI-generated answers instead of a list of website links.

The CMA has raised concerns about:

• Whether Google is ranking websites fairly in search results
• High costs for advertising on Google Search
• Use of other websites’ content in AI-generated summaries without clear permission

To deal with this, the CMA is considering giving Google a label called Strategic Market Status (SMS). If applied, this status would allow the CMA to enforce specific rules on Google without needing to prove the company has broken competition laws.

This status would apply to Google’s AI search features, although not to Gemini, its AI assistant tool.

Why this matters for digital marketers

If Google is given this new status, it could lead to:

• Changes in how ads are placed and displayed in search results
• Shifts in how visible your website or content is on Google, especially when AI summaries appear instead of traditional links
• Potential changes in ad pricing, which could impact your digital marketing budget

These changes could increase competition in the search market, which may benefit smaller businesses. However, they may also bring new compliance issues and require updates to your marketing strategies.

What Google is saying

Google has criticised the CMA’s proposals, calling them too broad and unfocused. The company warned that unclear rules could get in the way of progress in AI development.

“Evidence-based regulation will be essential to avoid turning a roadmap into a roadblock,” Google said.

What’s next

The CMA’s current review ends on 13 October 2025. If they move forward, a second, more in-depth phase will begin in early 2026. This next stage could look at other areas of Google’s business, such as:

• Its dominance in the ad market
• How it works with publishers
• How it treats rival search engines

If your work relies on Google ads or organic search traffic, it’s worth keeping an eye on these developments.

Whether you’re emerging into your first marketing role or you’re hopping onto a client/agency meeting, you’re bound to hear some acronyms being thrown around. With so many marketing long-tailed terms, we’ve found ways to abbreviate and simplify. But as a marketer, it’s easy to forget just how unfamiliar all these terms are when you first hear them.

This is your go-to marketing dictionary, where we’ll delve into all the key terms you’ll need to know so you’re armed with all the marketing jargon for your next meeting!

A-Z Marketing Acronyms

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method used in marketing to test two versions of a piece of work to see which performs better. This can be for ad campaigns or establishing the best user interface for your website.

ARPU

Average revenue per user is the revenue a business makes from a single individual. This can be calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of users (within a set time frame).

B2B

B2B is the abbreviation of business-to-business- it just keeps it short and sweet. A great example of a B2B business is ourselves, as we don’t work directly with our clients’ customers, but rather support the business in their marketing efforts to optimise the experience for users.

B2C

B2C stands for business-to-customer; unlike business-to-business, this is direct communication with the customer/audience.

BR

BR, or bounce rate, is the volume of users who leave after viewing a page. It’s an incredibly important metric for understanding audience engagement. To calculate it, you’ll need to divide the number of single-page sessions by the overall total of sessions.

CAC

CAC stands for customer acquisition cost- another incredibly valuable metric to gain insight into how much of your budget is spent on drawing in an audience. This is done by dividing the budget for a specific period by the number of new users.

CPC

Cost-per-click is a more common term used for paid advertising, whether that online advertising via search engines or through paid advertising on social channels. Simply divide the number of clicks by the overall cost to determine the cost per click.

CPM

CPM is abbreviated from cost per mille (thousand).

CPV

Cost per view which can be calculated by dividing the total advertising cost by the number of views.

CRO

CRO is a shortened form of conversion rate optimisation, a term used to describe you optimising your site, content or campaign in order to maximise the amount of conversions.

CTA

A CTA is a call to action, which is language used in content or on buttons which are there to encourage your audience/customer to take action.

GA/GA4

GA4 is just an abbreviation of Google Analytics 4, Google’s most recent analytical platform used to track performance.

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is the protocol and regulations a business must follow to keep its customers’ data safe and ensure it is used legally.

KPI

A KPI is a key performance indicator. We set these in marketing in order to measure the success of our performance. We assign specific metric values as a reference point to compare and analyse against the actual performance.

PPC

Pay-per-click is the term coined for digital advertising and how much it costs to have their ad clicked.

ROI

ROI is an acronym for return on investment, which analyses the performance profitability. Return on Investment equals (Revenue generated from marketing minus the cost of marketing), divided by the cost of marketing, then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.

ROAS

Return on ad spend defines the overall money made back from the money spent on an ad campaign. To find your ROAS metric, divide the revenue generated by the overall cost of the ad.

SEO

SEO is a classic marketing term; it stands for search engine optimisation. Search engine optimisation looks to optimise your website performance through technical and content optimisations to create a better opportunity of displaying on the search engine results page.

SERP

SERP is a search engine results page. This is the content list you see when you are exploring the internet, on a search engine. When we talk about the SERP, it’s typically in reference to the overall ranking on the results page and where your website is being positioned as recommended.

UGC

User-generated content, or UGC, is content that the customer created about your product or service (without you collaborating or sponsoring them).

UI

UI is the acronym for user interface, a term used to describe how a customer sees your website. I.e. web elements, visual/ design elements and auditory components.

UX

UX is user experience. When we discuss the user experience, it is about the enjoyment and ease of use of your website.

Final Thoughts

Marketing acronyms can feel like an entirely new language when you’re first getting started, but now, you’ve got the cheat sheet. Whether you’re building your first campaign, sitting in on a client call, or brushing up on industry lingo, this dictionary is your go-to reference for demystifying the jargon. The more fluent you become, the more confidently you’ll navigate conversations, strategies, and results.

Keep this glossary handy, and you’ll be speaking marketing like a pro in no time.

Why email lists still matter in the age of social media… Email lists give us a direct line of communication with our audience, allowing our message to directly hit their inbox.

Why Email Lists Are So Valuable

Utilising your mailing list can offer many benefits for a business, particularly when aiming to get higher levels of engagement and increased conversion rates.

Email campaigns, when done right, can help with long-term audience relationship building. Maintaining communication through email can serve many purposes; it can help you update, inform, or brief your audience.

1.     Start with the Right Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a method used by providing a free resource, service or product in return for contact information from their audience, in this instance, it would be their email address. Some examples of lead magnets include PDF resources, checklists, courses, e-books or templates.

Consider putting lead magnets in places where they will resolve a question or provide value to the audience. For instance, having a downloadable template that is accessed by providing their email.

2.     Use Strategic Content Types for List Building

Blog Posts: Naturally embed opt-ins in high-traffic articles.

Embedding opt-in buttons allows your audience to choose to follow your email campaigns, and placing these in high-traffic pieces of content will allow you to capitalise on capturing the information from interested readers.

Utilising gated content, for example, industry reports, will give you other opportunities to garner your audience’s contact details.

Don’t forget to use your calls to action, imploring your audience to sign up for your mailing list. Include a link to a sign-up page to make the process smoother for them, making each step as simple as possible.

3.    Placement Matters: Where to Add Signup Opportunities

Making sure you position it in the right spot on your social content or blog posts is just as important as including the information capture. Consider positioning it in places where it feels natural, or is necessary, such as on a navigation bar, with a widget, on your landing pages, and at the end of videos.

4.     Optimise Your Signup Forms

Making sure your signup forms are easy to use will ensure the process is quick and easy, which in turn reduces the potential frustration and leads to abandonments. To keep it simple, you’ll just need their name and email.

In this process, test the user experience with A/B testing, which allows you to trial what colour button works best, the size of the text on the button, the CTA, as well as the placement on the content or page.

5.     Deliver Value by being prepared.

Once you’ve captured the emails of your audience, you need to make sure you make a positive impression, set up a confirmation page to let them know the information they’ve provided has been retained.

The next step is to create a welcome email, which is the first impression in a sense- it needs to positively impact the reader. Adopt a warm and welcoming tone, be authentic and make sure to give a better introduction to your brand’s communication channel.

Top Tips for your Email Strategy

Creating the perfect campaign is about striking a balance between the visual elements, the content itself, the frequency of campaigns, how they’re targeted and so on. Email campaigns must be tracked, analysed and adapted in order to garner the leads and clicks within your business KPI.

Make sure the content you continue to push in your email campaigns works to draw in your reader, drive clicks and ultimately enhance the engagement metrics seen across your channels and website.

What is a micro-influencer?

A micro-influencer is a content creator with a smaller but highly engaged following,
typically between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. These individuals are well-known to
their specific audience but aren’t considered celebrities in the mainstream sense.

What are the benefits of collaborating with a micro-influencer?

Being able to build trust and transfer authority

Micro-influencers often hold authority in niche areas, which makes them ideal for
promoting products or services authentically. Their established credibility allows
brands to tap into that trust, signalling to audiences that the collaboration is both
informed and genuine.

Garner more engagement

Micro-influencers tend to have more active communities, resulting in higher-quality
interactions. Their audiences are often more loyal and engaged than those of larger
influencers. One effective way to boost engagement is through collaborative posts
that appear on both the brand’s and the influencer’s profiles.
Targeted promotions

While some micro-influencers are known for specific topics, others are local figures
with strong community ties. Partnering with them can be a powerful tactic when
running location-specific campaigns, helping you connect with a targeted and
relevant audience.

Getting the most out of your budget

Collaborating with micro-influencers is typically far more cost-effective than working
with celebrities or macro-influencers. This affordability frees up the budget for other
marketing efforts, or to reinvest back into the business.

How to approach working with an influencer

Partnering with a micro-influencer takes thoughtful planning. It’s important to ensure
the fit is right—for both your brand and the creator—before reaching out.

1. Define Your Objectives and Goals
   Start by identifying what you want to achieve from the campaign. Clear goals will
   help guide your strategy and also make it easier to measure performance
   afterwards.
2. Assess Alignment and Suitability – Evaluate whether the influencer’s content and persona align with your brand. Their
   style should complement your vision for the campaign. If you’re unsure where to
   start, use platform search tools and keywords to find creators producing content that
   fits your niche.
3. Consider Your Offer, think about what you’re bringing to the table—whether that’s a paid partnership or gifting products/services in exchange for content. If you can’t offer some form of value, it’s unlikely the collaboration will take off.
4. Create a Clear Project Brief – Outline exactly what you expect in terms of deliverables, messaging, and content format. A well-crafted brief is essential—it keeps everyone aligned and ensures thethe
   output reflects your brand’s goals.
5. Let Their Content Shine -Authenticity is key. While it’s important to communicate your brand message, give
   influencers the freedom to present it in their own voice. This personalisation deepens
   trust and helps the content resonate more naturally with the audience.

What is the trend?

After OpenAI’s latest update, its native image capabilities have enhanced drastically. Users and marketers have flexed their prompting capabilities and generated branded renderings of boxed figurines with accessories.

What works about the boxed and branded figurine trend?

One of the many reasons why this trend has taken over is due to the ease of creation, in combination with the endless creative possibilities AI provides people. Image generation enhancements provide a more polished and refined quality of generated content than was previously possible.

The latest generative AI trend goes to show how better results for specific styles of image generation are going to pique the curiosity of online users. Which, like the Studio Ghibli trend, will gain quick popularity before losing traction to another trend.

This style of trend can help drive engagement for some accounts as they exercise ways to express their individual or brand personality. The trend has become so popular because people want to engage with visually interesting content, as well as concepts which are made more accessible to all users.

We put the trend into action…

Here’s what we prompted ChatGPT with initially ‘ I want you to generate 4 figurines contained within the same box. The box is red with a clear plastic window allowing you to see the characters. Below the characters is a recessed accessory section, where a miniature USB, a Laptop, a notebook, and a coffee mug are. On the box, it should have a title saying ‘The Intelligency Team’. Can you do this?’

We made sure to put plenty of details into the prompt, but found like many other users, that it took finessing and refining the prompt to achieve the perfect render. This included providing brand hex codes and prescriptive details like generating the design like a studio would take a product shot’. Here’s how they turned out:

Examples of the Trends in action on LinkedIn

The trend has taken LinkedIn by storm, with a lot of users and brands hopping onto the trend, with brands like Wendy’s generating their own, and even building suppliers, finding a way to make the trend work for them. Here’s how that looked:

What’s next in terms of generative image trends?

Looking at the broader picture, this raises some compelling questions about the ethics of AI, not just in terms of its tendency to mimic existing artistic styles, but also the sheer energy required to fuel the rise of generative image trends.

Both issues carry real weight: artists risk losing credit for their unique styles, while the environmental footprint of constantly running AI servers adds a whole other layer of concern.

Google is making some big changes to Gmail that aim to improve your experience, protect your inbox from spam, and boost security, but not without raising some concerns.

Less Spam in Your Inbox

The good news? Google is tightening its rules around spam, and it’s working. Many companies that send out bulk marketing emails are seeing their messages blocked or flagged as spam unless people regularly open and engage with them. That means you should see fewer unwanted messages cluttering your inbox.

Smarter Scams Are on the Rise

At the same time, a serious threat has come to light. A long-running email scam has been using fake login pages that look like real sites—Gmail, Outlook, banks, delivery companies—to trick people into entering their usernames and passwords. After stealing the information, the scam redirects victims to the real login page, making it seem like nothing happened.

These attacks have flown under the radar for years, using clever techniques to bypass security tools and hide behind trusted-looking links and websites.

Google’s AI and Privacy Debate

Google is also rolling out AI-powered tools in Gmail to help users manage their inboxes more efficiently. But not everyone is thrilled—some are worried about what it means for privacy if AI is scanning personal emails. Google says users remain in control and can switch off these features if they prefer.

New Encryption, but Limited Access

To further strengthen email security, Google is introducing end-to-end encryption. This means only the sender and receiver can read the email. However, it’s only available to business users for now and will be rolled out more broadly later.

Stay Safe Going Forward

Email is getting safer, but no system is perfect. Always be cautious of unexpected emails asking for login details. Use strong two-factor authentication or, even better, switch to passkeys if available. Staying alert is still your best line of defence.