MarketingDojo #98: 💸 The Cost of Hesitations. 🤔
Google's AI ad jinx, The cost of hesitations is adding up, The most ignored painting and more.
My workweek ended on a high last Friday—I went to see one of my favourite singers live. As Sonu Nigam moved from one masterpiece to another, the crowd rode an emotional rollercoaster with him - crying, laughing, dancing, feeling every note.
There we were, a generation of Indians raised in the 90s, wrapped in the familiar comfort of his voice that soundtracked our lives.
I rarely feel this way about new music. Although I have fully adopted English as my first language, my deepest emotions remain tied to Hindi songs.
This musical paralysis fascinates me. We change our clothes, our food, our habits - but our musical tastes? They're surprisingly sticky.
I found a data-backed answer to this fossilization of musical choices and left it in the PS section for you to devour.
Meanwhile, here's what's in store for today's marketing deep dive:
🎯 The cost of hesitations
⚔️ True competitors
🎨 Creative excellence: The most ignored painting
🤖 Google's AI ad jinx continues
… and plenty more.
Trust Issues? That’ll Cost You.
2025 is the year when the bill comes due: Brands will finally pay the price for The Cost of Hesitations.
Every pause before a click. Every moment of doubt before entering credit card details. Every squint at a review, wondering if it's real. These hesitations are adding up, and in 2025, brands will finally feel their weight.
I came across the Cost of Hesitations in Accenture's Life Trends report, and it's simple: trust in digital channels is eroding. Scams, deepfakes, undisclosed influencer ads—customers are hesitating more than ever before they hit buy now.
The trust crisis stems from three compounding factors:
Search has become a maze. Sponsored links, endless ad formats, and SEO-gamed websites make finding real information exhausting.
Authenticity has abandoned the internet. Users question everything: Is this website legitimate? Did a real person write this review? Is this product photo genuine? Was this influencer paid to recommend this brand?
The enshittification of platforms. Every digital touchpoint is now hyper-commercialized, making users feel less human and more like walking wallets.
The numbers tell a sobering story:
52% have encountered fake news
38.8% have spotted fraudulent reviews
52% have faced deepfake scams
59.9% are more sceptical of online content than ever before
While platforms bear the brunt of this mistrust, brands suffer the consequences. Each moment of hesitation is a micro-tax on conversion, and these taxes are compounding.
Accenture sums it up perfectly:
"For years, organizations have been asking people to prove who they are. Now, brands are on the hook to do the same."
Ignoring Your True Competition? That’s Gonna Hurt.
"Sleep is our biggest competitor." – Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO.
Many businesses have a blind spot when it comes to identifying their true competition.
This kind of market myopia can be costly.
Case in point: Kodak fixated on outcompeting other film companies while mobile phones quietly made them obsolete.
Competition isn't always obvious.
It comes in many forms—direct and indirect competitors, substitutes, adjacent categories, market disruptors, and even the status quo (customers choosing to do nothing).
A simple way to uncover your real competition? Ask your best-fit customers:
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰?"
(Courtesy: April Dunford's Obviously Awesome).
Their answers might surprise you—and could reshape your entire strategy.
👉 What's a surprising competitor you've encountered in your industry?
Google Fumbles AI Advertising… Yet Again.
Strike three for Google's AI advertising. First came the Pixel ads suggesting we could alter memories, not just photos. Then, the AI-written Olympic fan letter debacle. Now, their Gemini Super Bowl spot has stumbled into controversy.
The story in short: A cheese shop owner shares how Google Gemini helped him write website content, allowing him to focus on what he does best—serving cheese—the ad's objective: To show how Google supports small businesses.
Except, there's a slight problem: The text the shop owner claims was AI-generated already existed… in 2020. Google's Gemini launched in 2023.
The Internet sleuths have turned in proof that the content existed on the website before AI ever came along.
Google spent $8 million on a Super Bowl slot to showcase a case study that wasn't real. They essentially claimed credit for content they didn't create, veering dangerously close to plagiarism.
Sure, $8 million is pocket change for Google. But with countless authentic stories, they could have told, why opt for fiction?
Maybe Google is just teaching us an unintentional lesson about AI—after all, it does make things up.
The Most Overlooked Painting Could Save Lives.
What is art? For most parts, thats a tricky question to answer. For one end of the spectrum are the paintings made with painstaking details, and the other end is a banana stuck to a white wall using duct tape. Both qualify as art.
But Volvo's collaboration with Subodh Kerkar is a piece of art with a message I wish got more publicity than the banana. For the National Road Safety Week in India, Subodh Kerkar created his most ignored painting ever - a zebra crossing painted by the renowned artist.
If you have ever dared to cross a road in Mumbai, India - you already know this. The Zebra crossing is as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane. Just like the umbrella gets overpowered by nature's force, the zebra crossing's authority is completely overwhelmed by Mumbai's chaotic traffic.
Those in the car and foot both have been trained to ignore it.
But this ignorance makes Mumbai's roads among the unsafest in the world. This collaboration between the artist and the brand hopes to bring attention to the most ignored painting ever—the one that could save so many lives.
Short Stuff:
Duolingo announced the death of its mascot, Duo. (Long live chaotic meme marketing).
TikTok is back in the American app stores. (No, that ban is never happening).
Apple returns to advertising on X. (Obviously, nothing political about this😛).
That’s a wrap on this week. Thank you for your time and attention. If you liked this week’s newsletter or found something interesting, please give me a like ❤️ or drop a comment🗨️. Your support helps drive the newsletter's discoverability.
I will see you in your inbox next Wednesday.
Regards,
P.S: Musical paralysis is real.
Our choices are constantly evolving. But our favorite music - that is usually a far stickier habit.
This Substack takes a data-backed approach to the concept of musical fossilization.
My favourite graph from the post? This NYT graphic shows the peak influence age. I still remember listening to Sonu Nigam while I was doing my maths homework. No wonder that influence is more stubborn than anything else.
Do you find yourself reaching for your comfort music?
this was fun to read. Unknowing competition ( i am pretty sure it was identified a couple of years ago) confectionery products & UPI
That accenture report was quite a useful read. Thanks for sharing it.