Cameron Armstrong
Archive
Notes and work since 2015. Essays, long reads, every LinkedIn post, decks and the early ventures.
Everything from the first version of this site is kept here, alongside what I’ve written since. Most of it went on LinkedIn first.
2026
- From information asymmetry to imagination asymmetryI've been telling people about this video I've made for weeks. Now you can finally see it. I started making YouTube videos in my bedroom when I was…
- I built the podcast’s website over a weekendIn case you missed it, Sean Halpin and I launched The Prompt & The Pitch this summer. It's about AI and advertising, and the people working out what…
- Media attention has hit a ceilingBCG puts US active media time at 25.3 hours a week. It peaked in lockdown and has been gently falling ever since.
- Brandy at the top of the stairsWhen England's first escalator opened at Harrods in November 1898, shoppers found the "moving staircase" so unnerving that staff waited at the top…
- When everyone zigs, zagChelsea announced Cole Palmer's new contract as a fake live stream. As a Chelsea fan I'm obviously buzzing, but the way they did it, as a marketer, I…
- In 1956 Chevrolet spent $3m on a musicalFor most of the last century, when a company had something to say, it hired composers, choreographers and actors. Then budgets got tight, video got…
- Distribution is the #1 skill you can learn right nowI think distribution is the #1 skill you can learn right now. And that isn't just paid media, that's just one touchpoint, it's the creative, it's the…
- A rectangle inside the rectangleSomeone put a 9:16 rectangle right in the centre of the new Harry Potter trailer and 95% of the info disappeared.
- Companies freeze the same way they growElon Musk sent every Tesla employee a memo that took authority away from their managers and handed it to them.
- If Claude makes the third paragraph clearer, whose work is it?Anthropic are now watermarking everything Claude writes. I personally don't hate it, but it does put a question underneath everything now.
- What if the best strategy isn’t more content, but less?Posted an episode on The Prompt & The Pitch this week where we showed how easy it's become to make highish quality of content.
- The Double Reckoning - Why advertising is the one industry facing two revolutions at once.Fifteen years ago, software started eating the world. Retail, banking, taxis, television, music, dating, logistics. Every industry Marc Andreessen…
- The Last Brief, Chapter 2: The Notebook.A month ago I published an essay called The Last Brief. It argued that the modern agency is a relay tower dressed up as a hierarchy. AI doesn't…
- The Last Brief: An Open Playbook for the Agency of the FutureI joined the advertising industry as an apprentice. No degree, no connections, just a curiosity about how advertising actually works and a…
57 LinkedIn posts from 2026
I spent three hours this weekend watching how the modern holding company was born.- A media agency must remember why it was formed.
This video took one prompt…- Not sure what's worse, the fact that McDonalds have removed the wrap of the day, or the…
Everyone's talking about how will AI effect work, but it feels like it hasn't really changed…
Within 12 months we'll be able to do an entire day's work without touching our computer other…- Really enjoyed our chat with Zaeem Bhanji - his spiciest take: media buying is becoming…
It's not every day I get moments where I'm mind blown by AI but over the weekends I did have…- Building's gotten so easy the product is rarely the bottleneck anymore.
- I joined this industry at 17 assuming the machine was sophisticated.
Winston Churchill used to lay 200 bricks per day to keep his mind busy when feeling down.- Enjoyed this one! If you could follow the Li page & give us a cheeky follow on Spotify, I'd be…
Part of me prefers the 1985 version of this square.
The fastest military plane ever built had no weapons and no armour, yet it was never shot down.- We made a podcast.
The world’s smallest ring next to Londons largest.
Show me an ad so good it didn't need a targeting strategy.
4 big updates for you today…
There are two kinds of company about to exist.
Got to be honest, sat on stage facing a room full of people and a London skyline was a little…
Very impressive OOH ads from OpenAI.
The best ad about ad tech this year was made by a company trying to kill it.
The Renaissance was a brief window when integrated thinking was structurally possible.
This feels like big news for UK publishers, and for a display market already fighting for its…- Excited to be attending and speaking at Programmatic Pioneers Summit over the next couple of…
AI isn't going to kill your product.- Publicis bought LiveRamp yesterday.
Meta just shipped MCP for their Ads platform.
Anthropic just ran a marketplace experiment where AI agents bought and sold from each other on…
The barrier to good design just collapsed.
The biggest TV channel in America isn't a TV channel.
In 370 BC, Socrates argued that writing would destroy human memory.
I walked through an old manor house last weekend.- I work at a media agency.
I've been quiet on here lately.- Holding companies are killing creative agencies to protect margins and calling it efficiency.
The Toy Story 5 trailer just dropped.- I asked an AI to book me a restaurant yesterday.
- Every impression has a value.
Half your body's in the oven, half in the freezer.
MrBeast ran a Super Bowl ad for Salesforce at the weekend.- We're hiring.
A few hundred years ago, most companies were workshops of a dozen people.
At this rate, someone is going to vibe code GTA 6 before Rockstar release it themselves.
Khaby Lame just got valued at $900 million.- A media agency must remember why it was formed.
When everyone does the same research, they get the same answers.
Netflix is dumbing down dialogue and they're probably right to.- In 2024, Sam Altman called ads in AI a dystopian idea.
OpenAI is running ads. Silicon Valley only knows one play.- Change is what attracts human attention.
The Red Flag Act of 1865 required a man to walk ahead of every vehicle waving a red flag.- Eric Lamptey played a huge role in shaping my early media career.
Consumer attention isn't one thing.- All the plays work. It's the playbooks that are broken.
- 2025 will be remembered as the year everything accelerated — and not all of it for the better.
Your most valuable asset isn't money.
2025
66 LinkedIn posts from 2025
- The internet we knew is gone.
- 4 months ago I called it.
- Loved chatting with Sean Halpin about my journey into media, the work we're doing at VCCP…
Bee Movie may have taught us more about the future of work than any McKinsey report ever could.- On a personal note, slightly surreal seeing myself quoted in The Drum - they've somehow made…
You order a pizza and only 44% arrives.
We're witnessing the largest creativity crisis in human history and most people don't even…
Looking forward to joining the second iteration of Advertising: Who Cares?
In 1720s London, gin was cheaper than bread.
To come up with great display advertising, you first just need to come up with great…
OpenAI looks to be on the verge of launching ads.
Loved chatting with John Still about why digital advertising’s value exchange is broken and…- I found a 26-year-old quote about marketing that could have been written yesterday.
The gap between imagination and reality just collapsed & I don’t know why more people aren’t…
5 billion people worldwide share the same psychological addiction.
Reminder: ID-based targeting on iOS is dead.
Victoria Beckham wanted to be more famous than Persil.
Is AI better?
In 1740, a merchant ship vanished rounding Cape Horn.
What does happiness mean to you?
I think this Adobe ad where a marketer goes insane chasing metrics, is still the most accurate…- Wake up and immediately look at small screen before clocking 8 hours behind medium screen.
The Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona, the world's oldest library still in existence, makes you…
The ANA's 2025 Programmatic Transparency Report just landed.
I went camping in Wales this weekend & captured this shot on my iPhone of the stars I was…
700,000 followers in 40 days.- We've become so obsessed with audience segments that we've forgotten the basics.
Mind blown, again…
This screenshot perfectly captures everything wrong with digital advertising.
Pixar's latest film just became their lowest-opening movie ever.
We Track Everything, Except What Actually Works…
Time matters because it’s all we have in life.
What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?- For the first time in Wimbledon’s 148-year history, the line judges at the back of the courts…
The open web is humanity’s biggest public library, and ads keep the lights on.
AI beat humans at chess a long time ago.
When giants fight each other, it usually means they’ve stopped paying attention to the ground…
In 1966, school children imagined life in the year 2000.
1.5 seconds. That’s all it takes to drive impact if media and creative work together.- Excited to have joined VCCP Media as Addressable Director, helping to shape our programmatic…
Today marks the end of an incredible 3 year chapter at IPG and what a time it’s been.
Admittedly I found myself eating a tuna melt on a train home…
Throughout history, our relationship with work and free time has evolved dramatically.
After months of testing, iterating, brutal rejections, and navigating Apple’s T&Cs…
The one thing nobody dares to do in London?
The iPhone caused chewing gum sales to plummet.
For 200 years, we believed the answer to every problem was more.- Loved chatting with Matt Bennathan & Cadi Jones on the AdTech Connect podcast, grateful for…
We built digital advertising on the wrong metrics.
Mind. Blown.
Flowers aren’t efficient.
We obsess over omnichannel, but what if we’ve been thinking about it all wrong?
Walking through the old town of Marrakech is an experience like no other.
Advertising is like exercise.
The difference between good and great media planning?
Derren Brown once conducted an experiment so unbelievable that it left two top advertising…
I filmed this video just three weeks ago, and it already feels outdated.- The education system teaches you that there’s only one path to success.
- This really shocked me.
- In 10 years, there’s no chance that we'll still be hunched over a small rectangle of black…
The last couple of days are a reminder that change doesn't ask for permission.
Picture this: every time you order a takeaway pizza, it arrives, but you’re left with just 44%…
I went viral for all the wrong reasons...
When you zoom out, most human innovation has happened very, very recently.
We’re standing at a crossroads where technology and humanity collide, forcing us to decide…
The difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?
2024
- Laughing Less, Worrying More: The Mental Health Challenge in the Digital Age and the Advertising Industry's RoleIs humour disappearing? In the last 20 years, our society has evolved to a point where anxiety is more prominent than humour.
- A year of change within advertising.There are three key areas where I see change taking place this year, some are inevitable, and some of these our industry is in desperate need of.
52 LinkedIn posts from 2024
As we’re on the verge of the new year, it’s a good time to ask yourself a question.
Studies are uncovering a painful truth: loneliness is not just an uncomfortable feeling, it’s…
Spotify Wrapped has sparked mixed reactions this year.
Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better.
It's genuinely been fascinating researching human connection over the last few months.
For the last few months, Zidan Hussain and I have been working on an app based on one core…
If you get halfway through this video you may think I’m a little strange for using AI as much…
In the last few weeks, I’ve reminded myself of my love for video creation.
Another different style of post from me today.
I thought I'd try something different for this post, so you don't have to read another of my…
5 years ago, I joined the media industry as an apprentice.
Advertising needs to stop interrupting what people are interested in and instead, create what…
It’s no secret that Nike has had a rough patch lately.
Social feeds have gone from the content of friends to that of creators, in the future, the…
Threads is quietly becoming Meta’s secret weapon.
I’m starting to see an emerging trend of curation being called a buzzword.
What would you put on a billboard as your message to the world?
For the past 20 years, the internet as we know it has been almost entirely defined and…
Many businesses make this mistake:- "There are two kinds of online advertising.
One media channel is on track to grow 80% faster in spend during 2024.
It's official: talking about the weather is the national pastime in Britain.
Perfect attribution is a myth.
It's no secret that consumers are drowning in ads.
Digital advertising's biggest problem may be the fact that there is no social proof.
You don't need a big budget to make people feel something.
90% of you won't get past the first three lines of this post.- A question I'd love to hear your thoughts on...
You don't need real data to have real ideas.
Digital advertising gets a bad rep and seeing sites like these, it’s not hard to wonder why.- Few people could command Steve Jobs' attention, but Lee Clow was one of them.
The "third place" was where real connection happened.
Nobody reads advertising.- “More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.”
The clock is ticking for agencies.
“I kind of hate ads.”
Really excited to be starting my next chapter in IPG, working within KINESSO as a Product &…
Amazon Prime Video & Mr Beast have just announced what is set to be the biggest game show of…
“Nobody gets fired for buying IBM”.
In an increasingly digital world, a physical presence stands out more than ever.
I can't be the only one who finds myself in disbelief when watching BBC's The Apprentice and…- Will Any Agency Hire This Man?
The reality is the principles of advertising are the same today as they were 100 years ago, a…
A camera and AI-generated video have a lot more in common than you may initially think...
Leonardo Da Vinci had everything it took to be the world's greatest marketer.
A great example of a killer app for Apple's Vision Pro Max, for F1 fans with a spare $3500 I…
We’re at a unique moment in time—the onset of a new era in technology and AI won’t be the only…
January looks to be a roaring success for linear TV.- The demise of the cookie does not necessarily mean we need to find more advanced ways of…
- As a society, we’re laughing less and worrying more than ever before.
- Advertising and media are standing at a crossroads, faced with the need for transformation.
The difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?
2023
32 LinkedIn posts from 2023
With the countdown to Christmas officially on, this time last year 43% of Brits had still not…
As we approach the end of another year, every company is starting to release their 2024…
$22 billion in wasted advertising.
Sometimes the most distinctive brand assets aren't planned.- As someone who voices a point of view when it comes to marketing and technology, I think it's…
On Friday night, we saw a board coup which may lead to the largest destruction of value since…
Really enjoyed sitting on my first panel yesterday talking all things CTV and streaming at…
As the festive ad season rolls around for another year and brands try to pull at our…
In the early 2000s, there was one company that was selling half the smartphones on the planet…
Media agency models are stuck in the past.
X (formerly Twitter), has partnered with Google to sell their inventory across the Google…
In case you missed it over the weekend, the next generation of live entertainment has been…
There was a time, in another century, when people used to click on banner ads.
"Advertising isn't science, or art.
We are beginning to see a new form of art.
Looking forward to judging at the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK Awards.
59.4 Million Views in 24 hours.
Everyone in the industry is talking about attention.
In the past, a million followers meant instant internet fame.
Meta’s launch of Threads is another reminder of everything wrong with social media.
I’ve been in Thailand for the last 2 and a half weeks, and what a time it was.
Steve Jobs's vision for the future was unmatched.
What if I told you there’s a form of advertising where we no longer need to interrupt…
AI isn't the future. It's the present.- Social media is becoming a pay-to-play game.
- The Debate Over TikTok.
From one restaurant to 40,000, the McDonald's story is one of the most memorable success…
Was great to attend YouTube insiders for Agencies in Dublin last week.
Everyone’s talking about AI and how it will change the world.
Community is the new currency.- Search is entering a new era.
- It’s been a year now since I made the move to Initiative, I felt ready for a new challenge and…
2022
2020
- When times are good you should advertise, when times are bad you MUST advertise.It's a quote right now, which is more significant than ever. Right now we are facing huge uncertainty in many area's of life, everywhere you look…
- About me, the first version of this siteAbout ten years ago, I uploaded my first video to YouTube, and this little hobby grew into my obsession with marketing.
5 LinkedIn posts from 2020
- Wuhan residents are being paid to go out and spend...
The coronavirus outbreak is causing one of the most significant widespread behaviour shifts in…
Right now, we are well and truly living in unprecedented times, with almost everyone being…- When times are good you should advertise, when times are bad you MUST advertise.
With all sport cancelled, for the foreseeable future - many sports fans are a little bit lost…
2019 to 2020
- Automating the digital action process Video on YouTube
- Marketing through COVID-19 Deck on Google Drive
- Behind the music: Apple pitch Deck on Google Drive
- Diversity within marketing Deck on Google Drive
- Designing the perfect PowerPoint Deck on Google Drive
- Nothing: the future of consumer tech Deck on Google Drive
- Craving for a saving: McCafé creatives Deck on Google Drive
2019
- The disconnect between media & creativeWhen I first joined the industry as an apprentice, I thought I was joining a marketing agency, somewhere where ads were bought and a place where…
- The need for social purposeThere’s starting to be a lot of controversy around ‘woke’ companies pushing an agenda. While this may be a valid opinion, it’s a simple one.
- Community is keyIn 1994, the world went online. But many publishers are still facing the same struggles today. There’s a fascinating extract from Walter Isaacson in…
2018
11 LinkedIn posts from 2018
Happy New Year everybody, I hope 2019 is your year!
Content is key.
You've heard it before and you'll carry on hearing it...
Remember the days when your email open rate was over 80% and email marketing worked?
The power of video...
You are leaving money on the table...
In today’s world, almost every business has potential customers viewing them online.
In the fitness industry, now more then ever competition is high and the trend is still…
Right now there is an opportunity like no other to grow your business.
I've been working on IMPEDIA for the past few months now.
Some tough questions for Mark Zuckerberg...
