HubSpot - The dad shoe is on fire 🔥

If there's one through line in Goncalves' work, it's the nostalgia factor. 

"Everyone resonates with a nostalgic moment," he says. "Like, you know when an old song plays and it takes you back to your prom night? Those things can connect people, so we always look for ways to use nostalgia in our campaigns." 

Consider this summer's "Gelato" campaign, which drags you down memory lane with an old-school ice cream truck (serving gelato, in this case), pastel-colored sneaks, and outdoor lawn games. It's the campaign Goncalves is most proud of.

Of course, reminiscing doesn’t make sense for every brand — if yours leans into futuristic, modern elements, you might want to stay clear. 

But, as Goncalves says, "We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. Nostalgia always comes back."

A HELPFUL RESOURCE

How to harness the strength of creators

To signal boost your business, work with social media influencers — because the way they connect with the masses is actually unmatched. (And an industry average of 20x ROI is borderline ridiculous.)  

Resources for reaching more people: 

• Our top insights on working with creators
• Four Google Sheets for organizing/analyzing campaigns
• Eight email templates for reaching out respectfully
• 10 ways to save time in ChatGPT

Some comprehensive shit right here.

OPEN TABS

• AI vs. Van Gogh: Ted Chiang argues that AI will never make art — because art comes down to choices, and AI, well, can't make that many. 
• Productivity-bliss: Learn how to cut down on your team’s endless bouncing between G-docs, Slack, emails, and Zoom calls, straight from Asana’s head of corporate marketing.
• A polarizing AI bill: Meta, Google, and OpenAI oppose an AI-safety bill introduced in California which would require companies to take safety precautions — tech leaders are concerned it will stifle innovation and "drive the AI business out of California".

LINGERING QUESTIONS

Last week, HubSpot's Dréa Hudson asked, What have you learned from the biggest failure in your career so far, and how do you plan to leverage that in the future?

Goncalves: My biggest failure taught me the critical importance of communication within a team. I realized that unclear information and assumptions can lead to misunderstandings and project delays. 

In the future, I plan to focus on transparency and sending regular updates to make sure everyone is aligned and can contribute effectively to our goals. As marketers, we often speak in ideas but not always in actionable terms, so I will also work on translating our creative concepts into clear, actionable steps that everyone can understand and execute.

And Goncalves' question for our next master in marketing: 

If you could have any superpower to help you in your career, what would it be and why?

This week's email was brought to you by Caroline Forsey. Editing by Curtis del Principe and Laura M. Browning.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.