Welcome back to Funnel Vision, the weekly newsletter that puts performance creative & growth marketing in focus. Brought to you by the crew at Ready Set.

For a masterclass in product positioning, look no further than Sidney Frank, the creator of Grey Goose vodka. By making his vodka in France, a country with a reputation for luxury and quality, he charged double what other vodkas cost. Frank sold the brand seven years after starting it for $2 billion.

Here’s what’s inside today’s edition:

• Five marketing trends with staying power

• Why they’re worth paying attention to

• Lessons from a hit ad that packs a powerful hook

Reading time: 4 minutes

AD INDUSTRY TRENDS

5 Marketing Trends We’re Tracking (And You Should Too)

Marketing moves fast. Metaverse one day, AI everything the next, then back to "authentic" content. With trends cycling faster than platform updates, it's hard to know which shifts have staying power and which are just noise.

To help us sift the wheat from the chaff, we turned to Susan Kirksey, Ready Set’s SVP of Operations. As one of the key strategic drivers for our agency, she’s got a finger firmly on the pulse of trends that matter.

These shifts are the five that she feels are worth paying attention to.

1. Craft as Strategy

In luxury sectors and beyond, more brands are elevating artisanship and heritage by spotlighting makers, materials, and process. This isn't nostalgia marketing. It's authentic, differentiated storytelling that builds genuine trust and cultural capital.

Take Bottega Veneta's "Craft is Our Language" campaign. It highlights skilled artisans, like design director Edward Buchanan, showcasing the individuals behind each piece. 

Why it works: Consumers value transparency. They value process and craft as part of both the product and larger brand story. This spotlight on the humans behind the product doesn’t just apply to luxury or handmade goods—it’s a sentiment all marketers can inject into their campaigns.

2. Undervalued Demographics: Women 50+

Here’s a stat that’ll make you sit up and pay attention: 

• Women over 50 control 27% of U.S. consumer spending, roughly $15 trillion in purchasing power. Yet they appear in less than 5% of marketing campaigns. (Source)

If marketers are ignoring them (hint: we are) then why? Middle-aged women, like most of our aging society, are staying healthier for longer, plus they make up a huge portion of consumers and hold considerable discretionary power.

As fifty-plus years of life provides ample time to fine tune one’s BS detector, it goes without saying to steer clear of patronizing stereotypes and instead lead with aspirational, relevant, and respectful messaging. 

Need some inspiration? Dove has always chosen inclusivity over perfection and has built massive brand loyalty as a result, as evidenced by their "Beauty Never Gets Old" campaign. 

3. The Fractured Trendscape

Culture has splintered from a universal phenomenon into thousands of fragmented tribes, each with their own language, references, and trends—many of which never cross over into the mainstream.

Everyone used to watch the same three TV networks. Now audiences are scattered across hundreds of platforms with different algorithms. A trend that's massive on TikTok might be invisible on Facebook. What's huge with Gen Z could be unknown to Millennials.

Algorithm personalization reinforces this fragmentation, where different groups see entirely different versions of what's "trending." 

Why it matters: You can't rely on universal references anymore. Brands need to identify which specific cultural fragments their audience lives in and speak that language.

Tootsie Roll’s "How Many Licks" campaign manages to do this because it triggers a specific nostalgic memory that lights up those who remember the original, while still being a fun nod to the past for everyone else.

Niche-First Strategy

Perhaps as a response to the fractured trendscape detailed above, big brands are increasingly leaning into micro-community marketing.

By targeting niche online tribes (with shared lore, humor, or interests), they're driving deeper engagement, more memorable relevance, and stronger word-of-mouth dynamics than broad, generic messaging ever could.

Check out this Heinz x Absolut Vodka collaboration. They made a limited edition tomato vodka pasta sauce inspired by a viral TikTok recipe from Gigi Hadid. If that’s not niche, then I don’t know what is.

AI-Powered Hyper-Personalization

Ready for some more numbers?

• 76% of consumers prefer personalized brands.

• 82% are willing to share data for a more customized experience.

• 71% of shoppers are frustrated with impersonal interactions.

Translation: People want tailored shopping experiences, are willing to fork over their data to get them, and get miffed when brands don’t deliver.

Hyper-personalization on a massive scale is one of the capabilities of AI on which we’re most bullish. As this tech improves, it unlocks marketers’ ability to provide the personalized experiences that consumers want.

Take Revieve's AI Beauty Advisors. These virtual skincare and makeup advisors analyze users to offer personalized routines and product suggestions, recreating the dynamic 1:1 in-person experience online.

Most brands are stuck at “Hi [name] 👋” email personalization, and they’re leaving massive gains on the table because of it.

FROM OUR SPONSOR

AD OF THE WEEK ✨ 

This week we're shining the spotlight on a hit ad we made for Atticus, a law firm specializing in disability benefits and worker's compensation. By packing a powerfully relevant hook upfront, it instantly grabs the attention of the target audience while dismantling a key barrier to conversion.

Brand: Atticus
Platform: Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
Length: 23s

WHY IT WORKS 🧠

🎯 The ad opens by stating the exact concern prospects have, then immediately positions Atticus as the myth-buster with the real answers.

💰 The "you only pay if you win" message eliminates the primary barrier while flipping the script to make not hiring a lawyer feel like the risky choice.

📊 We shot multiple versions testing different controversial hooks in a single shoot, then let data decide which pain points resonate most with the target audience.

This Atticus ad wins because it eliminates psychological and financial barriers by directly addressing the biggest objection upfront.

Thanks for reading!

That’s all for this week. Seeya next time 🫶 

Psst... wanna earn $1k?

Know someone looking for efficiency, flexibility, and scale with performance creative and media buying? Refer brands in your network and earn $1,000.

Check out the Ready Set referral program here.