Marketing

A Brooklyn developer just leased 25% faster than 7 competing projects in a 3-block radius. Rents 10-20% above market. With 18 more lease-ups in the pipeline, many backed by institutional developers with bigger budgets and stronger brands. The edge wasn't location or capital, but a design-oriented focus on the drivers of real rent premiums. Fve lessons from Charney Companies' development at Union Channel in Brooklyn, New York: 1/ Unit mix. Pulled architectural plans for every competing project in the market. 3-bedrooms were 3% of supply but demand pointed to 14%. Union Channel tripled the market average. They were the first unit type to fully lease. 2/ Studios. Market average was 500 sqft at $3,500/month. Too much space, too much rent. Union Channel built 400 sqft studios — 20% smaller, 10% cheaper. Leased 50% faster than the rest of the building. 3/ Living rooms. Of every layout variable tested across hundreds of units, living room width was the single strongest predictor of rent per sqft. Every other layout decision was calibrated to protect it. 4/ Amenities. Conventional wisdom says more amenities = more value. The data says the opposite. Quality of select amenities beats breadth. Fitness center quality had the strongest correlation with rent per sqft. They hired a gym consultant instead of designing in-house. 5/ Marketing. 20% of leases came directly from social media — 4x the rate on prior projects. Strategy built around the neighborhood, not the building. Murals on construction fencing. 3,000 organic Instagram followers before opening. These five decisions account for 73% of the value created at Union Channel. All made before the building opened. The data exists in every market. Most developers just aren't looking. Full case study from Andrew Steiker-Epstein in this week's Thesis Driven newsletter. Link in comments.

Markiplier just broke Hollywood's playbook, and most studios still don't understand what happened. His horror film Iron Lung opened this weekend to $21M worldwide. On a $3M budget. Self-financed. Self-distributed. Virtually zero marketing spend. Let that sink in for a second. No studio backing. No bank financing. No distribution deal. He wrote it, directed it, starred in it, and released it under his own Markiplier Studios. When it came time for theatrical distribution, he didn't go hat-in-hand to distributors. His fans called theaters directly and demanded they screen it. The result? All three major US theater chains. 3,000+ venues in the US and Canada. 1,200+ screens internationally. Opening weekend? He rivaled Disney's Send Help for first place, a film with a $40M budget. He beat Melania's theatrical release as well. 7x return on budget in three days. Here's what the entertainment industry needs to reckon with: The traditional model assumes you need studios for financing, agencies for packaging, distributors for access, and massive marketing budgets for awareness. Markiplier needed none of it. He had something more valuable, a direct, loyal audience built over a decade on YouTube. This isn't a one-off anomaly. It's a preview of where entertainment is heading. MrBeast is building a content empire. Ryan Trahan just launched a feature. KSI, Logan Paul, and others are expanding into media businesses. The creator-to-studio pipeline is real, and it's accelerating. The question for traditional entertainment companies isn't whether creators can compete at the box office. Markiplier just answered that. The question is: what's your strategy when the talent doesn't need you anymore?

Cleartrip won Contextual Marketing game! Other brands fighting for "End of Year" sales. #Cleartrip is selling us 2026. I saw this ad in The Economic Times today, It’s a masterclass in understanding customer psychology, at least how I see it. Here's why: - The Simplicity: Stripped away 320+ days of the year. By showing only the days that matter - the long weekends, they’ve reduced the cognitive load for a busy professional. - The Anticipation: Marketing isn’t always about immediate conversion. By helping people visualize their 2026, Cleartrip occupies mental real estate before the holiday planning even begins. - The Utility: Instead of a generic Book Now CTA, they provide a QR code to sync a Long Weekend Tracker on their calendars. It moves from being an "ad" to being a "tool" - The Timing: Published on a Saturday morning. This is exactly when their target audience is sipping coffee and dreaming of their next getaway. Cleartrip isn't selling tickets here; they’re selling ideas to take a break Don't just sell a product. Sell the solution to a problem your customer hasn't even started stressing about yet. What do you think? Does it attract you and make you think? #Marketing #Advertising #2026

TSMC posted a $440 million loss at its Arizona factory. American engineers called it "rigid, brutal, prison-like." Taiwanese managers complained about "lack of dedication and obedience." TSMC’s CEO Morris Chang saw this coming. "A very expensive exercise in futility," he called America's chip push. Taiwan doesn't just make chips. It breathes them. Three decades of alignment created something money can't buy. In Arizona, Americans clock out after shifts. In Taiwan, engineers sleep in the fab. In Arizona, decisions need consensus. In Taiwan, orders flow down. In Arizona, it's a job. In Taiwan, it's national service. Chang knew this at 55 when he started TSMC. The playbook worked because a nation aligned behind it: 1. Bet everything on survival Apple wanted impossible chips. Chang bet $9 billion in 2010 - half TSMC's cash. 6,000 people. 11 months. Round the clock. Because missing Apple meant Taiwan missing its future. 2. Never compete with customers Intel Corporation controlled everything. TSMC said: "We will never compete with our customers." When Nvidia shares five-year roadmaps, thousands protect them like state secrets. 3. Make enemies share factories Nvidia and AMD share production lines at TSMC. Works only when factory workers see both companies' success as Taiwan's success. 4. Turn precision into DNA TSMC's latest machines hit tin droplets 50,000 times per second. In Taiwan, this precision extends everywhere - emails, meetings, weekends. Not policy. Culture. 5. Compound for decades Every supplier grew with TSMC. Every university shaped curricula around them. Chang: "You cannot replicate this with subsidies. You cannot legislate dedication." 6. See the future through customers When Qualcomm fled IBM for TSMC in the late '90s, Chang knew IBM was doomed. Intel built walls. TSMC built bridges. TAKEAWAY: 2007: Intel rejected iPhone chip. Too low margin. Cost them mobile. Then AI. Then everything. Intel's real problem wasn't saying no to Apple. It was believing one company could do it all. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old built something stronger: a nation aligned around making everyone else successful. Today: Every ChatGPT query. Every iPhone. Every Nvidia chip. All TSMC. Not because Taiwan has the best engineers. Because Taiwan made engineering excellence a cultural value. And culture, unlike factories, can't be copy-pasted. — Want the full story of how TSMC became Nvidia's $1 trillion secret weapon? I went deep on the untold details: https://lnkd.in/epuWHu8B P.S. All research links, the audio clip, and the full archive are in the first comment below 👇

We analyzed 4 million recruiting emails sent through Gem. Most get opened. But only 22.6% get replies. Half those replies are "thanks, but no thanks." We dug into what actually works. Here are 8 factors that drive REAL responses: 1. Strategic timing beats everything else - 8am gets 68% open rates. 4pm hits 67.3%. 10am lands at 67% - Most recruiters blast at 9am when inboxes are flooded - Avoiding peak times alone can boost your opens by 7-10% 2. Weekend outreach is criminally underused - Saturday/Sunday emails get ≥66% open rates consistently - Why? Empty inboxes. Zero competition. Candidates actually have time - Yet few recruiters send on weekends. Their loss is your gain 3. Keep messages between 101-150 words - Shorter feels spammy. Longer gets skimmed - You need exactly 10 sentences to nail the essentials - Every word beyond 150 drops performance 4. Generic templates kill response rates - Generic templates: 22% reply rate - Personalized outreach: 47% increased response rate - Even adding name + company to subject lines boosts opens by 5% 5. Subject lines need 3-9 words - Include company name + job title for highest opens - "Senior Engineer Role at [Company]" beats clever wordplay - 11+ words can work if genuinely intriguing, but why risk it? 6. The 4-stage sequence is optimal - One-off emails are dead. Send exactly 4 follow-up messages - You'll see 68% higher "interested" rates with proper sequencing - After stage 4, engagement completely flatlines. Stop there 7. Get the hiring manager involved - Having the hiring manager send ONE follow-up boosts reply rates by 50%+ - Yet most recruiters don't use this tactic - Weekend advantage: Minimal competition for attention 8. Leadership involvement is a cheat code - Role-specific timing (tech vs non-tech) matters - Technical roles: 3 of 4 best send times are weekends - Engineers check email differently than salespeople. Adjust accordingly TAKEAWAY: These aren't opinions. This is what 4 million emails tell us. Most recruiting teams are stuck in 2019 playbooks wondering why their reply rates won't budge. Meanwhile, recruiters who implement these 8 factors see dramatically better results. The data is right there. The patterns are clear. The only question is: will you actually change how you operate? Or will you keep sending the same tired emails at 9am on Tuesday? Your call.

A very easy way to improve your Amazon ads efficiency by at least 10% Let’s say you’re spending ₹4–5 lakhs/month on Amazon ads. Your ACoS looks okay. Conversion rate seems fine. But your gut tells you—you’re still wasting some money on irrelevant traffic You’re not wrong At Atomberg, we had found that some of our Amazon spend was going toward search terms that had no business seeing our ads: - “cheap fan” -“rechargeable fan” - “usb fan under 1000” None of these users were in-market for a ₹3,000+ BLDC ceiling fan. But we were still showing up. And paying for those clicks. And it’s not just us. I’ve seen 6–7 brands' Amazon ad accounts across categories over the last few years—same problem, every single time The fix? N-gram analysis Takes less than an hour. You don’t need to be a performance marketing expert. But the results compound What’s N-gram analysis? It’s breaking down every search term into its word components—1-grams, 2-grams, 3-grams—and then identifying patterns that consistently drive waste… or conversion. Example: “cheap rechargeable fan for hostel room” turns into: 1-grams: cheap, rechargeable, fan, hostel, room 2-grams: rechargeable fan, hostel room 3-grams: fan for hostel, etc. When you do this across all your search terms, you start seeing the real picture. Why this matters more than just checking your search term report: Search terms ≠ keywords a) One keyword can trigger 100s of different queries. Some convert. Most don’t. You need to find the patterns. b) Waste is diluted across low-volume terms. Maybe “rechargeable fan for hostel” spent ₹300. You ignore it. But what if 12 other queries with “rechargeable” spent ₹6,000 in total with zero conversions? c) Long-tail is infinite. N-grams are finite. You can’t negate every bad search. But you can block the core terms—“cheap”, “usb”, “mini”—once and be done with it. d) It helps you scale campaigns too. You can find goldmine phrases like “white ceiling fan”, “silent BLDC fan”, “fan for living room”—with 5x+ ROAS. Those became exact match campaigns What you should do: a) Pull last 3 months of search term data b) Break them into unigrams, bigrams, trigrams c) Create a pivot with spend, orders, ROAS by N-gram d) Negate high-spend, low-conversion N-grams (e.g., “cheap”, “rechargeable”) e) Boost high-ROAS ones (e.g., “bldc”, “ceiling fan white”) f) Add exact match campaigns g) Rinse and repeat monthly Try it. Guaranteed to improve efficiency at whatever scale you are operating If you want to read an expanded version of the post, link is in the first comment

The financial case for brand strategy: Why CFOs should care. Branding isn’t just about looking good.* It drives real financial impact (* if done strategically) Yet, many companies still see it as a cost rather than an asset that increases enterprise value, reduces waste, and boosts profitability. Here’s what most businesses get wrong: - They see branding as expense, not an investment. - They focus on short-term lead generation over long-term equity. - They underestimate how much a strong brand lowers acquisition costs, improves pricing, reduces churn and attracts talent. Here’s how: 01 - Brand Strategy Increases Market Value: Brands are intangible, but they drive real financial value. Today, 80–85% of the S&P 500’s market value comes from intangibles like brand equity. Corporate reputation alone is worth $16 trillion globally. Companies with strong brands deliver 2× higher shareholder returns over 20 years than the MSCI World Index. Why? A strong brand builds trust, reduces risk, and increases pricing, partnerships, and M&A leverage. 02 - A Strong Brand Lowers Marketing Costs: Weak brands must pay to be noticed, they have to keep buying attention…spending millions on ads and lead gen. Strong brands generate attention. Tesla, for example, spends $0 on traditional ads, while competitors spend $495 per vehicle sold. Tesla’s brand, combined with a touch of Elon, drives WOM, earned media, and loyalty...saving hundreds of millions in marketing costs. (And yes, I know it works both ways, for better or worse) 03 - Branding Improves Profit Margins & Pricing Power: A strong brand lets you charge premium prices and avoid price wars. Apple sells iPhones at 40%+ gross margins, while competitors struggle, even with similar hardware. Why? Customers aren’t just buying a product, they’re buying into a brand. Data shows: - Consumers pay 11% more for trusted brands. - Brand-loyal customers pay 38% more, even price-sensitive ones pay 14% more. - Without strong branding, companies must compete on price alone. 04 - Strong Brands Retain Customers Longer: Retention is one of the biggest profitability drivers. It costs 5× more to acquire a new customer than to retain one. A 5% increase in retention boosts profits by 25–95%. Brand loyalty reduces churn, increases lifetime value, and creates repeat buyers without ads spend. 05 - Resilient Brands Outperform in Crises: In downturns, weak brands suffer revenue losses and resort to discounting. Strong brands hold their value & recover faster. During 2020, while most businesses struggled, the top 100 most valuable brands grew by +5.9%. A well-built brand acts as financial insulation, stabilising revenue. The Hard Truth: A strong brand isn’t a luxury, it’s a financial strategy. If your CFO still sees branding as a cost center, send them this. Sources: McKinsey, Interbrand, BrandZ, Bain & Company, Nielsen, Kantar, Invesp, Unilever, Tesla, industry reports on brand valuation, CAC, and shareholder returns.

10 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Improve Your Copy: (With Simple Copy-and-Paste Examples) 1) Trimming Down Goal: Condense your copy for clarity and impact. Focus on: Complex sentences Redundant phrases Long paragraphs Example prompt: "Trim down this [phrase/sentence/paragraph] of my copy." 2) Finding Word Alternatives Goal: Find better synonyms for certain words to enhance readability and engagement. Look to replace: Fillers Jargon Clichés Adverbs Buzzwords Example prompt: "Provide [adjective] alternatives for the word [word] in this copy." 3) Doing Research Goal: Gather detailed information about your target audience to tailor your copy. Consider: Likes Habits Values Dislikes Interests Behaviors Challenges Pain points Aspirations Demographics Example prompt: "Create an ideal customer profile for [target audience]." 4) Generating Ideas Goal: Brainstorm multiple copy elements to keep your content fresh and engaging. Do this for: CTAs Stories Leads Angles Headlines Example prompt: "Generate multiple [element] ideas for this copy." 5) Fixing Errors Goal: Identify and correct any errors in your copy to maintain professionalism. Check for: Spelling mistakes Grammatical errors Punctuation issues Example prompt: "Check this copy for any [type] errors and suggest corrections." 6) Improving CTAs Goal: Make your call-to-actions more compelling and click-worthy. Play around with: Benefits Urgency Scarcity Objections Power words Example prompt: "Give me [number] variations for this CTA: [original CTA]." 7) Studying Competitors Goal: Gain insights from your competitors' copy to improve your own. Analyze their: CTAs USPs Offers Leads Hooks Headlines Example prompt: "Provide a breakdown of [competitor]'s latest [ad/email/sales page]." 8) Nailing the Voice Goal: Refine the tone and voice of your copy to align with your brand and audience. Consider: Target audience Brand guidelines Advertising channel Example prompt: "Make this copy [adjectives] to suit [target audience]." 9) Addressing Objections Goal: Anticipate and address potential customer objections to increase conversion rates. These could be about: Price Quality Usability Durability Compatibility Example prompt: "Analyze this copy to find and address potential objections." 10) A/B Testing Goal: Create variations of your copy's elements to determine what works best. Try different: CTAs Hooks Angles Closings Headlines Headings Frameworks Example prompt: "Generate variations of this [element] for A/B testing: [original element]."

If you ever visit Bali, you'll notice a flood of Polo Ralph Lauren stores... All selling Polo apparel at almost 60% off the retail price... And despite the on point branding of the stores, they're all fake - not the original Polo Ralph Lauren... And this is because in the late 1970s, an Indonesian man trademarked the brand name, colours and logo in Indonesia, much before the American company decided to enter into that market. So all the stores can legally operate under the Ralph Lauren name and with the logo, but are not owned by the original American company we know of. Plus, the original brand cannot sell its products in Indonesia. And so that the same thing doesn't happen with your brand anywhere around the world... you must take these steps while registering your trademark... 1/ After registration of your trademark at the Indian Trademark Office (ITO), within six months file for a global trademark that is valid in 130 countries through a WIPO application which happens from the ITO itself In certain countries like China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Japan - also make a separate filing independent of the WIPO application - as these countries have a first-to-file method, which means if someone else files before you, they get the right even if you have been using the brand for longer 2/ To increase defensibility, also register variations of your trademark in other languages such as Chinese, Arabic - as well as trademark common misspellings of your name 3/ Consider getting a trademark not just in the same category in which you currently operate, but allied categories where you may operate in the future as well - for example, an apparel brand may want to enter bags, shoes, or even cosmetics, watches and sunglasses later. These days, even as small D2C brands begin to sell online and start getting orders from NRIs outside of India - it becomes important to protect your brand not just in your country of origin, but even elsewhere. #casarthakahuja

Asking a customer about affordability can undermine the value of your product and lead to detrimental negotiations. When you invite a customer to share their budget, you risk positioning your offering as merely a commodity, rather than a valuable solution tailored to their needs. Customers often default to the lowest number possible, reflecting their desire to maximize savings rather than recognizing the full worth of what you’re providing. Instead of focusing on what the customer can afford, emphasize the unique benefits and results of your product. By sticking to your price, you reinforce the quality and value of your offering, fostering a perception of exclusivity and confidence.