How Healthy Is Your Brand?

Too many messages, poor AI experiences, and a changing content media landscape is making 2026 out to be a challenging year full of opportunities.

Over-Sending is Impacting Brand Messaging

In their 2026 State of the Customer Experience report, CSG reports that 41% of consumers agree that AI chatbots or agents are better at resolving issues than human agents. that means that 59% don’t agree and think humans are better. Now of course, things are always improving, but it is a data point on how to ensure marketers are creating the best experience possible. The report also said that 7 in 10 consumers say brands send so many messages they’re tuning them out.

» CSG: 2026 State of the Customer Experience Report

The Yellow-Brick Road AI Journey

Is Oz the land where AI works and adds value and not just perceived value? OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, recently reported that custom GPT usage was up 19% in 2025. We have moved from experimenting and playing to reality. We need to show value. We need to show an improvement in human capacity to focus on strategy. Ultimately, we need to show this isn’t just another “lipstick on a pig” moment in technology. (Just Google Facebook’s Metaverse and you’ll know what I’m talking about.)

» OpenAI: The state of enterprise AI

Content Strategies Must Adjust

We recently dedicated an entire post about the changing nature of content marketing and what consumers are looking for and this past week, Public.com put out a piece about the evolving world of podcasts which is super insightful. There continues to be competition from YouTube, Apple, and now, Netflix, that is causing brands to re-think their podcast strategies. In the end, it all comes down to meeting a need your audience has where they spend their time.

» The Rundown: Is Spotify in Trouble? New CEOs Face Double Threat from YouTube and Netflix