Einstein’s Marketing Advice
Change or Stay Stuck
Einstein famously said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet here we are in 2026, and countless companies are still running the same tired marketing playbook they've used for years.
The result? The same mediocre outcomes they've always gotten.
The Comfort Zone Trap
Most businesses fall into a dangerous pattern. They find a marketing approach that worked reasonably well five years ago, and they stick with it. Quarter after quarter, they pour budget into the same channels, craft the same messages, and wonder why their growth has plateaued.
The uncomfortable truth: What got you here won't get you there.
Why 2026 Demands Something Different
The marketing landscape has fundamentally shifted:
Consumer attention is fragmented across more platforms than ever before
AI has democratized content creation, flooding every channel with more noise
Traditional advertising fatigue has reached an all-time high
Privacy changes have made old targeting methods obsolete
Economic uncertainty means buyers are more selective and research-driven
If your marketing strategy looks the same as it did in 2023, you're already behind.
The Lacklustre Results You're Accepting
Let's be honest about what "staying the course" actually means:
Click-through rates that keep declining
Cost per acquisition that keeps climbing
Engagement that barely moves the needle
Campaigns that feel like shouting into the void
ROI reports that require creative interpretation to look positive
These aren't temporary challenges. They're symptoms of a strategy that's past its expiration date.
What Actually Needs to Change
Transformation doesn't mean abandoning everything. It means evolving:
Stop ignoring AI. Start using AI to find clients that are perfect for your business across every channel.
Stop treating digital channels as billboards. Start building genuine communities and fostering two-way relationships.
Stop relying solely on paid acquisition. Start investing in content and value that makes people want to find you.
Stop measuring vanity metrics. Start tracking what actually drives business outcomes.
Stop talking at your audience. Start listening to what they're telling you through their behaviour and feedback.
The Choice Is Yours
You can keep doing what you've always done. Keep running the same campaigns, posting the same content, targeting the same demographics with the same messages.
And you'll keep getting those same lacklustre results.
Or you can acknowledge that the market has changed, consumer behaviour has evolved, and your marketing needs to transform accordingly.
The companies that will win in 2026 aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones willing to challenge their assumptions, experiment with new approaches, and adapt based on what actually works today.
The Bottom Line
Einstein's definition of insanity wasn't just clever wordplay. It was a warning against the human tendency to cling to familiar patterns even when they no longer serve us.
Your marketing strategy needs to evolve at the speed of your market. If it hasn't changed significantly in the past few years, you're not playing it safe—you're playing it risky.
The question isn't whether you can afford to change your marketing approach in 2026.
It's whether you can afford not to.
