“We’ve Always Done It This Way” Is Not a Strategy + Industry News and Insights
Field Tips is a biweekly email series bringing you the latest marketing trends and topics directly to your inbox. Covering everything from digital marketing and social media to content strategy and more, we curate the industry’s top stories and present them as easily digestible insights. The content contained within this post comes directly from our August 13, 2025 issue. If you’d like to receive Field Tips, subscribe to our email or on LinkedIn.
Last week, our account team took an afternoon to focus on our workflow. We got in a room, whiteboarded our full project lifecycle and asked a simple question: How do we actually get work done and how can we do it better?
What we uncovered was eye-opening. Some of our systems worked great. Others… not so much. But the biggest takeaway? “We’ve always done it this way” is not a strategy.
As tools, teams and expectations evolve, so should the way we work. Because staying locked into outdated habits might be the very thing slowing your team — and your results — down.
If you’re ready to challenge your status quo, start by asking questions like:
- Where are we losing the most time or momentum?
- Are we using tools because they’re effective or just familiar?
- What steps create real value for the client, and what’s just busywork?
- Have our internal roles or responsibilities shifted without the process keeping up?
- If we started from scratch today, would we design it the same way?
You don’t need a full offsite to rethink how your team works, just a willingness to ask better questions. If you’d like to learn more about how we went about mapping and refining our workflows, feel free to reach out.
Reddit Wants to Be Your Go-To for Search
WHAT’S HAPPENING. Reddit is getting ready to be more than just a place to browse posts and comments. It wants to be a go-to search tool. Right now, more than 70 million people a week use Reddit’s regular search, and another 6 million use its AI-powered “Reddit Answers.” The company plans to bring both of these together into one easy-to-use search experience. The search bar will be right up front in the app so people can find it instantly.
WHY IT MATTERS. This change makes Reddit more than a community site—it turns it into a place where people come to find real answers and advice. For marketers, that means more chances to reach people when they are actively looking for help or inspiration. With search becoming the heart of Reddit, brands could tap into more relevant ad placements, discover trends faster, and connect with audiences in the middle of genuine conversations.
Make Gen Z Laugh and They’ll Listen
WHAT’S HAPPENING. A fresh June 2025 Edison Research and SiriusXM Media report shows that about 49% of U.S. Gen Z are much more likely to pay attention to ads that make them laugh or use music they enjoy. Plus, 85% of Gen Z listen to music to boost their mood—but their top concern remains the economy. That means fun, mood‑lifting ads are now a serious opportunity, not just fluff.
WHY IT MATTERS. If marketers want to reach Gen Z, humor and music are your best tools. Ads that feel playful, real, and emotionally uplifting are much more likely to break through the noise. Using short, engaging content with the right vibe can drive true attention—even in an economy weighing on their minds.
Perplexity’s $34 Billion Chrome Surprise
WHAT’S HAPPENING. AI startup Perplexity — valued at roughly $18 billion — made an unsolicited all-cash offer of $34.5 billion to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. This surprising move comes amid antitrust scrutiny of Google; acquiring Chrome could give Perplexity access to more than three billion users and supercharge its AI ambition. The company says major investors are ready to fund the deal and that it plans to invest over $3 billion into Chrome and the Chromium project if successful. Google has not responded.
WHY IT MATTERS. This dramatic bid signals Perplexity’s aspiration to pivot from being a clever AI-powered search tool to a full-scale platform player. By acquiring Chrome, Perplexity could bypass the conventional browser gatekeepers—turning one of the internet’s most critical access points into an AI-enhanced competitive advantage. For marketers, it suggests a future where browser-based AI assistants become new battlegrounds for user attention, data control, and monetization—well beyond search alone.
More To Explore
ChatGPT-5 Has Arrived: What OpenAI’s Most Powerful AI Model Can Actually Do
GPT-5 delivers major leaps in reasoning, multimodal capabilities and customization, streamlining the ChatGPT experience into a single adaptive model while setting the stage for more proactive, agent-like AI assistants. Read the full breakdown on Exploding Topics.
Google Confirms That AI-Generated Content Should Be Human Reviewed
Google is doubling down on the need for human review, warning that while AI can speed up content creation, unchecked machine output risks errors, bias and lower search rankings, so marketers should edit, fact-check and refine before publishing. Read the full breakdown on Search Engine Journal.
Will GEO Replace SEO – Or Become Part of It?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is becoming a core part of SEO as search expands beyond Google into AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity, meaning marketers must optimize for both traditional search engines and generative AI to stay visible. Read the full deep dive on Search Engine Land.
Reddit Will Block the Internet Archive
Reddit has stopped the Wayback Machine from automatically archiving its posts, limiting public access to old discussions and fueling speculation that the move is tied to new data licensing deals and a broader trend of platforms locking down their content. Read more on The Verge.
Foot Traffic Down 9% at American Eagle Following Sydney Sweeney Ad Controversy
American Eagle’s store visits fell 9% in the weeks after a Sydney Sweeney ad sparked online backlash, according to exclusive data – showing how quickly brand controversies can ripple into real-world sales and underscoring the need for careful creative strategy. Read the full story on Retail Brew.
8 Emerging Trends CMOs Need To Watch: What’s Next In Content Marketing
From AI-driven personalization to rising demand for thought leadership, new trends are reshaping how brands connect with audiences—giving CMOs fresh opportunities to stand out in a crowded content landscape. Read the full rundown on Search Engine Journal.
About the Author
A prominent marketing strategist and nationally recognized thought leader, Grant A. Johnson is president and CEO of Responsory. He is a sought-after public speaker, direct marketing trainer, copywriter, award-winning author and the creator of Direct Branding℠, Responsory’s method for producing sure-fire measurable results.
