Friday5 – Issue #109

Inviso Marketing Team
March 31, 2026

You know those friends with just the best taste? I know I have a handful–whenever they send me something to watch, read, listen to, I can’t wait to check it out. I have a family group chat like this too. Every recommendation that comes across is a win. We all have people like this in our lives, and the marketing world as a whole is starting to catch on to the power of “social sharing.”

In a recent report Ogilvy put it this way: “The most impactful engagement happens where we can’t measure it: in DMs, group chats, and Slack channels.” Their advice? “Arm your audience for their private chats and let them do the sharing.”

We can’t just think about the content we’re producing in its native form, we have to think about how it will look in a screenshot or (if we’re lucky) as the star of a TikTok review.

Keep those mavens in your life close. They—and the brands they’re sharing—will thank you for it. – Jeanne Kirby, CMO

Today in marketing school

Settle in as we sound off on a sometimes neglected aspect of video production: music.

Nowadays, it’s easy to get swept up in the impressive abilities of generative AI when it comes to visuals (we’ve put it to the test and love seeing what it can do). But creating the mood with sound can be just as impactful — and in some cases, changes meaning entirely.

Don’t take your music choices for granted. It’s something we pay close attention to as it has a huge effect on the end product. Check out this example where four audio clips tell four totally different stories:

So yeah –

Royalty-free music isn’t hard to track down. YouTube’s audio library is a great place to start. You can easily filter by mood, genre, and duration.
Just like for visuals, AI can be a great resource for audio. If your track is too short, there are plenty of tools out there to extend it. You can also generate tracks from scratch (Suno is a good option). Just be aware of commercial usage rights.

The outdoors is calling (not just because it’s Spring)

Whether it’s raining, snowing or 90 degrees where you are (we see you, Los Angeles) the itch is the same. We’ve been cooped up for the winter and ready to stretch our legs. This ad from Merrell made us long for long days at the campsite and short nights under the stars. So much is working about this video—from the unexpected voiceover (it’s from The Secret Garden, y’all), to the aching piano score, to the truly cinematic and very shoe-subtle photography.

Launched this month as part of Merrell’s 45th anniversary campaign, the video “aims to reframe the outdoors not just as remote, technical terrain, but as something accessible.” Message received. Beyond all the great composition and strong women featured in the ads, we’re always first to applaud when brands let their product speak for itself and good storytelling take the lead.

The takeaways

What’s left unsaid matters. Standard ad copy typically isn’t subtle. It lays out your customer’s problem, and your product as a solution. We see the thing, while someone talks about the thing. But in a world where we’re all drowning in “content,” a little opaqueness can go a long way. It’s okay to imply, to reveal, and to tell stories that make your audience feel more than they inform.

💡Across more than 1,400 campaigns studied, emotional‑led advertising drove roughly double the profitability lift of purely rational campaigns.

Now for something completely different…

Today’s brands are showing up with new ideas for generating buzz, getting eyeballs and interacting with their audiences. Unconventional is the theme for this month’s round-up of good stories, told well.

This month McDonalds launched its “First Job Confessional” campaign, in conjunction with “Love Island” star Olandria Carthen—a queen of the format. “Central to the campaign is a confessional booth that combines the camera and touchscreen of a McDonald’s ordering kiosk with seating and soundproof tiles.” Find the booth on tour at a big city near you, or just watch the promo video here.

NPR has altered its logo for the first time in its 56-year history. No, this isn’t another Cracker Barrel fiasco. This is clever subversiveness at its best. The “For Your Right to be Curious” campaign is a rebuke of their $1.1B slash in funding and replaces NPR with the words “how,” “who,” and “why.” Read the full story here.

You’d think their cinematic Super Bowl Ad would be enough “artsiness” for Texas shoe brand Tecovas. But tell that to their soon to launch Love Letter to Texas, a 14-minute short film shot over four days in and around Marfa, Texas, showcasing sweeping desert landscapes, small-town charm, and iconic Texas backdrops. While Tecovas products feature in the film, it’s hardly about them. Watch the trailer.

March’s word: Agents

We’ve had lots to say about AI as a creative tool, but we’d argue it has just as much to offer on the systems level. Agentic AI has the power to interact with your existing tech stack and execute tasks on your behalf. It’s taking marketing automation to new heights, freeing up marketing teams to focus on high-level strategy.

Some of our favorite use cases for marketers:

AI agents are incredibly powerful tools for campaign management. They work magic in the realms of:

Audience segmentation — offering crazy granularity
Content optimization — keeping things both responsive and relevant
Personalization — tailoring messaging with amazing speed
Experimentation — creating complex test plans to pinpoint what actually moves the needle

Agentic AI has a whole world of uses, and we’re here to help you explore them.

Marketing in the wild

No one does relatable, readable copy better than Swedish plant-milk brand Oatly. Pick up any one of their products and you’re sure to find a little surprise. An unexpected joke, a surprisingly conversational turn. But nowhere does the brand shine as brightly as on their billboards. Whether they’re skewering “big dairy” or just drawing in new customers via laughs, their OOH (Out Of Home) advertising is tops.

Here are a few of our favorites: