👋 Hey there, fellow marketing ringmasters—

Welcome back to ADOTAT, where we don’t just point at the flames, we roast marshmallows over them while the marketing big top collapses in slow motion.

💡 Today’s Issue: We’re throwing two heavyweights into the ring: Sam Bloom (PMG’s head of partnerships, soccer goalie, and unofficial clown car driver) and Carl Fremont (CEO of Quigley-Simpson, industry sage, and human eye-roll at bad strategy). Two men, one broken industry, and zero patience for the nonsense clogging your feed.

The ad industry right now? Picture this:
🎟️ A circus with no ringleader, flaming hoops flying through the air, CMOs being fired like t-shirt cannons into the void, and everyone clapping wildly for yet another AI-powered...thing. 🙄

Marketers are stuck playing tactical whack-a-mole. Every day, someone’s screaming “TikTok Dances Sell Insurance!” or “Let’s throw another DSP into the blender!” Meanwhile, the popcorn machine is on fire and nobody’s got a real escape plan.

✨ But here’s the twist:
Sam and Carl—two industry vets who’ve seen behind the velvet curtain—aren’t running for the exits. They’re sitting there, sipping something stiff, saying: “Why don’t we just climb above the chaos and look for the actual pattern here?”

💣 TL;DR? This ain’t another LinkedIn circle-jerk. We're going deep on what happens when real leaders stare down the flaming tent and go, “Yup, been here before.”

👉 Why we’re doing this:
Because you’re sick of reading strategy blogs written by interns in cheap ChatGPT disguises.

Because the phrase “let’s make it go viral” makes your soul wilt a little more each day.

Because deep down, you know someone needs to grab the fire extinguisher and call out the circus for what it is.

👊 We got you. Sam and Carl did, too.

👇 Keep scrolling. Next: Two brutally honest lessons you should steal from them before the next client call.

Welcome to the modern ad industry: a full-blown, no-safety-net, high-wire act where the trapeze artists are on strike, the ringmaster is chasing TikTok trends, and someone’s already set the popcorn machine on fire.

Sam Bloom calls it for what it is: “Most days, I feel like I’m driving the clown car.” You know the one—tiny wheels, oversized horns, and 14 marketers crammed inside trying to convince themselves that this time the platform-first playbook will work. But Sam’s not biting. “The best view of the circus is above the circus,” he says, grinning like someone who’s survived one too many tightrope acts without a net. “I try to make sure we’re 50,000 feet up looking at the big waves to surf.”

In other words? Zoom out or burn out.

Carl Fremont is equally allergic to marketing myopia. While many CMOs are still busy playing whack-a-mole with the latest buzzwords (hi, “AI-enhanced customer journey”), Carl’s over here with a martini, reminding the industry that “too many marketers forget why they’re here in the first place.” His advice? Get back to the brand mission—because “without a clear purpose, everything else is just noise.”

Both Sam and Carl are calling out the same industry neurosis: we’re addicted to tactics and allergic to strategy. We’re hoarding martech tools like Doomsday preppers stockpiling canned beans, mistaking every new SaaS pitch for divine revelation.

Sam cuts to the bone: “The problem is, everyone’s copying everyone. It works until it doesn’t. Then you’re just another carnival barker yelling into the void.” And Carl? He’s practically waving a red flag in front of a stampeding herd: “Marketers have become too enamored with channels and platforms, but the customer doesn’t care about the pipe. They care about the water coming out of it.”

Let that sink in.

The customer doesn't care about your latest DSP integration or your 'revolutionary' full-funnel automation workflow—they care about what’s actually flowing through the funnel. Are you offering real value, or are you selling lukewarm marketing gruel garnished with a side of vanity metrics?

Even funnier—or sadder, depending on how many years you’ve logged in this rodeo—is how both leaders acknowledge the exhausting sameness in adland. Carl admits, “It’s become a paint-by-numbers exercise. The problem is, everyone’s painting the same sunset.” And Sam leans in, admitting that marketers “don’t spend enough time on the who, where, when, and why” of customer behavior.

So, here’s the uncomfortable truth bomb they’re both dropping: most marketers are reacting to chaos instead of managing it. Stuck inside the tent, eyes wide as the lions escape and the clowns light their hair on fire.

Instead, both Sam and Carl are advising you to climb higher. Sam’s floating somewhere above the tent ropes with his “big waves” metaphor, while Carl’s sitting cross-legged on a hill, muttering, “Strategic altitude, kids—it’s how you spot the bear before it steals your picnic basket.”

Before you panic and invest in yet another Martech Frankenstein stitched together by consultants, pause and breathe. As Sam points out, “There’s an art to deciding what not to do just as much as what to do.” Translation: sometimes, the most strategic move is pulling the plug on your latest shiny object.

And Carl’s no less blunt: “Stop chasing the trends. Elevate your brand’s mission so you’re not stuck in the weeds.” In other words, if your north star is a platform update or a viral TikTok trend, you’re already lost in the funhouse mirror maze of modern marketing.

📝 First, stop obsessing over platform specs and start obsessing over your customers again.

📝 Second, ask yourself the million-dollar question: “Is this tactic aligned with our brand’s core reason for existing, or is it just another magic trick to impress a room full of CFOs?”

📝 Third, remember: customers don’t care about your circus. They care about how you make them feel when they step into the tent.

👉 TL;DR: Put down the juggling pins, marketers. Grab a ladder instead.

Let’s talk about sports—one of the few things left that can get a millennial out of bed before noon on a Sunday or make an entire city willingly wear matching polyester.

Sam Bloom didn’t just show up to The ADOTAT Show to chat about nostalgia for Blockbuster or how many planes fly through his office Zoom calls. No, he rolled in with one of the freshest case studies this side of Madison Avenue: Victory+, the Dallas Stars’ direct-to-fan streaming model that’s flipping the script on local sports consumption and forcing media buyers to rethink their sad little PowerPoints.

“We’re talking four, five, six times the consumption of Stars games compared to what Bally’s Sports used to pull,” Sam said, with the casual confidence of a guy who knows how bad Bally’s got during its death spiral. The Stars took back their rights, went fully ad-supported, and are now engaging fans directly—cutting out the middlemen, the middle-middlemen, and probably some guy named Rick who used to handle local buys in a dingy bar in Plano.

What does this have to do with Carl Fremont? Everything.

Carl’s been preaching this gospel for years. “Control your customer relationship or risk becoming just another vendor,” he said during his interview, channeling the quiet rage of someone who’s seen too many brands outsource their lifeblood to platforms they don’t own. Sound familiar? It’s the same reason Sam’s eyes light up when talking about sports teams that “own their media rights, their channels, their data, and their fans.”

This is more than just sports envy—this is a blueprint.

See, sports nailed what most brands still fumble: fandom. That irrational, sometimes borderline cultish loyalty where people tattoo logos on their bodies and cry over free agency trades like it’s Yom Kippur. Fans don’t just buy—they evangelize, obsess, and show up whether their team is winning or doing that “rebuilding” thing we all pretend to understand.

Sam’s take? “Sports are local, tribal, and emotional. That’s why this direct model works.” And he’s not just talking about Dallas—he’s pointing out a tectonic shift across the sports media landscape. Imagine if every brand thought like the Dallas Stars, creating platforms that cut through the clutter, built direct pipelines to consumers, and, yes, served real business results on top of a foam finger.

Carl would call it “getting above the chaos.” Sam calls it owning your data and your distribution. Either way, they’re saying the same thing: stop renting your audience and start building one.

💡 So, what’s the stealable lesson here?

🔥 Stop thinking like a brand. Start thinking like a team. Sports teams don’t just sell tickets—they sell fandom. They don’t move products; they create tribes who scream their allegiance from the cheap seats (or, let’s be honest, from Twitter). Your customer isn’t just a “shopper” 🛒—they’re a potential fan 🙌, ready to tattoo your logo on their heart if you give them a reason. What Sam Bloom and the Dallas Stars did with Victory+ isn’t just about streaming hockey; it’s about building a digital clubhouse 🏒 where fans feel like VIPs.

🚪 Quit handing over the keys to your customer relationships. If you’re still outsourcing engagement to the likes of Meta or Google, you’re basically standing on your own porch while Mark Zuckerberg locks the door. Own your pipes. Own your data. Own the conversation. Victory+ didn’t just bring games back to fans—it let the Stars take back control of their narrative. Create an ecosystem where your customers feel like they belong: private content, community perks, first-look exclusives—the equivalent of a backstage pass 🎟️, without the sweaty green room.

💔 The real heartbreak? Too many marketers still worship at the altar of CPMs and impressions, chasing hollow metrics like they’re golden calves 🐮. Carl Fremont gets it: stop grinding gears in the tactical sludge pit. Build real connections. Loyalty isn’t built on spreadsheets—it’s built on storytelling, emotion, and yes, a little bit of human-to-human magic ✨. A fan doesn’t need a retargeting pixel; they need to feel like part of the tribe 🏟️.

🎯 Bottom line: You’re not just buying media—you’re building a universe 🌌. A universe where customers stick around for more than just the transaction. So, build your digital stadium. Fill it with chants, inside jokes, and real reasons to stay. Because if you don’t? Someone else will. And they’ll be slinging hot dogs 🌭 to your customers while you wonder where all the fans went.

Because when you control the broadcast, the talent, and the merch stand, you’re not just playing the game—you’re running the league.

In the next section (👋 paywall alert), I’m breaking down how this direct-to-fan sports model is seeping into retail, CPG, and even fintech.

Spoiler: If you thought sports teams were the only ones building fanbases outside the walled gardens, you’re missing the quiet revolution.