At the beginning of this season, we looked at the advertising industry’s coup from my perspective. To bring it full circle, today I’m looking at it from a different angle: Yours. Content — editorial, entertainment, what have you — and advertising have been unified to the point — where often — it’s hard to see … Continue reading "The Influencer Show"

If you live in Canada, it’s likely that you bank with one of the ‘Big 5’… and it’s also likely you inherited that financial relationship from your parents. And whether you liked banking with them or not… how different were the other 4, really? For decades, there weren’t any other meaningful options… but today? We … Continue reading "New Money"

20 years ago, two teenagers brought the music establishment to its knees. And a decade later, a startup was launched halfway around the world that’s reinvigorated it.The recording industry has experienced a whiplash of change, and has somehow come out on the other end of it… still standing. It’s one of the few categories we can look to that’s gone through the full cycle of a coup. First we bought. Then we “shared”. And now… we stream. And with changes to distribution and format, have come...

We'll be back with a new episode of The Coup next Tuesday, November 12th!

Stand up comedy’s second boom feels less driven by punchlines, and more by comedians’ introspection and vulnerability. Nearly every week, another special comes out that mines the personal narrative and struggles of another comics. While some comedians have managed to make this kind of vulnerability funny, others... have made it easy to forget you’re watching a standup show. And that tone change has led to style and format shifts as well.The traditional format — the laughs/per minute...

We often think of disruption as this mythical struggle of David and Goliath — the scrappy start-ups rising out of nowhere to take down the established players, who are as powerful as they are out-of-touch.In business, as in life, people tend to root for the Davids... and I’m not always sure why.As much as we like to hate The Man — whether it’s BP, KPMG, or the Big G himself — there are consequences to stickin’ it to him... Here’s the thing: Goliath’s fall would look a lot different if your...

At the beginning of 2019, a razor company released an ad criticizing 'toxic masculinity' that dominated social media and the news for over a week.  Since it aired, I've been thinking a lot about advertising's place in the #MeToo era... and it's role in promoting toxic masculinity over the years. But here's the thing: It’s men and boys who Gillette’s ad needed to reach... but nearly all of its detractors were guys! So what are advertisers and brands missing here? And really, is it our job to...

Five years ago, Uber launched a food delivery service that disrupted the food industry. Since then, there’s been a wave of innovations changing the way we eat and cook. Companies like UberEats aren’t just transforming restaurants… they’re building a new arm of the food industry to compete with them, too. Oh — and the new food establishment paving the way to the land of milk and honey? Well, they don’t make food… and increasingly, neither do I. Today some are predicting the end of the home...

It’s been about a year since recreational weed was legalized here in Canada, and after loads of international coverage, celebrations, and dozens of startup announcements… what’s actually changed? This wasn’t a coup brought about by plucky upstarts — but by legislation. So, how are cannabis entrepreneurs disrupting inside of a forced disruption? And with all the buzz about the legal marketplace, how lucrative has it really been? Who’s getting the short end of the joint?

More than ever, we’re buying everything — from our beds down to our shoes — sight-unseen. In every category, startups are bypassing retailers — and their markups — to sell and ship their products right to your door. And they’re giving industry heavyweights a run for their money, doing it. No middlemen — just them, and you. But how are online-only brands, like Glossier and Dollar Shave Club, convincing consumers to buy into one-on-one relationships? And if there’s no independent...

Advertising has changed a lot. From jingles and magazine spreads to…. short films and well, what isn’t an ad, today? Once the internet came along, attention started to get fractured — and so did client’s budgets. And while agencies stretched themselves thin, once-loyal clients got frustrated with fat margins, a lack of innovation, and insufficient proof their dollars were getting results. And now… they’re ready to take their business elsewhere. And now, agencies who’ve struggled to adapt to a...

From food and banking to masculinity and entertainment, the establishment is being challenged. The rebels want nothing to do with the old ways of selling, building, or doing things. Every week, host and marketing expert Ron Tite steps inside an industry transforming before our eyes — speaking with the executives in power, the entrepreneurs challenging their dominance, and the academics and journalists observing how people, companies, and categories are being shaken up. By the end, you’ll know...