For decades, many brands (and therefore agencies) operated within the tried and true methodologies of Advertising 101—to get their product, logo, or messaging in front of customers as often, as boldly, and as loudly as possible. Audiences were seen as an empty well, such that if marketers could just pour enough ads and billboards and messages inside, eventually they could lift sales up over the edge.

We’re living in the golden age of content. As marketers, we have more tools for creating and sharing content than ever, but truly connecting with customers means marketers need to consider this rather intimidating fact: Creating content for specific platforms is a trap.

The dawn of social media marketing seemed like a magical era for brands: They finally had a way to share content far and wide, and it came with built-in tools to report on impressions and engagement.

The number of marketing channels is exploding, but the budgets we have to fill them are headed in the opposite direction. These two seemingly opposing trends are being driven by the same factors — a segmented economy, widely available technology, and consumers who have grown up making their own content and sharing it on their own platforms, without the assistance of Big Media.

Additionally, technology has given CEOs the ability to hold marketing departments accountable not just for budgets, but for daily results. When you add it up, it’s no wonder clients are asking agencies to place “smaller bets.”

But working with smaller budgets doesn’t mean you should settle for smaller ideas. It’s not always easy, but you can find ways to be more efficient and shorten the process without taking shortcuts. Some agencies are making the difficult decision to move forward with reduced teams, leading to ideas that are developed without the benefit of diverse viewpoints. But here are a few other paths, so you can keep pushing your ideas without compromising the quality of your work.

The push method is dead. For the first time in our industry, consumers have more control than brands over the journey a marketing campaign will take. They don’t have to listen or pay attention -- not that they they ever did -- but they can take your campaign and turn it on its ear if you’re not having a true conversation with them.

Brands don’t have anywhere to hide. Here’s how to craft a conversation in a way that will be real, honest and will make an impact.

Today's brands need to be agile, responsive and iterative. The sheer volume of content being created and shared today means anyone being too precious with their content won't even get out of the gate.

Brands and their creative partners need to get up to speed on what their audience and fans want, where this intersects with their own goals and ethos, and then deliver the goods fast.

In this world, only the smart survive.

After a successful partnership to support a mutual client project, strategic creative shop Fact & Fiction, a subsidiary of Boulder Heavy Industries, has acquired full-service content studio, KAROT.

With the addition of KAROT’s comprehensive production capabilities, Fact & Fiction is better able to build not only brands worth caring about, but also make content worth paying attention to. Fact & Fiction’s integrated approach and unique structure allows the agency to move “at the speed of modern” without sacrificing quality when it comes to content.

Putting your boss on the spot is always entertaining. Kyle Taylor has worked at different shops for over fifteen years now, but building an agency from the ground up, brick-by-unexpected-brick, is a very different challenge. Being the truth-seeking type, we (the rest of the agency) submitted interview questions to find out why the world needs Fact & Fiction. He wasn’t allowed to look at the questions beforehand. We hit record and fired away.

Ladies and gentlemen, the backlash has arrived. 

Or maybe it hasn’t. Depends on who you ask.

You get out what you put in. No exceptions. 

When I was a kid, my dad had me study the four gospels: Johnny, Willie, Waylon and Kris. While I’ve grown to appreciate them all in different ways over the years, the one I formed an immediate bond with was Johnny Cash. Even as a 5-year old, there was something about his booming voice and simple narratives that resonated with me. He was unique in my small musical world—a true original.

With buzz words like data, targeting, tags, and APIs, the "Math Men" are certainly winning over the hearts and minds of the "Mad Men" this generation -- and with good reason. We've sung the praises of tracking, crafting, and targeting audiences and media buys, and now, with major brands like P&G prepping to buy the majority of its digital inventory programmatically, the focus shifts to data's impact on creativity. What does it look like, and how does it change the role of social and content development? Is there a place for data in the creative process?

One might consider data's role in creativity akin to that of "The Force" in "Star Wars." It can be extremely powerful for those trained in its appropriate use, but in the wrong hands, data can take agencies (and their brand clients) to some dark places.