Marketing Lost Its Humanity

When I first started in marketing, the focus was on building real connections. Over time, it’s drifted into more of a rhythm game - churning things out just to keep pace. I’ve watched this shift happen up close: Tools got faster and outputs multiplied. But most of the content? It got hollow.

Connection vs. Cadence

I helped scale Conductor and rebuilt a brand at Turno. I've seen what works at scale and what gets lost when we scale without thinking. It’s not that automation is the problem, it’s that somewhere along the way we stopped being intentional about why we were creating in the first place. That’s why we built VibeLogic. Not to crank out more stuff, but to bring the human part back into marketing.

It’s Not About Personas - It’s About People

Most teams I see are following the same script: publish as much as possible, measure everything and optimize until you’re blue in the face. But very few stop to ask if it’s actually helping anyone. Because when I read most brand content today, I don’t feel seen... I feel targeted.

We have somehow forgotten the people on the other side of the screen. The ones who don’t need another checklist, don’t talk in bullet points and don’t want to be fed into a funnel. All they want is a little humanity.

Human-First Marketing Isn’t Nostalgia

Take two blog posts about burnout: One lists symptoms and suggests “taking breaks.” The other opens with: “I didn’t realize I was burned out until I stopped caring if the email got sent.” One checks boxes. The other makes you nod.

Don't get me wrong, data still matters and AI will continue to play a role. But it neither of them mean much if you don’t give people a reason to care.

What Human-First Content Actually Looks Like

It doesn’t have to be poetic, it just has to be real. It’s when you rewrite a product headline so it sounds like something someone would actually say. It’s the founder showing up in a comment thread instead of ghostwriting a thought piece.

Here’s the filter I use: If you read it out loud and it sounds like marketing, rewrite it.

I’ve Gotten This Wrong Before

I’ve written the robotic content and signed off on the jargon-filled decks. I’ve sent campaigns that hit the metrics, but didn’t move anyone. You only need to feel that disconnect a few times before you realize: Results don’t mean much if you can’t stand behind the message.

Now? I get to build what I wish I had... back when I had to justify content that didn’t feel right.

Here’s the Risk If We Don’t Fix It

If every company leans on the same tools, uses the same formulas, and ends up sounding the same, then what’s left to compete on? Probably just price... and that is simply a race to the bottom. The way out? Be more human than the algorithm.