📓Creativ Brief: Intuitive Intelligence
Jimmy Kimmel canceled. Netflix ads. YouTube dominates streaming. Conferencing in NYC.
I’m in NYC this week, attending three conferences - Fast Company Innovation Festival, Brand Innovators Trade Marketing, and Founders Forum.
Entirely too much in my opinion, but please holler if you will be attending Founders Forum at the Gramercy National Arts Club.
Intuition refers to knowing the right decision via one’s feelings rather than logic.
One gathers a body of intuitive knowledge from their lived experience - relationships, past encounters, positive feedback, and negative feedback.
The mind then passes these intuitive responses to the conscious mind as feelings in response to external stimuli.
Also known as “gut feeling”, your intuitive intelligence guides decision making, especially in moments when there’s no apparent data to based a choice on.
In professional life, I think we underestimate or under profess how much a feeling influences our decision making. We decide by taking all information available, both logical and emotional, and choose a direction.
Don’t be afraid of the tiny emotional voice in your head. Give it equal credence as the logical one.
3 Stories Shaping the Media and Tech Industries
Netflix is making its ad inventory purchasable through Amazon’s DSP in 12 markets starting in Q4, adding to its available integrations with Google DV360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo, and Microsoft.
Key points: Amazon’s DSP adds commerce data to Netflix’s offering, which advertisers value beyond reach; the move gives pricing advantages (discounted DSP fees, sometimes cheaper than other routes to Netflix inventory); and this helps Netflix address concerns around ad load, high CPMs, and transparency.
Why it matters: Amazon is strengthening its grip on the streaming ad market and pushing programmatic, data-driven buying deeper into the future of TV advertising.
Some of the standout details: creators will be able to dynamically insert or remove brand sponsorships in long videos and resell those “slots” to different brands; Shorts will get “brand link” features so branded content can drive real traffic; product tagging will be powered by AI to detect when items are mentioned and surface shopping options automatically.
Why it matters: YouTube is pushing deeper into e-commerce and creator monetization, reshaping how sponsored content is packaged and sold in a way that could shift revenue models across the creator economy.
ABC pulled Jimmy Fallon off the air due to comments made about Charlie Kirk. Cable distributor Nextstar, owned by conservative mega doner that has a case in front of the FCC, pulled the show from its affiliate markets after the Trump FCC chair threatened ABC with legal action.
Why it matters: Unlike cancel culture, which referred to social blowback, this is the federal government threatening a media company with legal action due to programming they dislike. This is actual first amendment infringement - the government cancellation of a voice. In statements today, Trump said Fallon and Meyers are next.
Creativ Spotlight - 1stAveMachine Wins Fastco Innovation by Design
The CMR M-1, a prototype AI-powered video camera by SpecialGuestX and 1stAveMachine, is a winner of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards.
Read all about their innovative AI camera here.
Stat of the Week - YouTube Dominates Streaming Watch Time
YouTube accounts for 13.4% of total U.S. TV streaming watch time as of July 2025, far ahead of Netflix at 8.8% and all other platforms.
The chart shows YouTube’s dominance over both subscription streamers (Disney+, Prime Video, Max) and ad-supported services (Roku, Tubi, Pluto), with most competitors trailing far behind at under 5% each.
YouTube is cementing itself as the most powerful force in streaming, shaping viewing habits and commanding the attention of advertisers at a scale no rival currently matches.
One Fun Thing - Conferencing In New York City
The team attended conferences and got together in New York. In person collaboration and fun felt like the intuitive choice.