In Part 4 of the Red Pill series humari’s Joe Hildebrand explores what’s really blocking marketing teams from getting real value from AI - and it isn’t always fear.

Burnout, economic pressure and digital fatigue are reshaping daily life for Chinese youth. Today, cosy, low-pressure spaces such as craft circles and dazi buddying are making connection more modular, interest-led and easy to step into – less about commitment, more about emotional regulation.

The idea that TV advertising is a dead medium remains popular simply because digital platforms make it incredibly easy for cautious marketers to track immediate actions. In a challenging economic climate, the temptation to rely on instant metrics is understandable. However, real-world data from Uni-China Group shows that relying entirely on easily trackable digital data damages long-term business growth. Shifting budgets exclusively to low-attention digital formats costs companies billions in lost revenue compared to high-attention environments like TV.

For more than a decade, marketers have debated whether television is dying. After moderating The Marketing Society Hong Kong's Uncomfortable Conversations: Is TV Dead? panel, I came away convinced we have been asking the wrong question. Television isn't dead. Consumers have simply changed how they consume video, moving seamlessly between broadcast television, streaming platforms and digital video.

The Marketing Society session I participated in asked a familiar question: Is TV dead? I don’t think that is the most useful question anymore.

For a recent Changemakers Club, Prophet partnered with The Marketing Society to host a group of marketing leaders for a timely discussion on what truly drives customers today.