fame doesn’t sell. followers don’t convert. visibility without relevance is just noise. we’ve all seen it—celebrities launch brands, the internet buzzes for a moment, and then… nothing. meanwhile, smaller creators with deep audience relationships are building brands that sell out, over and over again. the difference? relevance. the old playbook was simple: make a product. spend millions on marketing. hope people buy. that formula? it’s dead. today’s most successful brands do the opposite. they build an audience first, listen closely, and then create products people already want. this isn’t a hack. it’s not a shortcut. it’s the new foundation of brand building. when we worked with Chase Business, they could have focused on financial campaigns. instead, they leaned into what their audience actually needed—guidance on marketing, tech, and business growth. they didn’t push products. they built trust. same with rhode skin. hailey bieber didn’t just slap her name on a beauty brand—she built something her audience already wanted. $14 million in sales in six months. a 60,000-person waitlist before launch. not because of her fame. but because of her relevance. acquisition without relevance is wasted investment. visibility without connection is just noise. so before your next product launch, ask yourself: who exactly are we serving? what do they actually care about? how well do we truly understand them? because when you get this right, selling isn’t even selling. it’s just delivering what your audience has been waiting for. brands aren’t entitled to attention. they have to earn it. so, who are you really building for? because in this new world, that’s the only question that matters. — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
retail is dying. that’s the narrative. and it’s wrong. physical retail isn’t dying—it’s being strategically misunderstood. and that misunderstanding is leaving billions on the table. 75% of consumers prefer shopping in-store. but only 9% are satisfied. that’s not a retail apocalypse—it’s a strategy failure. market leaders see physical space as their biggest advantage. others treat it like a legacy burden. think about it: shoppers won’t wait 5 minutes in-store but will wait weeks for temu deliveries. disney turned waiting into an experience. retail still treats it as a problem. 3 strategic failures hiding in plain sight: 1. inventory disconnect ↳ only 9% of online inventory is available in stores. 2. data blindness ↳ every size request, abandoned try-on, and return is data—most retailers ignore it. 3. relevance deficit ↳ stores are built around products. but customers shop for experiences. shoppers aren’t abandoning stores. they’re waiting for retailers to catch up. the future of retail belongs to companies that treat physical stores not as distribution points—but as relevance engines. the question isn’t whether stores will survive. it’s whether they’ll evolve. — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
gravity always wins. even in storytelling. every startup claims they're defying it. building something impossible. changing the world. nikola's $30 billion story floated beautifully. until it didn't. the market loves a great story. but there's a difference between anti-gravity and lies. think about it: ↳ tesla promised electric cars, then built them ↳ amazon promised next-day delivery, then built it ↳ nikola promised innovation, then rolled a truck down a hill the difference? some companies build the impossible. others just pitch it. 3 market truths we keep forgetting: capital rewards audacity, but punishes deception vision gets you funded, execution keeps you funded storytelling opens doors, substance keeps them open bottom line: you can temporarily suspend gravity with a great story. but eventually, everything comes back down. remember: the market always finds out if you're building anti-gravity, or just selling hot air. — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
there's no such thing as a budget iPhone anymore—and that's exactly how Apple wants it. at $599, the new iPhone 16e costs 40% more than its predecessor. this isn't a pricing mistake, it's a calculated strategy. here's what makes it brilliant: ↳ targeting families and first-time buyers who want the Apple experience without the Pro price tag ↳ using the C1 modem to kick off another vertical integration play (just like they did with Intel) ↳ turning every feature into an ecosystem hook that makes switching nearly impossible what Apple understands: sometimes the best way to grow isn't by going cheaper—it's by making your entry point sticky enough that customers never want to leave. this is how you turn market share into long-term value. — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
traditional media is dying. PR is useless. pitching is dead. and they couldn't be more wrong. here's what everyone's missing about PR in 2025: 1. influence is exploding, not shrinking ↳ 2.5 hours: daily social media consumption ↳ 600M: daily Google Discover users ↳ 565M: newsletter subscribers ↳ 49 minutes: daily YouTube time ↳ 23%: Americans consuming 10+ podcasts weekly 2. every major algorithm runs on PR ↳ want to top Reddit? need PR ↳ want Google News visibility? need PR ↳ want Apple News features? need PR ↳ want Techmeme placement? need PR 3. AI just made PR more valuable than ever ↳ language models only trust "authority sources" ↳ brand mentions depend on PR-influenced content ↳ every AI response about your industry comes from PR The difference? old PR: pitch journalists and pray new PR: shape how you're talked about everywhere your audience lives bottom line: PR isn't just alive. it's about to become the most powerful force in marketing. remember: when someone asks AI about your industry tomorrow (and they will), they'll get answers based on the PR you do today. — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
brand isn't about you. it's about what doing business with you says about them. i've said this on stage for years—this idea shaped the identity economy. brands stopped selling just products or experiences. instead, they became signals of who their customers are. but that's no longer enough. people don't just want brands that reflect their identity. they want brands that help them evolve into who they're meant to become. the next generation of winning brands won't just give people something to buy, wear, or belong to. they'll give people the tools to unlock their full potential. i believe we're moving into a new phase: 1) experience economy → businesses shifted from selling products to selling moments (think immersive retail, themed experiences) 2) identity economy → experiences weren't enough; people wanted brands that reflected who they are (think social media, fandom-driven brands, lifestyle companies) 3) empowerment economy → the future. the brands that will dominate are the ones that actively help people grow, achieve, and self-actualize this isn't about content or community—it's about transformation. the future is being built by brands that aren't just part of your life but help you level up in every way that matters. identity was the currency of the last decade. self-actualization will be the currency of the next. the best brands won't just shape perception. they'll shape who people have the potential to become. curious: what brands do you see already building for this future? — Shama Hyder is the founder & CEO of Zen Media. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc magazine have all recognized her as one of the Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the field of marketing. Shama has built a global audience and is known for helping brands succeed in the digital age. She is a bestselling author, an international keynote speaker, and has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Marketing for four years in a row. — ►Connect with Shama Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamaHyderPage Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shama Instagram: https://instagram.com/shamahyder/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder Personal website: https://shamahyder.com/ Company website: https://zenmedia.com/
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