This months special ingredient to growth?

Being Connected.

It’s noisy out there. So noisy, it’s become deafening. Over the weekend, I had one of those frustrating conversations with my kids - phones, social media, doomscrolling. I tried reasoning with them. But the truth? I’m the worst. I scroll for insights, for clients, for content. Writing things like this at 10pm.

This month, I’ve taken you on a journey through disconnection, into clarity, through courage and finally, into action. All built on Audience101 insight and Lively’s formula for creating momentum that actually moves.

🚨 Did you know? We retain 10% of what we read, 50% of what we see and hear. (The Learning Pyramid) That’s why hybrid matters.

Not just livestreams - hybrid thinking. Hybrid marketing. Hybrid business. Where presence meets intention.

There’s too much content, not enough context. That’s why I keep coming back to human connection.

Because in all this noise, the only solution is connection. It’s how we bridge everything:

Humans and machines.
Marketing and sales.
Community and strategy.
Emotion and scale.

As we always say: Stay human in a digital world.

Mood of the Week

Excited - but concerned. That conversation hit hard. And in all this noise, it’s got me asking: are we really connecting?

Ardif (Paris) visualises the tension between nature and tech, emotion and system. Represents Connected Growth literally: hybrids that are both beautiful and functional.

Here’s What We’re Talking About Today:

👉 P.S. Did a friend send this your way? Sign up for free here.

Audience Insights & Future Trends

This month’s theme - Connected Growth - was never just about scale.
It’s about unlearning what no longer works, holding onto what still does, and building systems that connect it all.

I’m not here to predict the future. I’m here to call out what’s already happening and help you adapt. Now. Because today’s edge isn’t speed or size. It’s connection across people, platforms, and priorities.

All the data below? It lives inside our Audience101 community platform, because I can’t give it all away, I just told you I stay up till 10pm writing this thing

📊 The Data

Authenticity over Automation
→ 65% of leaders now see AI as a strategic priority
→ 63% say it’s led by business, not IT (Forrester)

Action over Awaiting
→ 84% of companies say digital transformation has already disrupted their industry
→ Only 16% think the shake-up is still ahead (Infosys)

Community over Competition
→ 73% of employees in collaborative environments perform better
→ 60% say it fuels innovation (Deloitte)

Depth over Speed
→ Only 15% of companies have cracked resilience, yet they outperform across six metrics (Accenture)

Transformation over Transaction
→ Customer-led brands see:
  41% faster revenue growth
  49% faster profit growth
  51% higher retention (Forrester)

🧠 The Insight

The old model? Disconnected.

Marketing on one page. Sales on another. Strategy decks full of plans with no thread.
AI bolted on, not built in. Communities built on platforms that own your data—and your audience.

Social media is great media. So use it. Just don’t build your entire business there. Because if you’re not converting reach into your own product, platform or space - you’re just building someone else’s business.

🔖 Takeaway

Growth doesn’t come from repeating what worked.It comes from syncing what matters.

The next chapter?
Living systems.
Shaped by people. Powered by tech.
Built to create emotional connection that lasts.

Case Study: RIVIAN — Advertising or a Connected System?

I loved Rivian’s approach from the start - The Long Way Up was a bold, quiet move to seed a new car brand through storytelling.
And I’ve always asked:
Why do car ads all look like a yoga master with tyres?
Same mountains. Same script. Different logo.

Then Rivian turned left. But is it just better content, or a connected system?

👀 Let’s Look at What They’re Doing:

Owners > Ad actors
The Real Rivian Adventures flips the formula.
The first film? A family lemonade stand war, powered by a blender in the truck bed.
→ +14pts in “adventurous” brand perception (Ipsos)

Community-written media plan
→ Films crowdsourced via #RealRivianAdventures
→ Owners pitch. Rivian shoots. Everyone shares.

Retail meets experience
→ Rivian Spaces: part showroom, part REI
→ Trail talks, convoys, kids' corners, coffee. Not corporate.

Owner-led communities
→ 40+ local clubs. LA alone hosts 50+ events a year
→ HQ supports, but doesn’t control

Always-on digital hum
→ 130k+ Reddit members
→ Unofficial Discord, deep forums and peer support

Insight / Learning - Screenshot This

They didn’t just change the format. They flipped the power dynamic.

→ Human first. Product second.
→ Customers aren’t the audience, they’re the co-creators
→ Emotional > transactional

Audience101 Takeaway - What We’d Build Next

They’ve cracked the ad script. Now it’s time to build the system.

Own the rails
→ Reddit’s great—but it’s rented
→ Bring content, community and customer data together

Let IRL feed digital
→ Are we over-producing?
→ Lean into local stories, told by real people

Build on the events
→ Don’t just drive people to retail
→ Take retail to people—pop-ups, partnerships, plug-ins

Behind the Build: Turning Left

We’ve said it all month: Connected Growth starts with your own systems.

I’m excited by the choices I’ve made. And honestly? Scared shitless.

Feels like we’re all rolling dice we never asked to hold. None of us signed up to be gamblers. But here I am - like Rivian - I turned left.

I’m rebuilding around one thing: Human integrity. Designing the kind of community social media promised, but never delivered.

Community happens when people show up. Connect. Create emotion. Not clicks. Not comments. Real presence. Real energy.

You feel it at events. That’s the part most brands forget to build into business.

That’s why we believe in hybrid:
Emotional experience, backed by owned community.
Where audiences become customers.
Customers become collaborators.
And collaborators?
They build the future with you.

Mood Board

Wrap-Up: Adapting to Thrive

Change isn’t on the horizon, it’s in the room. So the question isn’t if you’ll adapt, it’s how.

This Thursday’s Connected Festival is your chance to see what that looks like. Not theory. Not thought leadership. Real tools. Real teams. Real systems that work.

If May was the test, June is the transformation.

You don’t get to choose the pace of change. But you can choose how prepared you are to move with it.