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    kraabel

    The Machine Watches, The Machine Waits

     1024 574 Michael Kraabel

    When E. M. Forster published The Machine Stops in 1909, the world had no internet, no digital assistants, no algorithms curating every desire. And yet, he saw us coming. His world of isolated citizens, living underground, connected by a vast system that both provided and controlled, was not merely a dystopian fantasy. It was a…

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    200+ Overused Words and Phrases in AI Generated Content

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    There’s something off about the way content reads lately. You’ve felt it. Your audience has felt it. Maybe they can’t name it, but it’s there. That weirdly polished, vaguely helpful, suspiciously wordy copy that says everything and nothing at the same time.It’s the content uncanny valley. And AI is digging it deeper every day. Skip…

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    Brand Performance Marketing

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    Clients don’t usually come to me asking for help with their brand. They come when performance starts slipping. When Customer Acquisition Costs spike. When retargeting stops working. When the paid ads that used to convert like clockwork start going quiet.And the ask always sounds the same: “We need better performance marketing.”But nine times out of…

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    To Sound Human

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    I woke up this morning asking myself the very important question: how can I write more human?  I’ve written a lot about generative technology and how it’s changing our perception of the value and quality of good copywriting. Most writing these days falls in an unfortunate position of being “okay enough.” In certain industries, like…

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    The Create Everyday Project

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel
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    I challenge myself to make something every day. A design, a sketch, a thesis, a digital experiment. Some turn into finished pieces. Some don’t. The point isn’t the result. It’s the practice.Creativity works like a muscle. If you don’t use it, it weakens. Waiting for inspiration never works. Sitting down and doing the work does.…

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    Finding Truth and the Human Content Condition

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    I like to experiment. I view myself somewhat of a marketing engineer, constantly looking at ways to break down tools, methods, processes, and technology, to find out how it all works, before I put it back together again.

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    Translating Marketing Resumes

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    I spend more time on LinkedIn these days than any other social platform. Partially because it’s free of the usual internet garbage, no political shouting matches, no viral thirst traps. But mostly because LinkedIn is the ultimate real-time case study of people in transition.

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    How Agencies Often Sabotage Themselves

     1024 574 Michael Kraabel

    I have always believed that an agency should function as a “teaching” organization just as much as a “thinking, doing, and making” organization. The agency should be viewed as a partner that prioritizes educating, comforting, and guiding clients through unfamiliar territory. Clients don’t just hire agencies to execute tasks; they hire us to help them find…

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    Navigating the Uncanny Valley in Brand Marketing

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    The concept of the uncanny valley isn’t new, but it’s never been more relevant. First coined by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970, the uncanny valley describes the unsettling feeling we experience when something, usually a robot or digital representation, becomes almost lifelike but not quite. The more human-like something appears, the more comfortable we…

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    Stop Calling It ‘Storytelling’ If There’s No Story

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    You know exactly the scenario I’m talking about. You’re sitting in a marketing meeting, eyes glazing over, while someone proudly declares their new strategy revolves around “storytelling.” Great. Except there’s one tiny problem: there’s no actual story.   [zoomsounds_player artistname=”Brand Noise Lecture Series” songname=”Stop Calling It ‘Storytelling’ If There’s No Story” config=”default” type=”detect” dzsap_meta_source_attachment_id=”20045″ source=”https://www.kraabel.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/KRAABEL_BRANDNOISE_00003_03052025v2.mp3″…

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    Why Most Brand Mission Statements Fail

     1024 574 Michael Kraabel

    I have seen too many companies waste time crafting mission statements that sound impressive but mean nothing. Words like innovation, integrity, and customer-centricity get polished, debated, and approved, then promptly ignored. A mission statement is supposed to define a company’s purpose, yet most are so generic they could belong to any brand in any industry.…

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    Your AI Content Sucks – Reverse Engineering Prompts in 2025

     1024 576 Michael Kraabel

    For decades, I managed creative and marketing teams, and the hardest part of the job was never the creative work itself. It was getting useful feedback. Clients, executives, and even internal teams struggled to articulate what they wanted. Most people do not know how to critique. https://www.kraabel.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/KRAABEL_REVERSEPROMPTS_000002.mp3 They assume it means pointing out what they…

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