Marketing by Design – Design thinking that makes marketing work
I test the AI tools, design trends, and brand moves marketers are talking about, then tell you what holds up and what doesn’t. Written by the author of the bestselling The Visual Marketer, after 20+ years leading brand, creative, and digital experience marketing teams.
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AD91: Hook ’Em Young: AI's Next Power Move
Published over 1 year ago • 5 min read
04 May 2025 | Issue #91
In this issue:
The Next Frontier of Vendor Lock-In
How Sports Color Palettes Inspire Branding
Pushing Yourself Further
Sam Altman’s Eyeball-Scanning Worldcoin Orb Launches in the U.S.
New Podcast Interview About TheVisual Marketer
Design Quote of the Week
Midjourney prompt: a man is signing a contract. A robot is standing behind him watching the paper. Bright, sunny animated style. --ar 16:9 --s 50
Vendor Lock-In
Are you iOS or Android?
Microsoft or Google?
PlayStation or Xbox?
Once you become entrenched in a system, it can be very difficult to get out of it. This is by design. It's called vendor lock-in. You usually see it on the enterprise side, but it can happen on the consumer side.
As we get deeper into these ecosystems, it gets hard to switch to the competition. I bought my first iPhone in 2007. Between my Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, AppleOne, and everything else, it would be basically impossible for me to switch everything over to Google/Android at this point. I have too much history.
Vendor Lock-In
Are you iOS or Android?
Microsoft or Google?
PlayStation or Xbox?
Once you become entrenched in a system, it can be very difficult to get out of it. This is by design. It's called vendor lock in. You usually see it on the enterprise side, but it can happen on the consumer side.
As we get deeper into these ecosystems, it gets hard to switch to the competition. I bought my first iPhone in 2007. Between my Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, AppleOne, and everything else, it would be basically impossible for me to switch everything over to Google/Android at this point. I have too much history.
History is what vendors need to establish stickiness. It's one thing to make it difficult or expensive to migrate. It's another if you have to start over from scratch after the time, effort, and expense of migration.
The Next Generation of Vendor Lock In
AI is the next frontier trying to establish itself as a part of your life that you can't abandon. You will be using AI in the future. The only question is which AI will you be using?
OpenAI keeps adding to its flagship product, ChatGPT, to get you more entrenched in its product suite. From chat memory, to image creation, to APIs, they want to make it nearly impossible for you to switch to Claude or another rival.
A few weeks ago we saw both OpenAI (maker of ChatGPT) and Anthropic (maker of Claude) announce education initiatives. Their thinking is similar to the old tobacco industry: hook 'em young!
Hook 'em young!
Back in the '80s, Apple had an initiative to get its computers into schools. In 1983, Apple offered a free Apple IIe to every elementary and secondary school in the state of California. After discounts and tax credits, it cost Apple ~$1m to put one of their computers in all 9250 eligible California schools.
I lived on the other side of the country, but I remember when Apple IIes started popping up in classrooms and at home (my father was a teacher). So even with Apple's downfall in the '90s, they were still all over the place. I always used an Apple or Mac. I've had one job where I had to use a PC. Otherwise, I've been using an Apple computer for 35-40 years.
Looking around my office right now, Apple's $1m donation has probably been repaid by me, personally.
Both Anthropic and OpenAI are betting that if they can get students and teachers locked into their ecosystems, they're more likely to convert to paying customers as time goes on.
Enabling people to grow comfortable with the AI offerings, and create a backlog of prompt history, as well as building the memory, will make it harder for people to switch vendors, even when they have to start paying for the service with their own money.
I don't know the financial deals that these AI leaders have with universities and local schools, but it will pay off in the long run if they can keep people hooked on the value.
NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARKETING, DESIGN, & AI
🥊 How Sports Color Palettes Inspire Branding and Marketing
Shutterstock breaks down how athletic team colors can guide brands toward bolder, more emotional visual identities.
Color = Identity: From the Lakers’ bold purple and gold to the Yankees’ stoic navy and white, team colors instantly signal attitude, community, and values—something brands can tap into, even outside the sports world.
Five Palette Examples: The article showcases five palettes from teams like the Miami Heat and San Francisco Giants to inspire distinct brand vibes—from fiery and fierce to cool and confident.
My Take: I was in sports-related marketing for a while, and the color palettes are as important as the logo.
👀 Sam Altman’s Eyeball-Scanning Worldcoin Orb Launches in the U.S.
Worldcoin’s biometric crypto project is now rolling out across the U.S.—offering tokens in exchange for iris scans as part of its plan to create a “proof of personhood” in the AI age.
Privacy Meets Crypto: Critics argue the promise of free crypto for biometric data is a privacy risk, but Worldcoin claims it’s essential for distinguishing real humans from bots in a world of AI-generated content.
Designing Trust: The Orb’s retro-futuristic aesthetic may attract curiosity, but the bigger question is whether people are willing to trade their irises for digital identity—and if the design inspires enough trust.
My Take: This will be an interesting thing to watch in the future. I'll have more next week.
This past week, The Visual Marketer hit #1 on the Amazon best sellers list for at least two different categories (including Design!). Thanks to those who purchased and promoted the book!
RECENT AND UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
This past Tuesday I was a guest on #TimTalk with Tim Hughes. Tim said some wonderful things about The Visual Marketer and asked some questions that proved that he enjoyed the book.
The conversation is ~20 minutes long and I enjoyed it.
Tuesday was also the day I was part of the monthly book club within the RISE marketing community. The moderator, Valentina Escobar-Gonzalez led a great round table that got me to talk further about everything from the dedication, to what I left out, to what it means to be a published author.
I also have a few other podcasts and roundtables in the queue.
If you're looking for podcast guests, or want to collaborate on something, shoot me a DM.
DESIGN QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Designing a product is designing a relationship.” – Steve Rogers
My AI disclaimer: I write the main story. I find the news stories, and the summary is by ChatGPT. I write the My Takes bullet. If AI generates the images, I include the prompt so you can see how I got to that image.
Marketing by Design – Design thinking that makes marketing work
Jim MacLeod
I test the AI tools, design trends, and brand moves marketers are talking about, then tell you what holds up and what doesn’t. Written by the author of the bestselling The Visual Marketer, after 20+ years leading brand, creative, and digital experience marketing teams.
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