Art Valkenburg

Prioritising marketing tasks is often overwhelming. One simple framework we use at Cheese is: Impact: Which initiatives drive revenue or brand equity? Effort: How much time, budget, and resource does it require? Alignment: Does it reinforce positioning and strategy? Score initiatives on these dimensions. Focus on high-impact, low-effort, high-alignment activities first. The rest can wait. How are you currently prioritising marketing initiatives? #Marketing #Cheese #MarketingAgency #ConnectedPlatforms #AlignedStrategy

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Faster. More creative. More personalized. According to Benoit Veryser, VP of marketing at Lysol at Reckitt, these are the 3 core advantages AI unlocks for marketers. Learn why he believes this matters for brands today 👇

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Inconsistent ad results are more expensive than most brands realize.   Filippa K recognized their brand had more growth potential across Europe. What was missing was a strong digital advertising strategy to unlock it. Campaigns were unpredictable, and without structure, driving additional growth while scaling has been challenging.   Filippa K partnered with ReapDigital to unlock the brand's untapped potential. Smarter campaign architecture, focused bidding, and disciplined creative testing transformed their performance - delivering 42% higher ROAS, 157% revenue growth, and 36% lower acquisition costs across European markets.   When strategy meets execution in the right way, the results speak for themselves. See how we did it: https://lnkd.in/gGRvDaC8

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When is the right moment for founders to bring in a CEO? As co-CEOs, Joyce De Haas and I complement each other by focusing deeply on different areas. Joyce leads everything in finance, operations and export, while I focus on sales, branding and marketing. Between us, we each have our teams, and it works. But there’s a question we keep circling back to — one I think every founder faces at some point: Do you double down on your strengths and make space for others to shine even brighter? Or do you bring in an external CEO to take the business forward? And if you do, then what becomes the role of the founders? We’ve seen, for example, how bringing in a more general manager-type role can create a bottleneck: instead of speeding things up, decisions start funnelling from founders → GM → heads of department. And suddenly, the business is moving slower, not faster. So it raises bigger questions: ✨ When do you know the time is right — is it about headcount? revenue? or simply instinct? ✨ What should the CEO role be in a founder-led business? Is that moment now, in two years, or maybe never? I’d love to hear from other founders and leaders: When did you know it was time to bring in a CEO — and how did your role evolve afterwards?

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Influentials is expanding its platform with social commerce collaborations: from TikTok Shop to live commerce. A next step where creators don’t just create content, but actively drive sales through social shopping and live formats. For brands, this means scalable access to creators based on both audience fit and commercial potential. For creators, it unlocks new revenue models as social sellers and live hosts. Influentials will also play an active role in training creators to master social selling. We’re currently onboarding brands and creators ahead of our launch later this month. Curious how social commerce can work for your brand? Let’s talk 💜 .

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AI can write. Design. Analyze. Optimize. But it still can’t do one thing: feel. 🥹 • It doesn’t understand the anxiety behind a first-time buyer’s hesitation. • The way a founder’s voice shakes when talking about their first customer. • The pride behind a product made with heart.🖤 The best marketers don’t just know tactics. They understand people. And in a world of machine-generated everything? Empathy is your unfair advantage.✨ Use AI to move faster. 💨 But use human insight to move people. If you're in business or marketing, double down on what makes you irreplaceable. 🔗AI doesn’t know what it’s like to feel unseen. It doesn’t understand the joy of a small brand finally being recognized. It can’t pick up on the silent tension in a client’s voice, or the subtle fear behind a user’s hesitation. Marketing at its best is emotional. It’s about knowing what people long for. What they fear. What they love. What they wish they could say. And that level of nuance? Still very, very human. I believe we’ll always need human storytellers at the heart of every great business. AI can assist—but connection is still our job. #MarketingTrends #MarketingLeadership #eventmarketing #AIinMarketing #WomenInLeadership #BrandLeadership #CreativeLeadership

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In the past, at sprints & sneakers, we have always been able to adapt our business models to the context of our market and the needs of our partners. As an agency, we continuously test where our next step lies so that we remain future-proof. That is why we are still growing rapidly year-on-year. Here are some insights into how we approach this in our dedicated AI team.

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A great perspective on how brands can move beyond transactions and turn customers into active participants in their mission.👌🏻 Here’s a new episode from my conversation with Gastón Tourn, Chief Growth Officer at Oddbox, who will be joining Brands&Culture in London on 6–7 May. See you there! #culture #brands #culturemarketing #marketing #interview #event

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100 Dutch startup founders sat for a Vliegwiel portrait by Wesley Verhoeve to make one point: the Netherlands has the talent for a world-class startup ecosystem ... just not the regulations to match. And speaking of talent, my co-founder at Meevee, D Alcausin! 📸👇👏

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Today the 2026 Dutch E-commerce Monitor was released.  But what it shows seems to be a global trend. Last year, 60% of companies were still focused on customer acquisition, and margins were under pressure. This year, the tide has turned: the emphasis is on retention, and the focus has shifted from revenue to margin. I recognize that. Daily I hear the same when speaking to clients, founders, and marketers. Actually, it’s just sound business sense: that focus on black figures. Do you want to grow sustainably? Then stop: ❌ Using discounts as your only growth strategy. That just gets you… customers who only come back when there’s a discount. But they’ll just as easily order from your competitor. ❌ Treating everyone the same. The top 15–20% of your customers often account for nearly half of your revenue. The rest sometimes even cost you money. ❌ Acquisition-first thinking. Acquiring new customers is 5–7 times more expensive than retaining existing ones. So fix that “leaky bucket” first before pouring more water into it. ❌ Vanity metrics. Likes and followers don’t pay your bills. Instead, focus more on: ✅ Segmentation that matters. Identify and recognize your best customers, and treat them accordingly. Not every customer is the same. ✅ Retention as a system. Win-back flows, reactivation, RFM. Boring, but it works. ✅ Understand and use these 3 levers: revenue = customers × AOV × frequency. Most teams only focus on one. ✅ Focus on profit. Think CLV, payback period, and contribution margin. That determines whether you’re building or burning through cash. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁? Stop obsessively chasing new customers. And treat your best customers like the goldmine they are.

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Your revenue might look good… but are you actually profitable? 🤔 Most e-commerce brands focus on scaling ads. Very few focus on unit economics. And that’s where things break. 👉 The LTV:CAC ratio tells you one simple truth: Are you building a sustainable business… or just burning cash? If your numbers don’t make sense, growth won’t last. 👉 Aim for a healthy ratio, optimize your acquisition, and maximize customer value. Because real growth isn’t just about more sales… 👉 It’s about profitable scaling. #UnitEconomics #EcommerceStrategy #Profitability #StartupGrowth #BusinessScaling #CustomerAcquisition #MarketingStrategy #GrowthMetrics #EntrepreneurMindset #EcommerceBrand #ScalingBusiness #RevenueGrowth

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Most discussions on scaling focus on replication. CARAVAN COFFEE ROASTERS | B Corp™ highlights a different truth: expansion into new formats is a fundamentally different game than growing within your core format. The key insight for operators and brand owners is that your measurement framework must evolve with your concept portfolio. Aggregating scores across fundamentally different models can mask truths and misguide strategy. BrandScore's granular tracking enables this precise, format-level diagnosis. Before you scale out, you need the intelligence to know if you're scaling your core competency or building a new one. #BrandIntelligence #MultiLocationStrategy #RestaurantOperations #DataDrivenDecision #ScaleVsScope #BrandScore --- ⚡ Transform your F&B strategy with data-driven intelligence. Start making decisions with confidence → www.brandscoreapp.com

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We made another report with Dealroom.co. This time the State of AI in the Netherlands. Do we have the leadership to act? The moment of choice for NL and Europe. 𝟴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: 1. 𝗔𝗜 𝗛𝘂𝗯 - Campus-style center in Amsterdam 2. 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 - 1% allocation = Billions for AI scale-ups 3. 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀 for international AI talent 4. 𝗔𝗜 𝗚𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 for sovereign model development 5. 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 of AI solutions 6. 𝗥𝗲-𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 for Dutch talent at Big Tech 7. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 8. 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 the whole ecosystem can rally behind

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I’m happy to share this article featuring Advertima, Adtrac and PADS4 and our shared work on bringing audience-based in-store advertising to the next level: Retail Media: Advertima, Adtrac und PADS4 bringen Audience-basiertes In-Store Advertising - m&k https://lnkd.in/eZrTUdBe What I particularly like about this milestone is that it didn’t happen overnight. This is the result of years of preparation, many iterations, and a clear long-term vision: building an ecosystem that combines the best capabilities of each partner to deliver the strongest possible outcome for retailers and advertisers. It’s also a great example of what Adtrac stands for strategically: More choice. More flexibility. More control for the customer. Instead of forcing a “one vendor does it all” approach, Adtrac continues to believe in open, modular solutions — not walled gardens. Retailers should be able to compose the ecosystem that fits their business best, combining specialised partners rather than being locked into a single provider that does everything a bit, but nothing expertly. Our customers know what works best for them — our job is to make it possible. #RetailMedia #InStoreAdvertising #DOOH #AdTech #AudienceBasedAdvertising #Ecosystems #Partnerships

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Thrilled to share this Scope3 Brand Standards case study from Lot of Happiness and Draft Digital which ran on Meta. The results show that Scope3's Brand Standards Agent deemed 25% of content unsuitable for the brand and blocked it, freeing the budget to be reinvested into more aligned, effective content.

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Some real gold from Sarah S. on brand collaborations and what “authencity” really means in today’s creator economy. Embracing creator authenticity isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a strategic imperative. It's how brands move from being advertisers to being partners in creating content that truly relevant to consumers. It's about understanding the nuances of the platforms, respecting the consumer's time, and knowing where the attention is at. As Sarah said: …let them get on with it! 💫 #creatoreconomy #marketingforthenow #vaynermediaemea #vaynermedia #oatly #modernmarketing

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Welcome to the eCommerce Lab Podcast! This time, our guest is Sheldon Adams, Head of Strategy at Enavi, one of the most respected figures in product analysis and brand growth. Together with Sheldon, we'll be discussing strategies for finding winning products in 2025, the trends shaping the market, what data to analyze before launching, and how to avoid investing in products that don't scale. If you're in e-commerce, Amazon FBA, retail, or developing digital brands, this episode is for you. #ecomcy #Amazon #amazonfba #amazonseller #amazonbusiness #amazonfbaseller #amazonppc #amazonadvertising #amazonsellercentral #amazonppctips #amazonprivatelabel #amazonselling #amazonseo

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What interesting times to work with SEO within E-commerce. Over the past months, I’ve had tons of inspiring conversations about how to optimise for the new search landscape. From some of those sessions, I’ve gathered 9 tips and actions you can take to strengthen your visibility. Swipe through them all below. The key focus should be on optimising products and their data in all aspects. It’s about how your content, data, and product information interact with LLMs. Build better feeds, optimise product content, and add more specifications, assets, modules, and elements to your PDPs. If you want to hear more about this topic, I’ll be speaking at two of s360s upcoming Ecom Leaders events: The AI Shake-Up in Search – How to Optimise for the New Reality. 📍 London – October 30 📍 Helsinki – October 31 📍 Aarhus – November 4 Reach out if you’re interested in attending!

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