In this week’s Barber’s Brief, Marc and Vassilis dive into stories that had the marketing world buzzing — from Lululemon’s founder publicly calling out the brand’s leadership to Google breaking SEO dashboards everywhere after removing the num=100 parameter. They explore new research proving creators are better brand builders than sales drivers, and then welcome Dr. Nicole Hartnett from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute to unpack her team’s latest findings on how marketers misjudge brand strength compared to consumers.

They wrap up with the Ad of the Week — Dove’s “Change the Compliment,” a heartfelt campaign challenging how we praise young girls. It’s insightful, funny, and filled with marketing lessons that stick.

Key Takeaways

Lululemon’s identity crisis: Founder Chip Wilson’s fiery WSJ ad claims the brand lost its creative edge chasing quarterly profits — a reminder of what happens when finance outweighs product and brand.

Link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1397187/000119312525234754/ck0000000000-ex99_4.pdf

Google’s “num=100” chaos: 77% of sites saw keyword visibility drop, exposing years of phantom SEO data. Your reports might look worse… but they’re actually more accurate.

Link: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-rank-and-position-tracking-is-a-mess-right-now-461984

We’ve been using creators wrong: Groundbreaking research proves creators build brand love, not just clicks — performing on par with TV in the short term, and even better long-term.

Link: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2025/10/08/ground-breaking-research-proves-we-ve-been-using-creators-wrong-all-time

Marketing Moment – Brand misjudgment: Dr. Nicole Hartnett reveals marketers consistently overestimate fame and underestimate the uniqueness of their assets — the “false consensus effect” in action.

Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-025-00395-y

Special Guest: Dr. Nichole Hartnet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartnett/

Ad of the Week – Dove’s “Change the Compliment”: A beautifully simple message — stop telling girls they’re pretty, and start telling them they’re powerful, kind, and creative.

Link: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2025/10/10/dove-urges-people-change-how-girls-are-complimented

Timestamps:

00:00 – Cold open & Thanksgiving banter

02:00 – Lululemon in a Nosedive: Chip Wilson’s WSJ ad

10:00 – Google’s “num=100” parameter and the SEO data meltdown

18:00 – New IPA research: We’ve been using creators wrong

26:00 – Marketing Moment: Dr. Nicole Hartnett on brand misjudgment

46:00 – Ad of the Week: Dove’s “Change the Compliment”

57:00 – What’s next on The Sleeping Barber Podcast

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Get in touch with our hosts:

Marc Binkley: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/

Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/