In this episode, Ed Vickers and Richard Hargrave dig into whether AI has a culture problem in creative work, or whether resistance is just the natural friction of a big change curve. They cover where AI is (and isn't) useful in branding, why commercial creativity and pure creativity call for different approaches, and what it means to give an LLM enough context to actually be useful on a client project.

Topics covered:

• Why AI struggles with net-new brand creation but earns its place in research and strategy validation
• The difference between commercial creativity and creativity for its own sake
• How AI-generated imagery is replacing stock photography for ownable, on-brand visuals
• Why underserved markets could see the biggest shift in image localisation
• The EU AI Act's transparency rules, in effect from 2 August 2026, and what they mean for labelling AI-generated content in marketing
• Why people forgive bad human design but won't forgive bad AI, and what that means for standards
• Closing advice for anyone sceptical about AI in marketing

Find us at loopagencies.com, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram.

20 episodes in. Ryan and Richard mark the milestone with a special one and they've brought a new face along for the ride.

First up, the boys welcome Javi to the LOOP team. Fresh from Spain and now settled in Edinburgh, Javi sits down to share his story. Why he chose design, what brought him across Europe to Scotland, and what life at LOOP has been like so far. It's a proper welcome, and a nice change of pace before things get serious.

Then Ryan and Richard turn their attention to the biggest financial story of 2026, the SpaceX IPO. Targeting a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion and a raise of $75 billion, it would be the largest public offering in history. The lads dig into what makes this one so different, why the Google comparison is so striking, and what it means that up to 30% of shares are being offered directly to everyday retail investors. A move that could fundamentally change how the public interacts with the stock market.

That conversation naturally spills into something bigger, if SpaceX is the template, is this what all major IPOs look like from here? And with so much capital concentrated in a handful of private companies, what does the future of money and finance actually look like? From AI agents handling trades at Goldman Sachs to banks becoming invisible infrastructure, Ryan and Richard explore where it's all heading.

Disclaimer: they are two marketers from Glasgow & London who are almost certainly underqualified to be having this conversation but they have it anyway, and honestly it's better for it.

A landmark episode. No finance degrees required

This week, Ryan and Richard dig into four stories shaking up the marketing world right now and what they actually mean for brands, creators, and digital marketers on the ground.

First up, the UK's HFSS advertising rules landed on March 29, and chocolate brands found themselves locked out of daytime TV right before Easter, their biggest sales window of the year. Ryan and Richard break down how brands like Cadbury were forced to rethink their entire seasonal strategy overnight, and ask the bigger question: is regulation actually a forcing function for more creative marketing?

Facebook is coming for TikTok and YouTube's creator base hard. The Creator Fast Track programme is offering established creators guaranteed monthly pay and boosted reach to make the switch to Reels. But will audiences follow? And what does a creator gold rush back to Facebook mean for brands investing in influencer partnerships right now?

Turning to the platform most marketers are criminally underusing. Reddit. New data shows Reddit's ROAS jumps 82% when cross-platform Amazon conversions are properly attributed, with revenue influenced by the platform growing 257% year on year. With new Collection Ads and community-driven ad formats now live, Ryan makes a case for why Reddit deserves a serious spot in your Q2 media mix.

Finally, they close out with the AI story nobody saw coming, OpenAI is shutting down Sora, its flagship video generation tool, on April 26. Even Disney, who had signed a billion-dollar licensing deal built around it, was blindsided. What does the death of one of AI's most hyped products tell us about building workflows on tools that might not be around next quarter?

Enjoy the show!