AI as the New ‘Foam Mat’ for Marketing Innovation, According to Kieran Flanagan

In a recent LinkedIn post, Kieran Flanagan explores the evolving landscape of marketing knowledge in the age of Artificial Intelligence and argues that AI is fundamentally changing the path to success for marketers. Flanagan uses a compelling historical anecdote to illustrate his point that relying on established ‘best practices’ can become a barrier to innovation when the tools and environment change.

Flanagan begins by recounting a conversation with a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) who expressed a significant fear: that AI is rapidly commoditizing marketing knowledge. He elaborates on this concern, stating:

“It used to take years to learn the best marketing playbooks. Now, AI is giving away those playbooks. The best email sequences. The SEO tactics. The ad strategies.”

The Fosbury Flop: A Paradigm Shift in High Jumping

To frame his argument, Kieran Flanagan introduces the story of Dick Fosbury and his revolutionary high-jumping technique, the ‘Fosbury Flop.’ Before Fosbury, Flanagan explains, the dominant and universally accepted method was the straddle technique, where jumpers went over the bar face down. This was the established ‘formula for success’ at the time.

Flanagan highlights the initial resistance and ridicule Fosbury faced:

“Coaches mocked him. Commentators called it lazy and ugly.”

However, Fosbury persisted, iterating and refining his technique. His eventual Olympic gold medal success demonstrated the power of challenging the status quo. Flanagan points out that Fosbury’s decision to deviate was driven by several key factors, not least of which was the inability to win by adhering to the existing formula because ‘everyone was doing it.’

Grief, Technology, and the Courage to Innovate

Further delving into Fosbury’s motivations, Kieran Flanagan suggests that profound personal experiences can free individuals to take risks. He mentions Fosbury’s past trauma, including the loss of his brother and his parents’ subsequent divorce, suggesting that such suffering made the potential embarrassment of a new technique seem less daunting.

Crucially, Flanagan also identifies a technological shift that enabled Fosbury’s innovation: the introduction of foam mats for landing. Previously, the hard ground necessitated a technique focused on safe foot-first landings. As Flanagan writes:

“And until the 1960s, high jumpers landed on hard ground, so the existing technique focused on landing safely on their feet. Fosbury’s school was one of the first to install mat foaming, making it safe to experiment with landing on your back.”

Flanagan connects these elements – the inability to win with the current formula, personal resilience born from suffering, and enabling technology – directly to the modern marketing landscape.

AI as the Enabler of Marketing Risk-Taking

Kieran Flanagan argues that AI serves a similar function for today’s marketers as the foam mats did for Fosbury. He posits that AI lowers the cost and increases the speed of experimentation, making it easier for marketers to move beyond established best practices. ‘AI is that foam mat for marketers; it makes experiments low-cost, fast and much easier to try,’ Flanagan states.

The core of Flanagan’s message is that as AI democratizes access to marketing playbooks, the true competitive advantage shifts. Instead of mastering existing formulas, marketers must leverage AI to break free from them. He concludes with a strong statement on the current dynamics of the field:

“When everyone runs the same play, the play stops working. Today’s advantage isn’t knowing the formula; it’s using AI to free yourself from best practices and taking risks to break them.”

In essence, Kieran Flanagan encourages marketers to view AI not as a threat that makes knowledge obsolete, but as a powerful tool that enables them to innovate, experiment, and ultimately find new formulas for success in an increasingly crowded and AI-influenced marketplace.