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Gain Recognition for your Digital Creativity

For 18 years, the Shorty Awards have recognized standout creativity and innovation across digital and social media. This season’s theme, Claim Your Era, invites brands, agencies, nonprofits, and creators to define the era they’re leading across 100+ categories, from branded content and storytelling to emerging tech.

Submit by January 29 to put your work on the global stage alongside top industry names like e.l.f. Cosmetics, YouTube, Amazon, Edelman, Snapchat, VML, and more. 

Need more details? Download the Entry Kit.

🙌🏽 Welcome to In Community.

🚨 Before we get into it: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

I’m closing the applications for my new course NO SHADE: Build Your Personal Brand, which begins in February. If you’re considering how to accelerate your visibility and propel toward your goals with confidence, submit your application.

👉🏽 Live sessions. Real frameworks. A community of peers that gets it.

Join the Founding Cohort. Apply here today.

PRO TIP: Check if your company has a Learning & Development budget you can tap.

🔥 And now, for your weekly spark.

Stop broadcasting. Stop chasing vanity metrics. Stop confusing noise for impact. In a world full of clutter, the work that matters isn’t the loudest — it’s the one that signals. Everything else? Static.

Last week, we talked about connection as the new currency. This week is the next layer: culture is the amplifier — and relevance is the outcome.

That’s what I call Signal Over Static 📡: the difference between content that resonates, builds trust, and fosters connection — and content that just adds to the white noise.

Static is content that talks at people. Signal is work that feels intentional, contextual, and human.

Sharon Mussalli, CEO of NowThis, said it perfectly on the latest In Community episode: “Teen girls are the nucleus of fandom… less reach for more relevance.”

​​That line isn’t about teens. It’s about instinct.

Audiences — especially Gen Z — make snap judgments. They don’t analyze content. They feel it. Their relevance reflex kicks in immediately: Is this for me? Does this understand me? Can I trust it?

When the answer is no, it doesn’t matter how many impressions you bought. You’re static.

It’s not about how many eyes see your work. It’s about whose hearts it lands in and whether it’s meaningful once it gets there. Relevance isn’t optional — it’s reflexive. Your audience decides, instantly, what signals matter to them and what’s just static.

📌 Signal Over Static in Practice

Connection is the currency 💬

Your first priority is creating genuine human connection. Numbers don’t build trust. Experiences do.

Culture is the amplifier 🌎

Connection alone isn’t enough. Align with your audience’s cultural context—their values, references, and identity. That’s what turns engagement into resonance.

Relevance is the impact ⚡

The signal lands when you understand your audience so deeply that your content feels inevitable. Anything else is just clicks.

💬 Quick pause
I’m working to hit 1,000 YouTube subscribers (I’m only 36% of the way there), and I need your help. My channel explores concepts like Signal Over Static, dives into marketing through the lens of connection and culture, and highlights leaders from the rising majority like Sharon Mussalli who are shaping the new rules of trust and relevance. Subscribing takes one click — and helps amplify the signal, not the static.

I’d love your support: Subscribe here 🎥

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Most brands aren’t failing because they lack budget or talent. They’re failing because they mistake volume for value.

Reach is noise. Vanity metrics are static. Relevance is power.

Brands that win in 2026 don’t just chase followers — they create signals that resonate, empower creators, and build communities that stick. Trust, storytelling, and cultural insight aren’t optional — they’re leverage points.

The brands — and leaders — that will win next aren’t louder. They’re clearer. They listen better. They trust culture more than dashboards. They understand that signal travels farther than static ever could.

This week’s challenge:
Identify one place where your work is optimized for clicks instead of connection — and flip it.

Stop broadcasting. Elevate authentic voices. Center culturally relevant stories. That one pivot can transform passive viewers into engaged fans — and fans into communities.

Remember: Signal Over Static isn’t a tactic — it’s a mindset. Trust your audience. Respect their culture. Prioritize connection.

Everything else will follow.

✅ Now Hiring

What you asked for, delivered.

Is someone you know considering what’s next for them? Here are a few roles with people hiring across the network. I’ll be adding roles here every week, so stay tuned and make sure to spread the word.

💥 Events Producer — Hue (I’m hiring for this one!)

💥 AVP, Brand Marketing — Sharp Electronics

💥 Sr Director, Community Engagement & Purpose — Gap Inc.

💥 Sr Director, Product Marketing — Blizzard Entertainment

💥 Sr Director, Growth Marketing — Newfold

💥 Director of Content — Solidcore

💥 Sr Brand Strategist — DuckDuckGo

💥 Sr Manager, Lifecycle Marketing — Gamma

💥 Sr Manager, Social Strategy — Conde Nast

💥 Marketing Project Manager — Zevia

💥 Manager, Influencer — Pfizer

💥 Social Content Manager — Teachable

ICYMI last week:

💥 SVP, Marketing — Sephora

💥 Director, Global Brand — Lenovo

💥 Director, Live TV Marketing — Hulu

💥 Fan Engagement MarComms Director — FIFA World Cup 26™ New York New Jersey

💥 VP, Strategy — VaynerMedia

💥 Sr. Influencer Marketing Manager — Apollo

💥 Sr. Manager, Marketing Program Management — Covered California

And before you go, consider who else might value this newsletter and what’s coming up on YouTube. Make sure to fwd this newsletter onward to them too. They can subscribe here for more directly in their inbox. 🔁 

In community,

Fahad