Episode Summary: Future-Proof Your Marketing Strategy w/ Allan Dib | The Futur with Chris Do | Ep 376

Release Date: August 30, 2025
Host: Chris Do
Guest: Allan Dib (Author, The One Page Marketing Plan)

Overview

In this episode of The Futur, Chris Do is joined by marketing expert and bestselling author Allan Dib to explore how creative professionals and business owners can future-proof their marketing strategies amidst overwhelming new technologies, especially AI. The conversation is built around a clever framework: "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," with each section unpacking core ideas for staying relevant, differentiated, and impactful—regardless of the latest marketing trends.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Something Old: The Enduring Power of Marketing Fundamentals

• The Temptation of New Tools: Allan observes that while AI and automation tools offer incredible leverage, many business owners are seduced into thinking these can do all their marketing and creative work. He cautions against relying exclusively on tools for results.

  • “People get faked out by tools… but really, that's just the initiative of your social feed, right? You see all of these crappy, you know, AI slop… No one's going to engage with that.” – Allan [03:05]

• What Doesn't Change: Fundamentals remain key: knowing your target market, crafting a resonant message, capturing and nurturing leads, and picking the right media.

  • “Timeless fundamentals to me are really answering that Jeff Bezos question: what's not going to change?” – Allan [03:38]

• AI as an “Iron Man Suit”: Tools can amplify what you do—but don't replace original thinking or creativity.

  • "They're the Iron Man suit... but they don't replace us. You still need the creativity, you still need the ideas that are actually going to make the thing." – Allan [04:49]

2. Something New: Ideas Matter More Than Execution

• The Shift in Value: With AI lowering execution barriers, unique ideas and creativity become the true differentiators.

  • “The value is in the idea… If you can come up with ideas that are unique, valuable, there’s massive, massive leverage in that.” – Allan [08:41]

• Creativity as a Moat: Creatives worried about AI should focus on their irreplaceable ability to originate novel concepts.

  • "They’ve kind of got a monopoly on the most valuable part of marketing... which is creativity." – Allan [07:44]

• The Composer Analogy: Don’t just be a player or conductor in the creative “orchestra”—be the composer.

  • “We want to go from player and first violinist and conductor to composer. Composer is going to be the one who brings the most value.” – Allan [10:04]

3. Biggest Creative Community Concerns

• Ethics of AI Datasets: Many fear that using AI tools trained on artist data is intellectual property theft.

• Obscurity vs. Theft: Allan argues being unknown is a bigger threat than being copied. Sharing your best work openly can lead to more opportunities than holding back out of fear.

  • “Obscurity is a much bigger problem than theft… The people who will buy from you are the people who want help implementing.” – Allan [12:02 & 13:05]
  • “To be a pattern interrupt, to be the different in the sea of sameness, it’s not that hard. The bar is really, really low.” – Allan [15:13]

• Standing Out Analogically: In an era of digital overload, going analog (handwritten notes, physical packages) becomes a form of luxury and a powerful way to get noticed.

  • “Analog is the new luxury, and going slow is the new luxury.” – Chris [16:04]
  • “Being able to stand out in a creative way, being that pattern interrupt is a massive, massive leverage point and very, very few people do it.” – Allan [15:13]

4. Something Borrowed: The Barbell (or Inverted Bell Curve) Strategy

• Barbell Strategy Origin (from Nassim Taleb): Avoid the undifferentiated middle—either compete on price by being the cheapest (and maximizing volume), or on value by being the most premium (and maximizing margins and relationships).

  • “The middle is absolutely the worst place to be... the clients who pay the most are the easiest dream clients to work with.” – Allan [25:48 & 27:19]

• Real Market Examples:

  • Low end: Walmart, Target (high volume, low price).
  • High end: Louis Vuitton, LVMH (premium, high margin).
  • Middle market businesses often get “slaughtered.”

• Implication for Freelancers & Small Businesses: Big price gaps between service packages (3x–10x) help clarify your positioning and attract different types of clients.

  • “If you have a big enough price gap, you now have completely different positioning.” – Allan [29:06]

• Storytelling & Aesthetics in Premium Pricing: Add value through aesthetics, scarcity, and story—not just function.

  • “There’s the aesthetic appeal, but also a lot of times a story attached to it. If you can attach a powerful story, even better.” – Allan [31:41]

5. Something Blue: Blue Ocean Strategy for a “Moat” in the Age of AI

How to Escape Competition and Swim in Open Waters

• Three Pillars to Build Your “Blue Ocean”:

  1. Intellectual Property (IP)/Frameworks
     • Frameworks (like Allan’s “One Page Marketing Plan”) clarify thinking, make complex processes simple, and let you productize your services.
     • “Frameworks teach people how to think... they help you productize what you do… and massively scale.” – Allan [37:39]
  2. Data
     • Proprietary insights or data about consumers or your results.
  3. Distribution
     • Having an audience or “brandwidth”—a direct relationship with your tribe.

• If You Have to Pick One: Go All-In on Frameworks

  • “Frameworks… massively, massively scale that… it’s the combine harvester that helps you do more with less.” – Allan [39:00]

• How to Build a Framework:

  • Observe your own repeatable processes.
  • Codify and clarify steps so anyone can apply it.
  • “If someone saw you doing your work… and you asked them to document it, they would see recurring patterns.” – Allan [39:17]

• Mental Models & Structure:

  • Frameworks are like architectural bones—they simplify, accelerate, and clarify your work, making it accessible and repeatable for others.
  • “A framework is more powerful than a recipe because a recipe is how to make one very specific thing… a framework is the bones of the architecture so you kind of land it in the same place.” – Chris [42:35]

6. Recap: The Wedding Strategy

| Wedding Tradition | Marketing Lesson | |-------------------|------------------| | Something Old | Timeless fundamentals—know your audience, craft your message, and nurture leads. | | Something New | Ideas and creativity have never been more valuable as execution risk drops with AI. | | Something Borrowed | Barbell strategy—in pricing, stand out by being either the value leader or the premium provider. | | Something Blue | Find your unique blue ocean through frameworks (IP), data, and audience access (distribution). Focus especially on frameworks! |

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tools vs. Strategy:
  “People get faked out by tools… at the end of the day, there needs to be human, someone with taste, who understands creativity, to judge and to arbitrate whether or not this is good.”
  – Allan [03:05, 05:26]

• On Obscurity:
  “Obscurity is a much bigger problem than theft… The people who will buy from you are the people who want help implementing.”
  – Allan [12:02, 13:05]

• On the Barbell Strategy:
  “The clients who pay the most are the easiest dream clients to work with… the painful clients are the ones who pay the least.”
  – Allan [27:19]

• On Frameworks:
  “Frameworks teach people how to think… they help you productize what you do… massively, massively scale that.”
  – Allan [37:39, 39:00]

• On Analog as Luxury:
  “Analog is the new luxury, and going slow is the new luxury.”
  – Chris [16:04]

Key Timestamps

• 01:19 – Allan: “Let’s start with something old… back to fundamentals.”
• 03:05 – Allan on AI tools & 'AI slop'.
• 10:04 – Allan: Orchestra/composer analogy for creatives.
• 12:02 – Allan: “Obscurity is a much bigger problem than theft.”
• 15:13 – Allan on standing out with analog methods.
• 19:27 – Chris/Allan: Marketing as a positive externality.
• 25:39 – Allan: Barbell strategy and avoiding the middle.
• 27:19 – Allan: Premium clients anecdote.
• 31:41 – Allan: Aesthetics and story in pricing.
• 37:36 – Allan: Of the three blue ocean levers, frameworks are #1.
• 39:00 – Allan: How frameworks help individuals and organizations scale.
• 44:10 – Chris: Recaps four-part strategy.

Conclusion

Allan Dib and Chris Do skillfully demystify how to approach marketing in a rapidly evolving digital world. Their core advice: double down on the fundamentals, recognize the new leverage of creative ideas, refuse to blend into the middle, and define your “blue ocean” by crystallizing your unique intellectual property—especially via frameworks. The actionable takeaways are clear: focus less on shiny tools, more on timeless strategy and structured creativity, and don't be afraid to go analog or premium—or both—to truly stand out.