From Perfection to Authenticity: Michele Fry on Marketing’s Fast-Paced Future

Michele Fry, former Head of Creative at Ocado, has spent her career at the intersection of creativity, efficiency, and brand building. In this interview, she shares why perfection is no longer the goal in marketing, how authenticity and speed are redefining the industry, and where she sees AI unlocking new possibilities for creative teams. From her time leading creative at one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies to her current work in Dubai, Michele offers a candid perspective on the challenges and opportunities shaping marketing today.

What’s one belief in marketing that’s changed recently?

When I started out, a lot of what you wanted to do as a creative or a marketer was create that next big TV ad with the huge budget, hit song, big actor. What’s changed is that need for perfection. What people actually want is authenticity. Hence the growth of micro-influencers showing their real lives. Perfection has shifted to authenticity.

Do you think social media  is bridging that gap between brands and consumers?

Yeah. Where brands are showing up now is in people’s private spaces, on their phones, looking directly at your brand, rather than the family TV where you watched what your dad wanted. Now people are looking to connect on a more intimate level.

What is the invisible challenge marketing teams face today?

I don’t know if I’d call it invisible, but the challenge is speed. We’re either reacting or trying to get ahead, and with that pace we’re losing the ability to predict. With AI, brands don’t have the time to figure out what they want to be, they’re just jumping on. The ones doing it well have created structures for this agility. The ones falling behind either don’t have those structures or don’t know where they want to sit.

What would be some marketing advice you’d give to your 2020 self?

I’d tell myself: look at where social is going. Realize that social is going to have the most impact for marketing from 2020 onwards. Everyone was confined and people still haven’t really left that digital space. Even with more out-of-home now compared to 2020, people are still connecting through digital. Shops on TikTok, Instagram, click-through, that’s where conversion is happening.

What role do you think AI should play in the future of marketing?

AI has a place in all types of marketing. Right now I see AI as being an enabler. For example, if we look at creative ops and we think about AI enabling efficiency, what are those pain points that don’t need to be human-centric that will improve the creative process. Giving creatives more time and the space to be creative.

How do you measure effectiveness of creative content?

We live in this doom scrolling space. So I don’t think a view really means anything anymore. You can have people viewing your content but are they actually engaging with it. How are people actually responding to the creative that’s being put out there and what are they saying? I think that’s really where the effectiveness measurement comes in.