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Consumers Don’t Like Ads—So Why Are We Still Making Them?

Episode Summary

Why do consumers hate advertising yet brands invest billions in digital advertising every year? After 17 years leading digital marketing transformation across three major agency networks and now heading retail media strategy for the Middle East and Africa, Gosia Wajchert has the answer. And it's not what you think.

Episode Notes

In this episode of Brew Bytes, I sit down with Gosia Wajchert, Managing Director for MEA at Criteo, to explore the psychological principles behind modern advertising and why consumer behavior is shifting faster than marketing strategies can adapt. We go into how AI and predictive technology are reshaping e-commerce, why Gen Z's demand for authenticity is forcing brands to rethink trust, and how retail media is exploiting decision-making vulnerabilities we don't even know we have. This episode challenges everything you thought you knew about digital advertising and reveals why cultural intelligence and emotional awareness are becoming the most critical skills in commerce.

Key Insights that we took from our conversation: 

• Why consumers increasingly dislike advertising yet brands continue to invest heavily in digital advertising campaigns 
• How emotion-aware AI and predictive technology are being used to manipulate consumer behavior and emotional responses 
• The psychology behind Gen Z's demand for authenticity and why so many brands fake it instead of building real trust
•  The relationship between advertising manipulation, mental health, and trust erosion in modern commerce 
• The future of AI-powered emotional manipulation and what it means for consumer privacy and autonomy 
• Why simplicity in e-commerce will be the defining trend of 2025 and how one-touch platforms will change shopping behavior 
• How cultural intelligence is becoming more important than technical skills in digital transformation 

🟥 About Brew Bytes (brewbytes.io) 

The conversations fuelling tomorrow, one byte at a time. Everyone talks about the future like it's some far off thing. But it's already happening in code, in culture, in tiny moments that change everything. At Brew Bytes, we slow down to unpack those moments. It's not just about tech or startups. It's about people, their ideas, their pivotal moments, their small wins that add up to something big. Each episode, we sit with founders, makers, and curious minds shaping what's next and we ask the questions you don't find in the headlines. So if you like your insights fresh and your stories real, grab a coffee. Let's talk about the future while we're still building it. 

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🟥 Episode Credits: 

Produced by Nadeem Ibrahim and Arjun Radeesh 

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