South Africa, Feb. 5 -- In an age where AI promises to revolutionise marketing, and CMOs race to deploy the latest technologies, I've watched many brands lose sight of what truly builds lasting value: fundamental human truths.

We're witnessing an obsession with trends - agentic AI, hyper-personalisation, and whatever the latest optimisation acronym happens to be. But brands that chase trends without anchoring them in human truths are building castles on sand.

Trifles, trends and truths

Dave Duarte, founder of Treeshake, offers a framework I've found invaluable for separating signal from noise: distinguishing between trifles, trends and truths. Trifles are fleeting obsessions that burn bright and fade fast - what Duarte calls "the candy...