Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 129
Goodmorning everyone! Another edition of my newsletter on everything I find interesting. Mostly on Global Marketing & Retail. Go check out this edition.
Good morning everyone! Soon (in March) I will be traveling to Asia again so I hope to find some nice retails and e-commerce examples during this travel and post them here on this substack. So stay tuned I will leave early march and I am sure I can make some great remarkable pictures or videos
📱Nothing phone let’s you make your own apps
Vibe coding is fun, I’m liking it more and more. The trick, I think, is to really stretch these systems and try to get the most out of them. I constantly try to at least, and it’s fun to do.
A while ago, I wrote about the trend of “disposable apps,” and it feels like we’re going next level with the “Nothing Phone.” If you haven’t heard of it, Nothing phone was started by the founder of OnePlus (Carl Pei) and that matters because the guy actually has a vision and proven to execute it very well. I also like the name 😀.
Right now, Nothing has released a “playground” on their phones, where you can vibe code your own widgets.
It’s just widgets for now, but once this clicks, people will be vibe coding entire apps, on their own phone.
This is going to change how we use phones:
App Store downloads might reduce for non financial and lower complex apps: Why go through the friction of a store when you can just manifest the tool you need exactly the way you want.
UX becomes “uncontrolled”: We’re moving away from pixel-perfect designs forced on us by big tech. If you vibe code it, the UX is whatever you want it to be.
It’s a shift from being a user to being a creator of your own phone.
https://nothing.community/d/52739-essential-apps-enters-beta
🌎 Dara Denny’s 5 ad levels of AndroMeda maturity
You all know I like Dara’s videos a lot. Dara now has a new video that’s worth sharing and summarizing. It’s all about AndroMeda and how you can achieve success at Meta Ads. Success on Meta requires two things now: Creative Velocity and Creative Diversity. To help brands identify where they are and how to scale, Dara Denney has determined “5 Levels of Creative Diversity”. Here they are:
Ad Level 0: Statics vs. Videos At this entry level, brands are simply trying to move beyond using only images. While many start with statics, you must emerge into video to find long-term success. If you only distinguish your ads by whether they are “a static” or “a video,” you are still at level zero.
Ad Level 1: Format Expansion (Visual Diversity) This is where you seek visual diversity through different formats (e.g., UGC, green screen, TikTok response bubbles, or VSLs).
Ad Level 2: Awareness Expansion Here, you stop making every ad a direct “buy now” pitch. You must analyze where your customers are in their journey: Unaware, Solution-Aware, or Product-Aware. Many brands see ads “fall off a cliff” because they only target product-aware users; to scale, you must go upfunnel with educational content that introduces the product to new consumers.
Ad Level 3: Desire & Motivation Expansion This level taps into human psychology to create ads that feel like they were made specifically for the user. You expand your messaging by leaning into the 16 human desires or the Life Force 8 (concepts from the book Cashvertising).
Ad Level 4: Audience Segment & Use Case Expansion (Personas) At this stage, you begin marketing to entirely new groups of people. This involves identifying different personas who use your product for different reasons. For example, a single beauty product might target “mommies” wanting a quick routine, “Gen Z” looking for a no-makeup look, and “Millennials” focused on dry skin. Providing the Andromeda algorithm with diverse personas allows it to find new pockets of profit for your brand, really interesting this I think. I think you can use AI also to figure out new persona’s.
Ad Level 5: True Creative Diversity This is a mindset shift where content strategy is at the heart of everything the business does. This level is reached when a brand excels at all previous levels across a suite of products or when they capitalize on celebrity engagements and high-level creative operations. Think of episodic content, documentaries, or a highly specialized content style that lives beyond just paid placements. If your organic and paid strategies are working in tandem to put content at the center of your business, you have reached the top tier of the platform.
🇵🇱 The Poles are coming!
I have been to Poland quite some times. I worked with many Polish collegues in e-ecommerce, software development and customer service. What stood out to me as one Czech friend once said “In Poland everyone is a businessman/woman”.
I think that’s true and thats a compliment to Poland.
Earlier I wrote on how Poland’s GDP is surpassing that of some European countries.
Now we see the trend continuing when Bloomberg reports that Poland is increasing company takovers in Germany
Poland’s stage of development is beginning to resemble that of South Korea previously, according to Dominik Kopinski, a senior adviser at the Polish Economic Institute in Warsaw. The acquisitions by companies reflect Poland’s shifting away from being an emerging market, he said. The difference is that Poles are driven more by the pursuit of market share than by the acquisition of new technologies.
This means -there were already a lot- opportunities in e-commerce in Poland, but as I remember from working with Polish collegues and managing a Polish webshop, there is huge competition there, so really dive into your competition and (potential) customers.
Go for it Poland, details:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-11/poland-s-1-trillion-economic-boom-sparks-m-a-in-germany
📹 Search Engine Land on video as source of truth for AI
Earlier I wrote on this topic as well. Don’t underestimate video and repurposing content (especially but not only in B2B). Search Engine land explains why and how! I suggest this is a ‘must read’ for everyone in digital marketing and content.
To correct brand drift and prevent AI from distorting your brand message, your company must provide a canonical source of truth.
By producing authoritative videos (e.g., a demo that explicitly clarifies pricing), you provide strong semantic information through the transcript and visual proof. The video becomes the canonical source of truth that makes things clear, overriding opinions from Reddit and other sources.
The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) is developing a new provenance standard to verify authenticity. The organization, which includes members such as Google, Adobe, Microsoft, and OpenAI, provides the technical specifications that enable this data to be cryptographically verifiable.
Identify the gap: Where is AI hallucinating elements of your story? Find the topics where your brand voice is missing or being misrepresented by outdated Reddit posts or competitor noise.
Anchor with verified experts: Use real people with verifiable credentials. AI agents now cross-reference experts against LinkedIn data and professional knowledge graphs to weigh the authority of the content.
Preserve the nuance: Marketing and legal departments often strip it from blog posts, making them generic. Video preserves the colloquial, detailed explanations that signal true expertise.
And there still is lots of hallucination in AI so this is really important if you take your brand and performance branding seriously.
Details:
Related articles:
https://www.crossborderalex.com/p/global-digital-marketing-and-retail-ed108
https://www.crossborderalex.com/p/global-digital-marketing-and-retail-ed90
🇨🇳 China recognizes new cross border profession
I stumbled upon this article: a new profession for us crossborder fans: cross-border e-commerce operations manager.
To be honest it’s a profession in the direction I brainstormed with myself about many times. Someone who helps companies from China, sell in Europe. I reckon, I need to improve my mandarin skills from “beer order level” to “business level” 😅.
Zhang shuttles daily between two fronts: data and cargo ships. In the morning, she might be an analyst studying traffic trends. In the afternoon, she becomes a supervisor monitoring production schedules. Late at night, she turns into a customer service representative, verifying bill of lading information with overseas clients. This is the daily reality of cross-border e-commerce operations managers — monitoring backend data to identify market demand while ensuring each shipment clears customs smoothly.
Zhang has discovered that cultural differences permeate every aspect of business. East Asian consumers prefer individually packaged snack foods, valuing convenience and experience, while in Russia and Central Asia, walnuts are important daily ingredients, with substantial household consumption and food-processing demand making bulk wholesale trade more active. Understanding these nuances means going beyond market research reports to grasp local dietary culture, family structures and even holiday traditions.
According to the White Paper on Talent Cultivation for Cross-Border E-Commerce in China, the country’s talent gap in the sector reached 4 million people in 2025, and the shortage may continue to deepen.
I think very interesting such a job. Probably also it will increase in demand also beyond China these kind of jobs (like f.e. India or Vietnam).
Details in the people’s daily:
https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0209/c98649-20423973.html
🇻🇳 Quick dive in Vietnam’s new e-commerce law/definitions
I always like to read about e-commerce legistlation: how do countries setup legal boundary’s for e-commerce? Some countries in South East Asia are doing a good job on it, I think, by taking care of consumer protection, but at the same time not regulate too much (Hi Malaysia). I see clearly see lots of differences between continents, for example with live streaming/social selling and the definition of platforms.
Vietnam makes a difference between these type of e-commerce platforms🧐:
Direct e-commerce platform: A platform established by an organization or individual to directly sell goods or provide services (self-operated sales, where the platform owner is the seller).
Intermediary e-commerce platform A platform that allows other organizations or individuals to register accounts to introduce, sell goods, or provide services on that platform (e.g., traditional marketplaces connecting third-party sellers and buyers, including features like auctions or promotions).
Social network operating e-commerce: Social networks or media platforms that integrate e-commerce functions, such as online contact, ordering, buying/selling features, or livestream selling to facilitate transactions (this targets social commerce models like TikTok Shop or Facebook Marketplace integrations).
Integrated e-commerce platform: A platform that allows the integration of other e-commerce platforms or tools on it, acting as a connector for sharing data and combining functions (multi-functional or hybrid models, excluding pure support services like basic communication tools).
Some of the new rules are things like:
Verify the identities of all sellers (stronger KYC-like requirements).
Actively monitor and control content, especially in livestreams (e.g., suspend or remove violating content on authority request).
Foreign e-commerce platforms (e.g., those targeting Vietnamese users via local language, domains, or high domestic traffic) must establish a legal presence in Vietnam (representative office or authorized entity).
Stronger emphasis on data retention, product information transparency, and protection against fraud, counterfeits, and substandard goods.
Details:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=1b0e2fd2-295a-482b-a5b2-e7af3193ca10
🚮Crappy Design: real life example how not to do it
![r/CrappyDesign - Lock Touch Red when door is closed Touch 2 To Lock If Red Sensor_is flashing Toilet is locked Open Touch Green Sensor Touch 3 To Open] Touch '6 Locked Lockl Flasbi whe](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!al3W!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd10b6e2e-0a49-475a-86cc-1b780b029aae_3024x4032.jpeg "r/CrappyDesign - Lock Touch Red when door is closed Touch 2 To Lock If Red Sensor_is flashing Toilet is locked Open Touch Green Sensor Touch 3 To Open] Touch '6 Locked Lockl Flasbi whe")
Great example of bad UX or crappy design: If it looks like a button, people will treat it like a button. Humans are pattern-matching machines. With these things in design or signposting, test, I would say and /or adapt if you see it doesn’t work.
Always test: if someone glances at it for 0.5 seconds, do they know what to do?
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