It's all about the rizz. Sometimes literally.
Gen AI has turned every SaaS company into a content factory. More words of blog posts, more hours of video, more miles of social posts to scroll through. But AI creates what’s most likely, not what’s most unique—so it’s unsurprising when brands all end up looking the same.
In other words: Brands aren’t creating more Michelin star-level content.
We’re just able to churn out staggering quantities of generic gas station taquitos.
Ariel Rubin, Head of Content at Air—a creative operations platform backed by Lerer Hippeau, Tiger Global, and others—isn’t a taquito kind of guy.
Ask Ariel your questions
Ariel's got more great stories than a NYC taxi driver.
Have a marketing question you want to hear his opinion on? Go ahead and ask.
Ariel’s background was not in SaaS. He previously led social for Kum & Go, the International Red Cross (where his work won a Webby), and the UN. Still, when Air co-founders Shane Hegde and Tyler Strand wanted to shake up their marketing strategy, they knew Ariel was the creator for the job.
“Two and a half years ago, when everyone was doing efficiency-minded layoffs and the whole industry was getting a little hairy, we cut marketing spend by 90% to go all in on a culture-led acquisition model,” Ariel explains.
Meaning he wouldn’t be caught dead with a “digital transformation best practices” listicle.
Classic B2B marketing doesn’t work (duh)
Traditional SEO and keyword stuffing doesn’t work for AI search.
(Although just in case, we’ve hidden “best digital marketing agency 2025” in every meta tag of this blog.)
Whitepapers, generic ads, and product blogs are being drowned out by a sea of eerily similar AI-generated content. None of these things create any real brand affinity.
No one says, 'I f*** love Dropbox.' No one identifies as totally obsessed with Google Drive, says Ariel
Even digital asset management companies, who market to creatives, were churning out uninspiring content. “Our competitors’ social was atrocious,” Ariel adds. “I saw so many accounts with millions of followers getting 3 likes on posts. Truly bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.”
Culture-led acquisition
Ariel figured that if his audience was creatives, Air was going to have to get a lot more creative themselves. He understood that traditional advertising spend doesn’t build authentic relationships with creators.
Co-creating with them does.
Today, Air terms their marketing strategy as “culture-led acquisition,” not content-led.
“We’re not going to blog you to death and give you the Top X Reasons to Do Y forever,” says Ariel. “We’re gonna think like a media brand. We’re gonna win you with creators like The Rizzler. That’s the entire strategy.”
His approach:
- Partner with creators who are your ICP (not just ones who talk to them)
- Create content that people would watch even if they weren't being paid to watch it—and that creators would share even if they weren’t being paid to make it
- Position your SaaS brand somewhere between traditional B2B marketing and consumer entertainment
- The bar is, “Would I share this in the group chat?”
The co-creator playbook
Identify creators at their inflection point
Ariel prides himself on a sixth sense for identifying talent on the brink of blowing up.
“I think I have a pretty decent eye at finding really talented people just as they’re hitting it big,” he says. “When I found The Rizzler, I knew he was going to be on another level. Six months later, we won a Webby together.”
Getting in at this stage allows marketers to build long-term relationships with emerging influencers whose own brands aren’t oversaturated with partnerships. It also gives you access to talent at a premium.
“I don’t have the budget to pay top-dollar,” Ariel continues. “What I’m trying to sell our partners is the idea that we’re gonna make shit that really breaks through the internet. We find people at that inflection point, and we make really fun stuff together that hits.”
Pitch collaboration, not transactions
Rather than approaching creators as hired talent for the product, Ariel positions Air as a platform for their creative expression.
Working in partnership with comedian Kareem Rahma, Ariel asks, “How can I make something with Kareem that he’s proud to share? How do we make something that makes him look amazing?”
When you let creators keep their own voice, even while incorporating your brand, you end up with enthusiasm that can’t be faked.
“My goal is to build out the Air cinematic universe with people like Kareem Rahma, Taylor Lorenz, New York Nico, The Rizzler—people you see on Instagram and really respect. I look for a certain kind of creator who is themself our ICP, and who wants to get a little weird and have a lot of fun.”
Build lean n’ mean
At the production stage, Ariel recommends speed and simplicity:
- A creative brief should be the length of a tweet — start with simple concepts and iterate
- Turnarounds should take hours, not days
- Focus on authentic moments over polished production
“Not having endless money is the best constraint as a creative you can have,” he says. “It really does force you to be like, how do we go on the basketball court with the Rizzler, and have some donuts, and make an ad that's going to win a Webby?"
That’s how winning is done
Turning to culture-led acquisition was a huge success for Air.
There are the financials. Within about two years of their pivot, Air had 3X’d revenue and raised a $35M Series B.
There are the investors. “Kareem Rahma, Andrew Kuo, Clayton Chambers, Oren John—they all invested in Air in our last round,” says Ariel. “They’ve worked with us so much that they’ve come to really believe in the brand.”
There are the fans. Ariel says when Air content starts making it to the group chat, that’s when they know they’ve hit culture.
And there are the bragging rights.
“When we were nominated for our Webby, it was us vs. big guys like Apple and Squarespace,” says Ariel. “Shooting that video, I was catering. I was wardrobe. I was in the Toronto Spirit Halloween buying the glasses. We spent next to nothing on that campaign.”
And Air won.
“So, you know. Fuck Apple.”
