The End of the Marketing Blast: Retail Enters the Conversation Era
Retail CRM Endear reports a 50% year‑over‑year rise in personalized messaging, signaling a move away from one‑off blasts toward continuous, relationship‑driven conversations. Email open rates now peak in February at 56.1%, outpacing the traditional November surge. Brands are integrating email, SMS and WhatsApp into an always‑on layer of operations, treating messaging as a core engagement function. Endear powers more than 2,000 stores across 19 countries, including Reformation and AG Jeans, underscoring broad industry adoption.
Is the Retail Media Network Gold Rush Over?
Retail media networks are moving from a gold‑rush expansion to a consolidation phase as marketers reallocate spend toward platforms that prove clear ROI. New data from Keen Decision Systems shows over a quarter of retail marketers pulling budget from RMNs...
The State of eCommerce for Marketers – 2026 Edition
The 2026 State of eCommerce for Marketers report shows a decisive pivot from user acquisition to re‑engagement as paid install volumes dip across more than 13 markets. Remarketing now commands a larger share of ad spend worldwide, while geopolitical tariffs...
Dollar General Launches Unified Retail Media Platform
Dollar General, together with Kevel and The Trade Desk, unveiled a unified retail media platform that merges its onsite ad inventory with offsite digital channels. The solution lets advertisers plan, execute and measure campaigns across the full purchase funnel from...
How Qualcomm Is Building an Iconic Consumer Brand for the AI Era
Qualcomm has unveiled the "Snapdragon. That’s How" campaign, created with agency 72andSunny, to position its Snapdragon brand as the go‑to processor for PCs in the AI era. The ads feature relatable scenarios—from a freshman to a maid‑of‑honor—showcasing Snapdragon‑powered devices shot...
Could a Unified, Independent Measurement System for CTV Be Close?
Industry leaders at an ADWEEK House Possible chat highlighted that Connected TV (CTV) has become a powerful ad channel but still suffers from fragmented, opaque measurement. Viant’s recent acquisition of TVision, which uses camera‑based eye‑tracking to count viewers and gauge...
How Marketers Can Get Clean Incrementality Measurements in a Messy World
Marketers are under mounting pressure to prove the incremental impact of their spend, yet only about 8% of brands have a formal incrementality program. Panelists highlighted that attribution is both technically hard and organizationally fragmented, making it difficult to isolate...
Upfronts Advertisers Say They Want Outcomes – And Amazon Licks Its Chops
Amazon Ads is pivoting to outcome‑based TV advertising as advertisers demand measurable sales impact. The company unveiled upgrades—including an expanded Prime Video Insights beta, a new long‑term sales metric, and longer measurement look‑back windows—leveraging its proprietary Authenticated Graph. This graph...
Upfronts Advertisers Say They Want Outcomes – And Amazon Licks Its Chops
Amazon Ads is rolling out a suite of measurement upgrades aimed at TV and streaming advertisers who are demanding outcome‑based buying. The new Prime Video Insights beta lets brands match first‑party data to specific genres and shows, while a long‑term...
MobiKwik Launches New Campaign on UPI & Loans with Rajasthan Royals
MobiKwik has launched the #EverythingIsFair campaign in partnership with the Rajasthan Royals, spotlighting its UPI payment and instant personal‑loan services. The initiative uses short films featuring Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja and Shimron Hetmyer to illustrate everyday cash‑back transactions and five‑minute loan approvals. The...
Flipkart Taps Kodinhi’s Twin-Town Identity for Its ‘Double Deals’ Ad
Flipkart’s SASA LELE sale campaign uses Kerala’s twin‑town Kodinhi to showcase “double deals.” The ad features more than 20 twins, turning the village’s unique demographic into a visual metaphor for paired discounts. Produced by 22feet and directed by Godwin D’mello, the...
Fox Sports Looks for a ‘Miracle’ With Its World Cup Promo Campaign
Fox Sports has launched its FIFA World Cup promotional campaign with a new TV spot titled “Miracle.” The ad imagines U.S. Men’s National Team star Christian Pulisic scoring a last‑minute goal to win the tournament, set to Elvis Presley’s “The...
Who Actually Owns AI Governance?
Advertisers are confronting a new layer of complexity as AI becomes integral to ad tech, forcing organizations to grapple with AI governance alongside existing privacy, security, and data responsibilities. A recent IAPP survey shows 48% of companies lack sufficient budget...
Social Media App Spill Wants Relevance More Than Reach. Can Its Culture‑First Ad Model Scale?
Spill, a Black‑founded social app launched after Twitter’s 2022 turmoil, has built a culture‑first ad model that prioritizes trust and relevance over raw reach. By integrating revenue, safety, community and creator functions under a single “life‑cycle” leader, it aims to...
Coles 360 Builds on Momentum with Two Strategic Appointments
Coles 360 announced two senior hires to sharpen its retail‑media offering in Australia. Dave Moline, formerly of Target’s Roundel, becomes Head of Ad Product, while Michael Savio, with experience at Coupang and Etihad Airways, takes charge of Data Intelligence and...
From Ad Tech Tax to AI Data Brokers: The New Middlemen Keep 100%, Publishers Say
Publishers are confronting a new threat: third‑party content scrapers that take 100% of their articles without compensation. Analysts estimate the "scraper economy" at roughly $1 billion, with 21 identified vendors such as Firecrawl, Exa, Brave and You.com. These firms rebrand as...
TikTok Recreates Its Ads for Billboards Through Vistar Partnership
TikTok has launched a new out‑of‑home offering with Vistar Media that recreates TikTok ads specifically for billboards and other digital screens, rather than simply resizing existing mobile creative. Vistar’s in‑house studio works with brands to redesign campaigns for various screen...
When the Buyer Is a Machine: Why Agentic Commerce Threatens the Trillion-Dollar Advertising Model
In 2025 the global ad market topped $1 trillion, but the same year saw the first AI‑agent‑mediated programmatic ad deal and ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout handling purchases on major retailers. This marks the rise of "agentic commerce," where AI agents complete discovery,...
Unregistered Branded SMS to Be Labelled ‘Unverified’
Australia’s communications regulator ACMA announced that from 1 July 2024 any SMS sent with an unregistered branded sender ID will be marked “Unverified”. The label will group such messages with known scam traffic, making them more likely to be ignored. Businesses...
F1 Sponsors Forgotten Within Weeks Despite Millions Burned, Study Finds
Brands are spending millions on Formula 1 sponsorship, yet most fade from memory within weeks, according to Honeycomb Strategy’s “Pit Stop to Podium” study of 19 sponsors at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. The research measured unprompted awareness immediately after the...
Google’s Preferred Sources Is Now A Global SEO Signal via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google has expanded its Preferred Sources feature to every language supported by Google Search, updating its Search Central documentation to reflect global availability. The change introduces downloadable button assets in 16 languages, enabling publishers worldwide to invite users to select...
Google Ads API V20 Sunset Set for June 10
Google announced that the Google Ads API version 20 will sunset on June 10, 2026, ending all support for that version. After the deadline, any request to v20 will return an error, forcing developers to migrate to a newer API...
How AI Agents Are Transforming Modern Marketing Strategy
Stefano Puntoni, a Wharton marketing professor, explains that generative‑AI search and autonomous agents are reshaping how brands reach consumers. These tools move beyond keyword matching to infer intent, delivering hyper‑personalized recommendations and even completing purchases without human clicks. The shift...
AI Is Bringing Retail Media Closer to the Sale
Retail media is becoming more complex as brands juggle multiple channels and an explosion of shopper signals. At an ADWEEK House Possible panel, CVS Media Exchange (CMX) and Kenvue highlighted how artificial intelligence is being used to personalize offers, streamline...
Why Audio Is a Trusted Anchor in a Digital World
During an ADWEEK House Possible panel, executives from iHeartMedia, GroundTruth and ADWEEK discussed how audio is re‑emerging as a trust‑centric medium in a world saturated with AI‑generated content. They highlighted that 93% of consumers want news from a human and...
How Generative AI Will Impact Marketers and Consumers
InMobi exec Singhal predicts that by 2026 generative AI will power interactive ad formats that act like personal shopping agents, letting consumers outsource research while retaining final purchase decisions. He highlighted Glance, InMobi’s agentic commerce platform, which creates AI‑generated visual...
OpenAI Starts Laying Foundations for ChatGPT Ads in EU
OpenAI is preparing to launch advertising on ChatGPT in the European Union by updating its conversion‑tracking pixel with a consent‑management system and a country field. The change aligns the product with GDPR’s opt‑in requirements, a step not needed for U.S....
The Trade Desk Is Selling Onsite Retail Media Ads for Dollar General
The Trade Desk has launched a new retail‑media offering that lets advertisers purchase onsite display ads on Dollar General’s website through the same demand‑side platform used for off‑site campaigns. The partnership, built with retail‑tech provider Kevel, merges upper‑funnel inventory such...
Go Figure: 3 Big Marketing Numbers From April
CEO confidence in the CMO role slipped to 43% for 2026, signaling growing skepticism among senior leaders. At the same time, Modelo is committing a seven‑figure investment to sponsor every pre‑match broadcast of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Telemundo,...
Why Clinical Digital Out-of-Home Displays Are Healthcare’s Most Untapped Advertising Opportunity
Clinical digital out‑of‑home (DOOH) screens sit in waiting rooms where patients are fully attentive to a health concern, yet they are priced at the same CPM as mass‑media channels that cannot guarantee an audience. Studies show point‑of‑care ads generate 84%...
OpenAI To 'Promote' Own Products Via Your Browser Cookies
OpenAI announced that it will use browser cookies to promote its products and services on other sites, marking a shift from pure organic growth to a commercial advertising model. The updated privacy policy explains that cookies will personalize ads for...
The 1% Solution: Media-For-Equity
Mercurius Media Capital (MMC) announced a $25 million, five‑year agreement with A+E Networks that will supply roughly $5 million of advertising inventory annually to MMC’s startup portfolio. The company’s media‑for‑equity model lets legacy broadcasters convert unsold ad slots into equity stakes, allowing...
Snapchat Partners With Credit Data Company Experian to Deliver Financial Education to Younger Consumers
Snapchat and credit‑reporting giant Experian have teamed up to embed an AI‑powered financial‑education experience within Snapchat’s Sponsored Snaps and chat interface. The partnership lets Gen Z and Millennial users ask money‑related questions and receive instant guidance, extending Experian’s recent ChatGPT‑driven...
A Blueprint for Semantic Programmatic SEO
Programmatic SEO is shifting from mass‑produced, template‑driven pages to a semantic, AI‑powered model that tailors content to specific search intents. The new blueprint emphasizes starting with data—using Google Search Console authority maps—to identify topics where a domain already has ranking...
Skittles Reclaims Its Weird With New Gummies Work
Skittles has rolled out a surreal advertising campaign for its Skittles Gummies, featuring odd visuals like a kangaroo‑costumed man and jellyfish massages to emphasize the product’s softness. The ads target Gen Z and run across TV, CTV, online video and social...
“The Fragmentation of Media Is Clear”: Adland Reacts to AA/Warc Expenditure Report
The latest AA/Warc expenditure report shows advertising spend becoming increasingly fragmented across a growing array of media channels. Digital continues to dominate, now representing roughly 58% of total spend, while traditional TV and print see their shares shrink to historic...
Nielsen Data Gives Radio a Foothold With World Cup Fans
Nielsen’s Fan Insights survey reveals that 61% of U.S. soccer fans rely on radio for sports news, outpacing the 46% baseline of the general population. Podcast usage mirrors this trend, with 60% of fans tuning in versus 37% of non‑fans....
Sunil Grover and Kiku Sharda Bring ‘Dealpanti’ to Goibibo’s Latest Campaign
Goibibo has rolled out a new digital campaign titled “Dealpanti,” featuring Indian comedy veterans Sunil Grover and Kiku Sharda alongside cricketer‑turned‑brand ambassador Rishabh Pant. The two short films, created by Restless@MagicCircle and produced by Petromax India Films, use exaggerated, pop‑culture...
The Stack: Advertising Gets More Autonomous
This week saw AI‑driven advertising move toward full autonomy, with Omnicom reporting live media buys executed by AI agents that purchase inventory directly from publishers. Anthropic demonstrated a closed‑loop AI‑agent marketplace where bots act as buyers and sellers, while OpenAI...
From Creative Optimization to Creative Intelligence: How Mobile Teams Scale Ad Performance in 2026
Mobile growth teams now see creative as the single biggest performance lever in 2026, not the sheer number of ads. The focus is shifting from volume‑driven testing to "creative intelligence"—systems that generate hypotheses, run structured experiments, learn patterns, and scale...
What An Outdoor Retailer Learned By Replacing Pricey SaaS With A Newcomer
Backcountry, a leading outdoor gear retailer, replaced its legacy SaaS stack with FERMÀT's Commerce Graph, a beta analytics platform that uses pixel tracking and AI to deliver granular insights. The new tool matched or exceeded the functionality of solutions that...
Why Refy Handed Creators Full Control — No Approvals — for Its Latest Launch Campaign
Refy launched its Skin Base Skin Tint, a $40 gel‑like product with hyaluronic acid and patented Inclusium, and paid 12 TikTok creators to promote it without requiring any pre‑approval. The brand’s head of brand, Charlotte Geoghegan, said the decision stemmed from...
Marketers Question Expensive AI Visibility Tools as Inconsistent Results Fuel Skepticism
Marketers are grappling with pricey AI‑visibility platforms that claim to track brand mentions in large‑language‑model answers, yet results vary widely. Tools such as Profound, Ahrefs Brand Radar and Adobe‑acquired Semrush platform charge from $99 to over $1,000 per month, while...
Social Overtakes Search As Advertising Market Down In March — SMI Figures
In March 2026 the Australian advertising market contracted, with agency bookings falling more than 5% year‑over‑year after the election‑driven spike of 2025. Social media ad spend overtook search for the first time, moving to the top of the digital hierarchy,...
Kellanova Moves Media From Bastion Back to Zenith
Kellanova, the former Kellogg’s, has moved its global media buying from Bastion back to Publicis’s Zenith as part of the Mars‑Publicis agency ecosystem. The shift follows Mars’s $1.7 billion migration of its media account from WPP to Publicis last year. Bastion...
Why Gaming Advertising Belongs on More Ecommerce Media Plans
E‑commerce brands have sophisticated playbooks for Meta, TikTok, YouTube and CTV, yet most lack a dedicated strategy for gaming—a multi‑platform ecosystem that includes console, PC, mobile, esports and web. Research shows gamers maintain far higher focus than social‑media scrollers, with...
Amazon Ads Spend Jumps 22% In Q1
Amazon announced that its advertising segment generated $17.2 billion in Q1 2026, a 22% year‑over‑year increase. The surge was powered by AI‑driven tools such as the Rufus chatbot and Creative Agent, which accelerated creative production and attracted more small and medium‑sized businesses....
In Q1, YouTube Music and Premium Saw ‘Largest Quarterly Increase’ in Non-Trial Subscribers Since 2018 Launch, Says Alphabet CEO, as...
YouTube’s advertising revenue jumped 11% year‑over‑year to $9.88 billion in Q1 2026, while its subscription business accelerated. The platform reported its largest quarterly increase in non‑trial YouTube Music and Premium subscribers since the service launched in 2018. Alphabet’s total paid subscriptions rose...
Google Analytics Introduces Task Assistant
Google Analytics has launched Task Assistant, a guided workflow that surfaces tailored recommendations for property setup, data collection, and reporting. The feature appears in the left‑hand navigation and groups suggestions into categories such as account linking, reporting enhancements, and data‑issue...
Innovid Adds Measurement Capabilities
Innovid has introduced new measurement capabilities aimed at strengthening lower‑funnel outcomes and providing deeper attribution visibility. The suite adds purchase‑impact data, tracks both online and offline conversions, and uses control groups to calculate incremental lift. It also offers granular performance...