Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Accenture Song Acquires Whalar to Bolster Influencer Marketing
Accenture Song announced the acquisition of Whalar, adding a 170‑person global creator agency and keeping co‑CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk in place. The deal also includes a three‑year strategic partnership that gives Accenture access to Whalar’s talent‑management, technology and venture assets, integrating the creator network with Accenture’s data and AI capabilities.
IAB Tech Lab Opens Public Comment on Live Event Ad Playbook
IAB Tech Lab has opened a public comment period for the Live Event Ad Playbook (LEAP) Forecasting API, a new standard designed to make live streaming inventory visible and actionable for programmatic buying. The API lets broadcasters share structured metadata—schedules, ad break counts, and viewership forecasts—aligned with OpenRTB and AdCOM. Phase two builds on the Concurrent Streams API, enabling earlier planning, automated deal creation, and more efficient monetization of premium sports and live events. Industry leaders such as Disney and The Trade Desk have voiced strong support.
Speedy AI Tactics Sacrifice Trust, Hurting Long‑term Value
Trust is built over time, and broken in an instant. Is your "scalable" AI strategy mortgaging trust for visibility? I have had to accept my brand getting "less visibility" in GEO to maintain a standard, because we have just that ......
More Americans Want Brands To Get Political
Ipsos’ February 2026 Consumer Tracker of 1,085 U.S. adults shows a nuanced shift in attitudes toward corporate political engagement. While a solid majority—57% on social issues and 56% on political issues—still prefer brands to stay neutral, the share that endorses...
Cendyn Honored With Three Adrian Awards at HSMAI Celebration
Cendyn was honored with three Adrian Awards at the 69th HSMAI ceremony, winning a silver for its multi‑channel campaign with The Watergate Hotel and bronze awards for a paid‑media campaign for Royalton Resorts and a website redesign for The Maven....
Create Studio-Quality Marketing Assets with Photoshoot in Pomelli
Google Labs launched Photoshoot, a new feature in its free Pomelli platform that transforms basic product photos into studio‑grade marketing images. The tool leverages Business DNA and the Nano Banana image‑generation model to apply brand‑specific aesthetics automatically. Users select a...
From Prime Day and Black Friday to Surprise Spikes: Why Retailers Are Rethinking Peak Sales Readiness
Retailers are abandoning the outdated notion of seasonal peak‑sales windows and adopting a year‑round growth‑readiness mindset. Unexpected demand spikes—from TikTok trends to surprise influencer drops—can now rival traditional events like Prime Day, exposing fragile point‑to‑point integrations. Mark Simon of Celigo...
Distribution, Not Creation, Is the New Attention Bottleneck
Distribution and the human attention premium That marketing and distribution become the principal challenges of scaling content in an attention landscape awash in it seems like an obvious outcome as production costs collapse. But it has not yet emerged as a...
Focus on 4 Metrics, Not 50, to Drive Profit
You’re deluding yourself into thinking you’re organized by staring at a dashboard with 50 metrics... … and somehow, you're completely missing the only 4 that actually matter: MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio): This is your early-warning alarm. If MER dips 10-15% below target, something's leaking....
2026 Leaders Interview – Caroline Orange-Northey – Pinterest
Caroline Orange‑Northey, newly appointed Managing Director for Pinterest UK & Ireland, outlines her first 6‑12 month priorities, emphasizing accelerated advertiser adoption and AI‑driven product enhancements. She explains why Pinterest remains a compelling platform for 2026, highlighting its visual discovery engine,...
Accounts in Transit: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry Picks Up Pendulum
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry has been appointed U.S. agency of record for Pendulum, an AI‑driven social listening platform that captures brand mentions across text, audio, video and images. Marino will serve as the U.S. agency for Italian food icons Pasta...
AI Startup Hightouch Launches AI Tool To Repurpose Existing Marketing Creative
Hightouch unveiled Content Assembly, an AI‑driven tool that repurposes existing brand‑approved assets into new campaign materials. Marketers describe desired outputs in plain language and AI agents scour DAMs, Figma, Adobe, Google Drive and other repositories to assemble on‑brand emails, ads,...
Watch NetLine’s Josh Baez The Hidden Moments of the Buying Journey Webinar on Demand Now
NetLine’s senior demand manager Josh Baez hosted a webinar titled “The Hidden Moments of the Buying Journey,” revealing why traditional linear funnels are obsolete. He explained how privacy regulations have crippled identifier‑based tracking, forcing marketers to shift toward proactive, programmatic...
Retail Influence Vs. Conversion: Turning Sports Advertising Awareness Into Action
Sports advertising continues to capture massive audiences, but only 1% of viewers make an immediate purchase while 43% express interest. The gap reflects modern, multi‑screen consumer behavior, positioning sports slots as demand‑creation engines rather than direct‑response channels. Brands are responding...
Butterball Names Carmichael Lynch AOR in Reach for Year-Round Relevancy
Butterball, the leading U.S. turkey producer, has named Carmichael Lynch its new agency of record for creative, social, and media planning. The partnership aims to shift the brand from a holiday‑centric image to year‑round cultural relevance, emphasizing its purpose of “helping...
Why AI Misreads The Middle Of Your Best Pages via @Sejournal, @DuaneForrester
Large language models exhibit a "dog‑bone" weakness, performing well on the opening and closing sections of long texts while struggling with the middle. Research from Stanford and recent papers such as ATACompressor confirm that attention bias and aggressive context compression...
CTV Should Be Automated – But It Doesn’t Need To Be Programmatic
Upstream, formerly TheViewPoint, launched an automated platform that handles direct‑sold CTV campaigns at the ad‑server level, deliberately avoiding programmatic intermediaries. The solution integrates directly with publishers, bypassing SSPs and DSPs, and is already used by NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Paramount and...
35-Year SEO Veteran: Great SEO Is Good GEO — But Not Everyone’s Been Doing Great SEO via @Sejournal, @Theshelleywalsh
In a recent interview, 35‑year SEO veteran Grant Simmons clarified that great SEO and generative‑engine optimization (GEO) are fundamentally the same when executed holistically, emphasizing topical authority and brand consistency. He explained that LLMs evaluate content at the passage level,...
Serviceplan Group Partners with Luma AI to Deploy AI for Creative Across Global Ops
Serviceplan Group announced a strategic partnership with Luma AI to embed generative‑AI tools across its global creative operations. The collaboration introduces a "House of AI" digital twin that mirrors the agency’s entire marketing‑communication value chain, covering strategy, development, production and delivery....
Harrods Collaborates with Regional Creatives for GCC Ramadan Campaign
Harrods has launched a Ramadan and Eid campaign running from 20 January to 20 March, aimed at luxury‑focused customers in the UK and GCC markets. The initiative partners with Dubai‑based studio Bigsea.tv, photographer Mazen Abusrour, art director Serge Asaad and local stylists to blend...
Make Marketing Content Sales‑Ready, Not Just Pretty
I was asked how to make sure Sales will actually use Marketing content. Here is the short answer I gave. Stop reviewing content by Marketing standards and view it from the perspective of someone trying to sell you product or...
Grokipedia Mysteriously Absent From Sistrix Visibility Chart
lol Grokipedia doesn’t even show up on the @sistrix visibility comparison chart I had to check multiple times to make sure I didn’t type the domain name incorrectly 🤣 https://t.co/NMUTsbS7Yr
How Build-A-Bear’s Sharon Price John Made the CMO to CEO Jump Flawlessly
Sharon Price John, former CMO, has become President and CEO of Build‑A‑Bear, steering the 30‑year‑old retailer into an IP‑driven, multi‑vertical business. Under her leadership, digital commerce now accounts for 40% of sales and the brand is expanding globally. In a...
AI Becomes Core: Budgets Rise, Teams Accelerate In‑House Execution
7 Key Takeaways from Stensul’s 2026 MarTech Outlook Report - https://t.co/58rLpJuLMz "#AI is no longer treated as a side experiment; instead, organizations are increasing martech budgets, investing directly in AI-powered tools, and reshaping teams and workflows to bring more execution...
The End of ‘Good Enough’ Data: Advertising’s Shift Toward Defensible Performance
The advertising industry is moving away from a "good enough" data mindset toward defensible performance, where outcomes must be explainable and resilient. Accountability now begins with identity verification, not downstream reporting, as identity decay and fraudulent signals erode model reliability....
Why Do Budgets Overspend Even With A Target ROAS or CPA? – Ask A PPC via @Sejournal, @Navahf
Budgets on auction‑based platforms are averaged over roughly 30.4 days, not enforced as strict daily caps. When a target ROAS or CPA is applied, the algorithm treats these as optimization signals and may spend beyond the nominal daily limit to...
Beyond Influencers: How Multicultural Creators Are Shaping the Future of PR
The article argues that the creator economy is moving PR beyond generic influencers toward multicultural creators who bring authentic cultural insight. These creators act as strategic partners, not merely message amplifiers, and their influence is measured by deep community engagement...
Google AI Mode Works In 53 New Languages
Google announced that its AI Mode now supports 53 additional languages, bringing the total to just under 100. The expansion covers languages spoken by more than a billion people worldwide, ranging from major tongues like Hindi and Arabic to regional...
Google: We Do Not Have A Bad Title Algorithm Filter Of Sorts
Google’s John Mueller clarified that there is no blacklist or filter that penalizes sites solely for having poorly written title tags. He explained that the title displayed in search results is often generated automatically from a variety of signals, not...
Link Building for Small Businesses: Ethical Strategies That Actually Work in 2026
Neal Schaffer outlines how link building has shifted from a volume‑driven practice to a relationship‑focused strategy essential for small businesses in 2026. He emphasizes that high‑authority, contextually relevant backlinks now outweigh dozens of low‑quality links, while internal linking provides immediate,...
Protecting SEO Budgets in a GEO Era
In this brief episode of Voices of Search, host Tyson Stockton and Ahrefs expert Patrick Stokes discuss the biggest upcoming challenge for SEOs: proving their value and protecting budgets amid a shift toward geo‑targeted strategies. They highlight the tension between...
The Psychology Behind Likes, Shares, And Comments: How To Tap Into Human Behavior
The article explains that social‑media engagement—likes, comments, shares, and saves—is rooted in human psychology, especially dopamine‑driven reward loops. It breaks down what each interaction type signals and why algorithms prioritize content with higher engagement. Practical tactics are offered, such as...
How To Use Facebook & IG Stories To Humanize Your Blog’s Brand
The article explains how bloggers can leverage Facebook and Instagram Stories to humanize their brand and boost visibility. It outlines technical specifications, placement, and the unique advantage of stories appearing at the top of followers’ feeds. Practical tactics include creating...
EQ Dry & Teads Redefine Diaper Marketing with a Campaign That Wins Hearts & Attention
EQ Dry partnered with global media platform Teads and agency UM to launch an omnichannel, attention‑driven campaign for its diaper line. The initiative leveraged Teads’ contextual targeting, inRead video and connected TV formats to reach parents across mobile and big‑screen...
FixEd Podcast: The Guide to Running Newsletters in 2026, with Dan Oshinsky
In a FixEd podcast episode, newsletter veteran Dan Oshinsky outlines how AI, quality content, and strategic partnerships will shape newsletters in 2026. He warns that AI‑powered inbox tools could either elevate newsletters into curated feeds or diminish engagement if they...
Jon Nash & Danny Moggs Join UK Ad Tech Firm 59A to Drive North American Expansion
UK ad‑tech firm 59A announced the appointment of Jon Nash as US CEO and Danny Moggs as SVP of Sales to spearhead its North American launch from a new Venice Beach hub. Nash, a longtime collaborator with founder Adam Ray, will...
“AI Didn’t Create the Cracks in the System, It Exposed Them”: Q&A with Oz Etzioni, Clinch
In a Q&A with Clinch CEO Oz Etzioni, the interview highlights how AI has exposed deep fractures in traditional advertising workflows built on siloed point solutions. The surge in creative permutations and real‑time media demands has turned these fragmented systems...
Walmart’s Ad Business Grew 46% in 2025, Hitting Nearly $6.4B
Walmart’s advertising arm surged 46% in 2025, generating nearly $6.4 billion, while the broader company posted $713.2 billion in revenue. Walmart Connect alone grew 41% in Q4, and the Vizio acquisition added high‑minimum‑price inventory. AI chatbot Sparky, now tested with ads, drives...
Booze Giants ‘Exaggerated Threats to Overturn Ad Ban’
A new Institute of Alcohol Studies report reveals that UK alcohol producers and pub operators exaggerated economic threats to block proposed advertising restrictions, leading to the removal of the measures from the Government's 10‑Year Health Plan. The report, based on...
TBWA Alum Launch AI-Native Shop with Hitachi as Founding Client
Two former Omnicom executives, James Sparano and Kevin O’Sullivan, are launching JK, an AI‑native creative and strategy shop that promises to shrink traditional planning cycles from months to days. The boutique is self‑funded and begins operations on Feb. 19. Hitachi has...
Why Your SEO Tickets Get Ignored
In large organizations SEO recommendations often sit idle because developers view them as low‑priority maintenance. The article argues the root cause is a translation gap: SEOs speak traffic and rankings, while engineers prioritize user experience, technical debt, and feature delivery....
8 Ways to Automate X (Formerly Twitter)
Zapier now offers eight pre‑built Zaps that automate key X (formerly Twitter) workflows for businesses, from archiving brand mentions to turning tweets into support tickets. The templates let marketers log every mention in a spreadsheet, push real‑time alerts to Slack,...
Bringing Together PPC and SEO for Agents
The Negotiator article urges estate agencies to integrate pay‑per‑click (PPC) advertising with search engine optimisation (SEO), arguing that combined data and testing can sharpen messaging, boost keyword intelligence, and stretch limited budgets. It highlights rapid ad‑copy testing via PPC, leveraging...
South African Startup Naritive Is Fixing Banner Blindness with Interactive Advertising
South African startup Naritive has launched an ad‑tech platform that turns static display ads into interactive “Ad Stories” and “Ad Social” formats. The platform, now used by more than 100 brands and agencies across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia...
Transforming Dynamics 365 Marketing Engagement Into Automated Business Workflows
Most firms still rely on manual follow‑up after marketing emails, causing delays and missed opportunities. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys centralizes interaction data in Dataverse and automates lead scoring using custom triggers linked to Power Automate. By mapping email opens, clicks, form submissions, and event...
Adland’s Top Strategists on AI, Tools & the Strategic Human Advantage
South Africa’s top ad strategists warn that while AI can accelerate data collection and pattern detection, the true strategic advantage remains human deep thinking and cultural insight. Leaders such as Pepe Marais and Neo Makhele stress that only a small minority who...
#ClicksnTricks: The 3′ Banana & the Great Content Credibility Collapse
The article warns that AI‑driven content saturation and the rise of fabricated experts are eroding trust in both media and brand communications. Over 50 non‑existent "experts" have been quoted in UK outlets, illustrating how cheap synthetic voices infiltrate reputable sources....
#ThisWeek on MarkLives MEDIA: Conscious Uncoupling — Media Inhousing • #NextWeek: How Saffers Eat
Brands are increasingly pulling media strategy and buying in‑house, a trend dubbed “conscious uncoupling.” Executives cite greater accountability, faster decision‑making, and tighter budget control as primary drivers. Agencies are no longer full‑service partners but are retained for niche expertise, audits,...
Agentic AI Redefines B2B Marketing: Lean Teams, Strategic Humans
The future of agentic AI in B2B marketing is finally coming into focus. The B2B marketing org structure has to change, with fewer layers and more shared accountability across a unified data layer. The human role will shift to something...
ChatGPT Search Often Switches To English In Fan-Out Queries: Report via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
ChatGPT Search rewrites user prompts into multiple “fan‑out” queries for its search partners. An analysis of 10 million prompts and 20 million fan‑out queries found that 43 % of those sub‑queries run in English, even when the original prompt is non‑English. Overall, 78 %...
If You’re Not Tracking These 10 PR KPIs in 2026, You’re Already Behind
The article outlines ten essential PR KPIs that have evolved for 2026, integrating AI-driven metrics such as Share of Search Influence and Emotion‑Weighted Sentiment. Traditional measures like Share of Voice remain core, but new dimensions assess message semantics, outlet authority,...