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.
PepsiCo’s First Creator-Led Product Launch Reimagines Chips for Gen Z
PepsiCo Foods unveiled its first creator‑led "Flavor Swap" snack line, teaming influencers Madison Beer, iShowSpeed and Dude Perfect with new chip‑flavor mash‑ups. The products launched exclusively on TikTok Shop with a nationwide rollout slated for March, aligning the launch with Gen Z’s preferred discovery and purchase channels. The initiative coincides with a company‑wide price reduction of roughly 15% on core snack brands to stimulate demand amid tighter consumer wallets. PepsiCo cites data showing 68% of Gen Z already buy directly from social platforms, underscoring the strategic fit.
Top 5 Creator Affiliate Marketing Agencies in 2026
The Influencer Marketing Hub has identified the five leading creator affiliate marketing agencies for 2026, highlighting Hamster Garage, Acceleration Partners, PartnerCentric, Peekabo and Sociablestack. The report underscores a 171% rise in creator acquisition budgets and notes that affiliate marketing now...
Every Trend Looks the Same in a Dashboard (Until You Zoom Out)
The article argues that standard post‑level dashboards flatten very different content behaviors—short‑term spikes, campaign arcs, and compounding formats—into identical metrics, leading marketers to chase fleeting reach. By grouping content by theme, intent, or format and evaluating it over weeks or...
Potbelly Partners with Flybuy to Elevate Off-Prem Operations
Potbelly is integrating Flybuy’s AI‑powered location platform into its digital ordering system to streamline off‑premise service across more than 450 sandwich shops. The technology provides real‑time order‑time estimates, status updates, and location‑based in‑app messaging, reducing customer wait times by over...
One Quirky Prop Turned a Bland Shirt Ad Into Bestseller
Every shirt ad looked the same. One prop changed everything. In 1951, Hathaway was a small shirt company from Maine that most people had never heard of. They had a $30,000 ad budget, a fraction of what their competitors were spending,...
Reddit Shares Insight Into Rising World Cup Discussion
Reddit reports that World Cup chatter has already generated over 77 million U.S. views of the term “FIFA World Cup,” with conversation tripling compared to last year. The platform ranks as the fifth‑most‑googled term in the United States and the top‑cited...
Build a 2026 Digital Store Using AI Tools
How To Build A Digital Product Store With AI In 2026 WATCH HERE 👉 https://t.co/ijT1ejXe7l In this video, I show you step-by-step how to build a digital product store using AI in 2026, including how to generate product images, write high-converting...
Stand Out by Thinking Differently, Not Just Being Expert
People don't become known for their expertise They become known for how they *think differently* about their area of expertise Recognition follows a distinct, ownable idea (not volume, not credentials, not even quality of work) If your thinking sounds like everyone else's in...
Beyond Just Do It with Linda Cereda
Former Nike Global VP of Marketing Data, Linda Cereda, explains how the brand built a scalable marketing data engine by prioritizing operating model over technology. She details the SNKRS app’s scarcity‑driven launch, the use of zero‑party data to slash forecasting...
Debunking 10 Common Social Media Myths
Let's talk Social Media's biggest myths: 1. Is Shadowbanning real? 2. Is your phone's mic listening? 3. Do editing happs hurt reach? 4. Do hashtags grow your account? 5. Does scheduling content hurt? 6. Are Brand Partnerships throttled? 7. Do you have to post every day? 8. Does...
Williams-Sonoma to Test Ads in ChatGPT
Williams‑Sonoma has joined OpenAI’s ad pilot, becoming one of the first retailers to test sponsored placements inside ChatGPT. The experiment will surface high‑end home‑goods ads to free and Go users as they ask product‑related questions, while paid subscribers remain ad‑free....
AppsFlyer Talks Buyer Signals, Player Targeting and Staying Legally Compliant
At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026, AppsFlyer executives Edik Mitelman and Adam Smart unveiled a data‑collaboration platform that taps consumers' real‑world credit‑card spend to identify high‑value gaming audiences. By partnering with Mastercard and other financial institutions, the firm can segment...
Are We Entering an Era in Which Engagement Is As Important as the Promotion Itself?
Promotions are evolving from simple price cuts to interactive experiences that require customer participation. Leading online casinos and e‑commerce giants like Shein and AliExpress now embed daily spin games, resource‑management mini‑games, and scarcity‑driven challenges into their offers. These engagement mechanics...
Hotels Didn’t Abandon Spam They Abandoned Acquisition
Luxury hotels abandoned outbound email acquisition after the spam‑filled era of the late 1990s, leaving a vacuum that online travel agencies (OTAs) swiftly filled. OTAs invested billions in search visibility and data-driven targeting, becoming the default discovery engine and extracting...
Zip Launches a Branding Campaign Aimed at Winning Consumers’ Trust
Buy‑now‑pay‑later firm Zip Co. launched a new branding campaign centered on trust, positioning its users as responsible borrowers. The "In You We Trust" message is built on real customer stories and features social‑media strategist Destiny Modeste. The ads run on...
What I Have Learned From Building a Subreddit From 0 to 4000+ Subscribers
In this episode the host recounts building a niche subreddit, r/SEO_for_AI, from zero to over 4,000 subscribers and shares four key lessons. First, a well‑run subreddit can rank in Google and even appear in AI‑generated answers, boosting visibility and citations....
Three CMOs Weigh in on the Power of a Marketing Campaign Tagline
The article gathers insights from three chief marketing officers—True Religion, Rambler and Shutterfly—on why campaign taglines still matter. True Religion’s 2025 holiday tagline “Wrapped in True” doubles as a gifting cue and a brand‑value statement. Rambler’s playful “Chug Life” taps...
5 Ways QR Codes Help Grow Restaurant Catering
QR codes are emerging as low‑cost, trackable tools for restaurant catering growth. Kelly Grogan outlines five intentional placements— in‑store contests, bag stuffer flyers, local leave‑behinds, catering order collateral, and thank‑you cards— each designed to capture leads and drive repeat business....
One Simple Tactic to Boost Engagement From 25 Strategies
288 pages. 17 chapters. 25+ proven tactics. 1 easy way to increase engagement and response.
Turn Organic Content Into High‑Performing Ads
If you want to make better ads internally. Start creating organic content. From what we've seen with a wide range of testing is that some of top spending ads at the moment are really good pieces of organic content. Not a guarantee but...
Frosted Flakes Remixes ‘90s Jingle to Reintroduce Tony the Tiger
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes teamed with rap artist JID to remix its classic “Hey Tony” jingle, releasing the track on Spotify and Apple Music. The song launches at the Frosted Flakes Day Ones Bowl Game on Feb. 22, accompanied by limited‑edition apparel and a collectible box sold...
AI Figures Heavily Into CMOs’ Strategic Considerations
Chief marketing officers are increasingly prioritizing emerging media such as entertainment IP and FAST platforms, with Black audiences driving a disproportionate share of streaming time. CMOs expect most of their revenue in five years to stem from products that do...
How Musicians, Marketers Use WhatsApp to Build Fan Communities
Direct-to-fan communication is shifting from optional to essential as social‑media algorithms limit reach. WhatsApp, with over 2 billion users, provides 100% message deliverability and a private‑conversation feel that email and SMS can’t match. Artists like Lorde, The Lathums, Dua Lipa and Sahel Sounds...
Rippling Shows How B2B Brands Blend Big and Scrappy Marketing
How to build a B2B brand that stands out: Rippling edition. You are always asking for examples of B2B brands that are doing great marketing. You're tired of hearing about how Liquid Death and Apple and Nike are THE GOLD...
Case Studies Reveal SEO Tactics Destroy Organic Traffic
I have now read *multiple* public AEO/GEO "case studies" where the organic traffic literally looks like this. I'm not even kidding. I just pulled this chart from a case study published 2 weeks ago. Looks to me like they actually destroyed...
New Ecommerce Tools: February 18, 2026
This week’s ecommerce rollout spans AI‑driven marketing, new payment options, and expanded livestream shopping. Mailchimp unveiled predictive analytics, ChatGPT‑powered content tools, and an omnichannel dashboard, while Klarna entered Google Pay in the UK and Amazon launched Pay by Bank for...
Ads Work; Doubting Them Reveals a Skill Gap
So many people say “ads don’t work; write content.” All of my companies for 22 years grew with ads 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 and forever. Ads won't be effective for 𝘢𝘭𝘭 companies, but "I've never seen it work" is an admission of lack of...
People Underestimate Google's Ability to Solve Problems
One of the funniest things I hear people say in our space is “there’s no way Google could figure that out” https://t.co/O1n8da2ctY
The Revisionists: Inside OpenAP With Brittany Slattery
OpenAP, founded in 2017 by the major broadcast networks, has evolved from a linear‑TV audience‑standardization consortium into a key player shaping streaming identity and ad‑currency frameworks. Its members—Paramount, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox—plus strategic investor Snowflake, use a shared foundation to...
First 3 Seconds Make or Break Your Video
The first 3 seconds decide if your whole video gets a chance. The hook is not optional anymore.
Never Plan Promos Blindly—Track Competitors Constantly
Planning promos based on internal calendars, with 0 insight into what competitors are doing that week is an easy death sentence. To protect margins, you need to be monitoring competitor activity like a hawk. For that, you need a system. Here’s what...
On Page SEO: The Complete Guide to Ranking Without Being an SEO Expert
Neal Schaffer’s guide breaks down on‑page SEO into actionable elements such as title tags, header hierarchy, internal linking, page speed, and mobile‑first optimization. He cites that the top Google result captures 27.6% of clicks, making first‑page rankings vital, and highlights...
Cross‑team Context Fuels Smarter Autonomous Marketing
imagine if your marketing dept knew exactly what your dev team has been working on that’s what @layers enables in an agentic world, with their code-aware autonomous marketing the take-away pattern is to use context from department A to help department B...
LinkedIn Leads B2B; Which Platform Ranks Second?
There's no question LinkedIn is the GOAT for B2B social media. But what platform is #2? X? YouTube? IG? https://t.co/R4iITRyWsn
Google AdSense Anchor & Vignette Ads Bug Won't Close Ads
Google AdSense publishers are experiencing a regression where anchor and vignette ads lack functional close buttons, preventing users from dismissing them. The problem surfaced on February 13, 2026 and has spread across multiple sites, with some reports of misaligned display...
Scripted Prompts Beat Camera Freeze, Not Motivation
Video prompts are the secret weapon for people who freeze on camera. You don’t need motivation, you need a script.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Tunes up New Online Platform
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame unveiled rockhall.com, a new digital hub built with agency Grow, to bring its museum’s archives, performances, and stories online. The site features more than 400 curated inductee pages, a nonstop RRTV stream of...
![How To Set Up AI Prompt Tracking You Can Trust [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/3-841.png)
How To Set Up AI Prompt Tracking You Can Trust [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker
The Search Engine Journal webinar, hosted by Loren Baker, will teach marketers how to reliably track AI prompts across answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Nick Gallagher, Sr. SEO Strategy Director at Conductor, will present a step‑by‑step...
Conversion Tweaks Beat Pricey Platform Migrations Every Time
I spent $40k on a Shopify Plus migration. No revenue increase. Competitor optimized their product pages. 30% revenue increase. Platform doesn't matter. Conversion optimization does. Test everything.
‘Menacing’ Call of Duty TV Ad Gunned Down by Watchdog
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned the TV spot for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, deeming its aggressive tone and imagery as trivialising sexual violence. The ad, featuring comedian Nikki Glaser and actor Peter Stormare as “Replacer” security officers, showed...
New Clutch and Conductor Data Reveals 87% of Content Marketers Increasing Budgets in 2026 as SEO Expands Into AI Search
Clutch and Conductor’s 2026 State of Content Report shows content marketers are boosting investment as SEO expands into AI search. Eighty‑seven percent plan to increase budgets next year, and one‑quarter now write primarily for large language models. The survey of...
Spokenote Launches the First Video Platform Built to Scale Authentic Interaction
Spokenote unveiled the first video platform that combines automation speed with authentic, human‑focused interaction. The solution lets marketers generate personalized short‑form videos at infinite scale without manual editing or AI‑generated impersonations. Using modular components, each video adapts to viewer data,...
Timing Is Just a Procrastination Disguise
If you keep delaying posting because the time is not ideal, you are using timing as a procrastination costume.
What to Do When Reddit Turns on Your Brand
Reddit’s community‑driven format can quickly amplify brand criticism, forcing fashion houses to confront negative narratives in real time. The article outlines a step‑by‑step playbook: set up listening tools, engage authentically, avoid corporate jargon, and leverage AMAs or moderated threads to...
SendGrid Vs. Mailchimp: Which Email Platform Is Better In 2026?
In this episode Vytautas Palubeckas compares SendGrid and Mailchimp, highlighting that SendGrid is a developer‑focused platform optimized for high‑volume transactional emails, while Mailchimp is a marketer‑friendly suite offering drag‑and‑drop design, robust automation, and broader CRM tools. Key takeaways include the...
Macy’s Is Drawing on Events Like the Thanksgiving Day Parade to Grow Its Creator Program
Macy’s is scaling its Style Crew influencer program in 2026, aiming to grow from roughly 600 members to 1,000 by adding more in‑person events tied to marquee assets like the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The creator storefronts have generated a 478%...
Avocado Mattress Proves Interactive CTV Ads Are Ripe for Growth
The episode explores the rise of interactive CTV ads, highlighting how formats like pause ads, shoppable units, and overlays are turning passive TV viewing into actionable moments. It showcases Avocado Mattress’s successful campaign with Tatari and Innovid, which used a...
10 Viral Marketing Examples + Tips for Going Viral
In this episode, host Tina Donati breaks down viral marketing, defining it as share‑driven content that spreads like a virus and outlining its key benefits such as traffic, sales, and community building. She highlights common tactics—humor, emotional appeal, assumption‑reversal, collaborations,...
Media33 Appoints Ex-Spark Foundry Managing Director Pete Butler to Managing Partner Role
Media33 announced the appointment of Pete Butler, former Managing Director of Spark Foundry, as its new Managing Partner effective 1 March 2026. Butler will collaborate with the executive team to drive the agency’s next growth phase, enhance client partnerships, and boost strategic and...
Retainers Free You From Weekly Price Negotiations
Hourly pricing makes you negotiate your value every week. Retainers let you deliver and move on.