Today's Marketing Pulse
McKinsey predicts agentic AI will power two‑thirds of marketing activities
McKinsey’s new report forecasts that agentic AI could drive up to two‑thirds of marketing activities, shifting AI from a productivity add‑on to a core campaign engine. Early adopters are already using generative tools, while the next wave will involve autonomous agents that coordinate decisions across workflows. The firm outlines a five‑step roadmap for implementation.
Former Airbnb and 72andSunny Execs Team Up to Bridge the Brand-Business Divide
Former Airbnb marketing chief Musa Tariq and former 72andSunny creative lead Tim Jones have left stealth mode to launch Science x Story, a consultancy aimed at reconciling brand creativity with business strategy. The duo cites a chronic disconnect: agencies excel at storytelling but lack financial rigor, while consultants understand profit drivers but miss the creative pulse. Their new firm will advise CMOs on agency selection, positioning, and AI‑enabled growth pathways. By blending two decades of brand and agency experience, they hope to set a new standard for integrated marketing counsel.
Twitter Ranks only C‑tier for Newsletter Discovery
Matt McGarry: newsletter growth tactics, ranked (hint: Twitter is seen as C-tier for discovery) https://t.co/w9Sv2nKwG0
Q&A: SAP’s Balaji Balasubramanian on Turning Customer Experience Into an Enterprise Growth Engine
SAP President Balaji Balasubramanian says customer experience is moving from a front‑office function to an enterprise‑wide growth engine. SAP CX is being re‑positioned around connected data that links marketing, sales, service and the operational backbone to drive profitable outcomes. The company...
Inside American Eagle’s Latest Bet on Sydney Sweeney for Its Summer Campaign
American Eagle has launched "Syd for Short," a summer campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney to promote denim shorts and new custom styles. The 15‑second spot, backed by social‑listening data, targets Gen Z’s craving for calm amid a noisy cultural climate. The partnership...
Forbes Creates Wine Vertical, Commerce Shop and Membership Business as AI Squeezes Traffic
Forbes is launching a wine‑focused vertical that combines a quarterly club, an e‑commerce shop, and an ad‑supported editorial site to diversify revenue as AI‑driven search cuts its traffic. The publisher saw a 37 percent YoY traffic decline in Q1 2026, while...
Glossier’s Future Doesn’t Look Good
Glossier, once the darling of Gen Z beauty, has seen its valuation halve and its retail footprint shrink dramatically. In February 2026 the company cut roughly 30% of its workforce and this March announced the closure of nine of its twelve...
Puma’s AI Head Says the Brand Is Still Giving ‘the Keys to the Consumer’ as It Invests in Tech Like...
Puma is using artificial intelligence to revive growth, debuting a seven‑foot digital human concierge called “Dylan” in its Las Vegas flagship that speaks 100+ languages, recommends products and checks real‑time inventory. The brand’s AI push also includes an AI‑generated jersey creator...
Five Ways Conversational AI Can Turn Your Content Library Into a Customer Experience Engine
Australian firms are rapidly embedding chatbots, co‑pilots and data assistants, yet many content teams see limited ROI. The article argues that the real value lies in repurposing existing content libraries—blogs, FAQs, whitepapers—through conversational AI to create an always‑on knowledge engine....
Grow Faster by Leveraging Existing Customers' Referrals
The fastest way to grow? Leverage the customers you already have. Referrals. Relationships. Results. #Sales #Growth https://t.co/tMZIlKihIb
Gate 7 Wins South African Tourism Account
Gate 7 has been selected as the public‑relations and communications agency for South African Tourism in Australia and New Zealand. The Sydney‑based firm will manage earned media, social and broader communications to boost awareness and visitation. Australian arrivals to South Africa reached...
Havas Red Launches EchoWeave as Brands Race to Win AI Visibility
Havas Red has launched EchoWeave, an AI‑driven search capability that helps brands track and influence their visibility across large language models such as ChatGPT, Copilot, DeepSeek and Perplexity. Developed in Australia and the UK, the platform measures citations, source reliance...
RSPCA Pet Insurance Launches New Brand Platform ‘We Know Animals’ Via Saatchi & Saatchi Australia
RSPCA Pet Insurance has unveiled a new brand platform called “We Know Animals,” developed with Saatchi & Saatchi Australia and Atomic 212°. The platform leverages the RSPCA’s long‑standing credibility to position the insurer as the pet‑owner’s most knowledgeable caretaker. Production, led by Publicis...
AI‑Integrated Email Marketers 75% More Likely to Hit Top ROI, Study Finds
Validity's Litmus platform released its State of Email 2026 report, finding that marketers with deeply embedded AI are 75% more likely to achieve ROI above 45:1. The study also reveals that just 12% of organizations have reached that depth of...
Flow Sciences Appoints Kent Lupino as CMO to Drive Brand and Demand Growth From New RTP Hub
Flow Sciences, the containment‑solutions specialist, announced Kent Lupino as its first chief marketing officer. Based in the company's 2025 Research Triangle Park office, Lupino will steer brand strategy, demand generation and product management to accelerate growth. The hire signals a...
Fastly Hires Joan Jenkins as CMO to Drive AI‑Powered Edge Growth
Fastly, the Nasdaq‑listed edge‑cloud platform, announced Joan Jenkins as its new chief marketing officer. Jenkins will steer global marketing to boost AI‑driven workloads, security services and overall market share. The move signals Fastly’s intent to sharpen its brand as edge...
Demandbase Unveils AI-Powered Pipeline Engine to Boost B2B GTM Results
Demandbase introduced Demandbase AI at its GO London conference, positioning it as a unified AI pipeline engine for modern go‑to‑market teams. The platform leverages Context Intelligence, large‑language‑model integrations and a Site Customization Agent to turn noisy GTM signals into measurable...
Long Road to Price Reveal: Why Auto Brands Act 'Pricey'
Indian automakers are moving from one‑day launches to staggered rollouts, unveiling vehicles first and revealing prices weeks later. Recent examples—Renault Duster, Maruti e‑Vitara and Toyota Ebella—opened bookings before pricing, using the gap to build buzz and collect market feedback. The...
Pacvue Launches AI‑Powered Agent, Promising 200× Faster Media Workflows
Pacvue unveiled Pacvue Agent, an AI‑driven engine that integrates insight, recommendation and execution for commerce media. The company says early adopters are seeing workflow acceleration of up to 200 times, insight generation 80 times faster, and performance lifts of up...
FTC Nears Settlements in Ad Boycott Probe as Brands Keep Advertising on Social Platforms
The Federal Trade Commission told a DC Circuit appeals court it is negotiating settlements with the targets of its ad‑boycott investigation, signaling imminent announcements. Brands, however, have largely stayed on platforms such as X, underscoring the tension between regulatory pressure...
Adobe's 2026 AI Report Shows 80% Demand for Real‑Time CX Personalization
Adobe released its 2026 AI and Digital Trends report, revealing that 80% of surveyed executives want real‑time, highly personalized customer experiences. The study also flags data fragmentation and misaligned leadership as the chief obstacles to scaling AI across SaaS‑based CX...
YouTube Shorts May Be Killing Your Channel Growth
Hit a new milestone, which is great, but I’ve drawn a few conclusions that are a bit unsettling. 1) YouTube shorts are NOT helping channel growth; it might be killing it. You can click to go back and see milestone...
Avoid Fake-Account Promotion Services; They May Be Illegal
Yeah, posted earlier basically saying this has been going on for 50 years. But, no. It is not cool. Do not use a company that employs hundreds if not thousands of fake accounts to promote your artist. Also it...
TikTok Expands 'Symphony,' Offers AI Video For Brands, Creators
TikTok has woven ByteDance’s next‑generation Dreamina AI video model into its Symphony ad suite, letting brands generate full‑motion videos from text prompts, images or reference clips. The model, built on the Seedance 2.0 architecture, promises consistent product portrayal to improve consumer...
Startups Should Dogfood AI GTM for Growth
i think one of the most impt recursive loops in startups is startups that improve marketing/revenue growth (aka GTM) because they can obviously dogfood it for themselves. considering starting a track for this at AIE WF due to its imptnce. https://t.co/NmK26vw68c this...
Prophet Publishes Market Mix Modelling 101 Guide
Prophet, Australia’s leading decision‑intelligence platform, has released a Market Mix Modelling (MMM) 101 guide to help marketers move from past‑focused reporting to future‑oriented rehearsal. The guide includes a blind‑spot checklist, case studies and a framework for building a business case,...
21 Brand Activations That Turned Coachella 2026 Into a Design Playground
Coachella 2026 turned its desert stage into a sprawling design showcase, featuring 21 high‑profile brand activations that blended packaging, spatial design, and sensory experiences. The festival now draws over 100,000 daily attendees who wander between music performances and immersive pop‑ups, from...
Esky Goes Social-First as The Social CliQ Brings Creators Together for TikTok-Led Campaign
Australian cooler brand Esky has launched a social‑first campaign built around a one‑day creator shoot on the Gold Coast. The Social CliQ, appointed in 2025 to run Esky’s social channels, gathered 16 digital creators who produced over 50 short‑form videos...
New Google Search Console Message Glitch Gives SEOs A Scare via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google Search Console mistakenly emailed site owners on April 12, 2026, claiming it had only just begun recording search impressions. The notice conflicted with a known logging error that has been misreporting impressions since May 13, 2025. Google’s John Mueller...
New Validity Research Reveals How AI Integration Is Reshaping Email Marketing Performance
Validity released its State of Email 2026 report, analyzing responses from over 500 marketers in the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand. The study finds that teams that have fully embedded AI into email workflows are 75 % more likely to achieve ROI...
Northbeam Review 2026: Is It the Right Attribution Platform for Your Shopify Brand?
Northbeam is a third‑party attribution platform for Shopify and DTC brands that spend $50,000‑$500,000 monthly on paid media across multiple channels. It combines machine‑learning multi‑touch attribution (MTA) with media‑mix modeling (MMM) and feeds data back to ad‑platform algorithms via its...
GrowthRise Mastermind Recap Apr 14, 2026
GrowthRise’s April 14 Mastermind session re‑examined B2B advertising strategy, urging marketers to treat campaigns as long‑term touchpoints rather than quick‑win tactics. Participants recommended a minimum 30‑day run time, focusing on engagement metrics such as video views and click‑through rates while...
SEO for Skincare, Beauty & Cosmetic Brands: Key Tips You Need to Know
Beauty and skincare brands face a research‑heavy consumer journey, where shoppers evaluate ingredients, compare products, and read reviews before purchasing. Search engines reward sites that provide transparent ingredient information, detailed usage guidance, and authoritative educational content. Visual assets and user‑generated...
ReferralCandy Review 2026: The Honest Shopify Referral and Affiliate App Assessment
ReferralCandy is a Shopify‑focused platform that automates both referral and affiliate programs for merchants generating $20K‑$2M in monthly revenue. The app promises 10‑25% of total revenue from referrals within 90 days and requires only a 30‑60 minute setup plus an...
Faster, but in Which Direction?
The post argues that AI is a powerful amplifier that magnifies whatever brand foundation you feed it. Companies with clear identity, purpose, and direction can use AI to accelerate execution and maintain coherence. In contrast, brands lacking clarity end up...
Reddit Launches New Public Beta Integration with HubSpot
Reddit has launched a public‑beta integration with HubSpot that lets marketers create, schedule, and monitor Reddit campaigns from HubSpot’s Social tool. The integration adds post publishing, sentiment‑based mention tracking, and performance analytics within HubSpot’s dashboard. By bringing Reddit’s high‑signal conversations...
Google Is About to Punish Websites for That Annoying Browser Back Button Trick
Google announced that, beginning June 15, 2026, it will treat back‑button hijacking as a spam violation. The practice—where sites block or manipulate the browser’s back button—will trigger manual or algorithmic penalties for offending pages. Site owners have a two‑month window to...
PNC Bank CMO on Leveraging Experiential to Rally Hockey Fans in a Growth Market
PNC Bank transformed its Dallas Stars arena plaza into a pop‑up barbershop, the “Mane St. Branch,” featuring a giant synthetic mullet and co‑branded hats. The two‑day activation distributed more than 20,000 hockey‑hair hats and sparked over 13 million earned social engagements,...
“Heated Rivalry” Heartthrob Fronts Peloton’s New Campaign
Peloton has tapped Canadian actor Hudson Williams, the breakout star of the queer‑sports drama "Heated Rivalry," to front its new "Let Yourself Go" campaign. The hero film blends running, strength training and boxing into a choreographed sequence that positions exercise...
Kotex: From Period Art To Acts Of Female Solidarity
Kotex launched the “Art’s Missing Period” campaign, unveiling a year‑long virtual gallery of 40 period‑themed artworks that restores censored menstrual imagery in museums. A branded truck roamed New York City past the MET, Guggenheim, Whitney and MOMA, promoting the gallery...
Snapchat Highlights Opportunities for Insurance Brands
Snapchat and Ipsos released a study of 1,513 U.S. social‑media users showing that 80% of Snapchat users already own at least one insurance policy, making them 1.4 times more likely than non‑users to be policyholders. The research also found that 82%...
WeWork Launches 'WeWork Go' Phone‑booth Pods to Tap Flexible Workspace Market
WeWork unveiled 'WeWork Go', a transparent phone‑booth office pod designed for single users or teams of up to four, and will place the units in airports, convention centers and hotel lobbies. The launch marks the coworking giant’s first new product...
Sony Teams with YouTube Star JackSepticEye on R‑Rated Bloodborne Animated Film
Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch announced at CinemaCon that the cult PlayStation title Bloodborne will be adapted into an R‑rated animated feature co‑produced by YouTube sensation JackSepticEye. The deal pairs Sony’s game‑to‑film push with a creator‑economy...
Meta Updates Threads API with More Third-Party App Integration
Meta announced a major overhaul of the Threads API, adding new post‑type support, deeper analytics, and real‑time controls. The updates let third‑party social‑media‑management tools schedule ghost posts, GIFs, and Instagram Story shares, embed public Threads without tokens, and filter content...
DangleAds Names Nidhi Dua Dhingra Chief Business Officer to Drive Global Revenue
DangleAds Technologies announced the elevation of Nidhi Dua Dhingra to Chief Business Officer. The New Delhi‑based ad‑tech firm says she will steer revenue growth, client acquisition and global partnership strategy as it expands its programmatic, CTV and AI‑led solutions.
Tunnel Vision, AI, and Brand-Building in 2026
A very inspiring conversation w/ Blazzy, one of the West Coast's biggest streetwear & product designers, about how to build a brand in 2026, the value of tunnel vision, the rise of AI & what it akes to stand out...
Is Your Email Program Stuck at “Okay”?
Your email flows are running, your list is growing, and revenue looks okay. But "okay" is where most programs get stuck. Here are 6 signs yours has plateaued: https://t.co/BDEWXRyGoN
Nubank Secures Naming Rights to Latin America’s Largest Arena in Major Sports Push
Nubank, Brazil’s leading neobank with over 80 million customers, announced a five‑year naming‑rights deal for São Paulo’s 55,000‑seat arena, the largest indoor venue in Latin America. The agreement, valued at roughly $150 million total ($30 million per year), includes a co‑branded ticketing platform that...
Irrelevant Ads Lose Audience Instantly—Make It Feel Personal
Walk into a bar. Everyone's 20 years older than you. What do you do? Leave immediately. That's what's happening on your ads, your landing page, your homepage. People can instantly tell if something's "for them." If it doesn't feel relevant, they're gone.
Likes Aren’t Customers: Trust Drives Real Sales
Most content gets likes from people who relate to you. Customers come from people who trust you can solve their problem. Most people never figure out the difference. I didn't for a long time.
InMobi Partners with Salesforce to Accelerate AI‑First Advertising Platform
InMobi announced a deeper partnership with Salesforce to embed AI‑driven sales, service and data tools across its advertising business, aiming to speed up automation, forecasting and cross‑functional collaboration. The deal expands use of Salesforce’s Agentforce, Slack Enterprise Grid and Tableau,...