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.
David Beckham Bends Lenovo’s AI Capabilities to the Max
Lenovo has enlisted football legend David Beckham for its "Maximum David" AI campaign, debuting a month before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The global rollout highlights Lenovo’s AI‑powered devices, solutions and services across Beckham’s ventures in sport, business, travel and content creation. The hero film shows Beckham juggling daily tasks with AI tools that design a chicken coop, tune a motorcycle and power a gaming session. The initiative reinforces Lenovo’s role as the official technology partner for the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups.
Brand Refresh Drives 45% Black Friday Growth
Some Conversion Factory work I'm proud of: Dabble. We refreshed their brand, rewrote their homepage, and built out their Black Friday campaign. ✅ Black Friday software sales +45% YoY ✅ Homepage conversions +31% https://t.co/hdsqnt7lJ6
The Mountain Wants You Scrolling: Paramount+ Eyes Podcasts
Paramount+ announced plans to integrate video podcasts from CBS News and CBS Sports into its streaming service, creating a short‑form, algorithm‑driven feed. The initiative, championed by Skydance owner David Ellison, seeks to capture the “lean‑back” audience that currently consumes snackable...
Alpha Keri Relaunches with New Social-First Campaign and TikTok Debut via The Social CliQ
Alpha Keri, the Australian skin‑care brand owned by Mentholatum, has relaunched with a social‑first campaign led by The Social CliQ, debuting on TikTok. The repositioning targets women aged 25 and over, pairing a modern visual identity and updated formulations with...
Netflix Targets $3B Ad Revenue with AI Agents and 15 New Markets
Netflix announced its 2026 advertising upfront, revealing a reach of over 250 million monthly viewers, the rollout of AI agents to manage ad purchases, and expansion of its ad‑supported tier into 15 new countries. The company set a $3 billion advertising revenue...
Authentic Stories Drive Personal Brand Success
Something new I'm enjoying: Ran a Creator Strategy Session for Trey Phills today (1.1 million followers). But we talked more Big Strategy & Life Building than ~content~ I fundamentally believe every single person is interesting & has worthwhile stories to share. Whenever...
A Guide to Making Short Videos to Boost an RIA's Brand
Financial advisors are turning to short-form videos on LinkedIn and Instagram to attract prospects, reinforce their brand, and supplement referrals. Practitioners like Sathya Chey Patterson and Kelly Klingaman report increased client engagement and reduced ice‑breaker time after posting regular clips....
B2B Summer Pop Up Series with Michelle + Lia
In this inaugural B2B Summer Pop‑Up episode, hosts Michelle Blazer and Leah discuss the rising creativity in B2B marketing, spotlighting new award categories like Cannes' B2B track and the surge of B2B creators at conferences. They review recent platform updates,...
Study of 800K AI Responses: How Review Profiles Shape Brand Presence in AI Search
A new study of 804,491 AI‑generated responses across four major AI platforms shows that having a Trustpilot profile dramatically boosts a brand’s citation rate. Brands with just 1‑13 reviews jump from a 1% median citation rate to 53.5%, while fully...
Cup Runneth Over: Inside the Alcohol Brands Pouring Marketing Into Soccer This Year
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted across North America, giving alcohol brands a massive platform. Companies such as Michelob Ultra, Modelo, Stella Artois and Don Julio are committing record‑high media spends and multi‑channel activations, with some planning 18...
Enterprise Brands Embrace Full‑Stack Online Reputation Management as $5.1B Market Expands
Enterprise brands are shifting from reactive crisis fixes to full‑stack online reputation management (ORM) as the market, valued at $5.1 billion in 2025, is set to surpass $21.9 billion by 2035. With 74% of consumers abandoning purchases after seeing negative search results,...
Wix CMO Omer Shai Deploys AI Agents and Builds Full‑Stack Marketing Team
Wix chief marketing officer Omer Shai detailed how he uses AI agents to prep 6 a.m. meetings, triage leads and streamline creative work, while reorganizing his department into “full‑stack” marketers. The shift promises faster go‑to‑market cycles and a broader skill set...
Google Analytics Adds AI Assistant As Default Channel Group via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Analytics 4 now automatically assigns traffic from recognized AI chatbots to a new “AI Assistant” default channel group, labeling the medium as “ai-assistant” and the campaign as “(ai-assistant)”. This eliminates the need for custom channel groups built with regex...
Hybrid AI‑Human SEO Delivers Six‑Month SaaS Growth
6 months of SEO work paying off for this AI SaaS. The AI-Assisted Plan (not "done by AI") - Editorial Content - Human Revised by Topic Expert - Landing Pages w/Copywriter - pSEO planning and KW Research (SEO + Writing) - AI + VA...
Will Content Marketing Survive AI‑Driven B2B Research?
Will “content marketing” as we know it survive if AI agents are the primary consumers of B2B research? https://t.co/yKDCjPSF60 @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Leadership #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Strategy #Sales #Marketing #MarketingStrategy #MarketingSuccess #SalesTips #SalesLeader
500 New Subscribers From One PDF
A creator built a simple PDF recap of a journaling video in about 30 minutes, posted it as a lead magnet, and gained 500 new newsletter subscribers. The post argues that speed and relevance trump polish, urging newsletter writers to...
Use Claude to Sharpen Your FAQ in 15 Minutes
Free tip: have Claude roast your brand's FAQ page. Spend 15 minutes making those improvements. You're welcome.
6 Rules for the Modern Fan Club
The author, a new Substack writer, built an email list of about 11,000 subscribers in six months and distilled six practical rules for modern fan clubs. Core tactics include answering every fan message, offering unexpected free gifts, and treating each...
ON24 Unveils New LinkedIn Integration to Help B2B Marketers Reach the Right Buyers and Accelerate Pipeline
ON24, now a Cvent company, announced a new integration with LinkedIn that merges its first‑party webinar engagement data with LinkedIn’s professional audience targeting. The feature lets marketers build audience segments from registration, participation and content‑interaction metrics and activate those segments...
YouTube Pitches Advertisers, Offers New AI Bundles
YouTube unveiled AI‑powered advertising bundles and creator‑partnership programs at its upfront sales event, aiming to pull ad dollars from social platforms, television and other media. The new bundles let brands use artificial intelligence for audience targeting and automatically transform influencer...
3 Ways to Turn LinkedIn Into a B2B AI Discovery Engine
LinkedIn has evolved from a simple B2B discovery channel into a key source for AI‑driven search citations. Large language models now pull brand signals from LinkedIn profiles, company pages, and employee posts, influencing AEO (AI‑enhanced organic) visibility. The article outlines...
Digital Audio Proves Its Full Funnel Credentials in Audion & Happydemics Study
Audion has unveiled its Audio Performance Index, the first benchmark that quantifies digital audio advertising across the full marketing funnel. Analyzing 423 brand‑lift campaigns in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, the study finds audio lifts brand image...
Using Orchestrated Serendipity Allowed One Brand to Improve Its Conversion Rate by 15% – Interview with Gregg Johnson of Invoca
Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca, discussed on the Punk CX podcast how linking pre‑purchase digital intent data to live agents—what he calls "orchestrated serendipity"— drove a 15% lift in conversion for a brand. He emphasized that the acquisition moment is...
Direct Traffic & Popularity – Correlation, Not Causation via @Sejournal, @TaylorDanRW
The article argues that direct traffic is a symptom of brand health rather than a direct Google ranking factor. While studies have linked direct visits to higher SERP positions, the piece stresses that the correlation stems from underlying signals such...
Centimillionaire Strategy Session with Kevin Harrington: Time Management, Deal Structures, and Negotiating Transactions
In this episode, original Shark Tank investor Kevin Harrington shares his playbook for scaling consumer brands, emphasizing the power of branding, distribution, and influencer marketing—illustrated by his role in turning Celsius from a $10 million startup to a $12 billion company. He...
Subway, Saatchi & Saatchi ME Leave People on ‘Typing…’ for 5 Days Before Grand Reveal
Subway teamed with Saatchi & Saatchi ME to re‑launch its Meatball Marinara after a six‑year absence using a "Subway is Typing" teaser that sent a simple "Hi" followed by a five‑day typing indicator to consumers. The silent, suspense‑driven approach sparked...
Omnicom Media’s Annalect Leverages Snowflake to Advance Martech, AI and Measurement
Omnicom Media’s data and analytics arm Annalect announced a partnership with Snowflake to roll out a suite of martech, AI and measurement solutions across the Middle East and North Africa. The integration leverages Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud, including Cortex AI,...
The Era of Informal Influence Is Over: India's Creator Economy Is Entering Its Institutional Age
Kofluence’s 2026 Influencer Marketing Report shows India’s creator economy moving into an institutional phase. The sector is projected to reach INR 5,000 Cr (about $600 million) by 2027, with a 22% CAGR and 15% of creators now operating as registered businesses. AI tools...
![How To Measure AI Search: Current KPIs You Need To Know [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Hethr_campbell](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/1457e32f222006eb3fd4f7cadbf8921a.webp)
How To Measure AI Search: Current KPIs You Need To Know [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Hethr_campbell
AI‑generated answers are intercepting user journeys before a click, leaving traditional SEO metrics blind to brand influence. Search Engine Journal’s webinar outlines a three‑layer measurement stack that captures AI visibility signals, applies incrementality testing and media‑mix modeling, and ties the...
TikTok´s Donte Murry Reveals Why Affiliate Links Are the New Search Triggers
TikTok’s North America director of beauty, wellness and personal care, Donte Murry, highlighted that affiliate links are now acting as discovery triggers rather than simple buy buttons. About 77% of viewers search for more information after seeing an affiliate post,...
The AI Chat Ad Frontier: What LLMs Change About Brand Safety And Control
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT ads, marking the first true advertising channel inside large language models. Unlike traditional digital media, the ad environment is generated in real time, with the surrounding conversational context evolving dynamically as users interact. This shift introduces...
TikTok Shop Is the New “It” Beauty Destination
TikTok Shop has surged to become the sixth‑largest health‑and‑beauty e‑commerce platform in the United States, generating between $2.5 billion and $4.4 billion in gross market value. The channel’s beauty category is expanding at an 84 % year‑over‑year rate, fueled by creator‑driven short‑form videos...
‘We Should Own It’: Hershey’s Programmatic Chief on AI Agents and Media Mix Modeling
Hershey’s VP of Consumer Connections Vinny Rinaldi says the confectioner spent a year building a suite of AI‑driven media‑mix‑modeling agents that shrink reporting cycles from months to weeks. The new system lets Hershey prioritize relevance over reach, steering spend toward...
Netflix Ramps up Global Ad Push with AI Tools and 250M Monthly Viewers
Netflix announced that its ad‑supported tier now reaches over 250 million monthly active viewers worldwide, signaling a major scaling of its advertising business. The company unveiled AI‑powered tools that can manage ad purchases and dynamically adapt creative assets, as well as...
Netflix Goes Toe-to-Toe with TV Giants in Aggressive Ad Pitch
Netflix announced its ad‑supported subscription tier now reaches more than 250 million monthly active viewers, a 31% jump from the 190 million reported in November 2025. President of Advertising Amy Reinhard said the company is shifting from proving durability to establishing itself...
AI Revives Old Posts, Amplifies Expert Insights
What a time to be alive. I now have an agent that will review my social traffic (big query) if it is lower than I like, it goes and finds older blog posts (greater than 12 months) that drove value, then...
Amazon's AI Chips Power Programmatic Ad Growth, Targeting $50B Run Rate
Amazon says its in‑house Trainium AI chips deliver 30% better price performance and could drive a $50 billion annual run rate for its advertising cloud within two years, tightening margins and expanding programmatic capabilities for marketers.
The Ordinary Would Like To Know If You Want To Buy a $175.90 Banana
The Ordinary has unveiled a new pop‑up experience called The Markup Marché, a faux supermarket that displays everyday items like bananas and avocadoes with sky‑high price tags. Developed with Uncommon Creative Studio, the activation tours Toronto, London, São Paulo, Mexico City and...
AI COO Offers All-in-One Workforce for SMBs
🔥 This is insane. Just saw the first real AI COO for SMBs. Drop your website → get an entire AI workforce that calls, texts, emails, runs your CRM, optimizes your site, and compounds customer relationships 24/7. No more 12-tool stack bleeding money. This...
Greenfire Strategy Acquires 21b Consulting, Deepening Growth Capabilities for Mid-Market Clients
Greenfire Strategy, a Cleveland‑based B2B growth consultancy, has acquired 21b Consulting to bolster its HubSpot implementation and revenue‑operations expertise. The deal merges Greenfire’s brand, content, and demand‑generation services with 21b’s deep technical know‑how, creating a full‑stack offering for mid‑market companies....
Launch a Profitable AI‑Powered E‑Commerce Brand in Hours
How to build a profitable ecommerce brand using AI from zero (I tested this myself and got my first sale 1 hour after launching ads): 1. Find a product you're passionate about/know a little something about. Chances are you already know...
TikTok Announces New AI Advertising Solutions
TikTok unveiled a comprehensive AI‑driven advertising suite at its 6th‑annual TikTok World summit. New premium formats such as TopReach combine TopView and TopFeed for single‑day, high‑visibility buys, while Branded Buzz and Search Hubs enable creator‑powered buzz and top‑of‑search placement. The...
Molson Coors Revives Keystone Ice to Bolster Value Beer Portfolio Amid Sales Slump
Molson Coors announced the return of Keystone Ice after a five‑year gap and added a new Keystone Apple variant, aiming to shore up its economy‑beer segment as overall beverage‑alcohol sales fall. The move is part of a broader strategy to...
SEO Boosts SaaS Traffic, Engagement, and Conversions
“Should we be investing in SEO for our 2 year old SaaS?” Me: “Well, our organic traffic is up 201% and 27-35% of those visitors are signing up for RB2B. These are a few other BANANAS results from the last...
G2 Unveils Tools to Build Trust in AI Answer Era
G2 unveiled a suite of new capabilities designed to inject trust into AI‑driven software buying. The flagship Model Context Protocol (MCP), powered by Anthropic’s Claude, connects AI assistants directly to G2’s verified reviewer data. Additional features—structured FAQs, guided discussion prompts,...
AI Simulations Predict Consumer Reactions with 95% Accuracy
Foresight (@foresight_inc) builds AI-powered simulations of consumers, letting CPG, retail, and tech teams predict reactions to any launch or marketing campaign in minutes. Proven 95% accuracy vs. traditional research when tested with Fortune 500 clients. Congrats on the launch, @eytanrozenblum & @antoine01723559! https://t.co/8U1wFebSgo
Scaling AI Content Can Harm Your SEO Rankings
Can scaling AI content be risky for SEO? I've been monitoring the impact across hundreds of sites for the past few months. Check out my recent research and findings in my latest Substack: https://t.co/nY4XO08uBG https://t.co/NUcvIGUe6O
Fear the Food! Maple Leaf Foods Pays Influencers to Mislead, Fear-Monger About Farming Practices
Maple Leaf Foods launched a social‑media campaign that pays parent and health influencers to promote its “Raised Without Antibiotics” (RWA) chicken, using fear‑based messages about antibiotic resistance. The ads assert that more than 80 % of Canada’s antibiotics are used in...
Taboola Data Reveals 76% Advertisers See Improved Performance From Agentic AI
Taboola’s new research shows 76% of advertisers experience performance gains from agentic AI, mainly on search and social platforms. The study finds 80% would boost open‑web ad spend if comparable AI tools existed, with 86% ready to allocate up to...
Publishing for AI Search Is Like SEO in 1999. Here’s What That Means for Your Business.
AI‑driven chat interfaces like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude now pull answers from indexed web content, rewarding the most specific, useful sources. The author likens this shift to the 1999 Google SEO boom, where early adopters secured lasting rankings. By publishing...