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.
Priceline Brings Back Its Negotiator to Combat Soaring Travel Costs
Priceline is bringing back its iconic Negotiator character, now played by actor Randall Park, after a TikTok‑driven casting search that succeeded William Shatner. The revival anchors the “Unbummer Your Summer” promotion, which promises discounts of up to 60% on vacation packages through May 25. The multi‑channel campaign runs across broadcast, streaming, audio and social platforms, aiming to capture cost‑concerned Gen Z travelers amid rising travel prices linked to higher oil costs. Priceline also plans to roll out additional Negotiator‑themed ads and deals throughout the summer.
H/L Agency Launches Phased Influencer Campaign for McDonald’s McCafé All-New Drinks
H/L Agency has launched a phased influencer campaign for McDonald’s McCafé All‑New Drinks, beginning in May with PR boxes sent to creators. A second wave in June will mobilize local influencers to produce user‑generated content, while a summer phase adds...
Master AI Blog Workflow: Save Outputs, Skip Slop
Ryan Law, our Director of Content at @Ahrefs, built a fully automated Claude Code workflow that creates publish-ready blog articles in just 8 mins. It runs on 23 custom skill files + Ahrefs MCP. Ryan has already published 15 articles on the...
Product‑led Growth: Notion Scaled without Sales or Ads
Notion has 100 million users. $10 billion valuation. $400 million in revenue. They did it with no sales team, no outbound, no ads. Just a free tool that spread through companies until IT had no choice but to pay:
The Pool Factory’s Trust‑First Strategy Fuels Nationwide Growth
The Pool Factory, a U.S. above‑ground pool retailer, has cemented a nationwide reputation by putting trust and transparency ahead of fleeting marketing trends. The May 13 2026 press release details how clear product information, responsive service and post‑sale education are driving repeat...
Candidates Prioritize Buzzword Hacks over SEO Fundamentals
I'm helping a client hire an SEO manager. Some of the questions I've been getting from candidates are just laughable. Some immediate red flags: 1. Why aren't you implementing llms.txt? 2. Are you prioritizing Reddit for GEO? 3. Have you considered YouTube...
When Ads Fail, Check the Funnel First
We lost $500K on Meta ads blaming Andromeda. One of our clients spent roughly $1,000,000 in an ad account and performance tanked. We thought Andromeda or GEM was messing it up. We changed everything. Different scripts. Different videos. Different layouts. We thought...
MrBeast Unveils AI‑Driven Creator Marketplace, Pushing Programmatic Ads to Influencers
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson announced that Beast Industries is launching an AI‑powered creator marketplace that connects vetted micro‑creators with Global 1000 advertisers. The platform, built around the Vyro distribution engine and a new intelligence layer, aims to make creator inventory as...
TikTok Launches MCP Server to Let AI Agents Run Campaigns
TikTok announced the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a developer toolkit that lets AI agents directly create, launch, and optimize ad campaigns on its platform. The move mirrors similar MCP releases from Google, Meta, and Amazon, signaling a shift toward...
Growth Comes From Intentional, Purpose‑Driven Marketing, Not Volume
Here's something I've been thinking about a lot: The businesses that grow consistently aren't always the ones doing the most marketing. They're the ones doing the most intentional marketing. Intentional means: → every channel has a purpose → every campaign ladders up to a...
Cut Form Fields, Boost Conversions with Open‑Source Skill
I built a skill that optimizes forms for conversion — field reduction, multi-step design, CTA copy, trust signals, and mobile optimization. You share a form and it audits every field, label, error message, and CTA. It tells you which fields to...
Call Me Chunky Leans on Humour for New IPL-Led Campaign
Call Me Chunky has launched a four‑film IPL‑season campaign streamed on JioHotstar, featuring Bollywood actor Shakti Kapoor, wrestler The Great Khali, choreographer Terence Lewis and digital creator Saurabh Ghadge. The humour‑driven spots revolve around the brand’s tagline “Bina Dhoonde Harr...
Google Ads Teases New Dashboards Powered By Gemini
Google announced at a teaser for Google Marketing Live that its Ads platform will soon launch Gemini‑powered dashboards. The new tool promises AI‑driven data visualizations, allowing marketers to generate charts, tables and graphs with a simple text prompt. Real‑time updates...
How to Find Out if Your Brand Is Winning in AI Search
AI is rapidly redefining how consumers search, with ChatGPT handling roughly 2.5 billion prompts daily and Google’s AI Overviews appearing in about one‑fifth of all searches. Brands that don’t appear in these AI‑generated answers risk losing early‑stage purchase consideration. Search‑intelligence platforms...
Lessons Learned From Adobe’s 2026 Q2 AI Traffic Report via @Sejournal, @Slobodanmanic
Adobe Analytics’ Q2 2026 AI Traffic Report reveals AI‑referred visits to U.S. retailers surged 393% year‑over‑year in Q1 2026 and now convert better than any other channel. Engagement metrics jumped—time on site up 48%, pages per visit up 13%—while revenue per visit...
How to Make Sure AI Is Finding You When Searched: The DGR Interview with Skydeo’s Mike Ford
Mike Ford of Skydeo explains that AI‑powered search is shifting B2B marketing from a ranking‑focused SEO approach to a recommendation model. Language models prioritize clear, objective answers that can be lifted and repeated, rewarding third‑person, data‑rich content. Bottom‑of‑funnel assets such...
Nike's Net Income Margin Slides to 4.6%, a 34% Drop Amid Slowing Demand
Nike posted a 4.6% net income margin for the fiscal third quarter, a 34% decline from the same period a year earlier. The slide reflects softer demand, rising costs, a projected 20% sales drop in Greater China, and a direct‑to‑consumer...
Daily Posts Signal Algorithm: Fix Your Threads Strategy
I'm a software engineer turned indie hacker, and I keep hearing the same thing: "I post every day on Threads but nothing grows." If you're posting daily with zero traction, the algo isn't ignoring you randomly. It's sending you a signal. Here's what's...
Claude Now Powers OmniSocials: 10‑platform Posting, No Pricey Tools
Holy shit... someone made it work that I can integrate a social media manager inside Claude It's called OmniSocials and it lets Claude draft, schedule, and publish to 10 platforms from a single command. No Hootsuite. No Buffer. No $200/seat pricing. Here's everything...
Heineken Shares Its Marketing Strategy for the Summer of Soccer as World Cup Hype Ramps Up
Heineken USA is ramping up its soccer marketing ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, increasing spend by 189% year over year despite not being an official sponsor. The brewer is rolling out limited‑edition 12‑ and 24‑packs in U.S. retailers...
How Early Is Too Early?
The rise of kid‑influencer makeup tutorials is driving a nascent children’s cosmetics market, with global sales projected to add $969 million by 2030 and Asia‑Pacific contributing over a third of that growth. In India, the segment remains under‑served, especially for ages...
Changan Automobile Appoints Ogilvy as Global Social and Digital Partner
Chinese automaker Changan Automobile has hired global agency Ogilvy as its strategic partner for worldwide social media and website management. The deal spans Europe, Latin America, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia‑Pacific, leveraging Ogilvy’s AI‑driven “One Team, One Platform,...
YouTube Launches Matchmaking Program to Connect Creators with Advertisers for Upfront Sponsorship Deals on Upcoming Shows
YouTube introduced a matchmaking platform that links creators directly with advertisers for upfront sponsorships on upcoming shows, a departure from its usual post‑performance payment model. The initial rollout features more than two dozen series starring personalities such as Trevor Noah,...
YouTube’s Brandcast Puts Creators Front‑And‑Center, Pitching Them as the New TV Stars
YouTube’s Brandcast upfront highlighted a creator‑first strategy, treating its top video makers as a de‑facto television lineup. The platform showcased new long‑form series and announced tools that lift brand conversion on Shorts by roughly 30%, signaling a shift in how...
800k YouTube Titles Reveal Top Words for Views
I studied 800,866 YouTube titles to see which words work best for getting more views. Here are the top 10:
OpenAI Enables Catalog‑Driven Shopping Ads in ChatGPT as Omnisend Launches AI‑Powered Marketing Hub
OpenAI announced that retailers can now generate shopping ads straight from product catalogs inside ChatGPT, while email‑and‑SMS platform Omnisend unveiled its Model Context Protocol (MCP) that lets marketers create and analyze campaigns in the same chat window. Both moves aim...
Meet Your Audience Where They Are, Respectful Messaging Wins
Pro-tip from a fractional CMO and marketing consultant: in your messaging, meet your audience where they actually are. In this dumpster fire of a reality we are collectively living in, that’s probably the most respectful thing your marketing can do right...
How To Build Local Pages That Win In AI-Powered Search via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker
SEJ’s on‑demand session, led by Loren Baker and Alchemer’s Nick Larson, explains how AI‑powered search engines locate and rank local pages. It breaks down the role of site content, listings, schema markup, and customer reviews in feeding AI‑generated answers. Attendees...
Streaming Ads Overtake TV as Infrastructure and Patience Pay
From today's @WSJ featuring @AntennaData: The TV Ad Market Is Being Taken Over by Streaming Platforms. I wrote about this years ago when the industry was fretting that streaming had reached its cap: advertising revenue trails consumer behavior by 3-5...
Meta's Low‑CPC Tricks Inflate Attribution, Hurt Conversions
When Meta burns spend on low-CPC placements and ads, it's chasing easy attribution credit from people who were already likely to buy within your attribution window. Before the March 2026 attribution update, it didn't even need link clicks to do this....
Seychelles Puts UNESCO Heritage at Core of High‑Value Eco‑Tourism Drive
Seychelles is centering its UNESCO‑listed Aldabra Atoll and Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve in a new tourism strategy aimed at higher‑value, eco‑conscious visitors. The shift, outlined in the 2024‑2034 Sustainable Tourism Policy, seeks to replace a volume‑driven model with premium,...
InMobi’s MobileAction Deal Boosts Agentic Commerce And Global Advertising
InMobi announced the acquisition of MobileAction, an AI‑powered app‑marketing platform, to strengthen its agentic commerce offering and expand into the Apple ecosystem. The deal adds MobileAction’s data on millions of creatives, keywords and apps, complementing InMobi’s Glance platform that already...
Amex and Chase Turn Dining Into Card Ecosystem with Resy, Infatuation Deals
American Express and Chase have deepened their lifestyle arms by integrating restaurant reservation and discovery platforms into their premium cards. The moves signal a shift from point‑redemption models to fully owned dining ecosystems that lock spend within the issuer’s infrastructure.
WPP Appoints Toby Jenner and Philip Heimann as Global Presidents of Client Growth to Steer Elevate28
WPP announced that Toby Jenner and Philip Heimann will serve as Global Presidents of Client Growth, reporting to COO Devika Bulchandani. The appointments are a core element of the Elevate28 transformation, designed to integrate media, creative and data‑AI capabilities for a...
Blizzard Launches Overwatch 10th‑Anniversary Event with 21 Free Skins
Blizzard Entertainment has opened the Overwatch 10th‑anniversary celebration, running May 12‑June 1 and handing out 21 exclusive launch‑hero skins, 15 anniversary loot boxes and dozens of community‑crafted cosmetics. The free‑to‑play rewards aim to boost player activity and monetize the franchise after a...
Brands Can Pre‑Invest in YouTube’s New Creator Shows
Tomorrow at #Brandcast, we’re unveiling our first-ever slate of Creator Shows. YouTubers are the new stars and studios. To ensure @youtube remains the home for their most ambitious projects, we're shifting our model to connect @youtubecreators and brands more directly....
Master Cart Abandonment: 5 Rules to Maximize Revenue
Most ecom brands set up their cart abandonment flow once, then leave it running on autopilot for years, even though it recovers more revenue than any other automated flow they run. Here are 5 cart abandonment rules you need to know: →...
Consistency Builds Stronger Brands Than Creativity
Strong brands are forged through consistent, repeatable experiences rather than constant creative reinvention. The article argues that trust, built over time by delivering the same promise, is the core of brand meaning, citing Disney as a prime example. Internally, consistent...
Google Ads Adds Gemini-Powered Dashboards for Real-Time Insights
Google is integrating its Gemini large‑language model into Google Ads Dashboards, letting advertisers generate and modify visual reports with natural‑language prompts. The new feature updates charts, tables and graphs in real time as users ask questions about metrics such as...
Brown Cow Undergoes Brand Refresh
Brown Cow, the iconic cream‑top yogurt brand founded in 1973, has launched a comprehensive brand refresh with creative agency Little Big Brands. The redesign revives the original heritage story centered on Lily the Jersey cow, introducing a hand‑drawn mascot, updated typography,...
YouTube’s Brandcast Puts Creator Partnerships Front and Center
At Brandcast, Google’s Sean Downey positioned YouTube as the future of media, emphasizing its evolution beyond traditional TV to a multi‑screen ecosystem anchored by Shorts and creator‑driven content. He highlighted the launch of YouTube Creator Partnerships, a matchmaking platform that...
World Cup, US-Style: Coffee Breaks and Skincare Routines
Dove and Nescafé have launched World Cup‑centric ads that pivot football marketing toward lifestyle habits. Dove, via Lola USA, urges male fans to protect their skin from dirty jerseys and face‑paint, while Nescafé, with Casanova, introduces a “third half” coffee...
Today Intercom Becomes Fin
Intercom announced today that it is rebranding its corporate identity to Fin, while retaining the Intercom name for its flagship customer‑service platform. The company launched Intercom 2, a rebuilt help‑desk solution, and moved all 1,400 employees under the Fin umbrella. The...
Google AI Overviews Now Ignore Self‑promotional Listicles
I believe Google recently changed how it answers some "best" queries in AI Overviews. Previously, using a listicle that ranked your own company as #1 was often sufficient to get recommended in the answer. Now, it looks like Google may be using...
Great Outreach Fails without a Compelling Offer
Spent 18 months running cold email campaigns that got 8% reply rates but zero revenue. Problem wasn't the distribution. Problem was the offer nobody wanted.
Gen Z Influencer Walter Hits $1 Million Milestone on TikTok Shop Selling Top Beauty Brands
Walter, a 21‑year‑old TikTok creator, leveraged TikTok Shop to sell Medicube, Neutrogena and other beauty products, earning over $1 million in two years and $20,000‑plus per month. His rise underscores the power of influencer‑driven e‑commerce for brands targeting Gen Z shoppers.
Removing Scaled Content Boosts Organic Traffic After Google Penalty
Scaled content -> hit by Google -> started mass-deleting scaled content -> starting to see a small uptick in organic traffic https://t.co/TTINSiZfnM
Verify Real Publish Dates with Wayback Machine Extension
I used to use Chrome extensions to pull in the Schema for "date published," but now that so many sites are faking date published/date modified, I am also using the Wayback Machine Chrome extension to see when the page was...
Five Below's Gen Z Focus Strengthens Brand Relevance & Sales Growth
Five Below is intensifying its focus on Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennial parents, reshaping product assortments, marketing and store experience to match youthful trends. The shift to creator‑driven digital ads and faster‑new product cycles has lifted fiscal 2025 sales 23% to over...
Short‑Form Video Clippers Turn $2,500 Start‑up Into $40,000‑Strong Freelance Network
Emrah Bayraktar, a 25‑year‑old from Belgium, grew a $2,500 two‑week side hustle into a network of 40,000 freelance “clippers” who monetize bite‑size video snippets. Brands now pay anywhere from $0.50 to $25 per 1,000 views, turning short‑form clips into a...