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 all marketing functions, shifting AI from a productivity add‑on to a core strategic engine. The analysis notes early adopters are using generative tools, while the next wave will involve autonomous agents that orchestrate decisions across workflows, guided by a five‑step implementation roadmap.
The NFL Has a New Official Professional Services Partner, and Yes, It’s a Legal Tech Company
Legal tech firm 8am, parent of LawPay and MyCase, has become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Official Professional Services Partner, securing naming rights to a 10,000‑square‑foot lounge now called the 8am Club at Raymond James Stadium. This follows a wave of high‑profile sports sponsorships by legal tech companies, including Clio with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, Filevine with the Utah Mammoth, and Harvey with the US Open. The deals reflect a shift from modest conference swag to marquee branding opportunities. Industry investors have poured capital into these firms, enabling such premium marketing moves.
Almay Taps Miranda Kerr as Face of Brand Relaunch
Almay, a Revlon‑owned makeup brand, has appointed Australian model Miranda Kerr as its global brand ambassador to spearhead a brand relaunch. The new campaign, titled “Clean Makeup That Thinks It’s Skincare,” emphasizes a skin‑first philosophy and will be supported by...
Walk Away From Bad Brand Deals, Choose Exciting Partnerships
Creators, it's okay to walk away from brand deals that aren't a good fit. If the money's not right, deliverables are too high, communication is off, or it just feels weird... seriously any reason at all. Spend your time and...
AI OS Replaces Social Media Manager, Handles Everything
You no longer need a social media manager. Neon is an AI OS that handles your entire account from DMs to daily content, end-to-end. → DMs managed completely on your behalf → Fresh niche-based inspiration every single day → Replies...
Livvy Dunne Made Millions Before She Turned 20 — Now She’s Turning Her Celebrity Into Equity
Livvy Dunne, former LSU gymnast turned social‑media star, is moving from short‑term brand endorsements to long‑term equity partnerships, notably taking a stake in Accelerator Active Energy. Her signature Cotton Candy flavor has become the brand’s top seller, projected to exceed...
HubSpot Moves to Outcome-Based Pricing for some Breeze AI Agents
HubSpot announced that, starting April 14, 2026, its Breeze AI Customer Agent and Prospecting Agent will shift to outcome‑based pricing. The Customer Agent will be charged $0.50 only for conversations it resolves, down from $1 per conversation, reflecting its 65%...
Ads Aren’t Marketing: Stop Wasting Money
Running ads and doing marketing are not the same thing. A lot of you figured that out the hard way. Let me save the rest of you some money. 🧵
Wunderkind Launches New Braze Integration to Turn Identity Into Revenue-Driving, Orchestrated Customer Journeys
Wunderkind has launched a new integration with Braze that embeds its AI‑driven identity resolution and high‑intent behavioral signals directly into Braze Canvas. The connection lets marketers turn anonymous web visitors into addressable Braze profiles, grow email lists in real time,...
McDonald’s Sets Date for Under $3 Menu Debut
McDonald’s will roll out an Under $3 Menu on April 21, adding at least ten low‑priced items across breakfast, lunch and dinner, alongside a $4 Breakfast Meal Deal. The new McValue offerings follow a 2024 $5 Meal Deal and aim to reverse...
Build Your Own Channel Digest: The System I Use to Engage Intentionally on LinkedIn
The author created a personal "Channel Digest" to turn LinkedIn from a random scrolling habit into a purposeful relationship engine. By aggregating the right people, conversations, and market signals, the system lets users engage with intent rather than reaction. It...
How to Unify Customer Data From Mobile Apps and Websites
Modern buyers switch between mobile apps and websites, creating data silos that obscure the true customer journey. Unifying these fragmented signals into a single, persistent profile enables real‑time personalization, accurate attribution, and streamlined privacy compliance. The article outlines three core...
Jaded London Founders: ‘Our Stores Are Not Just Retail – They Are a Gen Z Experience’
Jaded London founders Grant Goulden and Jade Camber explain that their stores are built as immersive, community‑focused "Gen Z experiences" rather than conventional retail spaces. They credit culturally resonant collaborations, a digital‑first marketing approach, and a strong community ethos for...
Retailer Becomes Brand: Belgian Home Chain Juntoo at a Turning Point
Juntoo, a Belgian home‑furnishings chain launched in 2021, now operates 22 stores and enjoys roughly 80 % aided brand awareness in Flanders. The retailer is shifting from a pure retail model to a full‑fledged interior design brand, designing all furniture in‑house....
The Australian Creator Who Said ‘Yes’ Before She Knew How: Kat Clark Shares Business Blueprint
Australian creator Kat Clark turned a turbulent teen‑mom start into a digital empire, amassing over 10 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. She leveraged viral recipe videos to launch a $10‑a‑month paid community, then pivoted to product entrepreneurship with...
Llms.txt Was Step One. Here’s The Architecture That Comes Next via @Sejournal, @DuaneForrester
The article argues that llms.txt is only a first‑step for AI‑ready brand content, offering a flat list of Markdown files but no relational context. It proposes a four‑layer machine‑readable architecture—JSON‑LD fact sheets, entity‑relationship graphs, versioned content APIs, and provenance metadata—to...
Hihotels Debuts The Legacy Circle
hihotels by Hospitality International has launched The Legacy Circle, a prestige program honoring franchise partners with up to 40 years of affiliation. The brand touts a 97% overall franchisee retention rate, far exceeding typical industry levels. The program offers custom...
Scaling Fast Can Cost More Than Funding
New @ThePeelPod with @sophiaamoruso We talk bootstrapping her vintage Ebay store Nasty Gal to $28m revenue, raising $50m, turning down a $400m acquisition offer, and declaring bankruptcy a few years later. We talk about what it was like failing so publicly, what...
Cut the AI Slop: IAS Low-Quality GenAI Avoidance Is Now in Open Beta
Integral Ad Science (IAS) launched an open‑beta Low‑Quality GenAI Avoidance feature, integrated with its Context Control Avoidance suite, to block ads next to low‑quality AI‑generated content. The tool scores AI‑slop in near real time and works pre‑bid via a ready‑made...
Papa John's Rolls Out $7.99 Oven‑toasted Sandwiches to Boost Sales
Papa John's unveiled a new oven‑toasted sandwich lineup priced at $7.99, with a $6.99 two‑for‑one “Papa Pairings” deal, aiming to recapture lapsed customers. The move comes as the pizza chain battles a 2% drop in North‑American comparable sales, flat $2.1 billion...
How to Kill Fundraising Response: Tell a Story
A new M+R AI study examined 3.8 billion nonprofit emails and found that messages containing personal stories generated a 29% lower response rate than story‑free emails. The analysis suggests that generic storytelling often creates a donor disconnect, diluting the call to...
Nordstrom Teams with Marks & Spencer to Relaunch U.S. Fashion Line After 25‑Year Hiatus
Nordstrom announced a partnership with Marks & Spencer to sell a curated women’s‑wear capsule in 30 U.S. stores and online, marking the British brand’s return after a 25‑year exit. The rollout leverages consumer‑insight data and an asset‑light wholesale model to...
Consistent Outreach Drives Consistent Revenue Growth
I’ll tell you why your revenue is inconsistent without knowing anything about your business. Some months you do $40K. Other months you do $15K. Why? It’s because your outreach is inconsistent. Some weeks you send 40 messages. Other weeks you send 4. It’s hard...
Creator Platform Beehiiv Launches Podcast Hosting and Distribution
Beehiiv, originally a newsletter platform, has launched a full‑stack podcast hosting and distribution service. The new tool lets creators upload MP3, M4A or WAV files, automatically generate transcripts, and push episodes to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and Castro. Beehiiv charges...
Coca-Cola Reasserts Fast-Food Dominance over Pepsi in New Campaign
Coca‑Cola launched the national "And a Coke" campaign, uniting more than a dozen quick‑service restaurant partners such as Domino’s, Popeyes and Wendy’s. The three 30‑second spots debuted in cinemas on April 3 and will expand across TV, digital, social and delivery...
Armra Taps Hamid Saify as New CMO
Armra, the direct‑to‑consumer colostrum supplement brand, has appointed Hamid Saify as chief marketing officer. Saify arrives from Lucky Energy after a stint as CMO and an early‑career role at Liquid Death, where he helped scale the brand into a fast‑growing...
Now Publicis Media Lands Global Microsoft
Publicis Media has won Microsoft’s global media business, a contract valued at over $1 billion, adding to its recent acquisition of Microsoft‑owned LinkedIn. Both accounts were taken from Dentsu, stripping the Japanese holding company of its strongest international media line‑up. The...
The Agentic Marketplace Is Here. Where Does That Leave DSPs and SSPs?
Swivel and CTV platform Olyzon have partnered to create an agentic marketplace that uses the open‑source AdCP protocol for buy‑side and sell‑side communication. The system lets AI‑driven agents handle trafficking, yield optimization, and seller functions, allowing advertisers to access inventory...
The Agentic Marketplace Is Here. Where Does That Leave DSPs and SSPs?
Swivel and CTV platform Olyzon have teamed up to create an agentic marketplace that lets buy‑side and sell‑side AI agents negotiate ad placements through the open‑source AdCP protocol. The partnership enables advertisers like Pierre Fabre to run U.S. CTV campaigns...
Elite Soccer Player Fuels ‘Feed the Dream’ Campaign
Chobani, the official nutrition partner of U.S. Soccer, has launched the second phase of its "Feed the Dream" campaign, investing $5 million to sponsor 500 youth soccer teams across the United States. The initiative features high‑profile players such as Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic,...
LiveRamp and Unity Announce Expanded Partnership | Exclusive
LiveRamp and Unity have expanded their partnership, integrating LiveRamp’s RampID identifier into Unity Exchange, the company’s programmatic advertising marketplace. RampID is an interoperable, portable user ID that works across platforms, allowing advertisers to recognize and target the same users inside...
Reddit Pro Boosts Engagement and Adds Verification Badges
Are you using Reddit Pro? -> Reddit says publishers using its Pro Tools have seen post views grow by 46%, comments by 48%, and profile views nearly double since the tool's September launch Verification checkmarks added -> "In addition to...
Dubai Media Gaming Powered by Livewire Reveals New Insights
Dubai Media, in partnership with Livewire, released a report showing the UAE’s gaming ecosystem now hosts about 7.5 million players, with women comprising over 30% and Emiratis only 12% of the audience. The study highlights that gamers in the region generate...
How To Identify And Solve Click Fraud In Paid Media – Ask A PPC via @Sejournal, @Navahf
Click fraud can masquerade as normal performance issues, making it difficult for paid‑media managers to identify true waste. The article outlines a three‑step approach: audit placement and targeting settings, understand platform‑level fraud protections, and deploy mitigation tools when invalid clicks...
Hypermedia Advances Unified Programmatic Offering with Integrated Digital Revenue Function
Hypermedia, the UAE‑based digital out‑of‑home and retail media network, has launched an Integrated Digital Revenue Function that merges its DOOH assets with the programmatic expertise of DXTA Technology, its ad‑tech arm. Led by Head of Digital Sales Hicham Dergham and...
Bootstrapped SaaS Growth When AI Took Over the Market
In this episode, host Omer Khan talks with Sylvester Dupont, the bootstrapped founder of Parser, a B2B SaaS that automates data extraction from documents. Sylvester recounts how the company spent a year building the product without customer input, launched to...
Busy Professionals Need AI Screen Recorder—Seeking Testers
I could use some help. I'm not the kind of person to raise my hand and ask for help. I was taught that if you want something, you work hard for it. So that's how I live my life. I try to build things...
Live Google Ads Integration Enables Direct Agent Campaign Management
Google Ads integration is live. Connect your account and the agent can review campaign performance, suggest changes, and make updates directly. Ad copy, bid strategy, campaign structure — without switching tabs or exporting reports. Waitlist invite emails going out soon → https://t.co/8Qp1fP9HOb
AI Across the Advertising Value Chain: What the Latest Research Reveals
Artificial intelligence is reshaping every stage of the advertising value chain, from concept creation to media execution, according to new research by Madison & Wall. The study, presented by CEO Brian Wieser, Managing Director Luke Stillman, and Adobe’s Principal AI...
Top Review Praises My Email Marketing Rules Book
This is among my favorite reviews I've ever gotten for "Email Marketing Rules"! Read it for yourself >> https://t.co/R6nybb3LZC https://t.co/knPDLFqnuM
AI Must Cut Costs or Boost Lifetime Value
ecom folks… what is something you’ve built with ai that had a meaningful impact on: - lowering cac - increasing customer LTV - lowering opex if it doesn’t make a *meaningful* difference to any of these…you’re just playing dress up as a washed out...
The $37 Product That Changed My Entire Business Model
Carrie Loranger released a $37 Substack playbook on Gumroad that sold consistently without a formal launch, providing a steady revenue stream. The product revealed that paying customers are experienced creators seeking rapid growth, not beginners. This insight reshaped her subsequent...
Google Commands Nearly Three‑quarters of US Desktop Searches
Search captures demand. Public evidence creates it. “Across 41 major desktop sites in the US in Q4 2025, Google accounted for 73.7% of searches.” Brilliant piece from @amandanat https://t.co/SaLhMF6rwN
Your Press Release Is Invisible to AI—Your Fault
Misunderstood Marketing - : Your Press Release Is Invisible to AI. Here Is Why That Is Mostly Your Fault. https://t.co/Xq1FPnfPri
Inside John Frieda’s Bold and Complex Rebrand to ‘Defend’ Its Market Position
John Frieda, the 38‑year‑old hair‑care brand owned by Kao Corporation, has launched a comprehensive rebrand that refreshes formulas, fragrances and packaging under the global platform “Salon Attitude. Every Day.” The initiative seeks to defend its premium position in the mass‑market...
Prioritize Core SEO Technical Fixes Over Minor Details
I don't disagree with the premise, but those are minor things and not major issues. Focus on indexing, redirects, internal linking, hreflang issues, schema (if it gets you SERP features). These are valuable things. Things that will move the needle.
Higher Retention Beats Bigger Audience Every Time
I would rather have 500 subscribers retaining at 80% than 5,000 retaining at 40%. Here's why. 🧵 https://t.co/sLO1HKWnDi
Neuromarketing in Online Casinos: How Brain Science Drives Player Retention
Neuromarketing is reshaping online casino strategy by applying brain‑science insights to player behavior. Platforms such as BoyleSports use eye‑tracking, EEG and fMRI data to fine‑tune game interfaces, colors, sounds and reward timing. By triggering dopamine‑driven anticipation and personalized experiences, operators...
Daydream Secures $15 Million Series A to Fuse AI SEO Agents with Human Oversight
Daydream, an AI‑powered SEO startup, closed a $15 million Series A led by WndrCo, with First Round Capital and Basis Set Ventures participating. The funding will expand its hybrid AI‑human platform that automates keyword strategy, content creation and technical audits, targeting...
Typo Unveils World-First Concept Store in Malaysia, in Global Brand Refresh Push
Typo, a Cotton On Group brand, launched its first-ever concept store at IOI Mall Puchong in Malaysia, marking the debut of a global retail format. The new space is styled as a "creative playground" with open layouts, doodle‑inspired graphics, and...
Hershey to Restore Classic Reese’s Recipe Across All Products by 2027
The Hershey Company said it will revert every Reese’s product to its original milk‑and‑dark‑chocolate recipes by 2027, a move prompted by criticism from Brad Reese, the founder’s grandson. The change affects less than 3% of the brand’s line‑up and will...