Today's Marketing Pulse
Reddit surges post‑Google update as clicks plunge
Reddit’s top‑3 keyword presence grew to 13,872 terms, a 54% increase after Google’s May core update. SparkToro data shows 68% of Google searches end without a click, with just 232 clicks per 1,000 queries reaching the open web. Google also refreshed its SEO documentation to combat fraudulent practices.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Amplify acquires creative agency Snack Drawer
Liquid Death’s Mike Cessario on Building a Brand That Can’t Be Copied
Liquid Death founder Mike Cessario explained how the water brand leverages comedy to create a branding moat that rivals like Coke and Pepsi cannot duplicate. He argues that most consumer products are commodities, so differentiation must come from memorable entertainment and emotional connection. The company’s low‑cost, high‑impact content—including a $1,500 video that earned three million views and a $300,000 internally produced Super Bowl ad—has driven hundreds of millions in revenue and expansion into sparkling water, iced tea, and energy drinks. Cessario also highlighted distribution as the toughest scaling hurdle for new beverage startups.
Fix Post‑click Funnels, Turn $1 Into $4
Most businesses think scaling = increasing ad budget. But in reality, 80% of growth comes from fixing what happens after the click. We’ve seen brands turn $1 into $4 just by improving funnels + follow-ups. Traffic gets attention, but systems...
Quick Score Reveals Hidden Gaps in Unpredictable Pipelines
Pipeline feels unpredictable for a reason. • Month to month swings • MQL vs quality debates • No clear root cause Usually not one issue. A few small gaps across the system. We built a simple score to spot them fast. Takes 5 minutes. Shows where...
Stagwell Names AI Chief
Stagwell announced the creation of a senior vice‑president, enterprise AI solutions role, appointing Michael Twedell to lead it. Twedell will drive the go‑to‑market strategy for the firm’s AI‑driven offerings, including The Machine, the industry’s first agentic operating system, and the...
Strategy Decisions Must Be Rooted in Real Data
One thing I’m relentless about in strategy work 👉 Nothing gets recommended unless it’s grounded in data or market research. Brand decisions. Messaging direction. Funnel structure. Channel mix. All of it ties back to real inputs: → Stakeholder and customer research → Peer and competitor analysis → Patterns...
Attribution: From Credit Scoreboard to Coordination Engine
Attribution was supposed to tell us which channels deserve credit. It mostly told us which teams should fight about it. Frans Riemersma and I just published The State of Marketing Attribution 2026 (sponsored by CaliberMind), and the finding that hit hardest...
How Purchase Data Is Redefining TV Ad Performance and Driving Revenue
Purchase‑based segmentation is reshaping TV advertising, letting brands move beyond reach metrics to drive sales. Circana’s data shows that targeting 126 million U.S. households with past‑purchase signals can boost incremental sales, as demonstrated by Roku’s 35 % lift with half the impressions....
Where Should Retail Media Networks Make Their Pitch for Ad Dollars?
Retail media is transitioning from a lower‑funnel, conversion‑only model to a full‑funnel, brand‑building channel, prompting networks to showcase broader capabilities. Major players such as Albertsons Media Collective and Walmart‑Vizio used this year’s IAB NewFronts to demonstrate scale, data assets, and...
Bitly Introduces AI-Powered Features to Simplify and Accelerate Marketing Analytics
Bitly has launched two AI‑powered features—Bitly Assist, a conversational chat assistant, and Weekly Insights, an automated performance‑highlighting report—aimed at speeding up marketers' data‑to‑action workflow. Assist lets users query link and QR‑code metrics and create assets through natural language, delivering answers...
How Kraft Heinz’s NFL Deal Could Help the Marketer Get Back on Track
Kraft Heinz has signed a five‑year deal to become the NFL’s first global condiment partner, integrating brands like Heinz, Kraft and Velveeta into game‑day experiences. The partnership, launching with a Draft Week activation in Pittsburgh, is designed to boost the...
Review Intelligence as a GTM Signal Layer
Slang AI, a voice‑AI reservation platform, is using restaurant reviews as a direct go‑to‑market (GTM) signal layer to pinpoint eateries that lose bookings due to phone‑answering gaps. The company built a five‑tool pipeline—Serper.dev for Google Maps discovery, Clay as a...
Beyond the Song: Why Artists Need Transmedia Storytelling
Artists are turning to transmedia storytelling to turn music into multi‑platform brands, as shown by BTS’s ARIRANG campaign that linked Spotify, Instagram and Google fan activities. Record labels are backing the trend, with Warner Music striking an exclusive Netflix documentary...
E.l.f. Promotes Affordable Beauty with True Crime-Inspired Mockumentary
E.l.f. Cosmetics launched a 10‑minute true‑crime mockumentary called “Vanity Vandals” to spotlight vanity clutter caused by its low‑priced products. The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre with a live Twitch watch party and is supported by a Roblox experience,...
5 Questions That Drive 80% of Your Growth
In this episode of the eCommerce Playbook, host Richard Gaffin and CTC VP of e‑commerce strategy Luke Austin break down the five core questions that drive the majority of a direct‑to‑consumer brand’s growth work: forecasting targets, optimal channel spend allocation,...
Marmon Rail Announces Unified Railserve Brand
Marmon Rail announced a unified Railserve brand that merges its Railserve, Ameritrack and Powerhouse divisions under a single identity and refreshed visual design. The consolidation bundles industrial switching, material handling, transloading, track construction and locomotive repair into one offering across...
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...
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...
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
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...
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...