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.
McDonald’s Launches Adult ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Happy Meals Nationwide
McDonald’s and Netflix have unveiled a limited‑time adult Happy Meal line tied to the hit animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.” The collaboration, rolling out March 31 at all U.S. locations, adds two new meals, a McFlurry, sauces and collectible photocard packs, aiming to capture the fast‑growing K‑pop fanbase.
Paul Heyman Touts Jordynne Grace as WWE’s Next Box‑Office Star Amid Live‑Event Push
Paul Heyman announced that former TNA star Jordynne Grace is poised to become WWE’s next box‑office attraction, underscoring the brand’s strategy to monetize talent through live‑event ticket sales, pay‑per‑view buys and video‑game tie‑ins. The prediction comes as WWE prepares for...
Romance Novels Surge on BookTok, Sparking Both Sales Boom and Literary Backlash
BookTok has propelled romance titles to unprecedented popularity, with Swedish reading up 23% and US print sales doubling in five years. Authors like Fia Hellberg celebrate the surge but confront lingering criticism that dismisses the genre as “tantsnusk.”
Fresh Off Travis Kelce Partnership Announcement, Sleep Number Unveils Redesigned Mattress Portfolio
Sleep Number, fresh from its strategic partnership with NFL star Travis Kelce, has launched a revamped mattress portfolio featuring seven models across three collections. The lineup includes five brand‑new designs, with the high‑end Climate collection discounted 10% and the innovative...
Lead Magnets Are Dead: Embrace Organic, Dynamic Funnel
Lead magnets as we know them are dead in 2026. Here's where Marketers and Founders doing their own marketing are going wrong... 1. Relying Solely on Paid Ads to Lead Magnets For years, I watched B2B Marketers and Founders pour...
Architecting Culture: Sasha Brookner Defines Influence In The Next Era
Sasha Brookner, founder of Helio Brand Group, has redefined the publicist role into a “brand‑deal architect” who aligns talent, brands, and audiences across fragmented media. She argues that mere press coverage no longer drives cultural relevance; instead, strategic partnerships that...
Imagine Affiliate Review: Is This the Right Affiliate Agency for Your DTC Brand?
Imagine Affiliate is a boutique agency that helps Shopify DTC brands earning $20K‑$500K per month build true customer‑acquisition affiliate programs, avoiding coupon‑driven revenue cannibalization. By recruiting SEM affiliates, content publishers, and media buyers, it shifts the channel from discount redistribution...
Vegan Branding 101: How To Develop a Vegan Brand Identity
The vegan market has surged, with U.S. plant‑based retail sales more than doubling from $3.9 billion in 2017 to $8.1 billion in 2024. While only about 1% of Americans are fully vegan, 59% have purchased plant‑based foods, creating a broad audience that...
Thailand Pushes Wellness Luxury with Phulay Bay Resort and Indian Travel Campaign
Thailand's Tourism Authority has rolled out the "Healing Journey Thailand" campaign, positioning the country as a premier wellness‑focused luxury destination. The effort highlights the Phulay Bay Ritz‑Carlton Reserve in Krabi and a new marketing push aimed at Indian travelers seeking...
Ranveer Singh’s ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ Hits ₹1,000 Cr Worldwide, Sets New Bollywood Record
Ranveer Singh’s blockbuster Dhurandhar: The Revenge has amassed more than ₹1,000 crore (about $120 million) worldwide within its first week, overtaking Pathaan and becoming the fastest Indian film to reach the milestone. The feat underscores a shift toward aggressive global distribution and...
How Email Marketing for Automotive Businesses Drives Leads and Sales
Email marketing, though long‑standing, remains underutilized in the automotive sector, yet it now drives measurable leads and sales as buyers research vehicles online before visiting showrooms. By embedding sign‑up forms on dealer sites and deploying automated nurture sequences, dealerships can...
#508 - The TikTok Shop Playbook for Creator-Driven Growth
In this episode, host Shivali Patel interviews e‑commerce veteran Josh Hadley about scaling sales on TikTok Shop by leveraging small creators. Hadley shares how his brand turned a 25% revenue drop into a 100% YoY growth surge by building a...
KPIs Are Cringe: Why the Old Rules of Branding Are Dying in 2026
Marketers are abandoning multi‑year plans in favor of ultra‑short, culture‑driven tactics as consumer attention fragments faster than ever. Brands like MAC and Bobbie are leveraging viral personalities and “vibe” marketing to spark emotional purchases, while traditional KPIs are deemed outdated....
Edit and Publish YouTube Videos in Two Hours
I used to have a content manager to help me edit my YouTube videos. The videos looked great, but the process made me so disconnected from my own content. Now, I record a video and get it edited and scheduled in...
OpenAI Pulls Plug on Sora Video Generator After Six Months, Sparking Debate on AI Video in Marketing
OpenAI announced the shutdown of Sora, its standalone AI video platform, just six months after launch. The decision follows rapid user adoption, a surge of deep‑fake and copyrighted content, and mounting moderation challenges. Marketers are left to reassess the viability...
Marketers Embrace AI “Vibe Coding” To Build Tools
For years, the most automated thing in marketing was the auto-reply on your engineering ticket. Now marketers are building their own dashboards, integrations, automations, and internal apps — no engineering queue required. Just a prompt, an AI model, and a clearer...
Proving GEO ROI Sparks New Scaling Demands
You can't make this up. Client hired a new marketing leader and pressed me to "prove the value of GEO" and why they should continue investing. I put together a presentation to demonstrate the value based on what we've accomplished....
Sunglass Hut Bets on Ray-Ban Exclusive Capsule
Sunglass Hut is rolling out an exclusive Ray‑Ban capsule, featuring four reimagined silhouettes in white frames with gray polarized lenses. The collection, which includes the Zena and Mega Wayfarer II models, will debut globally this week and reach U.S. stores in...
Integrate AI Now to Halve Ecom Workload and Dominate
How to run an ecom brand in 2026 using AI for half the work: - Use AI to generate 10x more ad creatives than UGC creators can produce - Build a custom GPT trained on your customer service FAQs so new...
Why Your AI Media Stack Is Leaking Revenue — And What Fixes It
Many B2B marketers have invested in AI-driven bidding, dashboards, and attribution tools, yet revenue gaps persist. Jonathan Prantner of OneMagnify explains that the root cause is fragmented data foundations rather than the AI tools themselves. He introduces an AI‑native media...
Marketers Chase Reddit Hype, Ignore Lasting Brand Value
Marketers suddenly want to prioritize Reddit efforts because they think "it helps with LLMs" but no one cared about Reddit prior to AI search being all the rage. If this was 2016, no one would be prioritizing Reddit. And that's...
Meta Aims to Position WhatsApp as the New Frontier in Customer Relations
Meta is positioning WhatsApp as a core channel for B2C customer relations, citing that 80% of users interact with brands weekly and a billion daily business‑consumer conversations occur. The platform now supports promotions, live‑shopping, abandoned‑cart recovery (15‑20% recovered), payments and...
State Street CMO John Brockelman’s Unconventional Playbook for Financial Marketing Success
State Street Investment Management’s CMO John Brockelman has turned financial‑services marketing into a growth engine by tightly aligning it with sales and business objectives. He simplified the firm’s brand architecture to eliminate confusion as the company entered the retail investor...
Prioritize New Customer Rate Over ROAS for Growth
ROAS is quietly the most deceptive metric that nobody knows how to track. The moment you push into cold audiences, ROAS can drop. And every operator trained on it pulls back exactly when they should push. Almost every account we inherit has...
Honestly, Dodger Stadium’s Uniqlo Name Sponsorship Isn’t That Bad
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that the playing surface of their historic ballpark will be called “Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium,” marking the venue’s first-ever corporate naming deal. The partnership makes Dodger Stadium the latest of MLB’s stadiums to sell...
This Pretzel Startup Turned a Viral TikTok Moment Into Months’ Worth of Sales—In Just Three Days
Baltimore entrepreneur Marcus Moore’s pretzel brand Moore Crunch went viral on TikTok after a news clip hit 2 million views, prompting a three‑day order volume normally seen over three to four months. The company, launched in October 2022, offers five flavors at...
Building an Alcohol-Free Beer Brand: Secrets to Success From Athletic Brewing and Lucky Saint
Lucky Saint has become the UK’s leading independent alcohol‑free beer, now on tap in roughly 10,000 pubs, bars and restaurants, including 85 Michelin‑starred venues, and was the first independent brand to launch draught non‑alc beer in 2020. Athletic Brewing, founded...
How Sony Electronics’ Creative Space Tour Acts as a Continuous Feedback Loop
Sony Electronics answered community demand for the Alpha 7 V by launching a 10‑city Creative Space On the Road tour, running from Feb. 26 in San Diego to Apr. 30 in Boston. The pop‑up experience uses a customized Airstream trailer where creators can test...
Meta's New Attribution Inflates CPA, Leaves Optimization Unclear
Meta has rolled out their updated attribution settings to many accounts yesterday. This resulted in 30-50% increases in CPA in platform. But Northbeam showed zero changes. If you see a banner at the top of your ads manager it was...
Amazon Pilots Prime Shipping on Third‑party Sites without Login
Amazon has begun testing a new sales‑enablement capability that allows merchants on external websites to display Prime‑eligible shipping options without forcing shoppers to sign in to an Amazon account. The pilot, announced in early March, aims to boost conversion rates...
U.S. Sellers Ride 2026 World Cup Jersey Surge with No‑Warehouse Model
U.S. online retailers are leveraging the 2026 World Cup custom jersey frenzy with a no‑warehouse, no‑minimum fulfillment approach, allowing rapid scaling without inventory risk. The strategy, driven by the tournament’s broad qualifying field, promises higher margins but hinges on precise...
Google’s Gemini AI and Pixel Phones Are Going to Show up a Lot During the 2026 World Cup
Google has sealed sponsorship deals with France and Argentina for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, positioning its Gemini AI model and Pixel smartphones at the tournament’s forefront. Gemini will power special AI features for the teams, including enhanced communication tools...
Aerie's Anti‑AI Campaign with Pamela Anderson Highlights Human‑First Brand Strategy
Aerie has rolled out a new “100% Aerie Real” campaign starring Pamela Anderson that rejects AI‑generated models. CMO Stacey McCormick says the move reinforces the brand’s human‑first promise and has already driven double‑digit brand‑awareness growth and a 23% sales lift in...
Synter Emerges From Stealth With AI Agent to Execute Paid Media Campaigns
Synter has launched from stealth with an AI‑driven advertising operations platform that lets marketers issue natural‑language commands to manage paid campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and other networks. The agent connects via official APIs, eliminating the need for manual dashboard...
From a Side Quest to Serious Business: Has Gaming Entered the Marketing Mix?
Gaming has moved from a peripheral budget line to a core component of the Middle East marketing mix. A PwC survey shows 23.5 million gamers—about 67% of Saudi Arabia’s population—and 7.3 million in the UAE, prompting brands to allocate significant spend to...
Fairfax & Favor Co-Founder: ‘Authenticity Is Key’
Fairfax & Favor, a British luxury label for men and women, has built a cult following among race‑goers and countryside residents. Co‑founder Marcus Fairfax Fountaine says the brand’s success hinges on authentic storytelling that reflects rural heritage. By marrying high‑quality...
Great Product Fails without Clear Onboarding Path
I watched hundreds of people sign up for my product and then completely disappear. It was entirely my fault. Let me back up. I read 10x is Easier Than 2x and decided that software would be my growth strategy. So I built NoteGo. And...
Direct-First Founders Also Excel at Earned Media
Founders who are great at going direct tend to also be great at earned media…. it’s a complement, not a trade-off
Dettol Celebrates Mothers’ Quiet Acts of Protection in Nostalgic Campaign
Dettol’s latest Mother’s Day digital campaign spotlights mothers’ quiet, everyday acts of protection, using a nostalgic photo‑album narrative to illustrate care from infancy through school years. The hero film debuted on YouTube and was amplified across TikTok, Meta, Snapchat and...
Social Influence: The Sole Lead Generation Driver
The 2026 Reality Check: Why Social Influence is the Only Lead Gen That Matters by @Timothy_Hughes https://t.co/FckfDIdoyM @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesTips #SalesLeader #Salesforce #Marketing #Leadership #MarketingStrategy #MarketingSuccess https://t.co/A9EnDvrUCs
Map All Four Customer Journey Stages with Tactics
The 4 Customer Journey Stages + the channels, tactics, and content types for each stage: https://t.co/WUxJLEJypr
7 Best Rebrandly Alternatives for Scalable, Measurable Link Management
Marketers are outgrowing Rebrandly’s focus on branded short URLs, seeking platforms that combine branding with deep analytics, automation, and cross‑channel integration. The guide highlights seven alternatives—Branch, Bitly, JotURL, RocketLink, ClickMeter, TinyURL, and Short.io—each catering to different needs from enterprise attribution...
Concise, Value‑Driven Messaging Beats Bloated Creative
Concise, value-driven messaging consistently outperforms bloated creative because it respects time, sharpens intent, and drives faster decisions. Here are 9 ways to achieve this >> https://t.co/oMeJACDuou #emailmarketing #digitalmarketing https://t.co/BqsADxVvqM
Get a Discounted SEO Audit for Your Site
It's been quite a long time since I last managed an e-commerce website. Who wants some SEO work done for their site? I'll audit yours at a discounted rate to get things going.
10 Facts for a Young Designer Starting Out.
Founder of Tibi, a 29‑year independent label, shares ten hard‑earned facts for emerging designers. He grew the brand from a $15,000 start to roughly $70 million in sales by rejecting traditional department‑store models, mastering every business function, and defining success on...
AI Redefines Healthcare Search: Visibility Over Clicks
Search isn’t broken. It’s evolving. AI is changing how healthcare brands show up— visibility doesn’t always mean clicks anymore. Lacey Reichwald breaks down what’s changing in healthcare search—and what isn’t. 👀 👉 https://t.co/gVeYqeWbe3 @ahamediagroup #marketingstrategy
Semrush Holds First Data on ChatGPT Ad Performance
Well, I know one company in our industry that has data about how ChatGPT Ads are performing. @semrush :) https://t.co/2O5V5dJZSN
Flex Ads Boost CPA Performance 30‑60% Day‑over‑Day
Every single ad that was a Flex ad across my entire portfolio saw anywhere from a 30-60% increase DoD in CPAs.
Starbucks Belongs in Nashville: A Cultural Fit for 2026
Starbucks should move the whole company to Nashville tbh. It's a better cultural fit for what the brand is in 2026: https://t.co/R0oQPKKkd6
Start with High‑intent Search, Not Months of Waiting
Most B2B teams wait months for pipeline. Target everyone. Optimize for clicks. Build awareness. Then hope it turns into revenue. Flip it: •Start with high-intent search •Send traffic to demo •Capture demand already there •Expand after proof Start with buyers, not browsers. https://t.co/6mptqJgD9z