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 Vital Role of Advertising in Times of Uncertainty
Terry Kane of The Trade Desk argues that advertising is a critical infrastructure that keeps the free internet, quality journalism, and economic activity alive during periods of uncertainty. Historical research shows brands that maintain or increase ad spend in downturns outperform those that pull back. The piece highlights programmatic advertising’s ability to adapt to shifting consumer habits and emphasizes brand safety and empathetic messaging. Ultimately, advertising is presented as a responsibility that sustains both the information ecosystem and business resilience.
Why LinkedIn Might Have Two Algorithms — and Why Marketers Should Care
A recent analysis by Christopher Penn suggests LinkedIn runs two distinct algorithmic systems: a retrieval stage that decides whether a post enters a viewer’s candidate pool, and a ranking stage that orders those candidates in the feed. Retrieval relies on signals...
Mada Media Holds Official Ceremony for Naming Rights of ‘National Paints’ Station
Mada Media hosted an official ceremony to award naming rights of Dubai Metro’s Red Line station to National Paints, formerly Jebel Ali. In 2025 the station served 636,873 passengers and delivered over 47 million brand impressions with a 25.78% reach, highlighting the...
Brands Lag as Women Drive up to 85 per Cent of Buying Decisions
A HerKey‑Havas Creative India study finds women influence 70‑85% of purchase decisions in India, yet most brands lag behind. Only 14% of marketers consider themselves leaders in women‑centric marketing, and consistent women‑focused campaigns appear in just half to two‑thirds of...
Ai+ Smartphone Brings Ishan Kishan on Board for Brand Campaigns
Ai+ Smartphone announced a brand partnership with Indian cricketer Ishan Kishan to front its upcoming Nova Series campaigns. The deal aligns the athlete’s image of self‑made ambition with the company’s focus on accessible, high‑performance devices. Kishan will feature in multi‑channel...
The 10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026
Mailchimp remains a top email marketing tool, but growing user demands for better pricing, specialized features, and AI capabilities have spurred a vibrant alternatives market. Zapier’s updated 2026 guide lists ten contenders, ranging from advanced automation platforms like ActiveCampaign to...
Formula One’s American Takeover: Will Brands Race Into F1 or Hit the Brakes? | In the Game
The episode explores the rapid rise of Formula 1 in the United States, crediting Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” docuseries, star drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, and new U.S. races in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas for boosting viewership. Analysts Ross...
After WPP Reckoning: The Case for and Against Principal Media
In this Digiday episode, hosts Kamika McCoy and Tim Peterson dissect the contentious practice of principal media buying, using recent WPP whistleblower revelations and a high‑profile lawsuit to illustrate how agencies pocket rebates from platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon, and...
Havas Thailand Taps Navinda Kittisubkul as Head of Strategy & Growth
Havas Thailand has created a Head of Strategy & Growth role and appointed Navinda Kittisubkul, a veteran with more than two decades of brand, media and research experience. The position will unite media, creative, data and AI capabilities to deliver integrated, client‑centric...
YouGov Launches AI Tool To Explain The ‘Why’ Behind Brand Metrics
YouGov has unveiled BrandIndex Voices, an AI‑powered qualitative research add‑on to its BrandIndex platform. The tool combines conversational AI with YouGov’s verified panel to surface the narratives behind shifts in brand metrics such as quality, value and reputation. By prompting...
Hotels.com Gets Refreshingly Literal in New Brand Push
Hotels.com launched a global brand campaign titled “It’s All in the Name,” featuring literal‑humor ads that play on the platform’s straightforward name. The spots – “Chicken Fingers” and “Headphones” – debuted on U.S. TV on March 17 and underscore the brand’s...
The Dark Psychology of ‘Limited-Time Offers’: How Marketers Use 5 Hidden Psychological Traps to Make You Impulse Buy in 1...
Marketers increasingly weaponize limited‑time offers, embedding five covert psychological traps that drive impulse purchases within seconds. By exploiting scarcity, loss aversion, countdown timers, social proof, and anchoring, they compress decision cycles and bypass rational evaluation. The blog illustrates how a...
Westpac NZ Banks On New Omnicom Oceania ‘Goldilocks’ Bespoke Agency
Westpac New Zealand has launched a partnership with Goldilocks, a bespoke agency created within Omnicom Oceania to drive its brand transformation. The model embeds specialist talent across insights, data, media, technology and production directly within Westpac, bypassing traditional agency structures....
14 Lifetime Deal Tools for Marketers—
AppSumo just dropped their Build Different collection — 14 lifetime deal tools for marketers, creators, and agency owners. A few standouts: - reap for video repurposing, - Lapis for cross-platform ad creation, and - Press Ranger for AI-powered PR pitching. Lifetime pricing...
Top Clients Demand Growth, Not Just Posting
The best clients aren’t asking “can you post for me.” They’re asking “can you grow this.”
Meta Switches up Its Ad Transparency Labels In-Stream
Meta is replacing the “Sponsored” label with a smaller “Ad” tag on Instagram, part of a broader UI refresh. The change is already live on Instagram and being piloted on Facebook in limited tests. By reducing label size, the disclosure...
AI CMO Instantly Spots Growth Opportunities
i just hired an ai cmo from @askokara to help grow. so far it has: • identified reddit opportunities • discovered seo issues • analyzed competitors • found geo issues curious to see how far this goes
Fix Perception Before Scaling Demand, Not Tactics
Most companies are not scaling strategy. They’re scaling tactics. More content. More CRM. More campaigns. More outbound. And the market still doesn’t fully understand why they matter. That’s not a demand problem. That’s a perception problem. Before you scale demand, fix how the market sees you.
United and Marriott Pitch Ad Strategies to Target Travelers on Plane and Hotel Screens
United Airlines and Marriott are urging advertisers to shift spend toward in‑flight and in‑room screens, arguing that travelers are most receptive while en route or staying at a destination. Both companies have built proprietary platforms—United’s Kinective Media and Marriott Media—that...
AI Panel Refines Copy to Perfect, Boosting Conversions
One of my favorite prompts summons AI expert panelists that recursively score output until it's top-notch. You can use this for copy of any kind: Sales copy E-mail marketing Landing pages Social media copy and more. We're using this in our sales agents to create...
Profit‑first Offers, Then Ads, Not the Reverse
When you finally understand what brands actually need, it won't come from running better ads. The thing you knew was missing, but kept patching with better targeting. Honestly, tighter campaign management is unsustainable because it’s too easy to slip back into...
Tesco and BBH Bring “Need Anything From Tesco?” To Life with 5,000-Tulip Billboard at King’s Cross
Tesco partnered with BBH to stage a 2.5 m × 8 m billboard at King’s Cross Station on 14 March, displaying 5,000 tulips and the prompt “Need Anything From Tesco?”. Passersby could collect a free bouquet, wrapped by brand ambassadors, as a last‑minute Mother’s Day...
They Chose the Worst Possible CTA Button Label
Out of all the things they could have put on the button right next to the price (e.g. "Learn More," etc)... this is where they landed?
Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo London 2026
Gartner’s Marketing Symposium/Xpo will convene senior marketing leaders in London on May 11‑12, 2026. The two‑day event emphasizes AI, growth strategy, and customer experience across brand activation, CMO leadership, and demand generation. Attendees will participate in data‑driven sessions, workshops, and the exclusive...
Coca-Cola Brings Exclusive New Soda to Walmart
Coca‑Cola has introduced a new Sprite Chill Mango Citrus flavor sold exclusively at Walmart, available in 20‑ounce full‑sugar bottles and 12‑pack zero‑sugar cans. The launch follows earlier Walmart‑only releases like Strawberry‑Kiwi and continues the company’s limited‑time offering (LTO) strategy to...
Phizz, the UK’s No. 1 Hydration Enhancer, Launches Latest Integrated Campaign
Phizz, the UK’s leading hydration enhancer, has launched an integrated London‑wide campaign running from March to June under the tagline “Phizz Makes It Better.” The multi‑channel effort combines out‑of‑home ads, a fleet of branded taxis and buses, large‑scale sampling and...
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Ads and Tests Ads Manager
It's rare to see a post published on SER in the afternoon. But Barry is out and I just did it. :) -> OpenAI Continues To Expand Ads in ChatGPT and Tests Ads Manager I cover OpenAI testing an Ads...
Wendy’s Launches a Dunks Menu for March Madness
Wendy’s has teamed up with the NCAA as the Official Dunks partner for the 2026 March Madness tournament, launching a limited‑time Dunks Menu featuring Frosty‑Fries combos. The promotion runs from March 16 to April 6, with every app purchase entering customers into...
Search Traffic Plummets 90M, AI Adds Negligible Boost
Nearly 90 million search visits wiped out in the last 9 months. And traffic from AI didn't replace even 5% of it. (across ~75k websites connected to free @Ahrefs Web Analytics) Here's how other traffic sources held up: ▪️ Paid traffic is UP...
Award Citations Drive up Visibility, Especially for AIOs
Floating around Seer internal research we're watching... Client got a legit award on a major publisher when that URL is cited, we saw meaningful visibility lift for client: Gemini: 2.05x ChatGPT: 1.96x AI Mode: 5.6x AIOs: 8.62x The competitors on the same list saw a similar...
“Message Not Received” Covers Marketing to Advisors
Financial institutions are struggling to reach independent advisors, a group projected to shrink by 32% by 2035. At Exchange’s Industry conclave, IAA CMO David Buzo outlined five rules to modernize advisor marketing, emphasizing precise targeting, appropriate channels, and value‑first engagement....
IKEA’s One-Line Reply Turned Viral Monkey Craze Into Sales
IKEA sold out a $19.99 stuffed monkey in 3 markets within days. eBay listings hit $355. A zoo gave a real monkey a stuffed animal to cling to, the internet lost its mind, and all IKEA did was post one...
Inbox Proof: How to Tell LinkedIn Content Works
How do you know if your LinkedIn content is working? Let me show you what landed in my inbox lately:
Why George Has Got It: Asda’s Recipe for Fashion Success
Asda’s private‑label clothing line George is becoming a key growth engine, helping to offset thin grocery margins. Vice‑president Karl Doyle announced plans for 100 standalone George stores within five years, alongside a major online revamp. The brand’s affordable style is...
Shopify Preps AI Personal Shoppers for Tailored Commerce
Focus on ecommerce? He's referring to a Jarvis-like experience -> Shopify is preparing for AI shopping agents to change everything, exec says “We’re going to begin to use these agentic applications as these kinds of personal shoppers,” he said, adding that...
LinkedIn's New AI Can Shadowban Profiles—Audit Yours
Your LinkedIn profile might be shadowbanned, and you don't know it. LinkedIn rebuilt its algorithm from scratch in 2026. They replaced multiple ranking pipelines with a single unified AI system (360Brew) that evaluates your profile and content together as one...
The Power of Saying No
Anthropic turned down a U.S. government request to use its Claude AI for surveillance, opting for an ethical stance over immediate revenue. The refusal resonated with privacy‑concerned consumers, propelling Claude to the top spot in the App Store. This episode...
Learn Branding From P&G Product Managers—Unmatched Insight
Everybody should have the privilege of working with (or going to B school with) a product manager from a major consumer package goods company. Proctor and Gamble in particular. You can learn more from them about branding and consumer behavior...
SEO/AI Case Study Drives Explosive 2024 Organic Traffic
Dear lord, just found another SEO/AI case study about how the company exploded this site's organic traffic in early 2024... ...when do we get the follow-up case study? 😅 https://t.co/O5fQZBGYsg
Paid Influencer Clips Masquerade as Genuine Traction
Learned about a new trend: Some marketing agencies are partnering with hundreds of "influencers" and distribute (paid, undisclosed) videos to them (eg podcasts) to clip and repost, making it look like organic interest Apparently inspired by Cluely What is real traction anymore
Watch On‑Demand Litmus Live Sessions for Omnichannel Tips
If you missed Litmus Live, now is your chance to watch all the sessions on-demand on YouTube, including my session on managing omnichannel subscribers better >> https://t.co/F7z9H5NW32 #digitalmarketing #emailmarketing https://t.co/UHQZJdWPPm
Half of Consumers Favor Brands That Skip GenAI
Interesting tidbit for CMOs: 50% of Consumers Prefer Brands That Avoid Using GenAI in Consumer-Facing Content https://t.co/YR1duiE0am #CIO #CMO #CX #AI #GenAI
Dominant CMS Defaults Now Dictate 73% of SEO
The top three CMS platforms control 73% of the CMS market. Data shows their defaults now shape SEO at a scale no practitioner can match. https://t.co/wX5Eu0XEHf via @MattGSouthern, @sejournal
Major Rewrites Dramatically Boost Article Performance over Minor Updates
Study of 15K URLs shows that articles receiving Major Rewrites (30-100% of content) vastly outperform minor/moderate updates Even minor content updates helped, but content with no update performed the worst (1/2) https://t.co/7wvfeBz8Lk
Timeless Solutions Outlast Fleeting TikTok Trends
I lost $9k on a product that was trending on TikTok. The trend died in a week. I launched a product that solves a timeless boring problem. It's been selling for 2 years. The market doesn't care about trends. It...
Long‑standing Niche Gaming Content Thrives Post‑Discover Update
Amazing to watch this site's Google Discover performance over time, including improving after the Discover core update. It's a super niche gaming site with authors who have been writing original, human-written content for the site for 15+ years https://t.co/9DKgLLJhnW
Use Meta's Incremental Attribution to Solve Reach Gaps
If you have a new reach problem -> incremental attribution on Meta is your BFF
Okara Launches AI CMO, Replaces Agencies with Instant Traffic Team
Okara just dropped the world’s first AI CMO. Enter your website and it instantly deploys a full team of agents (SEO, GEO, Reddit, HN, X, AI writer + more) to drive traffic and users for you. No more agencies. No more 10K/mo...
Organic Creator Humor Drives PetSmart’s Viral TikTok Win
PetSmart got a viral TikTok moment. It was organic, creator-led, genuinely funny, and the responded with "It's Pet Smart. Case closed." (See @AdAge's article: https://t.co/Cumg7M7msL). Case closed on the opportunity. 🧵 https://t.co/7VUIatca6D
Follow These Experts to Boost Your 2026 Brand
Accounts you should to follow to help grow your brand in 2026: Retention Expert: @EricRausch Retention Strategy: @Ferastotle Growth Strategy: @KFragoulias $25M Raised: @MaloneyTyler