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 Australia Trials Global Beverage Platform for McCafé
McDonald’s Australia began a trial on February 25 of ten handcrafted beverages across more than 500 restaurants in Victoria and Queensland. The rollout marks the second market to test the company’s new global beverage platform, extending McCafé beyond coffee to include sodas, fruit drinks and energy options. The trial is designed to gauge consumer response and operational feasibility before a broader rollout in Australia and other regions. Success would signal a strategic shift toward treating beverages as a primary consumption occasion rather than a meal add‑on.
Eu Yan Sang Picks Brand Partner to Give 150 Years a Modern Twist
Heritage traditional‑medicine brand Eu Yan Sang has engaged Agency Design, led by fractional CMO Bassam Abdel‑Rahman, to revamp its brand and growth‑marketing strategy ahead of its 150th anniversary. The partnership will focus on brand positioning, digital acceleration and e‑commerce across...
Why Asia Is H&M’s Testing Ground for a New Model of Physical Retail
H&M has opened a concept store in Seoul’s Seongsu district, turning the space into an experiential retail lab. The three‑level venue showcases curated, locally‑relevant assortments and cultural programming rather than traditional fast‑fashion layouts. By blending fashion with art, community areas...
KAYAK Launches Global ‘Got That Right’ Campaign Via Rethink
KAYAK unveiled a new global brand platform, "Got That Right," with agency Rethink to address the anxiety travelers feel during the booking decision. The campaign targets 25‑45‑year‑old users and centers on two comedic 30‑second video spots that highlight the app’s...
Thompson Spencer Appoints Ex-OMG Group Director As Head Of Performance
Thompson Spencer announced the appointment of Sam Casey, former OMG Group Director of Media Implementation, as its new Head of Performance. Casey brings extensive experience in programmatic, paid social and search across New Zealand, Australia and global markets. The hire coincides...
UGG & Love Athletica Partner Up To Celebrate ‘Her’
UGG has teamed with Australian Pilates network Love Athletica to launch a women‑focused partnership that blends comfort footwear with wellness experiences. The collaboration will roll out a series of in‑studio events, exclusive discounts for members, and product seeding to trainers...
From Idea to £25m Exit - Jimmy's Iced Coffee Founder, Jim Cregan
In this episode of Uncensored CMO, founder Jim Cregan recounts how he turned a personal craving for iced coffee into Jimmy's Iced Coffee, launching the brand in Selfridges just four months after forming the company and eventually exiting for £25 million....
KAIFUN Asks “What Will You Bring to the Table?” In New Campaign via ROCK YU Creative Taiwan
Rock YU Creative Taiwan re‑imagined Sichuan chain KAIFUN’s messaging by shifting from menu‑centric ads to emphasizing the social moments of group dining. The agency leveraged the Mandarin colloquialism “kaifun” as an invitation to share conversation, launching the “What will you bring...
Qantas Splits Strategy From Execution in Loyalty Marketing Shake-Up
Qantas Loyalty, serving 18 million members, generated $2.86 billion revenue and $556 million EBIT in FY25. The airline is restructuring its loyalty marketing by separating high‑level strategy and partnership management from day‑to‑day campaign execution. A new Sydney‑based Marketing Centre of Excellence, backed by...
LinkedIn Shares Top Skills on the Rise in Marketing for 2026
LinkedIn has released its 2026 "Skills on the Rise" list for marketing, combining profile updates with hiring outcomes to highlight emerging competencies. Performance analysis tops the ranking, followed by AI literacy, while social media branding and community engagement also climb....
Bad Daddy’s Announces Monthly Drop of Limited-Time Menu Items
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar is launching Big Bad’s Monthly Drops, a rotating lineup of limited‑time burgers beginning in March. The inaugural offering, the French Onion Smash Burger, combines a smashed beef patty with caramelized onions, Swiss and provolone, onion straws,...
IProspect Indonesia’s Faheem Merchant: When AI Kills the Click, Brands Must Earn Inclusion
iProspect Indonesia’s Faheem Merchant warns that generative AI is ending the era of click‑centric digital advertising and ushering an intent‑driven economy. Brands must shift from demographic targeting to solving the user’s problem at the exact moment an AI model decides...
Kochava Launches First Supply Performance System for Premium Publishers
Kochava unveiled Atlas Performance, the industry’s first Supply Performance System built for premium publishers and platforms. The solution plugs directly into existing ad servers, SSPs and DSPs, avoiding costly technology overhauls, and is powered by the StationOne AI workspace for...
Pinterest Publishes Inaugural Parenting Trend Report
Pinterest released its first Parenting Trend Report, revealing a sharp rise in searches for screen‑free activities, no‑phone summer plans, and digital detox aesthetics. The data shows a 200% increase in “screen free activities” queries, a 340% jump for “no phone...
Audacy’s Eagle To Be Guided By A Hawk In Sacramento
Audacy Sacramento has expanded Andy Hawk’s responsibilities, naming him brand manager for ALT 94.7 (KKDO), 96.9 The Eagle (KSEG) and 98 Rock (KRXQ), effectively consolidating the market’s rock portfolio under a single leader. Hawk, a Sacramento native who began as an intern at...
Land O’Lakes CMO Aims to Change Rural America’s Image
Land O’Lakes, a $16.2 billion farmer cooperative, launched the Modern Rural Collective toolkit and a Getty Images stock‑photo collection to reshape how entertainment depicts rural America. The initiative, unveiled at a Sundance panel, offers creators authentic story‑elements, demographics and diverse imagery....
The Low-Stress Business Model That Scales Quickly and Doesn’t Require You to Create Anything New
Curation—organizing and presenting existing information—has emerged as a scalable, low‑effort business model. By filtering the endless flow of data, curators provide trusted shortcuts for time‑pressed audiences, reducing creative pressure and accelerating growth. The model can be monetized through newsletters, affiliate...
Put Your AI Stack to the Test: Offer Performance Based On Cost Per Sale
The article urges marketers to shift from CPM and traditional CPA models to Cost‑Per‑Sale (CPS) pricing, leveraging AI‑driven personalization, real‑time A/B testing, and predictive analytics. Recent AI advances have improved conversion rate optimization, allowing campaigns to predict and deliver higher...
WPP Media Promotes Elliott Eldridge and Laura Fell in Strategy Shake-Up
WPP Media has elevated Elliott Eldridge to Chief Strategy Officer and Laura Fell to Chief Planning Officer, effective immediately. The duo will oversee strategic and planning products across Mindshare’s national accounts, including Unilever, NAB, MG, Foxtel Group, the Australian Labor...
Fresh Step’s Valentine’s Day Campaign Bolsters Its Brand Refresh – and Cat Adoptions
Fresh Step partnered with Bumble and Best Friends Animal Society for a Valentine’s Day "Date Cats, Not Humans" campaign, encouraging single users to swipe for adoptable cats. The initiative covered adoption fees and offered free litter throughout February, resulting in...
Profound
Profound is a GenAI‑powered marketing intelligence platform that gives enterprise brands real‑time visibility into how they appear across AI‑driven discovery channels. The solution combines analytics, competitive intelligence and actionable recommendations across the entire GenAI ecosystem. Founded by Albert Malikov, the...
Start Every Post with TLDR and Question H2s
Hey marketers, want more wins with AI summaries and citations? Yeah, me too. Here are two simple actions we've seen work really well with clients over the last 90 days: 1. Include a TLDR summary to start EVERY blog article...
Parents Seek Screen‑Free Summer, Traditions Surge 200%
Pinterest released its first-ever Parenting Trend Report 2026 Searches for “screen free activities” are up 200% YOY alongside: 📌 “family traditions ideas” (+200%) 📌 “no phone summer” (+340%) 📌 “digital detox aesthetic” (+95%) https://newsroom.pinterest.com/news/parenting-trend-report-2026/
Google Ad Grants Now Lets Nonprofits Optimize for Shop Visits
Google has lifted the restriction on using “shop visits” as a goal in its Ad Grants program, allowing eligible nonprofit accounts to optimize campaigns for real‑world foot traffic. The change lets advertisers align bidding with Maps and location‑driven search results,...
Stop Leading with AI; Show Real Customer Value
AI as a part of your messaging is no longer a differentiator, yet so many brands continue to lead with "AI . . . " Unless you can show how AI is going to help your customers address their problems,...
Study: Premium Video Ads Outperform YouTube
A new Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) study, conducted with TVision, finds premium video platforms on connected TV outperform YouTube in key engagement metrics. Across Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max and other services, premium platforms deliver 33% higher co‑viewing, 49% longer session...
The Mistakes That Make Founders Invisible
Founders often blame outbound for low reply rates, but the real issue is a flawed mental model that treats outreach as a volume problem. The article argues that outbound should be a learning system where hypotheses about the ideal customer...
Wix Bookings Now Bookable Directly From Google Search
New Wix partnership with Google -> Google Search, Maps, and AI mode can book services through Wix websites "Wix’s new partnership with Google will allow businesses using Wix Bookings to have their services, pricing, and real-time availability shown in Google Search,...
Stop Delaying AI: Start Small, Involve Legal, Gain Time
I continue to hear from companies and marketing teams that are reticent to lean in holistically on the AI opportunity. So here I've parsed the most common push-backs as well as how I respond to each. 1️⃣ “We don’t have...
Why the Smartest Omnichannel Brands Are Thinking in Moments, Not Channels
Retailers can no longer treat omnichannel as a checklist of platforms; they must view it as a storytelling discipline anchored in the customer’s moment. At eTail Palm Springs 2026, leaders from Furniture.com, Lowe’s, Stila, Perfect Corp. and tentree highlighted the...
Tariffs Spike Costs, Crashing DTC ROAS
Your ad account looks fine: - ROAS is holding - CPMs are manageable - Conversions are flowing But your spreadsheet is screaming. As of February 2026, the average US tariff rate sits at 17% on all imports. For DTC brands...
Personalized Landing Pages Drive Conversions, Flint Automates Them
Your targeting is personalized. Your copy is personalized. But your landing page is not. That’s why you’re not closing the deals you want. If this is you, you need @tryflint. It’s a platform built for marketers to create tailored pages for...
Live Shopping Boom Awaits India: Seize Early Opportunities
On a previous #TeawithGaryVee I was asked how someone could take advantage of the opportunity presented by live shopping on platforms like WhatNot, since India is "not in yet" If you have a question for me, drop it here https://t.co/QjOodl7fTy so...
Precise Positioning Drives Pipeline, Vague Messaging Costs Sales
Here's a quick exercise: Open your homepage. Now answer: 1. In one sentence, who is this for? Not “teams.” Who exactly? 2. What specific problem does it solve? Is it the same one Sales hears daily? 3. What makes you...
PMMs Still Skipping Essential Customer Research in 2026
I asked 9 PMMs at a recent Product Marketing Alliance event how they use customer research at their companies. Their honest answers were painful. "we don't have a dedicated person" "I'm the one doing it but I'm drowning in launches"...
February Discover Update Extends Past Expected Timeline
We are now almost three weeks into the February Discover core update. Google said it could take up to two weeks to rollout. We are beyond that now. It's a tougher one to track since Discover data is personalized and...
Small Brands Must Build Perceived Size, Not Just Presence
The necessary trick of the small brand is to look bigger than you are. Many of the tools are simple ones, like leaning heavily on the logos and testimonials of clients, and more recently attention has gone towards AI by...
AI Writing Quirks Benefit Consumers More Than Marketers Realize
I think most of the AI writing quirks that marketers complain about are probablyyy better for the average consumer than marketers admit.
Skip Stressed‑desk Videos: Launch Monaco with Fresh Approach
We just launched Monaco. Here’s the exact playbook we used. I hope it's helpful to other founders and startups: 1. The launch video: most launch videos I see orient around some stressed out person at their desk or some philosophical approach...
Stop Euphemisms: It's a Digital ID, Not Age Verification
We need to stop using industry-friendly PR terms like “age verification” and call it what it is: Digital ID https://t.co/YbejVkq46A
Share AI Prompts Repeatedly to Go Viral on Twitter
The best way to go viral on Twitter right now: - Share AI Prompts to make jobs easier - Share more AI prompts to make more jobs easier
Turn Marketing From Cost Center to Growth Engine
RT @VisionEdgeMktg 🔑 Make marketing indispensable. Stop reporting activities and start reporting outcomes. That's the difference between a cost center and a growth engine. https://t.co/ui8BN3gaHE #MarketingROI #Strategy #Leadership
SEO Traffic Drop Mirrors ChatGPT Citation Decline
Another well-known SEO publisher with Google traffic/visibility tanking fast, and exacerbated by the ~Jan 21 volatility Total citations in ChatGPT follows the same trend line (@ahrefs & @sistrix data) https://t.co/ekgcGumPWz
Choosing Between a $2,100 Burst or $2,100 Spread
Would you rather spend $700 / day for 3 days or $100 / day for 21 to test a new campaign (creative)?
Unexpected SEO/AEO Insight for Argentina Revealed
Preparing for my upcoming talk about SEO/AEO in Argentina and just found this gem 😅 https://t.co/oL1qa35aiV
Free Tool to Verify if an Email Exists
My team just built a free tool you can use to see if an email exists or not: https://t.co/wcWB5zjuEp
Entrepreneurs Trade Netflix for Nighttime Retargeting
Everyone at 9pm: Watching Netflix. Ecom founders at 9pm: Setting up a new retargeting campaign for a winning ad. Different mindset. Different life.
Own One Idea, Become the Authority Shortcut
Experts don't get known for being good. They get known for the one idea they own. An ownable idea is an authority shortcut.
Big SEO Tool Traffic Spikes Rarely Last.
General rule of thumb: if there is a popular SEO/GEO tool out there that promises a big surge in traffic, it 99% won't last forever and will probably crash within a few months.
Grab Attention: Proven Thumbnails That Drive Clicks
Thumbnails that made us stop 👀 Tiger chaos, a “cheating?” reveal, and pure Red Bull adrenaline. Get our free YT Thumbnails Hack Pack with 100 more top thumbnails: https://t.co/H5zQZBPsBe https://t.co/fNTUlQxN3l