Today's Marketing Pulse
Adobe rolls out agentic AI suite, with Ulta Beauty scaling personalized content
Adobe introduced a new agentic AI portfolio—including CX Enterprise, Brand Concierge and AI agents—at its Las Vegas event, positioning the tools as core to modern marketing. Ulta Beauty is already using Adobe Firefly and deep loyalty data to produce personalized, always‑on content at ten‑fold scale, while aligning its CMO and CTO in a joint "fusion team".
Also developing:
By the numbers: Publicis Groupe UK acquires Fabric Social
AI Gave My Small Business a Finance Team, a Marketing Agency, and a Supply Chain Crystal Ball
Sarah Wells, founder of Sarah Wells Bags, explains how AI tools have transformed her four‑person, 14‑year‑old small business. Using Finaloop for finance and inventory, Blaze.ai for brand‑consistent marketing, and Amazon’s AI for ad and listing optimization, the company now operates with enterprise‑level efficiency. The AI suite provides real‑time margin data, demand forecasting, and content creation that previously required dedicated staff or agencies. Wells urges policymakers to consider the critical role of AI in keeping small businesses viable.
TripleLift Unveils TL Spark, AI‑Driven Layer for Outcome‑Based Ads
TripleLift announced TL Spark, an intelligence layer that stitches together supply, creative, audience data and measurement to power outcome‑driven programmatic buying. The launch arrives as AI‑powered ad spend is projected to hit $57 billion this year, and two‑thirds of buyers say...
DerivateX Study Finds B2B SaaS Companies Are Invisible to AI-Assisted Buyers
DerivateX’s 2026 AI Visibility Benchmark examined 50 B2B SaaS firms across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini, running 1,400 buyer‑intent prompts. The study found an average AI Presence Score of 56.9, with 44% of companies scoring below 50, highlighting a widespread...
JOLYN Tabbed as Swimsuit Partner for Upcoming ‘Baywatch’ Reboot
Celebrated performance swimwear brand JOLYN has been named the official category partner for the first season of FOX and Fremantle’s Baywatch reboot. The company will co‑design and produce three iconic red one‑piece swimsuits using its Foreverever® high‑performance fabric, plus men’s...
MUG Brotein Turns Classic Root Beer Into Protein Shake Hack
PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer has launched MUG Brotein, a DIY protein‑shake blend that mixes MUG Zero Sugar with a vanilla protein powder, co‑created with NFL star George Kittle. The limited‑run bundle, featuring gym‑gear accessories, drops on April 22 via Walmart.com and...
Real-Life Cluckin’ Bell Quietly Changes Name After Viral Debut
The London‑area takeaway that went viral for mimicking Grand Theft Auto’s Cluckin’ Bell has officially changed its legal name to The Cluckin’ Bite Ltd. Companies House records show the name change was filed on April 7, 2026 via a special resolution, confirming the...
‘The Creative Is Coming Out of the Internet’: What This Year’s Webby Winners Say About Advertising
The 2026 Webby Awards highlighted a shift in advertising where creative originates on the internet rather than being imposed on it. Winners showcased AI‑enhanced campaigns, from a Dr Pepper jingle generated online to the “death of Duo” stunt, and blended digital...
Burger King Launches Star Wars Menu in Collab with The Mandalorian and Grogu Movie
Burger King is rolling out a Star Wars‑themed menu on May 4, timed with the release of the new *Mandalorian* and Grogu movie on May 22. The lineup includes a BBQ Bounty Whopper, a Grogu‑inspired Blue Cookie Shake, Garlic Chicken Fries and...
Stop Comparing Content to Performance; Value Your Role
In my first marketing job, I gaslit myself into thinking that if my content marketing results weren’t keeping up with the performance team’s, my job was worthless.
GEOGrow.ai Unveils Next-Level AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON Las Vegas
GEOGrow.ai unveiled its AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON in Las Vegas, offering brands, marketers and growth experts a suite of tools to secure and grow presence in AI‑driven search. The platform introduces Brand DNA Monitoring, AI Memory Audits, Agentic Content...
Stat Roundups Generate Far More Backlinks than Thought Leadership
What's the best type of content to get links? It's not thought leadership content. It's a round up of a series of stats and facts associated with niches relevant to your category & customers. A lot of people hate on stat...
Fallon Savors Bertolli Alfredo Pasta Sauce
Fallon agency launched the "Take the Alfredo" campaign to promote Bertolli Alfredo as the default pasta sauce, challenging the entrenched preference for red sauce. The campaign features two digital spots, "Flock" and "Rose," distributed across streaming audio, social, video and...
Forget Follower Counts — If Your Audience Isn’t Interacting, Your Brand Is Just an Expensive Illusion
The article argues that follower counts and likes are vanity metrics that mask a brand’s real health. True brand strength is measured by three audience behaviors: deep consumption of content, organic sharing, and frictionless buying. By shifting focus from superficial...
One AI Character, Endless Content Across Media
Most creators still rebuild content from scratch. New prompt. New image. New workflow. But what if you could create one AI character once and generate content with it forever? Images. Videos. Campaigns. All from a single conversation. I explored this new model using @Picsart Aura. This changes how...
How I Passively Collected 500 Email Subscribers in 90 Days
The author reports that by focusing on Substack, they passively amassed roughly 500 email subscribers in just 90 days, a stark contrast to the labor‑intensive lead‑generation tactics previously used on X. A single Substack post, created with the WriteStack scheduler,...
'Always On' Isn't Broken -- The Way We Use It Is
The article argues that today’s “always on” advertising has devolved into a blanket, budget‑draining approach that treats every audience as constantly receptive. It calls for a shift from a channel‑centric mindset to a behavior‑centric one, activating each medium only when...
3 New Ways Ads Advisor Is Making Google Ads Safer and Faster
Google Ads is rolling out three AI‑driven safety upgrades in its Ads Advisor tool. The platform will now proactively flag complex policy violations and guide advertisers through fixes, monitor accounts 24/7 with personalized security recommendations, and automate certification processes using...
The VERIFY Method for Building a Winning Personal Brand in the AI Era (7 Prompts)
The post introduces VERIFY, a six‑element coherence audit designed to forge a personal brand that can’t be commoditized by AI. It argues that while AI can automate generic tasks, identity, trust, and financial sovereignty remain uniquely human assets. By evaluating...
Hire Social Strategists Who Prioritize the WHY Over Trends
What do I look for in a social media STRATEGIST? Not trends, or ~culture~, or even content. I look for social media professionals that can explain the WHY behind their ideas. Social Media Strategy is all about coming up with strategic...
You Feel Scattered, but You Don’t Know Why.
The post argues that a founder’s personal clarity directly shapes a brand’s consistency. When founders feel uncertain, the brand shows hesitation—content is delayed, websites are labeled outdated, and teams over‑explain. Conversely, resolved founders see tighter messaging without additional hires or...
MS NOW Uses Community to Build Up Its Brand
MS NOW is shifting from a traditional linear news outlet to a community‑first brand, leveraging its recent independence after NBCUniversal’s spin‑off. The network plans to launch a summer‑time app focused on direct audience interaction rather than streaming. Executives highlighted the rise...
WWO: Guidelines for Using AI to Build Your Media Plans
Westwood One’s Audio Active Group released guidelines for local advertisers on leveraging artificial intelligence in media planning. Cumulus Media president of operations Bob Walker emphasizes that AI can be useful but must be used with precise prompts, reputable sources, and...
OpenAI Launches AdsBot to Vet Ad Landing Pages
We've got a new OpenAI crawler and it makes total sense. Meet OAI-Adsbot: From OpenAI: OAI-AdsBot is used to validate the safety of web pages submitted as ads on ChatGPT. When you submit an ad, OpenAI may visit the landing page to...
No More ‘Sleeping Beauties’: Babybel Owner Quietly Emerges as US Healthy Snacks Powerhouse
Peter McGuinness, former Impossible Foods and Chobani exec, took over Bel Group’s North American operations and is accelerating growth of its snack brands Babybel, GoGo squeeZ and The Laughing Cow. The Paris‑based company now generates about one‑third of its global sales in the U.S., with...
AI Cuts SEO Troubleshooting From Hours to Minutes
Old SEO vs New SEO Old SEO: Spend 3 hours analyzing why your organic traffic dropped 40%. Find nothing. New SEO: Connect your Google Search Console to Claude, get a ranked list of issues and fixes in 12 minutes according to your...
How to Rebuild Brand Trust After a PR Crisis
The article outlines how brands can restore trust after a public relations crisis by prioritizing honesty over polished apologies. It stresses that mishandled responses, not the original mistake, erode consumer confidence. Three practical steps are recommended: authentic acknowledgment, consistent corrective...
Meta’s AI Push Has Made Its Way Into Ad Creative. Not All Marketers Are Happy About It
Meta has been automatically applying AI‑generated tweaks to advertisers' creative assets, often without the brands’ knowledge. Snag Tights discovered altered ads that misrepresented its products, prompting the company to request a shutdown of Meta’s AI testing on its account. Other...
Your Next Customer Will Find You Using AI. Now What?
AI‑powered large language model (LLM) search is reshaping how consumers discover products, with 44% of U.S. online buyers now starting their journey in an LLM or AI tool. Adoption is twice as fast among Gen Z and millennials, but the trend...
Gordon Ramsay Launches World‑First “Idiot Sandwich” Pop‑up in Manila’s Uptown BGC
Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill Philippines is opening the world’s first Idiot Sandwich pop‑up at Megaworld’s Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City, Manila. The concept turns a notorious internet meme into a physical sandwich‑focused venue, promising premium ingredients and a...
Arby’s Launches Limited‑Time BBQ Lineup and Mac‑and‑Cheese Bowl to Revive Traffic
Arby’s introduced a limited‑time BBQ sandwich duo and a new Mac‑and‑Cheese bowl, a brand‑refresh move led by CMO Jeff Baker. The rollout targets lagging sales and aims to draw diners back to the chain’s 33,000‑plus locations.
Podcast Data Firm Bumper Unveils Audience Verification Metric to Boost Advertiser Confidence
Bumper, a podcast data and growth firm, launched the Bumper Score, a new audience verification metric that rates podcasts on a 0‑200 scale with 100 as the industry average. The score aggregates first‑party hosting data, verified listener information from major...
Fashion Retailer Quince Tops Podcast Ad Spending, Sports and Comedy Dominate Genre Placements in March
Fashion retailer Quince led March 2026 podcast advertising with an estimated $6.57 million spend, primarily on comedy programs. BetterHelp, Amazon, Meta, and T‑Mobile rounded out the top five, each allocating roughly $5‑6 million, with a strong preference for sports podcasts. Magellan AI’s...
Ecominsights Unveils SaaS Platform to Streamline Amazon Market Research
Ecominsights announced the general availability of its Amazon product research SaaS platform, delivering structured data on millions of listings to brands, distributors, agencies and investors. The tool promises to replace fragmented, manual research with a unified intelligence suite for product...
Meta Launches First Instagram Campaign in Thailand to Drive Reels Adoption
Meta has launched its first dedicated Instagram brand campaign in Thailand, a 10‑week digital effort built by BBH Singapore. The initiative features two hero films, six 20‑second Reels and 15 creator‑led pieces starring local influencers to spur Reels creation among...
Lacoste ‘Returns to Its Roots’ with New Visual Identity
Lacoste unveiled a refreshed visual identity that reintroduces a serif‑based logo and highlights the original Robert George crocodile illustration. The redesign sharpens the brand’s proportions, restores its historic green hue and adds clay and farine tones, while the iconic crocodile and...
New Guide: The Identity Gap Holding Back Travel Marketing Performance
Travel marketers have poured money into orchestration tools, yet 70%‑95% of website visitors remain anonymous, limiting personalization and direct bookings. Wunderkind’s new guide argues that identity resolution is the missing layer that can turn invisible traffic into measurable revenue. By...
Leaders Must Become Visible Voices, Not Just Promoters
@joe_zappa , Founder and CEO of Sharp Pen Media, joins the AdTechGod Pod to unpack a fundamental shift in media and leadership. Power has moved from institutions to individuals, and the executives who recognize this are building influence, pipeline, and long-term...
Automation Cuts Email Response Time From Minutes to Zero
One of my colleagues used to spend about 20 minutes every day responding to emails in a particular email account. Now Dunky Bot fully auto responds to emails in one our email accounts. Crazy. Looking forward to getting the other...
Jenni Kayne Is Going Global
Jenni Kayne, the California‑born lifestyle label known for cashmere sweaters and minimalist home goods, announced the launch of international shipping on its e‑commerce site. The rollout initially covers 18 markets across Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with additional regions slated...
Revive Top Posts: Reshare, Repackage, Reach New Fans
Underrated marketing move: Go back to your top 10 performing posts from the last year. Rewrite them. Reshare them. Repackage them. Your audience has grown. New people haven't seen them. The message still hits. Don't let your best work collect dust.
Complex Product Derailed PLG, Forcing Sales Team Rebuild
PLG got Product Fruits to $2M ARR. Then it broke. The product was too complex for self-serve. Customers had no idea what it could do. They had to build a sales team from scratch. https://t.co/DInZ7mxOqy
B2B Influencer Marketing in 2026: The Rise of LinkedIn Influencers in B2B Tech
B2B influencer marketing has migrated from occasional expert webinars to a creator‑led model anchored on LinkedIn, where founders, CMOs and product leaders publish consistently. These "LinkedInfluencers" build trust through repeated, expertise‑rich posts that shape buyer opinions long before a sales...
Consistent LinkedIn Posts Unlock $15K Partnership Deals
I have booked more than $15K in co-marketing and partnership content deals with AI/AEO companies since I started posting daily on LinkedIn and switched my newsletter to a weekly cadence. This was not on my bingo card for 2026, but...
AI Agents Replace Entire Marketing Teams—Build Yours Fast
One person running AI agents can now handle what used to take an entire marketing team. The question isn't whether this model wins. It's whether you build it before your competitors do.
AI Marketing Tools List Keeps Growing with New Additions
The best list of #AI #marketing tools anywhere continues to expand: https://t.co/1MqMiJP4M3 New tools added recently include @Onlypult, @vidnoz_official, Rovo by @Atlassian , NoteGPT TTS, @buffer, Cora, @meetgranola, @eclincher, and @NaturalReaderAi.
Meta Drains Brand Budget Early with Terrible ROI
Love waking up to Meta spending 60% of a brands daily budget before 7am PT. Love that it spent almost 20% from midnight to 1am. Love that the CPA was 5x our goal and time on site metrics were basically...
Master Claude AI Prompting for Every Content Creation Stage
A lil' tutorial on how to get *really* good at prompting @claudeai + the most useful prompts I've found for content co-creation at every stage of the process. If you want access to these (free) bad boys, reply PROMPTS 👀 https://t.co/vbJN2LFHFa
Team Tackles SEO, GSC Bugs, and AI Ads
On It's New, @MordyOberstein covers @johnmu on SEO statements, I cover GSC bugs and read more best practices and @TheMarketingAnu covers the Microsoft Ads AI news - no smiling thanks to @gregfinn https://t.co/a66J6LjzNe
First‑time Founders Spread Too Thin, Miss Traction
Most first-time founders go wide too early. They set up ads, post on social, maybe do some cold outreach - and then wonder why nothing is sticking.
Google and ChatGPT Decline Evident Despite Radar Lag
Yep, drop in Google, drop in ChatGPT. It can take Brand Radar a bit of time to catch up (just based on how it refreshes prompts), but it's clear as day. See below.