Know What's Happening in Marketing
Know What's Happening in Marketing
PopSockets turned phone backs into a $169M revenue engine
PopSockets transformed the unused back of smartphones into a monetizable surface, evolving from a garage prototype in 2011 to a global brand that posted $169 million in revenue by 2017. The simple grip design generated constant repeat interactions and word‑of‑mouth growth, driving its rapid expansion.
Brands that try too hard to mimic Gen Z often backfire, eroding credibility. Successful examples like Tower 28, SULT, and Hinge demonstrate that treating Gen Z as peers, embracing transparency, and leveraging authentic long‑form storytelling resonate better. The article outlines three practical tactics: peer‑level communication, open behind‑the‑scenes content, and storytelling in platforms where Gen Z already engages. These approaches shift the relationship from sales‑push to collaborative conversation.
Penguin Random House unveiled “Playful Penguins,” a modular visual identity featuring a suite of illustrated penguin characters in varied poses and props. Unlike a single mascot update, the kit allows the brand to mix and match illustrations across campaigns, seasonal...
Creator commerce platform LTK has introduced Quick Collabs, a new feature that lets brands launch flat‑fee, one‑click campaigns that creators can opt into. The tool leverages LTK’s data on 44 million monthly shoppers, $6 billion in annual spend, 400,000 creators and 8,000...
Clean Creatives released the “Toxic Accounts” study, analyzing 1,859 ads, press releases and social‑media campaigns from 2020‑2024. It finds BP, Chevron, Shell and Exxon have abandoned climate‑friendly narratives, instead portraying fossil‑fuel use as essential for economic stability and national security....
Instagram tested an AI‑driven “Shop the Look” feature that automatically tags products in creator posts, aiming to boost social commerce. The rollout, launched in February, sparked backlash as tags appeared without creators’ consent, linking followers to unvetted items and knockoffs....
Brands are racing to sign college athletes for NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals as March Madness draws record viewership, turning the tournament into a high‑impact marketing platform. Companies from footwear to fast‑food chains have partnered with stars like Azzi Fudd,...
Watsons Malaysia, in partnership with Omnicom’s MBCS, launched the “Pentas Raya Glam” campaign to celebrate the Hari Raya festive season. The multi‑channel activation features a humorous film starring local celebrities, a #WatsonsPentasGlamRaya dance challenge on Instagram and TikTok, and in‑store sensory...
Foodcase has unveiled a refreshed brand identity that positions it as a full‑service food and beverage partner for the global travel industry. The new messaging emphasizes end‑to‑end capabilities, from concept design through onboard execution, across airlines and other travel operators....
On March 17, 2026, Google released version 2.12 of its Google Ads Editor, a desktop tool used by millions of paid‑search advertisers worldwide. The update adds expanded video limits, vertical asset support, and total‑campaign‑budget controls, giving marketers finer creative and...
On March 17, 2026, AI startup Okara unveiled its AI‑CMO, a subscription‑based platform that automates SEO, content creation and growth hacking for founders worldwide. The service, priced at $99 per month, is live and promises to deliver marketing workflows within...
Candid, a marketing technology firm, launched its Live Marketing platform on March 18, 2026, announcing that AI will perform 90% of all operational marketing tasks. The press release, distributed via PR Newswire, positions the solution as a turnkey tool for...
Independent agency Butler/Till, partnered with PubMatic, completed its first agentic media‑buying pilot for Geloso Beverage Group across CTV, online and mobile publishers in December 2025‑January 2026, reporting an 82% cut in supply‑chain fees, a 40% rise in impressions and a...
Discovery Parks has introduced Bruce, a red Border Collie, as Australia’s first Official Bark Manager in a character‑led campaign created with agency Born. The initiative merges traditional storytelling with AI‑assisted production, using tools like Nano Banana, ElevenLabs and Unreal Engine...
influencers are launching stunt accounts to tease new products. those accounts are then typically converted into the brand account, with built in audience and intrigue for day one of the announcement.
Amazon Ads and Spotify have integrated Spotify’s premium audio and video inventory into Amazon’s demand‑side platform in Australia. The partnership lets Australian marketers buy across connected TV, display, audio and video through a single programmatic workflow, leveraging Amazon’s shopping and...
Marketing spend that deserves more scrutiny: 1. content programs that create activity but not pipeline 2. paid channels with weak downstream conversion 3. SDR-heavy inbound systems with poor efficiency 4. overproduction of assets nobody uses 5. events that look important but do not influence deal...
In this episode of Uncensored CMO, Chief Commercial Officer Carly Natalizia breaks down how Gymshark has scaled its commercial engine to challenge industry giants like Nike and Adidas. Drawing on her 25‑year career—from finance at MBNA and Virgin Money to...
Imagine if Google actually removes *all* citations for queries that previously showed self-promoting listicles. That would indeed be the ultimate FAFO
Flipkart has launched the ‘Ugadi vs Yugadi’ campaign with agency 22feet India, targeting the harvest festival celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The activation uses the regional pronunciation debate as a humorous hook, directing users to a microsite where...
The Northern Territory’s tourism agency, now rebranded as Tourism and Events Northern Territory (TENT), has launched a tender for a sweeping brand refresh to be delivered by February 2027. The initiative replaces the seven‑year‑old "Different in every sense" platform and...
ADMA has released a new podcast episode that explores how marketers can ethically harness artificial intelligence to drive the next era of marketing. The discussion draws on findings from ADMA’s State of AI in Marketing Survey 2025, which shows 75%...
CEO websites act as silent interviews, shaping buyer opinions in seconds. The article outlines seven practical fixes— from a decisive headline to faster load times— that turn vague, inconsistent sites into trust‑building assets that prompt “Book a call” actions. By...
New SISTRIX data shows Google’s AI Overviews now appear on about 20% of German search queries. When present, they cut the click‑through rate for the top organic position from 27% to 11%, a 59% drop. Across all positions the average...
Reddit has partnered with ad‑tech firm Pacvue to let advertisers buy and track Reddit campaigns directly within Pacvue’s management platform. The integration adds Reddit to Pacvue’s suite, which already supports over 100 retail media networks and serves more than 70,000...
Fospha’s State of Retail Commerce 2026 report shows Reddit’s influence on retail conversions surged in 2025, delivering an 82% lift in ROAS when Amazon sales are accounted for and a 257% increase in revenue attributed to the platform. The study...
I built a skill for Claude Code that designs cancel flows and save offers so you stop losing subscribers you could have kept. It builds the entire churn prevention system — exit surveys that identify why people are leaving, personalized save...
Wendy’s announced a contest to appoint its first Chief Tasting Officer, a brand‑ambassador role paid $100,000. The company asks applicants to post a one‑minute video on TikTok or Instagram using #WendysCTOContest, highlighting personal taste and creativity. The posting emphasizes a...
my new favorite thing to check every morning: the results from my viral content research agent that ran while i slept 1. it searches x for the highest-performing posts in my niche from the last 24 hours 2. extracts the hooks 3. and...
Aflac has launched a six‑month generative‑AI pilot in its 450‑person call centers, where the system listens to calls and supplies agents with instant information, even updating addresses automatically. The initiative, involving about 300 employees from marketing, claims, finance and legal,...
Channel99 launched Paid Search Optimization, an AI‑driven feature that shifts B2B paid‑search measurement from clicks and CPC to cost‑per‑target‑account engaged. The capability surfaces waste, scores keywords and ad groups, and recommends budget reallocations, giving marketers and finance leaders clearer ROI....
MyFitnessPal has launched a data‑driven advertising business, expanding beyond its legacy mobile display unit to include video, interstitials, full‑screen takeovers, newsletter sponsorships and branded recipe integrations. The platform will leverage its opt‑in food‑logging data—averaging 16 items per user per day—to...
The article identifies eight variables that determine the optimal LinkedIn posting format—short post, long‑form text, carousel, or video. It highlights that LinkedIn’s algorithm now rewards dwell time, giving an edge to lengthy text and carousel slides, while vertical videos excel...
An emergency petition by Perplexity succeeded, and a two‑judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary order lifting the district court injunction that barred its AI shopping agent, Comet, from accessing Amazon.com. The stay is...
Alex Hilleary outlines his recent migration of a newsletter to the beehiiv platform, using Episode 135 of his "Freelancer Niche Explosion" series as a case study. The piece highlights how beehiiv’s tools streamlined audience growth and monetization. It also references...
The operators losing money on Meta aren't spending too little. They're touching the account too much. What a $50K+/month account actually looks like: 1-3 campaigns max ↓ Broad audiences only (no manual targeting) ↓ 6-10 creative variants per ad set ↓ CBO at...
The story has to come from the founder. This frustrates people. Founders want to delegate storytelling the same way they delegate other functions. Hire a head of marketing and let them own it. Bring in a communications expert and hand...
Neon Polygons and Gamkat both launched puzzle games titled "Piece by Piece" on Steam within days of each other, creating a naming clash that threatened discoverability. Rather than compete, the studios teamed up, offering a double‑bundle priced at $18.57. The...
YouTube is piloting a sticky banner overlay that stays visible after a viewer skips a video ad. The banner, linked to the original ad, remains on‑screen until the user dismisses it, extending brand exposure beyond the skip point. This experiment...
Toyota New Zealand partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, Spark Foundry NZ and Digitas NZ to refresh its “Let’s Go Places” platform by turning the country’s everyday streets into a giant advertisement. The campaign highlighted that one in four vehicles on New Zealand roads is a Toyota,...
Informa TechTarget unveiled two new offerings—the AI Visibility Audit and the GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Topic Planner—to help B2B marketers navigate AI‑driven search ecosystems. The audit evaluates how audiences discover brands via AI, pinpointing gaps in visibility and accuracy, while...
Smartly has signed a letter of intent to acquire Incrmntal, a real‑time marketing measurement platform. Smartly’s AI‑driven suite automates campaign creation, while Incrmntal provides incremental lift analytics across channels. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition aims to embed live...
The author dismisses the SEO‑vs‑GEO debate as a distraction, arguing that the real challenge is evolving strategy for AI‑driven search. He highlights that large language models now surface answers based on citations, digital PR, and brand signals rather than classic...
Visa announced a renewal of its partnership with Formula 1’s Oracle Red Bull Racing and the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, extending the deal through 2030. The agreement expands on‑car branding, hospitality assets, immersive fan experiences, and adds support for two...
Focus on Local? Watch those call buttons... -> Are Local Packs Losing Their Call Buttons? From the study: "Out of 2,580 results we checked, just 510 had a call button. That's a 19.8% call button rate. If you search for a local...
Retail media is evolving from a bottom‑funnel, search‑only model to a full‑funnel ecosystem that includes video, display, and off‑site formats. Amazon’s share of retail media spend dropped from 56% to 46% as marketers allocate more budget to Walmart and mid‑size...
A compelling case for more Incremental Attribution in your ad accounts. Maybe. I know many people are concerned with driving access to more NEW CUSTOMERS on meta. In a test across 13 accounts we found that IA campaigns delivered a 68% average...
Updated the algo update / Google changes list with a few new things including: ⏺️ Personal intelligence rolled out to everyone in US ⏺️ Gemini in Google Maps ⏺️ Gemini in Chrome in more countries ⏺️ Canvas in AI Mode ⏺️ AI Mode shipped to...
I've analysed 500+ ad accounts. Here's the pattern: Accounts that killed ads after 24 hours never found winners. Accounts that let ads run 3-4 days found scalable campaigns. Your assumption that you should kill losers fast is wrong. You need...
Do we really live in a world of AI email marketing hyper-personalisation? ... being as I've run a podcast for over 9 years and have interviewed over 650 people, maybe not? - Why are people still wasting out time like...
Is brand a real moat? You can’t build a brand moat without having other moats first. So it can’t be an initial moat. But once you have a trusted brand then it becomes a moat itself. And might be the most powerful...
