Know What's Happening in Marketing
Know What's Happening in Marketing
PopSockets turns phone backs into a $169M revenue stream
The company evolved from a garage prototype in 2011 into a global brand that monetized the unused back of smartphones. By 2017, PopSockets posted $169 million in revenue, driven by a simple grip that became a daily habit and sparked word‑of‑mouth growth and celebrity visibility.
X is piloting a new ad format that automatically attaches product‑mention links to user posts, as seen with a Starlink CTA under a tweet. The format blends ads with organic content without compensating users, aiming to avoid skewed incentives. X hopes the feature will boost ad revenue while it battles declining EU user numbers and seeks funding for its AI initiatives. The test reflects X’s broader effort to revive its advertising business.
Law firms that encourage broad LinkedIn participation outperform those relying on a few star accounts, according to TBD Marketing’s first social media barometer. The study measured firm, influencer, social army, and leadership scores, finding that firms like Hogan Lovells and Ashurst...
Wedderspoon, a legacy New Zealand Mānuka honey brand, partnered with agency True to overhaul its brand architecture, visual identity, and packaging. The refresh introduced the "Mānuka Powered by Sunshine" platform, reframing honey from a medicinal commodity to a bright, daily ritual....
If you’ve created 6 different buyer personas - it’s time to be honest with yourself. Are you really going to create 6 different versions of your content? A version for each one? You could. It is possible. But I would...
Barb has added pre‑campaign planning to Barb Ads Hub, turning it into a single platform for UK advertising buyers and sellers to forecast and evaluate campaigns across linear and VOD services. The new planner, previously called Advanced Campaign Hub, merges...
Heineken teamed with creative agency Momentum to stage an immersive fan activation at the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix, debuting its global “Cheers To All Fans” platform in Australia. The experience featured a seven‑metre‑high bar, live DJ, a national...
The number of 7 & 8 figure brands that we audit whose agencies are running clicks / leadgen and very very TOF metrics is mind boggling to me. Yes these events “can” have their place as a % of your budget...
Australia Post has launched its biggest national brand campaign, covering all 2,655 postcodes across the country. Developed with Droga5 ANZ, Accenture Song and a village of partner agencies, the rollout includes hero films, out‑of‑home, digital and social assets that spotlight local people,...
Levi Strauss & Co. is accelerating its shift toward women’s apparel and premium denim, aiming to raise the women’s share from 38% to 50% of sales. Direct‑to‑consumer channels now generate 49% of total revenue, reflecting a rapid move away from...
Reventure is hiring a marketing and copywriter to run our email campaigns and blog. The right candidate will have knowledge of marketing, A/B testing, CTR maximization, and conversion strategy. We’re looking for someone who can own the process end to end....
That 'Be everywhere' advice doesn't work for everyone. Sometimes, it's best to pick 1 platform or path and stick with it.
The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has launched the upgraded Move measurement platform, replacing Move 1.5 as the official out‑of‑home (OOH) standard from March 16. Move aggregates data from over 180,000 sites, modeling a synthetic audience of 2.2 million Australians based on 5,000...
Google now treats page speed as a core ranking signal, especially for mobile users, and law‑firm sites that load slower than two seconds are often pushed down or off the first page of results. The search engine measures performance through...
India’s T20 World Cup win was eclipsed by bowler Arshdeep Singh’s unsportsmanlike ball‑throw at New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, prompting a backlash against the athletes’ conduct. Brands that have signed Singh – Oppo India, Jivo Wellness, BoldFit and Oliver Batteries – now face a credibility...
Alison Lumbatis, CEO of Outfit Formulas, turned a fashion blog with roughly 500 followers into a subscription business charging $19 per month. She bypassed traditional affiliate and sponsorship models, instead surveying her audience to discover a demand for curated shopping...
N Brown Group announced a busy month of brand expansions, most notably adding The North Face to its Jacamo, JD Williams and SimplyBe platforms. The partnership launches an 85‑piece collection supported by a nationwide out‑of‑home campaign from 8‑31 March, with special projection ads in...
Most founders fail because they target everyone. When you narrow your market, you attract buyers who see your value and stop wasting time on bad leads. Focus on one niche, speak to one problem, and align your offer to one clear outcome. Test,...
I was talking to a 7-figure founder recently who was convinced his trend was dying. He has a clothing brand, he rode the wave hard, and did $100K+ months for the first four months. Then in September, his CPA doubled overnight and...
Google released "The Art of Possible," a documentary chronicling Dr. Marian Rogers Croak’s journey from pioneering Voice over IP patents to leading Google’s Human‑Centered AI and Machine Learning efforts. The film leverages Google’s AI tools Veo3 and Nano Banana through...
Meta rolled out two new breakdowns in Ads Manager, and I strongly suggest taking them with a grain of salt. More data does not always mean more truth. They give you a cleaner look at new vs. returning customer splits,...
Worst ways to scale past $1M/month: - Protecting the winning formula instead of evolving it - Launching brand-new creative directions without testing them first - Ignoring what your customers are actually telling you - Refusing to test new offers, promotions, or products - Being so...
The Wilson store at Mall of America uses a deep‑green façade to instantly convey its tennis heritage and upscale, country‑club vibe. The color choice acts as a silent brand ambassador, communicating the company’s legacy before shoppers step inside. This single,...
If you sell something .. please lean into social media marketing, more posting without paid media support, more content , more platforms (Facebook, YouTube shorts) more creativity, trying new things. This talk was at a Fortune 500 companies marketing off...
Remember this story about journalists being replaced by AI writers? Seems that may have caught the attention of Google's webspam team. Looks like two of their sites might have received manual actions this weekend. And that could be for 'Site...
Artificial intelligence assistants are emerging as a primary channel for product discovery, compressing the traditional list of search results into a single answer. This upstream shift moves the consumer decision point into a system retailers cannot control or directly measure....
At 26, I quit my minimum-wage copywriting job. 18 months later? I was generating $180k/month ghostwriting for industry leaders. But if I was starting over in 2026, I'd become a LinkedIn Ghostwriter. Why? Because it has 1.15 billion users. And less than 1% are posting...
A number that keeps me up at night: 534. That's how many people visit BlackTwist from Threads every month. Not from ads. Not from SEO. From Threads itself. People on Threads are talking about us — without us asking. That's the kind of...
Bars are shifting from pure alcohol sales to becoming community hubs, a change driven by younger patrons who value belonging over drinking. The article cites the "third place" concept, urging establishments to act as informal gathering spots beyond home and...
MVMT went from $1M to $60M in revenue in just 2 years using DTC and influencer marketing. No retail stores. Got acquired by Movado for $300M. Meanwhile you're still chasing wholesale deals. That's the gap.
Everyone on Sunday morning: Sleeping in. Ecom founders on Sunday morning: Reviewing last week's ad performance and planning this week's tests. Different mindset. Different momentum.
The recreation market is projected to exceed $1.8 trillion in 2026, but inflation is compressing margins and slowing growth. Many operators suffer from the “curse of knowledge,” leaving valuable expertise untapped while rivals flood channels with generic AI content. The article...
Google VP of Search Liz Reid said multimodal LLMs now let Google deeply understand audio and video, moving beyond transcription to grasp style and content. The technology also enables cross‑language translation, helping non‑English users access information. Additionally, Google is testing...
Dr. Selene Castrejon runs a medical practice. She doesn’t have time for AI experiments that don’t work. Every hour matters. Inside the AI Business Lab® Mastermind, she built trained AI bots that now provide CFO-level insights and marketing strategy—saving hundreds of...
Shopify argues that ecommerce revenue is no longer a pure marketing outcome but a technical and operational challenge, with global conversion rates stuck at roughly 1.6 %. Speed, checkout architecture, and data automation are identified as the biggest friction points that...
Referral programs beat ads on cost and conversions. Your best customers drive growth when you give them a reason to share. Offer rewards for both sides like Dropbox and Uber do. Add simple links in emails, bios, and your site, then track referrals...
News on the disavow front. It ends up you CAN disavow an entire TLD (like xyz, biz, info, etc.) This was never documented by Google, but John Mueller explained you can actually do that. He also said that Google probably...
The episode examines Schlotzsky's new, smaller‑footprint store prototype that re‑emphasizes its deli identity and cuts operating costs by 20‑25% through self‑order kiosks, digital pickup zones, and a lean back‑of‑house layout. Chief Brand Officer Donna Varner explains the rebranding back to...
Claude's on fire -> Claude hits one million daily signups, passing ChatGPT in Google Play Store "Claude is gaining significant traction, with a new report stating that the company is seeing in excess of one million user signups on a daily...
AI is truly transformational: - 2020-2022: We built the initial concept of a “keyword universe” at Shopfiy - Feb 24: wrote about it publicly - June 25: republished with a Claude Artifact - March 26: built a full web app in Next.JS for my...
Marketing strategies diverge on whether to inform or exploit consumers. Seth Godin argues that organizations either educate prospects, fostering informed decisions, or rely on confusion to close sales. The piece challenges marketers to consider if fully informed prospects would still...
Liquid Death built a $1.4B brand selling water. They packaged it in tallboy cans with heavy metal branding. Did $263M in sales by 2023. Meanwhile you're trying to blend in with your category. That's the gap.
eCom is a low opex game. He who can spend the most on marketing wins the SERP. The 25>15>10% evolution is underway. https://t.co/MP1L7T7MZ5
Storytime, founded by former Lefty employees Aris Yeager and Philip Davis, is building a city‑by‑city influencer marketplace for local brick‑and‑mortar businesses. The platform leverages Yeager’s 3 million‑follower social presence to automate creator outreach, contracts, and performance tracking. It targets the inefficiencies...
Too many people are waiting for: • The perfect offer • The perfect funnel • The perfect moment • The perfect message Meanwhile: Their imperfect competitor is closing clients with a Google Doc and conviction. "Perfect" is the enemy of "profitable"
In a Modern Retail Podcast episode, Newell Brands’ learning and development chief Kris Malkoski explains how Graco is reshaping its pricing playbook amid AI‑driven insights, tariff volatility, and price‑sensitive shoppers. The discussion reveals Graco’s use of artificial intelligence to fine‑tune...
Two identical companies. One difference: Your CAC = $1 My CAC = $2 We both spend $2 on marketing. You acquire 2 customers. I acquire 1. Over time, you dominate the market. CAC isn’t just a metric. It’s a strategic advantage. #CAC #CustomerAcquisition #BusinessStrategy #GrowthStrategy #Marketing
Listrak’s 2026 Beauty and Fashion Benchmarks report, analyzing 130 billion emails and SMS messages from 1,000 e‑commerce clients, forecasts major shifts in retail. Larger retailers such as Gap and Old Navy are launching proprietary beauty brands to capture growth, while AI‑enabled...
Nike has teamed with renowned graffiti artist Kunle Martins, known as IRAK, to release an all‑black Air Force 1 "City Hero" featuring a scratch‑away heel emblazoned with his hand‑style lettering. The sneaker is being sold exclusively through a SNKRS Stash...
Someone just sent me a high-profile webinar about “SEO vs AEO” where the AEO part apparently focused on “adding FAQ schema to product pages” Ok. That’s my sign that it’s officially time to log off for the weekend 👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽 https://t.co/zWCUoVLqIw
Social listening research adds a question‑led, qualitative layer to standard dashboards, revealing why metrics move. It distinguishes monitoring, analytics, and research, focusing on emotion, language, and context hidden in raw conversations. The guide outlines a lightweight process—50 to 200 comments,...
