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.
Te Mata Exports Rebrands to MG Group Exports to Reflect Global Scale
Te Mata Exports announced it is rebranding as MG Group Exports to align with its majority shareholder, Market Gardeners Limited. The name change coincides with the launch of a new US‑based team, expanding the firm’s presence beyond New Zealand and Australia to Japan, Vietnam and now North and South America. CEO Sarah McCormack said the rebrand reflects the company’s evolution into a connected, global business while retaining its core produce categories. The refreshed identity will be rolled out across all communications in the coming days.
Meta to Spotlight AI-Powered Ad-Serving in Earnings Call
$META will highlight its AI investments in ad-serving on tonight’s earnings call. I’ve spent a lot of time recently synthesizing their disclosures to better understand these systems. I'll share some resources in this thread that are hopefully useful in making...
3 Marketing Tactics That Cut Through the Noise in an AI-Saturated World
AI adoption is outpacing smartphones and social media, with ChatGPT hitting 100 million users in just two months and over half of Americans using AI weekly. In this AI‑saturated environment, PostcardMania’s founder argues that authentic human interaction, tangible direct‑mail experiences, and...
Publicis Gets Santander Moving with Ant and Dec Still on Board
Santander has officially brought Publicis Groupe on board to run its creative and media work, debuting the first "It starts here" campaign aimed at first‑time home buyers. The new effort keeps long‑standing ambassadors Ant & Dec, whose warm, relatable style is blended...
Turn AI-Generated UGC Into High-Converting Ads
How to create AI UGC ads that actually convert: A full breakdown 00:24: How to find proven UGC examples in your niche 01:08: Why UGC still beats every other ad format 01:55: How to create your first AI UGC character 04:51: How to turn...
All Free Clear Teams with Soccer Icon Alex Morgan
All® free clear, the dye‑ and perfume‑free laundry detergent owned by Henkel, has teamed up with U.S. Soccer star Alex Morgan to launch the “all Most Valuable Parents (MVP) Sweepstakes.” The promotion, running from April 21 to May 21, invites parents of youth‑soccer...
AI-Powered Tools Are Reshaping Ad Tech and Monetization
This was fun … great chat on RiskReversal Media w Dan Nathan and Michael Nathanson MoffettNathanson LLC We talked about - is programmatic going away? Are agents replacing ad tech stack as we know it? If Claude can get your...
AI-Driven Supply Paths Transform Premium CTV Activation
Where Premium CTV Meets Smarter Activation Jon Mansell from @FreeWheel and Dru Sil from Stagwell join @JeremyBloomHere and @sam_khoury1 from @marketecturetv at @PossibleEvent to discuss how premium CTV activation is evolving through supply path innovation, AI enabled workflows,...
I Let Claude Run My Business For 7 Days While I Slept. Here's What It Did
The author let Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.7 run four automated routines and 14 ad‑hoc tasks for a week while sleeping. Claude Routines and Managed Agents let the model execute on Anthropic’s cloud, handling morning briefings, inbox triage, competitive scans, and newsletter...
Lisa A. Wharton Named to Marquis Who’s Who for PR, Marketing and Community Relations
Lisa A. Wharton, former vice president of marketing, public relations and foundation at St. Joseph’s Hospital, has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. The honor cites her two‑decade leadership in health‑care communications, crisis management during the Sago mine accident,...
Why so Many Creators Are Joining the C-Suite
Companies across industries are creating C‑suite‑style roles for influencers and creators, from T‑Mobile’s chief switching officer to the NFL’s chief kindness officer. Brands argue that these creators bring authentic social capital that can translate viral buzz into real‑world sales, as...
Baskin‑Robbins Korea Taps Digital Veteran Cho Yoon‑sang as CEO to Drive Brand Innovation
Baskin‑Robbins Korea announced the appointment of Cho Yoon‑sang, a 27‑year veteran of LG Electronics and Yum! Brands, as chief executive. The move is intended to speed up digital innovation and sharpen the market positioning of its flagship brands, Baskin‑Robbins and...
Substack Promotion Boosts First‑Week Book Sales
lena dunham reportedly sold 60k copies of her book in the first week. she did a ton of press on substack—guest essays, q&as, etc. thought this was an interesting insight that likely also applies to products other than books.
Blend Carousels for Info, Videos for Connection
Carousels can inform... Yap videos can connect. Information can draw someone in... and connection can help them convert. These are different goals for different types of content, and you should create both.
Moving on From ‘Reach without Resonance’: Modern Retail’s Marketing Summit Defines New Industry Directives
At the Modern Retail Marketing Summit in Huntington Beach, brand and retail leaders convened to redesign their go‑to‑market playbooks amid tightening macro‑economic conditions. A dominant theme was the need to move beyond one‑way messaging and instead invite customers, especially Gen Z, into...
Can a Fake Brand Win in AI Search? New Experiment Says Yes
SE Ranking’s 16‑month experiment introduced a fictitious brand across 20 sites to gauge how large language models surface new content. Within the first month, AI systems generated 15,835 answers, with 96% of visibility tied to branded queries and deep‑guide, review,...
A New Way to Create a Digital Wardrobe From Your Google Photos
Google Photos is adding an AI‑driven digital wardrobe feature that will scan users' photo libraries, identify clothing items, and organize them into a searchable collection. The tool lets users filter by category, mix and match pieces, and generate virtual try‑on...
Engage Customer Summit London 2026
The Engage Customer Summit 2026 will take place in London on October 7‑8, drawing more than 3,000 senior customer‑experience professionals and 150 exhibitors. Organized over two days, the event splits its agenda between addressing today’s service pressures and exploring future trends...
Hilary Duff’s Marketing Masterplay: Small Stages, Big Results
Hilary Duff’s team staged a four‑city intimate "Small Rooms, Big Nerves" run that sold out instantly, then added sold‑out Vegas shows, creating buzz that fed into the announcement of her global Lucky Me tour. The coordinated rollout—leveraging CAA, Live Nation,...
Lids Taps Jameis Winston and Paul Wall for World Cup Wear Many Caps Campaign
Lids, the global headwear retailer, has rolled out its "Wear Many Caps" campaign ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The campaign features NFL quarterback Jameis Winston and Houston rap icon Paul Wall in a series of comedic videos that blend...
Amtrak Is Trying to Attract Riders by Mimicking Car Commercials
Amtrak is revamping its advertising by parodying luxury‑car commercials, a tactic highlighted by chief commercial officer Eliot Hamlisch. The campaign, part of the "Retrain Travel" series, aims to reposition passenger rail as a faster, more comfortable alternative to driving and...
E642: Here’s the SOP On How to Actually Make Millions with Supplements
In this episode, host Dave interviews John Smitty of NutraMarketers about the massive U.S. supplement market—roughly $33 million in daily Amazon sales, or about $1 billion a month. They break down a step‑by‑step SOP for small brands or solopreneurs, emphasizing problem‑focused product...
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HubSpot CRM: How to Align Marketing and Sales for Smoother Leads
HubSpot’s CRM consolidates marketing and sales data into a single source of truth, using Breeze AI to surface buyer intent and automating lifecycle stages. This unified view eliminates handoff gaps, speeds up lead qualification, and lets both teams track revenue impact...
The Illusion of Acquisition: The Luxury Hotel Industry’s Biggest Lie
Luxury hotels invest heavily in marketing, yet most cannot quantify how many truly net‑new high‑net‑worth travelers they acquire each year. The industry routinely treats guest conversion—persuading already identified travelers to book—as acquisition, obscuring the cost of identifying and owning new...
Beyond Vanity Metrics: The New Rules of Hotel Marketing in 2026
Hotel marketers are moving beyond vanity metrics toward performance‑driven strategies that tie directly to revenue and operations. Artificial intelligence is being repurposed as a revenue engine, feeding pricing, personalization and lifecycle messaging with real‑time data. At the same time, tighter...
Meijer Ramps up Private Label to Cater to Nutrition Trends
Meijer announced a major expansion of its private‑label range, adding more than 120 items with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving and over 700 products delivering 10 grams of protein or more. The retailer highlighted new launches such as sesame‑protein...
Expedia Bets on Creator-Led Marketing with IShowSpeed Partnership
Expedia has signed a global partnership with livestream star IShowSpeed to capture Gen Z travelers, launching a Caribbean‑focused, 12‑hour livestream and a dedicated Exspeedia.com hub. The campaign blends real‑time travel discovery with fan‑driven interactivity, allowing users to watch behind‑the‑scenes footage, book...
How to Turn Text to Video News Without a Production Team
AI-driven text‑to‑video platforms now let companies turn press releases, blogs, or internal memos into broadcast‑style news clips without a film crew. Pollo AI’s solution combines a digital avatar, news‑grade graphics and automatic voice‑over, delivering a finished video in minutes. The...
Retail Media Silos, Measurement, and Misconceptions Continue to Stymie Growth
Retail media spend is projected to near $70 billion in 2024, yet growth remains uneven. Amazon and Walmart dominate the market, using scale and first‑party data that smaller retailers can’t easily replicate. Executives at an ADWEEK House forum highlighted persistent challenges...
Gifting Marketplace Flowwow Rebrands to Udora, Separating From Russian Business and Raising €8.5 Million for European Growth
Udora, the former Flowwow gifting marketplace, closed a €9.2 million (~$9.9 million) private round and rebranded to signal a clean break from its Russian operations. Headquartered in Dubai, the company is focusing on European growth, expanding its product catalogue, AI‑driven personalization, and...
"Turn Research Into Results"
OTW Spine Research Hub, launched seven months ago, offers a dedicated platform that turns orthopedic and spine research PDFs into digestible, actionable content for surgeons. By leveraging its extensive reach within the orthopedic and spine community, the hub aims to...
AI Chatbots Now Lead B2B Buying, Vendors Unprepared
51% of B2B software buyers now start with AI chatbots more than Google. 69% ended up choosing a vendor they didn't originally plan to. 33% bought from a brand they'd never heard of before. This is the Answer Economy. @G2dotcom just dropped a report...
Fishwife Finds Its Moment as Tinned Fish Goes Mainstream
Tinned fish is experiencing a premium resurgence, with Fishwife leading the shift. The brand earned a shout‑out from celebrity chef Alton Brown in a Chowhound feature, highlighting its design‑forward packaging and high‑quality sourcing. Fishwife differentiates itself by focusing on storytelling,...
Will Social Media Bans Reshape the Future of Marketing?
A wave of social‑media bans targeting users under 16 is reshaping how marketers reach younger audiences. Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia have already enacted strict age‑verification rules with fines up to roughly $33 million USD, while U.S. states impose varied limits and...
Coach Partners Selfridges with Playground Experience
Coach has teamed with Selfridges to unveil a pop‑up playground experience designed by StudioXAG. The installation transforms a section of the flagship London store into an interactive, Instagram‑ready space featuring oversized accessories and tactile displays. The partnership aims to blend...
Yum Brands Wants AI and Beverages to Supercharge Growth
Yum Brands announced that it will expand its Byte artificial‑intelligence platform to customer‑facing operations, starting with AI‑controlled drive‑thru menu boards at Taco Bell. The company also unveiled a global innovation pantry that moves successful limited‑time offers, such as KFC’s Pickle...
Cut Meta Book Ads When CPC Exceeds $0.15
Meta ads for your books- what should your cpc be? If I have any cpc over .15 - I cut the ad. If they creep up around .10c or more, they’re on my radar of “maybe” cut. Do low cpcs...
Students Build Athlete Brands in New NIL Course
Between grading finals, I'm working on my new summer grad Sport Management class where students will work directly with athletes on their personal brands and seeking out NIL opportunities. This course is part of @ufspm's new NIL Specialization. https://t.co/7ZmgPoDiKu
Coach’s North Star: Democratizing Luxury for Immigrant America
A clear North Star changed everything at Coach. Not to copy European luxury. But to democratize it for America. A country of immigrants. A workforce of immigrants. A brand built for people who aspired upward. That point of view became the strategy. #Kaihan #Outthinker #BrandStrategy #LuxuryStrategy #Leadership
Motorola Wins by Prioritizing Identity Over Specs
. @Moto Collections and the razr 70 family launch in LA. Renewed partnerships with Pantone, Swarovski, Bose, Alcantara. While everyone else competes on specs, Motorola is competing on identity. That lane is working. Hope the incoming leadership knows not to...
Data-Driven Brands Win with Insightful Market Assessments
RT @VisionEdgeMktg 🧠 Data-driven brands win. See how assessments provide critical brand & market guidance for smarter decisions. 📷https://t.co/DKznrEL2oS #brand #branding #marketing #smartbusiness
Access 48M Brand Newsletters for Competitive Intel
a client just put me onto https://t.co/q5DHTEB883. it indexes every newsletter a brand sends, historically. 48 million emails across 100k+ brands. want to see what your competitor emailed last Black Friday? it's all there. competitive intel gold mine.
Publish Unique, Non‑commodity Content to Survive Google Zero
What kind of websites will survive "Google Zero" as AI answers dominate? Because many will thrive Google says you need "Non-commodity Content" So what kind of content should publishers focus on? https://t.co/rS64kOaEnE
Reddit Rebounds After Core Update Dip
Reddit's visibility dropped with the recent core update, then shot right back up in the weeks afterward: https://t.co/uCHI981QMR
Ray Martinez Leads Higher Ed GEO/SEO Innovation at SEOweek
I don’t know if there’s anyone on the level of @RayMartinezSEO in Higher Ed GEO / SEO right now. Pure fire… He’s sharing pure gold right now at #SEOweek 🚀 https://t.co/vwOjxkG4qQ
Xbox Employees Receive New Xbox Email Addresses
scoop: Microsoft is giving Xbox employees an Xbox email address. The change is part of scrapping Microsoft Gaming in favor of Xbox and the "We are Xbox" effort. Details here 👇 https://t.co/8vTg135inV
Weighing AI's Benefits and Risks in First-Party Experiences
I am quoted here. The pros and cons of adding AI to first-party experiences https://t.co/AVLLyRxYfs
EBSCO's Organic Surge Shows E‑E‑A‑T Power
The site @EBSCO is still surging in organic visibility - I believe this is a great example of an E-E-A-T-driven case study for SEO/AI search visibility. https://t.co/lI4fDdMXmg
Get Seen Early: AI Search, Peer Networks, Reviews
B2B buying decisions form before your sales team gets involved. Learn three ways to make your brand visible where it counts – in AI search, peer networks, and review platforms. https://t.co/IwwEQA7aOT via @alexanderkesler, @sejournal
Vignette Ads Trigger Google Penalty, AI Mode Sticky
It's New 4/29 - AdSense Vignette Ads Trigger Google Penalty, AI Mode Gets Sticky & Preview Impact Of Negative Keywords https://t.co/K7mBjwqDdd with @gregfinn and @mordyoberstein - the most annoying show ever