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.
Recent brand moves by SKIMS, Adidas, and Bottega Veneta illustrate how leading CMOs are redefining visibility, cultural relevance, and long‑term equity. SKIMS has transitioned from a celebrity‑driven launch to a product‑focused, inclusive category leader, emphasizing operational scale and trust. Adidas is leveraging the FIFA World Cup to deliver emotionally resonant, heritage‑based storytelling that reinforces its global authority. Bottega Veneta’s deliberate removal from social platforms creates scarcity, amplifying earned media and control over brand narrative.
In February 2026, Figma released version 126.1.2. One line in the changelog caught nobody's attention. It should have. The update stripped --remote-debugging-port on startup, with no announcement and no deprecation warning. Just gone. Overnight, developers who'd spent months building automation...
"AI gets celebrated like the messiah of productivity, but instead of actually offsetting the workload, it's just raised the bar on what people are supposed to accomplish" Thanks for including my thoughts Katelyn Chedraoui https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/social-media-professionals-burnout-ai-metricool-news/
E‑commerce brands are turning to Substack to publish editorial‑style newsletters that feel like personal essays rather than sales blasts. The platform offers free publishing, a 10% revenue share on paid subscriptions, and permanent web URLs that can be shared beyond...
Every team call and customer meeting is now a copywriting gold mine. Let's riff on the topic right now. On the call. Take the transcript later. Work with Claude. Create briefs for events, webinars, emails, landing pages. If you can talk it...
The article outlines twelve practical steps for boosting pay‑per‑click (PPC) return on investment through automated bidding. It stresses defining a clear success metric, fixing conversion tracking, and selecting the smart‑bidding mode that aligns with business goals. Campaign segmentation by intent...
Backyard Ventures, an Austin‑based media partnership agency with over 200 clients, is hiring a Sales Planner for its newsletter vertical. The role blends advertising operations, campaign reporting, client management, and introductory sales tasks, allocating roughly 80 % of time to execution...
You hired an agency to make your job lighter... But instead, you’re in more meetings. Weekly status calls. Slide decks full of impressions. Endless “next steps.” The reporting looks polished. But pipeline doesn’t feel any stronger. You’re not looking for...
Besides the main conference, I'm delighted to be also speaking at The Sip & Search Fringe Event @brightonseo along with @LaffertyN and @THCapper about Top Strategies for AI Brand Visibility in 2026! Here’s what we’ll cover: * How do LLMs...
Matt Ragland uses a sudden bird incident to illustrate how newsletter creators often over‑react to minor glitches. He argues that misplaced links, low open rates, or typos are temporary distractions that shouldn't stall the publishing process. The most effective writers...
Zoom Communications has appointed Dallas‑based PMG as its first global media agency of record, committing an estimated $25 million annual media spend. The partnership aligns with Zoom’s transition from a meeting platform to an AI‑first workplace, leveraging PMG’s Alli operating system...
Seedtag announced the appointment of Brendan McCarthy as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. McCarthy, former CMO of Criteo, brings over 20 years of marketing leadership at Fortune 500 firms. He will oversee global marketing, brand, demand generation, and communications to...
Digital‑wallet platforms from Apple and Google are evolving beyond simple payments, with startups like Badge turning them into interactive commerce channels. Badge’s infrastructure lets brands push real‑time, location‑aware offers and loyalty updates directly to a consumer’s wallet. The San‑Francisco‑based company...
OnSocial repositions influencer marketing as a social‑data problem, offering a toolkit that includes creator discovery, analytics, sponsored‑post tracking, audience overlap analysis, and an always‑on API. The platform targets agencies and brands that need defensible, data‑driven creator selections rather than an...
A new VoxComm report shows agency profit margins have collapsed from a historic 30% to roughly 10% as AI accelerates production and erodes the value of billable‑hour models. The authors argue that agencies must abandon effort‑based pricing and adopt solution‑based...
IDe aS unveiled a major upgrade to its hospitality marketing platform, Spotlight, adding a predictive "Potential to Influence" score that quantifies how responsive a market segment is to price and promotional changes. The solution, built on IDeaS' forecasting analytics, will...
Builderius launched an experimental integration that connects Anthropic’s Claude AI to live WordPress projects via the Model Context Protocol. The AI can read the full JSON‑based template, CSS, GraphQL schema and element tree, then apply structural edits, style changes, and...
Kochava announced the expansion of its Certified Partners Program, adding LG Ad Solutions, InMobi, Digital Turbine, Jampp, Adikteev and AppNext to its roster of vetted integrations. The certification requires strict adherence to integration best practices, traffic health standards and completion...
Caraway, a six‑year‑old cookware startup, has launched its first major out‑of‑home (OOH) advertising campaign to become “impossible to ignore.” The eye‑catching mural at Columbus Circle subway targets high‑traffic commuters. After growing from a pure DTC model, the brand now sells...
Meta is overhauling its ad measurement framework by restricting click‑through attribution to link clicks only, while moving likes, shares, saves and similar actions into a newly named “engage‑through attribution.” The update also halves the video engaged‑view window from ten to...
Google clarified image‑thumbnail selection for Search and Discover, confirming it relies on both schema.org markup and the og:image tag. The AI Mode sidebar was found to drop referrer data, a bug the Search team is investigating. Knowledge panels are being...
TapClicks announced two new Instant‑On connectors—AudioGO for streaming audio and Instacart Ads for retail media—expanding its AI‑powered Smart Marketing Cloud. The additions let agencies and brands pull audio and grocery‑shopping campaign data into a single platform for unified reporting and...
QYOU Media has launched QYOU Amplify, a performance‑media unit that combines creator strategy, paid media buying, advanced targeting and real‑time analytics to scale influencer campaigns. The new unit aims to identify high‑performing content early and reallocate spend instantly, treating creator...
Dstillery unveiled its DS-1 agentic advertising platform, partnering with CTV technology firm Keynes and major DSP The Trade Desk. The platform connects directly to Keynes’ Slack workspace via the Model Context Protocol, compressing audience discovery and custom modeling from days...
You haven’t run out of people to reach out to. You’ve run out of offers. You sent one message to each person once. That’s not outreach. That’s a mass email, sent the long, hard, stupid way. Here’s what I’ve noticed about the...
Comic Relief has launched a new Red Nose Day livestream campaign featuring artist Mr Doodle, produced by Amazon Ads' Brand Innovation Lab. The initiative streams on Twitch, showcasing Mr Doodle’s live drawing while integrating a Red Nose Day store app...
Middle‑market companies often overlook how their brand story shapes early buyer perception. A clear, coherent market narrative—supported by logical brand architecture—helps investors, partners, and customers quickly grasp the business’s value and growth potential. When the story aligns with evidence, it...
Brick Marketing unveiled a structured system that unites traditional SEO, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for AI‑driven search, content marketing, and coordinated social media promotion. The framework aims to keep brands visible in classic search while also positioning them within AI‑generated...
YouTube Shopping has expanded in 2026 to let brands turn any video—Shorts, long‑form, or Live—into a direct storefront. By linking a product catalog through Google Merchant Center, brands can tag SKUs within videos, letting viewers purchase without leaving the platform....
Dstillery unveiled DS-1, an agentic AI interface that lets advertisers create and refine custom audience segments in minutes instead of days. Built on the Model Context Protocol, DS-1 integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, browsers and pushes audiences directly to The...
Dstillery unveiled DS‑1, an agentic AI interface that lets advertisers build and refine custom audience segments in minutes instead of days, integrating directly with Slack, Teams, browsers and pushing audiences to The Trade Desk. The tool, built on the Model...
Not A Shark Company (NASC), a Paris‑based fractional agency for video‑game studios, announced a strategic expansion to meet rising demand for low‑overhead, high‑impact marketing and communications. The firm’s model connects studios with veteran triple‑A consultants, offering full publishing capabilities while...
Instagram’s algorithm now prioritizes Sends per Reach (SPR), measuring how often posts are privately shared via DM relative to their reach. Adam Mosseri confirmed SPR as a key ranking signal, shifting focus from likes and saves to intentional private sharing....
Big Discover drop but Google search is relatively stable -> Reach (The UK’s largest commercial news publisher) explained Google Discover traffic dropped by 46% in the second half of 2025 but overall Google search traffic is stable "Chief executive Piers North...
Magellan AI has licensed Nielsen’s proprietary DMA® data, adding local‑market measurement to its podcast attribution platform. The integration maps podcast performance onto Nielsen’s 210 standardized U.S. media markets, enabling advertisers to evaluate impact at the geographic level. This capability aligns...
Cross‑posting short‑form videos in 2026 demands platform‑specific tweaks rather than simple duplication. The article outlines a matrix that details required changes in aspect ratios, safe‑zone placement, caption rewrites, and audio licensing for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Brands are...
The hidden 18–24 month cost most companies never calculate There’s a familiar moment in many companies when growth stalls. Pipeline slows. Forecasts wobble. Pressure rises. And eventually, the conversation turns to people. “Maybe we need a different marketing leader.” “Sales...
Garnier has appointed supermodel Gisele Bündchen as its first‑ever Global Brand Ambassador, anchoring the L’Oréal‑owned brand’s new “High‑Tech Nature” strategy that blends scientific performance with natural ingredients. Bündchen will front worldwide hair‑care campaigns, beginning with the launch of Fructis Diamond Sleek,...
AI won't kill UI. At least that's the sentiment I got on my recent (shit 😅)post about replacing @clay (valued at $5B) with Claude Code. It might've seemed like I was hating on Clay, but I was actually playing devil's advocate to...
Every time I read something like this. I just think. That's great.... and massive congrats to you, but what could you have done if you ran ads. Take what's working and apply it to Meta.
The article argues that outrage‑driven marketing, while fast‑acting, yields fleeting attention and limits audience growth. In contrast, celebratory campaigns build lasting community, expand market reach, and generate durable brand loyalty. Examples such as Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance, the Barbie film...
Time Magazine called Allbirds' Wool Runners the 'world's most comfortable shoes' in 2016. That single endorsement launched the brand into the mainstream. Meanwhile you're relying solely on paid ads with zero third-party validation. That's the gap.
Google still runs search. Lots of gurus on here are lying to you by suggesting that Google is dead. The reality says otherwise. Remember: Two things can be true at once. • Google still owns search • AI Search is...
Gmail spam filters are supreme. I probably get 95% less spam today compared to 5 years ago. RIP to cold email blast automation.
I know it's all marketing, but NVIDIA calls their GPUs super chips, really super all the things, and now Apple with super cores. Super memory, super storage incoming? 🤣
A tactic list isn't a strategy. Here's the difference and how to fix it. https://t.co/Uwoumcge5e via @Kevin_Indig, @sejournal
Not gonna lie, using Nano Banana to say "take this screenshot and switch it to Argentine Spanish" is a pretty amazing feature. https://t.co/E7hxNdfMIK
How to tie Content to Revenue and prove content marketing value [RevCO F... https://t.co/DrLnhaoEwf via @YouTube
Growth in 2026 Will Depend Less on Optimism and More on Alignment [NEW POST] - B2B Marketing Blog | Webbiquity - https://t.co/GgaDpWstRs New research from @OuterBox .
Google AI Mode sidebar links do not pass referrer, Google is looking into it https://t.co/ujHzcQSRQO via @tomcritchlow https://t.co/GqAk4TA1xJ
