Today's Marketing Pulse
Reddit surges post‑Google update as clicks plunge
Reddit’s top‑3 keyword presence grew to 13,872 terms, a 54% increase after Google’s May core update. SparkToro data shows 68% of Google searches end without a click, with just 232 clicks per 1,000 queries reaching the open web. Google also refreshed its SEO documentation to combat fraudulent practices.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Amplify acquires creative agency Snack Drawer
Lenovo Taps Becky G and AI to Turn Soccer Kits Into Art
Lenovo is launching “Your Club Your Canvas,” a global campaign that blends soccer, art and AI. The tech giant has named musician Becky G as global ambassador and will enlist artists to create limited‑edition kits for five clubs in Brazil, China, Italy and the United States using Lenovo’s AI‑enabled devices. The kits, slated for a summer reveal ahead of the FIFA 2026 World Cup, are part of Lenovo’s broader “Work for Humankind” initiative that positions technology as a catalyst for cultural storytelling. The effort underscores Lenovo’s ambition to be seen as a cultural brand, not just a hardware supplier.
OPINION: The Attention Trap – Why Brands Keep Losing at Big Sporting Moments
The 2026 sporting calendar—London Marathon, Wimbledon and the FIFA World Cup—offers brands an unprecedented advertising window, with UK ad spend projected to top $63.5 bn and the World Cup alone adding roughly $9.8 bn to the global market. Yet AI‑driven content creation...
Omnicom’s Creo Unveils Agentic AI Tool for Brand-Influencer Content Compliance
Omnicom Media Group's specialist unit Creo has launched an agentic AI tool that automatically edits influencer‑generated content to meet brand compliance before publishing. Built with Google Cloud, the solution leverages Gemini and Veo generative models to identify and resolve issues...
Google, Meta and Amazon Took Two Thirds of £46bn UK 2025 Adspend
UK advertising spend rose 6.4% in 2025 to a record £46.7bn (≈$59bn). A trio of US tech giants—Google, Meta and Amazon—captured roughly two‑thirds of that pie, accounting for about £31bn (≈$39bn). Google led with an estimated £21.5bn ($27bn) from search,...
INTERVIEW: Designing Retail Media for Scale and Relevance: Helene Trad on Kingfisher’s Approach
Helene Trad, head of retail media at Kingfisher, explained at Retail MediaX Europe how the group is building a modular, customer‑centric retail media platform that serves both trade‑focused Screwfix and inspiration‑driven B&Q. The strategy blends a unified measurement backbone with...
Why Fayt Estate Promised to Bring Integrity to Influencer Events
Australian fashion label Fayt The Label staged a two‑night, invite‑only event called Fayt Estate in Byron Bay, offering eight creators and community members free accommodation and a curated experience without any sales pressure. Founder Brittney Saunders aimed to replace the...
Ogilvy India Pauses the Chaos in New Spot for Mother Dairy Flavoured Milk
Ogilvy India has unveiled a new television spot for Mother Dairy’s flavored‑milk range, targeting young, on‑the‑move consumers. The ad, starring Bollywood actress Tamannaah Bhatia, frames the drink as a quick, grab‑and‑go pause amid a hectic day, anchored by the line...
What Works in Digital Marketing Today Beyond Theories
Digital marketing has shifted from theory‑heavy, long‑term plans to fast, data‑driven execution. Brands now prioritize real‑time testing, storytelling, AI‑augmented creativity, and rapid iteration to capture audience attention. Consistency, technical SEO, and authentic, visual content are essential foundations that amplify reach...
Vue Calls on Taika Waititi to Lure Audiences Back to Movie Theaters
Vue has launched the "Feel It Forever" campaign, a two‑minute ad directed by Academy Award‑winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, to coax audiences back to its European cinemas. The spot, which follows two strangers trailed by iconic movie characters, debuted on May 1 in...
Inside Claire’s Comeback Plan: Squishies, ASMR and Reclaiming Girlhood
Claire’s is staging a brand revival with its summer "A Girl SMR at Claire’s" campaign, aimed squarely at Gen Alpha girls. The initiative, the first major project of new chief brand officer Michelle Goad—formerly of Athleta—centers on ASMR‑inspired content and tactile...
Meta's Billion‑User Model Flops on Metaverse Investment
Zuckerberg said that Meta always grows a platform first to a billion users, then starts monetizing it. This works for viral social networks that grow quickly. However, it may not work for other products. Besides, it requires heavy upfront investment...
Why Startup Founders Shouldn’t Trust an AI Agent to Replace a PR Team
Startup founders are tempted to replace costly PR agencies with AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, hoping to cut expenses and accelerate content creation. Initial experiments showed AI could generate press releases, pitch emails, and media lists within minutes,...
HCLTech Bets on European Golf to Drive Digital Services Growth
HCLTech has landed a multi‑year contract to overhaul the DP World Tour’s digital infrastructure, taking on the role of lead engineer and primary sponsor. The agreement calls for a complete rebuild of the Tour’s mobile and web platforms to deliver...
Tractor Supply Taps Real Customers for Ads to Stand Out From AI-Generated Content
Tractor Supply Company launched its third consecutive spring campaign featuring real customers, employees and local events, emphasizing authentic "Life Out Here" moments. While the retailer leverages AI behind the scenes for customer journey planning, it insists that all consumer‑facing ads...
30 Days of Using Za’atar the Wrong Way: How Spice Startup Hayati Used Repetition to Hit 21,000 Instagram Followers
Hayati, a Palestinian‑American spice brand, leveraged a quirky Instagram series called “Day X of using za’atar the wrong way” to accelerate its social following. Founder Yasmine Borno filmed unconventional recipes—za’atar on nails, popcorn, and parmesan potatoes—turning entertainment into education. The repeatable...
The Foldable Future or Familiar Past of Mobile Phones?
Motorola’s Razr 2026 launch pivots the brand from a hardware‑centric challenger to a lifestyle‑focused offering, emphasizing design, tactile finishes, and nostalgia. The lineup, priced between $799 and $1,899, includes a Razr Fold with a tablet‑size screen, up to 16 GB RAM, and a...
Best Times to Post Social Media Content on 7 Platforms
The article outlines optimal posting windows for seven major social platforms—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Pinterest—based on aggregated data from Sprout Social, Buffer, and Later. It highlights weekday mornings and evenings as peak engagement periods, while weekends generally...
Why The Devil Wears Prada’s Luxury Victims Are Now Queuing up to Collaborate
Disney’s sequel to *The Devil Wears Prada* is being launched as a massive brand‑collaboration vehicle, featuring a curated roster of roughly 20 luxury and mass‑market partners such as Valentino, Mercedes‑Benz, Dior, Old Navy, and Google. The studio’s executive VP promises...
Marketers Beware: LLMs.txt Is Just Plain Dumb
The article argues that llms.txt—a plain‑text markdown file meant to help language models locate site content—is being mis‑sold to marketers as an AI‑visibility shortcut. In reality, AI models already scrape and synthesize web content without such files, rendering llms.txt ineffective...
BMF Australia Recognised in 2025 Global Grand Effie Contenders List for ALDI ‘Shop ALDI First’
BMF Australia’s partnership with ALDI Stores Australia has earned the ‘Shop ALDI First’ campaign a spot among the 2025 Global Grand Effie Contenders. The list, curated by Effie Worldwide, features 47 campaigns from 27 industry sectors across 60 countries. BMF...
Adobe Expands Partner Ecosystem to Accelerate AI‑Driven CX for B2B Marketers
Adobe announced an expansion of its partner ecosystem aimed at delivering frictionless, AI‑orchestrated customer‑experience workflows for B2B marketers. The move is positioned as a way to help enterprises scale demand‑generation programs while reducing operational complexity.
UiPath Teams Up with Databricks to Power AI-Driven Enterprise Automation
UiPath confirmed a technology partnership with Databricks on April 28, 2026, integrating the robot‑process‑automation platform with Databricks’ data and AI suite. The joint solution aims to eliminate the “last‑mile” gap between insight and execution, giving B2B marketers and operations teams...
How to Turn One Inbound Reply Into a Closed Conversation
Founders often squander the only inbound reply they receive by sending generic thank‑you notes, decks, or calendar links, causing up to 80% of potential revenue to leak. The article proposes a four‑step micro‑funnel that transforms a simple reply into a...
Managing Employer Reputation: How PR Impacts Recruitment Success
The article explains how strategic PR links—hyperlinks earned from reputable news outlets—can help companies repair employer reputation after negative press and improve recruitment outcomes. By embedding credible backlinks in positive stories, brands can push unfavorable articles lower in search results,...
Revolut Launches New ‘Smarter Money’ Campaign with Hawthorn Football Club via Eyes and Ears
Revolut has launched a new integrated campaign, “Smarter Money. The Hawks Way,” in partnership with the Hawthorn Football Club and creative agency Eyes and Ears. The five‑digital‑film series places four Hawthorn players on the club’s training pitch to showcase Revolut’s...
Google's Ad Revenue Now 91% From Owned Platforms
Google earnings milestone today. Q1 marks the first time 91% of G's ad revenue (now $300B+ per year) comes from its owned properties (search, youtube, gmail, etc) rather than the rest of web. G is now accelerating death of open...
Google Will Consume All Content for AI Overviews
Google E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness Used in a sentence: "Google is going to eeat 100% of your content to feed to AI Overviews"
Meta’s Ad Machine Is Purring, So Why Did Its Stock Drop?
Meta reported a strong Q1, posting $55 billion in ad revenue, a 33% year‑over‑year increase, while unveiling a $125‑$145 billion spending plan to fund next‑generation AI compute. The company highlighted AI‑driven improvements that lifted Instagram Reels time spent by 10% and boosted...
CIOs Should Leverage AI for Marketing, Not Just Efficiency
CIOs who only chase AI productivity gains are missing the bigger play. Marketing is where force-multiplier opportunities live - CX, lead gen, branding, growth. #CIO #AIStrategy #DigitalTransformation https://t.co/Vjv8aDlma4
Meta Q1 2026: 33% Ad Revenue Surge, New MCP Support
Meta Q1 2026 earnings: 33% ad revenue growth, MCP support for ad buying agents https://t.co/50uwbFSTVE
Liquid Death CEO on Building a Provocative Brand, Small Marketing Budgets and Super Bowl Ads
Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario built the canned water brand on provocative, entertainment‑driven marketing, spending as little as $1,500 on a video that later earned 3 million views. The company now projects roughly $300 million in revenue while keeping video budgets under...
Fresho Appoints TAG to Drive Digital Growth
Fresho, a leading order‑management SaaS for food distributors, has appointed digital growth consultancy TAG to run its advertising and creative strategy across Australia‑New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The partnership focuses on a data‑led acquisition approach designed to...
Conquest Planning Hires CRO, COO, CMO to Accelerate U.S. Expansion
Conquest Planning announced three senior go‑to‑market hires—Rob Crnkovic as CRO, Kristen Winther as COO and Karen Budell as CMO—to power its U.S. growth strategy. The moves follow the platform’s recent milestone of more than two million financial plans created, underscoring rising demand for...
Specsavers Unveils New OOH Work on Australia’s Longest Street Poster Site via Specsavers Creative
Specsavers has launched a 95.45‑metre out‑of‑home takeover on Swan Street in Richmond, Australia’s longest street poster site. The in‑house Specsavers Creative team installed 21 panels on one side asking "Loooooooooong sighted?" and a single panel on the opposite side asking...
AdMarketplace Launches AI Discover Beta, Embedding CPC Ads in AI Chat Interfaces
adMarketplace has begun beta testing AI Discover, a cost‑per‑click advertising platform that inserts sponsored product listings directly into AI chat responses. The program, running June‑December 2026 with partners including Opera AI, Dupe and Sezzle, follows an alpha that delivered over...
Forrester Warns AI Upends Traditional B2B Go‑to‑Market Playbooks
Forrester released a report that AI‑enabled buying is dismantling conventional B2B go‑to‑market (GTM) frameworks. The firm introduces an "ARC" model—augmented, resilient, collaborative—to help vendors align with AI‑mediated buyer journeys and shift measurement from clicks to outcomes.
Introducing Amplitude Wizard CLI: Set Up Amplitude From Your Codebase
Amplitude launched the Wizard CLI, an AI‑driven command‑line tool that provisions the full Amplitude analytics stack directly from a developer's codebase. By running a single "npx @amplitude/wizard" command, the tool signs users up, detects the project framework, installs the appropriate...
Kitchen Warehouse Tackles Mother’s Day Panic with New ‘REMUMBER’ Campaign via Block
Kitchen Warehouse, partnering with creative agency Block, unveiled the "REMUMBER" campaign to combat the annual "Mother’s Day Panic" in Australia. The initiative centers on a simple mnemonic—"REMUMBER 10.05.26"—to prompt shoppers to secure gifts early. It will roll out across radio,...
How Jeni Castro Turned An 88 Square Foot Coffee Shop Into An 8 Figure Brand
In 2018 Jeni Castro opened Coffee Dose in an 88‑square‑foot corner of a Costa Mesa hair salon, turning a bold, pink‑themed concept into an eight‑figure hospitality brand. By treating each outlet as a distinct “room” – from a shipping‑container pop‑up...
The Republic of the Marshall Islands Appoints RUN Aotearoa to Lead Global Tourism Rebrand
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has hired New Zealand indie agency RUN Aotearoa to create a new global tourism identity and brand platform. The project, backed by U.S. Economic Development Administration funding, includes an in‑market visit for research, photography, and community...
Breville Launches New Global “Millions of Mornings” Campaign via Common Ventures
Breville has unveiled the global “Millions of Mornings” campaign, created with creative consultancy Common Ventures, to celebrate its Barista Express espresso machine. The initiative showcases authentic morning coffee rituals captured in six major cities, emphasizing the product’s role as a...
Ep. 216: Proven Strategies for CMOs in the Canadian Retail Sector
In this 10‑minute episode, host Christian Klepp distills key takeaways from the DX3 Retail Reinvented conference in Toronto, highlighting how Canadian CMOs can navigate rising costs, AI disruption, and shifting consumer expectations. He outlines three AI‑driven strategies—using AI as a...
Actionable Routine Videos Boost Authentic Paid Social Conversions
Here's what is working right now for paid social ads: "Building a routine" and "optimizing your life" style videos. Why does it work so well? It's because the optimized routine feels actionable and make the product feel like part of a system of...
Prism’s G6 Debuts New Budget Brand in the U.S. — Studio 6 Plus
India‑based Prism’s hospitality arm G6 Hospitality has unveiled Studio 6 Plus, a new premium‑economy extended‑stay brand for the United States. The first 15 properties, to be built by Natson Hotel Group in Atlanta, represent a $200 million investment. Studio 6 Plus targets traveling professionals with...
Success Starts With Knowing Your Audience, Purpose, Message
A rule that will 10x your success: know exactly who you are building for, what you stand for, and how to say it Every founder I admire started in the same place. With nothing. They just figured out their foundation first
Meta Opens Its Ad Ecosystem to Third-Party AI Tools
Meta announced an open‑beta rollout of Meta ads AI connectors, letting advertisers link third‑party AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude directly to their Meta ad accounts. The connectors promise secure, cross‑channel insights and real‑time campaign management without forcing users...
Uber Expands Into Hotels, Aiming for All‑in‑one App
Uber now lets users book hotels directly in its app via Expedia’s 700,000+ properties — the latest move in its push to become an ‘everything app’
From Expertise to Narrative: Reputation Now Fuels Growth
OLD GAME: > Compete on expertise > Hope the work speaks for itself > Grow on referrals NEW GAME: > Compete on ideas > Win on narrative > Grow on a reputation that spreads while you sleep
Metrobank's Moneygurado Uses Real Stories to Teach Finance
🇵🇭Metrobank boosts financial literacy campaign with #Moneygurado: The 'Moneygurado' initiative combines a public awareness campaign with a docuseries that frames #money management through real-life Filipino experiences rather than traditional rule-based guidance. Great initiative by @Metrobank: https://t.co/EdGXMngyIO #FinancialLiteracy #resilience #Philippines
Created 16 Automated Emails in Just 15 Minutes
Just shipped 16 automated emails complete with copy, design, and backend logic in ~15 minutes. Magister invites going out every day now 😎 https://t.co/hrpjUT0WVl