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.
Australia’s Growth Distillery released the “Signals of Intent: Health & Wellness” report, analyzing one million purchases and a survey of 3,000 consumers. The study identifies “high‑agency” shoppers—who believe daily choices affect health—as the most valuable segment, spending 50% more and buying twice as much as low‑agency peers. Three behaviours signal readiness to spend: thorough product comparison, heavy consumption of specialist health content, and reliance on reviews from trusted health news sites. News Australia will embed these insights into its Intent Connect platform to let brands target these consumers in real time.
Episode 135 features Gauge’s Caelean Barnes discussing how artificial intelligence is reshaping SEO. Barnes explains Gauge’s AI‑driven keyword research, content optimization, and SERP forecasting tools. He shares case studies showing traffic lifts of 30‑50% after implementing AI recommendations. The episode...
X announced new anti‑AI‑bot measures, including user‑added tags for AI‑generated posts and upgraded detection tools, while simultaneously promoting its Grok chatbot across the platform. Head of product Nikita Bier emphasized the need to protect the “human pulse” of X from synthetic...
The NAACP Image Awards introduced an Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Gaming/Tech category for the first time, nominating five creators including Gerard Williams, known as HipHopGamer. Williams highlighted the NAACP’s intent to engage Black audiences in gaming, tech, and AI conversations....
NewzDash’s early analysis of Google’s February 2026 Discover core update shows a shift toward locally relevant, in‑depth content and a drop in click‑bait style items. In California, local articles in the top 100 rose from 10 to 16, while Yahoo’s presence fell...
Another SEO agency that claims to be a great partner to lead clients into the AI search era This one not only uses self-promoting listicles, but clearly pays to be listed on everyone else's "best of" listicles too I'd be a bit...
Blizzard Entertainment marked its 35th anniversary with a series of Showcase announcements, rebranding Overwatch 2 back to Overwatch and unveiling a year‑long narrative arc. World of Warcraft received a long‑awaited in‑game housing system, while Diablo II got its first update in 25...
If you’re going to sell clothing, you need to understand these 5 things. This is why your content flops and your sales stay stuck.
If your GTM feels stuck, run this experiment. It will take you 30 days: 1. Pick ONE growth goal. Pipeline, activation, or expansion. Not all three. 2. Pick ONE audience. Not "SMB + mid-market + enterprise." One. 3. Pick ONE...
Chipotle topped spot‑cable advertising for the week of Feb 16‑22, 2026, ranking only behind NCAA basketball promos on iHeartMedia’s Media Monitors. The fast‑casual chain out‑performed traditional advertisers such as Liberty Mutual, Progressive, and Chase, which also posted strong activity. Spot‑television rankings...
I am bullish on AI but let's call a spade a spade: these silicon valley pricks promoting "we replaced 80% of our marketing team with AI agents" are full of dog shit. Sure, this is a buzzy "cool" thing to...
The Expedia Group Advertising "Science of Wanderlust" study surveyed over 7,000 consumers and used eye‑tracking to pinpoint the creative elements that cut through today’s AI‑saturated content stream. It found video drives purchase intent three times more than static images, while...
Quick update: Some of the biggest health and medical sites on the web got hammered by the December 2025 core update and some have dropped even more with the recent volatility. That said, most that dropped have many moving parts...
AmaWaterways has launched limited‑time 2027 booking incentives aimed at solo travelers and groups, with a 10% reduced single supplement on over 500 sailings and a doubled group discount of $500 per person. The promotions are available for reservations made through...
One of our brands we've been working with long-term moved to an internal person last month but they kept us on view access of the account(s). Since they took over? CPA is up 48% ncCPA is up 109% Spend is up 32% Revenue is down...
Mandarin Oriental announced Simone Biles as its first global wellness ambassador, marking a strategic move to embed holistic wellbeing into its luxury hospitality portfolio. Biles will work with the brand’s Wellness Board to shape programs that blend physical, mental and recovery...
Waterloo Sparkling Water has appointed Dentsu Creative as its social agency of record, coinciding with the rollout of new flavors Banana Berry Bliss, Melon Medley and a year‑round Lemon Italian Ice. The partnership is timed to the opening of the...
IHOP announced its first National Pancake Day on March 3, offering a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes at participating locations from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The event includes an in‑person appearance by social‑media influencer Mr. Fantasy at the Hollywood restaurant. IHOP...
A cybersecurity SaaS came to us with a problem 👇 - Pipeline flat - About 1 demo per month - Marketing basically paused 12 months later: - 44x SQL volume - 1200% more opportunities - Deals closing 3x faster than...
Dentsu Entertainment announced a strategic partnership with Iconic Arts to develop original, brand‑centric intellectual property, emphasizing anime and serialized formats. The collaboration will initially serve Dentsu’s Japan‑US synergy initiatives, helping Japanese and global brands launch cross‑market franchises. Leveraging Iconic Arts’...
KFC is testing two distinct value platforms in Ohio and Florida from late February through March, offering flat‑rate bundles at $8 and $10 respectively. The Ohio market provides an everyday all‑day menu with choices of tenders, wings or nuggets, while...
User‑generated content (UGC) is reshaping modern marketing by leveraging authentic consumer voices across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and review sites. Brands that showcase real experiences see higher engagement, expanded reach, and improved SEO, as search engines favor fresh, user‑authored material....
Forrester’s 2025 Buyers’ Journey Survey shows B2B purchases are increasingly chaotic, with 73 % involving three or more departments and an average of 13 internal and nine external participants. Buyers now turn to peers, industry communities, and generative AI tools long...
AI pricing is no longer a post‑launch add‑on; it must be baked into product strategy from day one. Traditional seat‑based SaaS models falter under AI’s variable compute costs and usage spikes, forcing firms to rethink pricing structures. The article outlines...
"We're the all-in-one solution." Cool. But that's not why they bought you. QuickBooks has 1,000 features. But people didn't hire it for 1,000 features. They hired it because of a few core struggles: they needed to get paid, pay others,...
Amazon is opening its largest ever big‑box store, a move framed as a physical challenge to Walmart and Costco but primarily a data play. The new footprint expands Amazon’s ability to observe shopper behavior, serve retail media ads, and claim...
Semrush’s AI Search Optimizer helps marketers re‑engineer existing pages so large language models can cite them confidently. The tool scans a chosen URL, evaluates structure, clarity, E‑E‑A‑T signals and schema markup, then delivers a prioritized list of rewrite actions. Semrush’s...
Why fragmented ownership quietly kills momentum There’s a moment in many companies where growth doesn’t stall — it dissolves. Nothing is obviously broken. The team is capable. Leaders are engaged. Everyone agrees growth matters. And yet, decisions feel heavier. Execution...
Rewarded user acquisition (RUA) is a mobile marketing strategy that grants players in‑game rewards for completing post‑install tasks such as tutorials or level milestones. By tying incentives to meaningful actions, RUA drives higher engagement, retention, and ultimately better return on...
My first podcast conversation in over 2 years. I couldn’t have done it without Lee Odden ’s insightful questions and thoughtful coverage of today’s hottest B2B Marketing topics. My biggest takeaways for marketers: - think like a business owner not...
Snowflake announced that its Cortex Code CLI, initially built for Snowflake‑native workflows, now supports external data‑engineering tools dbt and Apache Airflow, allowing developers to generate, optimize, and debug pipelines with AI‑driven, context‑aware assistance. The company also launched a self‑serve subscription...
Hot take: your audience isn’t consuming your content. They’re consuming someone else’s screenshot of it. Or a creator recap. Or an AI answer stitched from whatever looked most consistent online at the time. So “we posted 5 times this week”...
🔥 Hot take: AI won't be effective if you don't know what "good" looks like. You can't simply prompt your way to wisdom—if you lack an understanding of your audience, your goals, or your craft, AI will only amplify the...
The article highlights the often‑ignored "good‑to‑better" stage where businesses are healthy but growth stalls without intentional focus. It argues that founders must shift from reactive fixes to strategic clarity, carving out dedicated thinking time. By concentrating on one of three...
Interesting find and I wasn't even looking for it... Pathetic over-optimized review shows up in my feedly. Gobs of content. Too much. No author listed... Sets off my internal "this looks AI-generated content" flag. Check the page, yep, 99% probability...
Sitemaps aren't a directive. You still need to prove a site's worth to Google... -> From John: "One part of sitemaps is that Google has to be keen on indexing more content from the site. If Google's not convinced that...
A Pew Research survey shows 30% of U.S. adults consult astrology, tarot or fortune tellers at least yearly, fueling a surge in experiential marketing that leverages cartomancy for personalization. Brands such as Netflix, Pandora and Hendrick’s Gin have turned tarot...
ByteBrew has introduced ByteBrew Ads, an AI‑powered cross‑promotion ad network that lets developers move high‑value users between apps in their portfolio. The service relies on Ctrl, the company’s proprietary AI engine trained on massive app data, to target users based...
And again, one turn of the knob by Google, and visits from Search plummets -> Why Reddit’s Stock Plunged 42% In Past Five Weeks "The number of Reddit daily users in the U.S. who are “logged in” to the service—meaning...
Google won't use your Sitemap file if it isn't convinced of new/important content says John Mueller of Google https://www.seroundtable.com/google-index-sitemap-content-40973.html #google #seo #googleseo #sitemaps
SaaS will evolve to mean Skills as a Service. Selling the outcomes and results of a product. Cheaper and faster. It'll look archaic that we used to give people software that took days to setup and hopefully get results.
First month on with a new brand - already improving profitability overall and looking to scale moving into March. New Offer + New account Strategy. Next week we launch first round of UGC we curated and first large batch of ad creative....
$400M software company. No favicon in the SERPs. Took me 3 seconds to find the problem. 🤣🤦♂️ https://t.co/KAHXJpjGXY
Wow, the Jan 21 unconfirmed update was a bloodbath, and impacted sites are still dropping to this day This is another one in the marketing space; lots of AI-assisted content, self-promotional listicles, who/what/when content, etc. I think Google is getting better at...
Gymshark went from $0 to $128M in 6 years using influencer marketing. No TV ads. No billboards. Just athletes who genuinely wore the brand. Meanwhile you're running cold Facebook ads with zero social proof. That's the gap.
It’s New 2/23: Google cooling, page indexing report bug, @mordyoberstein likes the new Bing AI links, @gregfinn tries to make sense of Google Ads budget pacing and @TheMarketingAnu covered a new Meridian tool https://t.co/Ee9widt6Wd
Google Search Console page indexing report bug is missing data earlier than Dec 15 https://t.co/y7yTnWMPqo https://t.co/12gwQoqnWm
Catch up on last week with the SEO Video Recap covering the week long super heated Google volatility, Google reviews are disappearing again, links in AI Mode and AI Overviews are updated, Google Ads news and more https://t.co/e9yXgyFhbD
Google's @johnmu on the page indexing data missing issue - "just a side-effect" - story updated at https://t.co/y7yTnWMPqo https://t.co/Aa09Vs5Avg
Google's @johnmu said a spike in search impressions does not cause problems with Search https://t.co/Gx8bDf2WoW https://t.co/cLxH8TBMF9
