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 all marketing functions, shifting AI from a productivity add‑on to a core strategic engine. The analysis notes early adopters are using generative tools, while the next wave will involve autonomous agents that orchestrate decisions across workflows, guided by a five‑step implementation roadmap.
SAP and Google Cloud Expand Partnership to Deploy Multi-Agent AI
SAP and Google Cloud have deepened their alliance by linking SAP Engagement Cloud, SAP Customer Experience and Joule solutions with Google’s Gemini Enterprise AI platform. The integration enables marketers to deploy multi‑agent AI that accesses unified data across both ecosystems via SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google and BigQuery. Agents can autonomously handle content personalization, visualization and conversational engagement, reducing manual effort. The joint offering promises a secure, zero‑copy data flow and real‑time campaign orchestration.
The Signal Is Already There. The Question Is Whether Your Hotel Is Listening.
The article argues that hotels are missing a critical early‑stage signal – the traveler’s dreaming and planning searches – and that capturing these insights can unlock true hyper‑personalization. By combining AI’s ability to aggregate thousands of subtle data points with...
MAD Fest London 2026
MAD Fest London 2026 will run July 7‑9 at the Old Truman Brewery, drawing more than 15,000 senior marketers, agency leaders and brand innovators. The invite‑only festival is organized around “The Human Touch,” pairing buyers and suppliers to foster high‑quality connections....
Google Ads Adds App Consent Diagnostics to Improve Privacy Performance
Google Ads introduced App Consent Insights, a diagnostics tool that shows advertisers how user consent signals affect app campaign performance. The feature breaks down consent data by app, platform, region, and traffic source, and assigns an overall consent rating such...
Quality Signals, Not AI, Drive Indexing Drops.
All the slides + JC's coverage. Some good nuggets here -> Google Search Central Live Toronto Slides (April 2026) *Crawl vs. Index: “Crawled – Currently not indexed” is rarely a technical rendering issue; it’s usually a quality signal. Google may...
Victoria Beckham Made a Fashion Line Profitable Through Lip Gloss.
Victoria Beckham’s fashion label has finally turned a profit, a breakthrough driven by her already profitable beauty business. Since 2022, the beauty line has captured mature women with high‑margin items such as lip gloss, turning shoppers into fashion customers. The...
A24 Taps YouTube Creators, Reshaping Film Audiences
It's interesting that A24 is not-so-quietly recruiting filmmakers like Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, the Philippou brothers, Ian Tuason -- all guys who created viral content prior to their big-screen debuts. The next generation of filmmakers will already come with their...
Angry Chickz VP Tonya McCoy Says People‑First Strategy Boosts Sales by 63%
Tonya McCoy, vice president of marketing at Angry Chickz, says prioritizing people over pure metrics sparked a 63% increase in territory unit sales. Her employee‑centric model, built on data‑driven campaigns and franchisee collaboration, is being touted as a new blueprint...
RE/MAX Agent Deploys AI‑Powered Real‑Estate GPTs Across Bucks and Montgomery Counties
Tim Dimmick, a RE/MAX broker in Souderton, Pennsylvania, has launched a suite of localized ChatGPT tools for Bucks and Montgomery County towns, delivering real‑time, community‑specific guidance to homebuyers and sellers. The AI assistants aim to boost client knowledge and streamline...
Vodafone Business and Google Cloud Deploy AI Concierge and MDR Services for SMBs
Vodafone Business and Google Cloud announced two new SMB solutions—a managed detection and response security service and an AI Concierge powered by Gemini—marking the latest rollout in their $1 billion, ten‑year partnership. The offerings launch first in Germany, with AI Concierge...
Stable Kernel Rolls Out Bespoke CDP Services for Fortune 500 Marketers
Stable Kernel, an Atlanta‑based digital‑transformation firm, announced a new line of custom Customer Data Platform (CDP) services built specifically for Fortune 500 marketing organizations. The offering promises real‑time data unification and activation, allowing marketers to personalize experiences at enterprise scale.
Revolut Spent Zero on Marketing in Beginning, CEO Says
Revolut’s CEO Nik Storonsky revealed the fintech grew its first five‑to‑seven years without spending a single dollar on marketing, relying entirely on word‑of‑mouth referrals. The company, now valued in the billions, is focused on securing a U.S. banking licence, a...
Roku Selling Peacock Subscriptions Directly to Consumers
Roku announced it will sell NBCUniversal’s Peacock subscriptions directly to consumers at $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year, marking the first time the streaming service can be purchased without a third‑party billing partner. Peacock, which now has 44 million paid...
Valpo Agency Alerts Tree Service Firms to AI‑Driven Local Search Overhaul in 2026
Valpo Agency, a digital marketing specialist for tree service companies, warns that AI‑powered search tools such as Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT are fundamentally changing how homeowners discover local contractors. The firm says traditional SEO tactics no longer guarantee visibility...
Leaders Must Master LLMs, PR, Social or Fail
A Head of Search was asked about the future of search, social’s role in AEO, and LLMs’ impact on buyers. “I’m going to have to pass on this one.” If leadership can’t answer where growth is coming from, that’s a red flag. Modern...
Win in Saturated Markets with Better Offer, Marketing
I spent years trying to find 'unsaturated' products. Never found one. I made my first million selling a 'saturated' product with a better offer and better marketing. Stop looking for no competition. Start being better competition.
Six Techniques for Acquiring New Clients
The article outlines six practical techniques CPA firms can use to continuously acquire new clients and offset inevitable churn. It stresses that a marketing program must never pause, because prospects may be ready to switch accounting providers at any time....
Lead with Data, Insight, and Consistency
The fastest way to be seen as a leader? Bring data. Bring insights. Bring consistency. Sean Fitzpatrick on positioning marketing as a strategic partner. More insights 👉 https://t.co/IqPcreM0Mf @smithandjones1 @overit #HospitalMarketingLeaders #hcmktg https://t.co/pAklkMMqNR
Eight Key Elements That Set Your Brand Apart
8 Elements that Differentiate Your Business and Make it Stand Out https://t.co/CRssUU8kcE #brand #purpose #experience https://t.co/PSdgZqbfHL
PART II: How to Monetize Your Content
Profit and Purpose released a $8/month monetization course and is now offering Part Two after a strong initial response. The new module adds a 45‑minute video, a checklist of more than 50 subscriber‑acquisition tactics, and a detailed breakdown of sales‑email...
Supermarkets May Undercut Milk Prices to Boost Footfall, Hurting Farmers
It is perfectly possible - I have no evidence - that supermarkets chose to sell milk at below cost because people ran out of it, requiring a trip to the supermarket. Footfall driver, in other words, but a bugger for...
Mastering Audience Segmentation with Selma Stern
At the Audiencers Festival in Hamburg, subscription consultant Selma Stern outlined how media companies can turn audience segmentation from a technical exercise into a strategic growth engine. She emphasized that clear Ideal Customer Profiles improve content relevance, enable smarter paywall...
FanDuel’s Latest Injury Promo Gets People Talking—And Betting
FanDuel launched Bet Protect+, a new insurance‑style promotion that lets bettors pay a flat 3% fee to have any injury‑related voids covered for an entire game, replacing its earlier quarter‑only policy. The feature is being rolled out in select states...
How AI Agents Can Sweep Fragmentation, Frustration, and Fraud Out of CTV
Agentic AI could resolve CTV programmatic fragmentation, fraud, and data inconsistency. The article outlines how fragmented inventory definitions and fraudulent reselling waste ad spend. AI agents trained to verify content, audience, and environment can enable direct buyer‑seller transactions, reducing reliance...
Ahrefs Rolls Out Interactive Widgets, Structure Reports, Enhanced Brand Radar
Some recent Ahrefs updates: -Interactive widgets in the MCP -Site structure reports added to Web Analytics and Bot Analytics to get breakdowns by section -More info in Brand Radar to see the difference when pages were used to generate vs if they were...
How I Use Claude to Run My Substack (It’s Not What You Think)
Justin, the founder of The Landing Pad, uses Claude AI not to write his Substack newsletter but as a strategic analytics partner. By creating a Claude Project that stores his audience profile, publishing schedule, and performance metrics, the AI instantly understands...
WPP Integrates Google Earth AI Into Its WPP Open Agentic Marketing Platform
WPP has woven Google Earth AI’s planetary‑scale geospatial intelligence into its WPP Open agentic marketing platform, extending a cloud‑AI partnership that began in October 2025. The new capability fuses digital behavior data with real‑world signals such as traffic, weather and...
How Surging Gas Prices Are Impacting Grocers
BJ’s Wholesale Club opened its first Texas location and offered a one‑day promotion of $2 per gallon of regular gasoline, far under the $3.60 state average and the $4 national average. The move spotlights the broader consumer anxiety over soaring...
Amitabh Sarkar on Why the Proof Matters More Than the Promise
Amitabh Sarkar argues that a brand promise in B2B markets only gains credibility when it is underpinned by concrete proof. He explains that his firm deliberately moved away from traditional B2B advertising that leans heavily on rational arguments and product...
Volkswagen Hits the Reset Button, Starting with Its EVs
Volkswagen announced a comprehensive brand reset, shifting focus from feature‑laden electric models to a customer‑centric approach rooted in its heritage. The company will reintroduce physical buttons, intuitive controls, and traditional model names, ending production of the ID.4 SUV at its...
Rebuilding The Etsy Brand Around The Moments Of Your Life
Etsy is reshaping its brand around "milestones and mini stones," leveraging spontaneous cultural moments like breakup parties to fuel social‑first advertising. The new Festival Shop, launched this month, pairs musical artists such as Laufey, PinkPantheress and Willow Avalon with independent...
The Scoop: Nike Admits Misstep, Replaces Running Ad After Boston Marathon Backlash
Nike faced backlash after a Boston Marathon store sign read “Runners welcome. Walkers tolerated.” The phrasing was deemed exclusionary, especially toward adaptive athletes and casual walkers. Nike removed the sign within days, issued an apology, and replaced it with an...
Spana Changes Its Name to Better Reflect Mission
The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad has rebranded as Working Animals International to more clearly reflect its focus on working animals such as donkeys, horses, mules and camels. Founded in 1923, the charity provides veterinary care, owner training...
Proof Is The Product: How Trials And POCs Have Become A Real Go‑To‑Market Motion
B2B buyers now demand concrete proof that AI‑enabled solutions deliver measurable outcomes, turning proofs of concept and free trials into mandatory evaluation steps. Buying committees have grown to an average of thirteen stakeholders, making traditional messaging insufficient. Trials must be...
What Substack Isn't Telling You About Your Audience
The post highlights a critical distinction on Substack between followers and email subscribers. Followers receive notification‑style emails but remain tied to the Substack platform, while subscribers can be exported and used elsewhere. Backed by substantial funding, Substack is likely to...
The YouTube (and Reels/Shorts) Retention Iceberg
Manish Pandey’s post breaks down YouTube, Reels, and Shorts retention into three layers—surface, below, and critical—highlighting the first 60 seconds as the decisive moment for audience stay‑or‑go. He outlines concrete tactics such as storytelling arcs, rapid visual changes, on‑screen graphics,...
Originality Trumps Quality: Mediocre Content Can Still Rank
High-quality content is no guarantee of SEO success. Sometimes, mediocre content is good enough. New research unpicks the impact of originality on rankings. https://t.co/ekjjFaGVnk via @sejournal
SiriusXM Media Becomes Exclusive Audio Advertising Representative for YouTube in the United States
SiriusXM Media announced it will serve as the exclusive audio advertising sales representative for YouTube in the United States. The deal integrates YouTube’s audio‑first inventory—podcasts, music and talk content—into SiriusXM’s ad‑supported portfolio, which includes Pandora and a broad podcast network....
Claude Code Unlocks Previously Impossible Feats for 67% GTM Operators
New data: 67% of GTM operators say Claude Code enabled something previously impossible. Not "saved time." Impossible.
Certified Giving Emerges as a Quiet Sustainability Strategy Driving Brand Growth
Third‑party certified giving is emerging as a low‑cost sustainability lever for food and beverage brands facing green‑washing scrutiny. 1 % for the Planet reports that companies pledging 1 % of sales to vetted environmental partners see measurable lifts in brand perception and...
X Makes It More Expensive to Post Links Through Its API
X has raised the cost of posting links through its API from $0.01 to $0.20 and increased the general post fee to $0.15 per tweet. The price hike is presented as a measure against spam and misuse. Publications such as...
Planet Is the Latest Mortgage Lender to Embark on a Rebrand
Planet Home Lending has rebranded to a single‑word identity, unveiling a new logo that symbolizes its four business lines. The company highlighted a 58% rise in originations and a 21% increase in its servicing portfolio, all achieved organically. In 2025,...
Vegancuts Turns 15 Under New Ownership with $100,000 Giveaway
Vegancuts, the U.S. vegan subscription service founded in 2011, marks its 15‑year anniversary with a sweepstakes offering a Rivian R2 electric SUV or a $100,000 cash prize. The promotion runs through June 4, 2026, granting one entry per dollar spent on...
Master AI SEO with TTO: Track, Talk, Own
How to make it in the AI SEO era: TTO. 1 TRACK your LLM traffic 2 TALK to your customers 3 OWN the query fan-out ↓ Let's dive in! https://t.co/8Fjprzc5p1
AI Search Is Eating Itself & The SEO Industry Is The Source
Recent investigations reveal that AI‑powered search tools are increasingly citing AI‑generated SEO content as factual information. Hallucinated updates, like a non‑existent Google core algorithm change, originated from agency blogs and were instantly propagated by retrieval‑augmented systems such as Perplexity, Google...
YouTube Launches Live Test of AI Tools to Auto‑Create Video Ads
YouTube has started a live test of a generative AI feature inside its Shorts composer that lets advertisers type a brief description and receive a ready‑to‑run video ad. The tool, built on Google DeepMind’s Veo model, aims to speed up...
Lenovo Appoints Sumir Bhatia as First APAC Chief Commercial Officer to Drive AI‑focused Growth
Lenovo has installed Sumir Bhatia as its inaugural Chief Commercial Officer for the Asia Pacific region. Bhatia will consolidate enterprise sales, solution sales, channel and alliance teams under a single commercial organization, reporting to Amar Babu, President of APAC. The...
Papa John’s Tipping Box Message Triggers Nationwide Backlash
Papa John’s drew fierce criticism after a TikTok video revealed a delivery box that read “DELIVERY FEE IS NOT A TIP. Please reward your driver for outstanding service.” The post ignited a debate over tipping fatigue, with users accusing the...
Maxify Marketing Wins Back-to-Back Top Agency Honors in Mesa, Arizona
Maxify Marketing has been named a top advertising and marketing agency in Mesa, Arizona for both 2025 and 2026 by ThreeBestRated and BusinessRate. The dual recognition highlights the firm’s consistent delivery of measurable results in local SEO, PPC and reputation...
Kalshi Rolls Out $10 Welcome Bonus for New Traders Across NBA, NHL and MLB Markets
Kalshi, the CFTC‑regulated prediction‑market platform, is offering a $10 bonus to anyone who trades $10 on any market, with promo code DEADPREMAR or NYPMAX. The offer, available in 45 states, coincides with high‑profile NBA, NHL and MLB playoff games and...