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.
We Let AI Plan Our SEO Week. Here’s What It Recommended.
Foundation Inc. used multiple AI tools to create a data‑driven SEO Week Survival Guide for attendees of the April 27‑30 conference in Manhattan. The guide ranks coffee spots, restaurant picks, and analyzes how AI cites conference sponsors, revealing that Culture Espresso received the most mentions and Siteimprove and Similarweb dominate brand‑owned citations. The experiment also highlighted divergent fine‑dining recommendations across LLMs and showed that AI citations split among brand‑owned, third‑party, review, and social sources. The findings feed into a session on embedding brand narratives into LLM memory layers.
BrightonSEO San Diego 2026
BrightonSEO returns to San Diego for its fourth U.S. edition, running September 15‑16, 2026 at the San Diego Convention Center. Organizers anticipate more than 1,500 attendees from the United States and abroad. The two‑day agenda blends expert‑led workshops, keynote talks...
What a Q4 CPG Campaign Taught Us About Influencers’ Real ROI
A leading consumer‑appliance CPG brand partnered with an agency to run a two‑month Q4 influencer campaign that split creators into awareness‑focused storytellers and performance‑driven affiliates. The full‑funnel approach delivered 148% of forecast impressions, over 200 K clicks, and lifted both hero‑SKU...
The Agentic Shift in Martech: Three Examples
Legacy enterprises are deploying AI agents like Claude and Codex to replace weeks‑long martech workflows with hour‑scale interactions. By converting plain‑language prompts into infrastructure‑as‑code, self‑service tracking instrumentation, and automated analytics recommendations, these agents democratize tasks traditionally reserved for engineers. The...
Creators Are Not the Future of Affiliate Marketing, and That’s a Good Thing
The article argues that influencer marketing and affiliate marketing are fundamentally distinct and should not be forced into a single model. Affiliate programs are performance‑first, driven by measurable actions like sales and revenue, while influencer campaigns are fee‑based and measured...
From Skeptic to Advocate: AI Powers My Workflow
"Vibe marketing" used to be an insult to our community. And I was publicly trashing it. Six months later, 99% of my work runs through Claude Code: ▪️ Letting AI analyze the job interviews I've conducted, point out my weak spots, and...
“Drive Electric, Love Pinas” Campaign Completes An End-to-End Philippine EV Journey
BYD Cars Philippines, ACMobility and the Department of Tourism completed a 22‑day, 3,500‑km cross‑country EV expedition, visiting 102 cities and earning two Guinness World Records for the eMAX 7 and Shark 6 models. The convoy demonstrated that long‑distance electric travel is feasible...
Why Your Brand Should Be Creating for the 50+ Crowd
The 50+ cohort now drives roughly half of U.S. consumer spending and boasts strong financial stability, yet only 17% of brands have a dedicated strategy for them. Today’s older adults are digitally savvy, active, and culturally engaged, contradicting outdated stereotypes....
If You’re Using ChatGPT for Everything, You’re Doing It Wrong
The post warns that using ChatGPT for every business task is inefficient and costly. It argues that while ChatGPT is a versatile, fast content generator, Claude excels at strategic, long‑form thinking and Gemini shines when up‑to‑date internet data is required....
AI Is Changing the CMO's Role
Forrester’s latest report finds AI is redefining the chief marketing officer’s function, shifting the role from campaign manager to enterprise‑level growth orchestrator. AI agents now handle orchestration, execution and dynamic optimization, allowing CMOs to focus on strategic investment decisions and...
Ideally Launches Ideally Canvas
Ideally launched its new product, Ideally Canvas, a market‑research platform that injects real‑time consumer insight into the earliest creative stages. The tool gathers overnight survey responses from a panel spanning more than 30 countries and delivers results via an AI‑driven...
You Don't Want Strategy. You Want an Outcome.
In this episode of the E‑Commerce Playbook, host Richard Gaffin and VP of E‑Commerce Strategy Luke Austin dissect why many brands feel their agencies deliver only execution, not strategy, and why that mindset is still missing the point. They argue...
Celebrity-Backed Supplements Spark $338B Market Battle
Vogue’s latest feature highlights a fierce competition among dietary supplement categories, driven by celebrity launches, TikTok‑fueled stacks and soaring consumer spend. The global supplements market is valued at $338 billion in 2025, with UK beauty‑supplement sales up 163% year‑to‑date.
ThinkNow Launches ThinkNow Media, a Curated Programmatic Platform Powered by Nexxen
ThinkNow announced the launch of ThinkNow Media, a new programmatic department that pairs its zero‑party multicultural audience data with Nexxen's Curated Marketplace. The service, aimed at political and public‑affairs advertisers, promises tighter quality control, cultural relevance and privacy‑forward reporting across...
REFUNNEL Fixed What We Couldn't in 7 Days
In this episode, Jordan West of Social Commerce Club explains how his agency solves the TikTok Shop bottleneck for creators by using ReFunnel’s automated operations platform. He highlights four key pillars: custom landing pages and Shopify integration for seamless order...
Doctor’s Choice Launches Protein Muesli, Signs Arshdeep Singh
Doctor’s Choice has entered the fast‑growing functional‑food market with a new Protein Muesli that delivers 25 g of protein per 100 g and has signed Indian cricketer Arshdeep Singh as its exclusive brand ambassador. The launch is aimed at Gen Z and fitness‑focused...
Hitachi Construction Machinery Establishes New WIXIM Brand for Emerging Markets
Hitachi Construction Machinery announced the launch of a new brand, WIXIM, aimed at emerging markets, beginning with Southeast Asia. The brand will deliver practical OEM equipment such as excavators, dump trucks and wheel loaders, supplemented by partnerships to broaden the...
My Proven Ad Strategies Vs. Time‑Wasting Tactics
Ad insights… what works for me and what I find to be a waste as a full time author
How Native CTV Is Solving the Channel’s Attention Problem
The NewFronts highlighted a shift in connected‑TV advertising toward performance, with native CTV emerging as a key format. By embedding ads into the smart‑TV home screen, brands reach viewers during the 10.5‑minute browsing window before content selection, turning attention into...
AI Gave My Small Business a Finance Team, a Marketing Agency, and a Supply Chain Crystal Ball
Sarah Wells, founder of Sarah Wells Bags, explains how AI tools have transformed her four‑person, 14‑year‑old small business. Using Finaloop for finance and inventory, Blaze.ai for brand‑consistent marketing, and Amazon’s AI for ad and listing optimization, the company now operates...
TripleLift Unveils TL Spark, AI‑Driven Layer for Outcome‑Based Ads
TripleLift announced TL Spark, an intelligence layer that stitches together supply, creative, audience data and measurement to power outcome‑driven programmatic buying. The launch arrives as AI‑powered ad spend is projected to hit $57 billion this year, and two‑thirds of buyers say...
DerivateX Study Finds B2B SaaS Companies Are Invisible to AI-Assisted Buyers
DerivateX’s 2026 AI Visibility Benchmark examined 50 B2B SaaS firms across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini, running 1,400 buyer‑intent prompts. The study found an average AI Presence Score of 56.9, with 44% of companies scoring below 50, highlighting a widespread...
JOLYN Tabbed as Swimsuit Partner for Upcoming ‘Baywatch’ Reboot
Celebrated performance swimwear brand JOLYN has been named the official category partner for the first season of FOX and Fremantle’s Baywatch reboot. The company will co‑design and produce three iconic red one‑piece swimsuits using its Foreverever® high‑performance fabric, plus men’s...
From Allbirds to Glossier, Millennial Brands Have Lost Their Mojo
Allbirds, the millennial‑favored wool‑sneaker brand, announced it will rebrand as NewBird AI and shift to building artificial‑intelligence computing infrastructure. The news sent the stock up more than 800% before stabilizing at roughly four times its prior level. The move reflects...
MUG Brotein Turns Classic Root Beer Into Protein Shake Hack
PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer has launched MUG Brotein, a DIY protein‑shake blend that mixes MUG Zero Sugar with a vanilla protein powder, co‑created with NFL star George Kittle. The limited‑run bundle, featuring gym‑gear accessories, drops on April 22 via Walmart.com and...
Real-Life Cluckin’ Bell Quietly Changes Name After Viral Debut
The London‑area takeaway that went viral for mimicking Grand Theft Auto’s Cluckin’ Bell has officially changed its legal name to The Cluckin’ Bite Ltd. Companies House records show the name change was filed on April 7, 2026 via a special resolution, confirming the...
Stepherson Inc., Superlo Foods Expands Loyalty, Digital Engagement With RSA America
Stepherson Inc. has rolled out RSA America’s loyalty and digital engagement platform across all 11 Superlo Foods stores in Memphis and Mississippi. The multi‑year agreement adds a unified rewards program, digital coupons and a branded mobile app designed to lift...
‘The Creative Is Coming Out of the Internet’: What This Year’s Webby Winners Say About Advertising
The 2026 Webby Awards highlighted a shift in advertising where creative originates on the internet rather than being imposed on it. Winners showcased AI‑enhanced campaigns, from a Dr Pepper jingle generated online to the “death of Duo” stunt, and blended digital...
Stop Comparing Content to Performance; Value Your Role
In my first marketing job, I gaslit myself into thinking that if my content marketing results weren’t keeping up with the performance team’s, my job was worthless.
Prego Pasta Sauce Wants to Listen in on What’s Being Said Around the Dinner Table
Prego has teamed with nonprofit StoryCorps to launch the Connection Keeper, a $20 dinner‑table voice recorder bundled with pasta sauce and conversation cards. The device stores up to 16 GB of CD‑quality audio locally, runs eight hours on a charge, and...
New Programmatic 'Transparency' Initiative Excludes Advertisers
The IAB Tech Lab announced a new Programmatic Governance Council aimed at boosting transparency in the roughly $200 billion U.S. programmatic advertising market. The council brings together agencies, publishers and platforms such as Dentsu, Omnicom, Disney, Amazon Ads and The Trade...
Google Ads Makes Call Recording Default For AI Lead Calls via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Ads now enables call recording by default for AI‑qualified lead calls in the United States and Canada. The AI reviews recordings to identify high‑intent signals—such as scheduling a consultation or expressing purchase intent—and counts only those calls as conversions,...
GEOGrow.ai Unveils Next-Level AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON Las Vegas
GEOGrow.ai unveiled its AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON in Las Vegas, offering brands, marketers and growth experts a suite of tools to secure and grow presence in AI‑driven search. The platform introduces Brand DNA Monitoring, AI Memory Audits, Agentic Content...
How Coachella Became A Testing Ground For Cultural Brand Relevance
Coachella’s 2025 edition delivered $908 million in media impact value, turning the festival into a proving ground for cultural brand relevance. Activations such as Camp Poosh and Revolve’s wellness‑focused experiences generated buzz comparable to headline acts, while 818 Spirits’ fourth‑year "818...
Stat Roundups Generate Far More Backlinks than Thought Leadership
What's the best type of content to get links? It's not thought leadership content. It's a round up of a series of stats and facts associated with niches relevant to your category & customers. A lot of people hate on stat...
Fallon Savors Bertolli Alfredo Pasta Sauce
Fallon agency launched the "Take the Alfredo" campaign to promote Bertolli Alfredo as the default pasta sauce, challenging the entrenched preference for red sauce. The campaign features two digital spots, "Flock" and "Rose," distributed across streaming audio, social, video and...
Forget Follower Counts — If Your Audience Isn’t Interacting, Your Brand Is Just an Expensive Illusion
The article argues that follower counts and likes are vanity metrics that mask a brand’s real health. True brand strength is measured by three audience behaviors: deep consumption of content, organic sharing, and frictionless buying. By shifting focus from superficial...
One AI Character, Endless Content Across Media
Most creators still rebuild content from scratch. New prompt. New image. New workflow. But what if you could create one AI character once and generate content with it forever? Images. Videos. Campaigns. All from a single conversation. I explored this new model using @Picsart Aura. This changes how...
Three Key Focuses for Marketers in Connected Customer Era
3 Areas Marketers Must Focus on in the Age of the Connected Customer https://t.co/vVmMc0lrzP Customers are more connected than ever before, but brands aren’t there yet; customers have disappointing experiences during their #brand relationships. #customerexperience #marketing https://t.co/RLDusSYv3p
Today's Top Marketing AI News Highlights
Top #Marketing #AI News Stories today: https://t.co/Vz4gBaefBQ Top stories from @axios @FastCompany @Adweek @WSJ @kingsmarketDXB @databricks @martechismktg @AdobeForBiz @nvidia and more. https://t.co/61P09Bwnfn
Cut Facebook Ads, Build Sustainable Profitability
Blueland reached profitability and $300M in sales by *cutting* over $1M/month in Facebook ad spend to focus on a stronger business foundation. Meanwhile you're burning all your cash on Facebook ads to chase unprofitable growth instead of building a sustainable...
Higher ROAS Doesn’t Guarantee Profit: P&L Matters
Paid ads winners in the 2026 eComFuel report had 2.5x ROAS. Losers had 4x ROAS. The difference was the P&L! Survey has 300 stores, $3.5B revenue, and 6 years of data. Link in replies. https://t.co/5XjFgANzNn
Brand Concierge Embeds Conversational AI Into E‑commerce Sites
Brand Concierge lets embedding a conversational experience in an ecommerce site. #AdobeSummit #AI #ecommerce https://t.co/o2OAAwXN8D
17 Content Types That Thrive in Google’s Zero‑Click Era
New: 17 Content Types to Survive Google’s Zero-Click Future Google Zero is coming for many sites, but Google still sends billions of visits per day to the web What kind of content survives? Not generic blog posts. AI killed that strategy (1/2)...
AI Monitors Oncologist Chatter at ASCO 2025
AI-powered social media listening of oncologist conversations at ASCO 2025 - Ghosal @brunolarvol @mtmdphd Gramling @Larvol https://t.co/azRDBVYLGK #ASCO26 abstr 9045 Poster Bd # 512 #hemonc #Scicomm #ASCO25 @ASCO
Automation Cuts Email Response Time From Minutes to Zero
One of my colleagues used to spend about 20 minutes every day responding to emails in a particular email account. Now Dunky Bot fully auto responds to emails in one our email accounts. Crazy. Looking forward to getting the other...
Revive Top Posts: Reshare, Repackage, Reach New Fans
Underrated marketing move: Go back to your top 10 performing posts from the last year. Rewrite them. Reshare them. Repackage them. Your audience has grown. New people haven't seen them. The message still hits. Don't let your best work collect dust.
Complex Product Derailed PLG, Forcing Sales Team Rebuild
PLG got Product Fruits to $2M ARR. Then it broke. The product was too complex for self-serve. Customers had no idea what it could do. They had to build a sales team from scratch. https://t.co/DInZ7mxOqy
Consistent LinkedIn Posts Unlock $15K Partnership Deals
I have booked more than $15K in co-marketing and partnership content deals with AI/AEO companies since I started posting daily on LinkedIn and switched my newsletter to a weekly cadence. This was not on my bingo card for 2026, but...
AI Agents Replace Entire Marketing Teams—Build Yours Fast
One person running AI agents can now handle what used to take an entire marketing team. The question isn't whether this model wins. It's whether you build it before your competitors do.