Mintel and Dragonfly AI Partner to Help Brands Move From Product Insight to Packaging That Wins
Mintel has teamed up with Dragonfly AI to embed predictive attention intelligence into its Global New Products Database (GNPD). Each product entry now carries a packaging performance score that forecasts what shoppers will notice, miss, or favor on the shelf. The integration blends Mintel’s product‑launch data with Dragonfly’s neuroscience‑based visual attention model, allowing brands to evaluate packaging effectiveness before committing to production. With tens of thousands of launches tracked monthly, the tool offers scalable, data‑driven insight across categories and markets.
Aussie-Born Platform Envato Unveils ‘Creative Flow: Activated’ Global Campaign via SuperHeroes
Envato, the Australian‑born marketplace for creative assets, has unveiled the "Creative Flow: Activated" campaign in partnership with New York‑based agency SuperHeroes. The initiative positions Envato as an all‑in‑one subscription that bundles AI tools, stock footage, music, graphics, and fonts to keep...
VANDAL Sets Edith Cowan University’s New City Campus in Motion
VANDAL partnered with Edith Cowan University to craft a motion‑based brand identity for ECU City, the university’s new $853 million (≈ $560 million USD) vertical campus in Perth’s CBD. Over 15 months the agency developed a flexible visual language and a suite of motion...
Retail Media Doesn’t Have to Compromise Customer Experience
Retail media is emerging as a high‑margin growth engine for retailers, but many fear ads will degrade the shopper experience. The article argues that, when anchored in shopper intent and controlled by the retailer, paid placements can actually enhance discovery...
X Pitches Advertisers on Rising Opportunities in the App
X is revamping its ad sales pitch by highlighting a major AI‑driven upgrade to its targeting engine, which it says can better understand user behavior and boost campaign performance. The company also touts an affluent audience, with average household incomes...
In the Current Economic Uncertainty, Small Businesses Are Investing in Marketing
Small businesses are bucking the traditional recession playbook by expanding, not trimming, their marketing spend. A Constant Contact survey of 1,500 owners shows 68% expect higher budgets and 74% plan to devote more time to marketing in 2026. Social media...
AI Search Is Growing — But Most Companies Aren’t Tracking It. Here’s How to Turn That Gap Into a Real...
AI‑driven search is funneling qualified visitors to websites, but Google Analytics 4 routinely misclassifies this traffic as Direct, Organic or Referral, leaving marketers blind to its impact. The lack of a dedicated AI channel means attribution and budgeting decisions are...
Multimodal Analytics: Decode Video, Audio and Images
Snowflake’s Cortex AI adds true multimodal analytics to its data platform, letting enterprises turn video, audio and image files into structured, queryable data. The service runs natively in Snowflake, so media stays in place and extracted metadata can be joined...
ITV Launches Live Addressable+ with Omnicom
ITV has introduced Live Addressable+, its first addressable advertising solution for live linear channels, in an exclusive beta with Omnicom Media Group. The trial involves more than 20 brands across automotive, retail and telecoms, leveraging ITV’s first‑party audience data and...
How Creators Fuel Brand Discoverability in the Age of AI
The rise of AI‑powered answer engines is reshaping brand discoverability, shifting the focus from traditional SEO to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Creator‑generated content now serves as the primary third‑party signal that AI models trust, delivering 33× more social volume and...
Accounts in Transit: Thunderly Adds Celebree School
Thunderly Marketing has been hired by early‑childhood education franchisor Celebree School to run a full‑scale digital marketing and franchise development program, covering paid media, SEO content, website optimization and analytics. CIIC PR added luxury travel client Kemetale, a provider of...
Microsoft Has Sought Ad Compatibility For Many Years
Microsoft Advertising is intensifying its push for cross‑platform ad compatibility, adding immediate performance recommendations after each import and enhancing Performance Max to capture new customers. The company’s recent upgrades aim to cut manual resizing, speed time‑to‑launch, and boost ROI, positioning Microsoft...
ADvendio & Kevel Launch New Integration to Power the Next Wave of Campaign Management
ADvendio announced a strategic partnership with Kevel, integrating the retailer‑focused ad‑serving platform into its omnichannel advertising management suite. The new integration, rolling out in the Spring 2026 release, automates key campaign‑management tasks such as trafficking, forecasting, targeting and billing through AI‑powered...
Wellbeing Nutrition Launches ‘Skincare Hotline’ Campaign with Shalini Passi
Wellbeing Nutrition has unveiled a new digital film starring Indian influencer Shalini Passi as part of its ‘Skincare Hotline’ campaign. The short film spotlights the brand’s Korean Marine Collagen line, emphasizing nano‑hydrolysed peptides that support skin elasticity, hydration and firmness....
Saudi Report 2026: A Market with a Different Brief
Saudi Arabia’s marketing landscape is shifting from traditional performance‑driven tactics to demand‑creation strategies. Brands must not only compete for existing shoppers but also introduce and legitimize entirely new categories in tourism, entertainment, culture and lifestyle. Scale in this market means...
Why Incrementality Testing Alone Won’t Fix Your Paid Media Budget – The Missing Metric via @Sejournal, @Tonyadam
Direct‑to‑consumer brands are increasingly relying on lift studies, but incrementality alone can mislead budget decisions. The article argues that Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER)—total revenue divided by total ad spend—provides the essential business‑level anchor. By stacking MER, incrementality, and attribution, marketers...
AnyMind Launches AI Platform to Link Online Ads with Retail Sales
AnyMind Group unveiled AnyAI OMO, an AI‑driven platform that ties online advertising and social media activity directly to offline retail sales in Japan. The service combines the firm’s data infrastructure with Japanese distributor Sun Smile’s network, offering real‑time insights and...
Industry Snapshot: The New Rules of Engagement in Saudi Arabia
Kliq’s Asma’a Al Maraghi warns that Saudi brands can’t rely on simple translation; true cultural fluency and hyper‑authentic storytelling are essential. Global marketers must partner with local creators who command community trust, turning influencer content into a measurable performance channel. Real‑time...
Adapt or Die: AI Adoption to Double Within 18 Months
A new Gartner survey shows AI‑driven automation of marketing work is set to more than double, climbing from 16% of activities in 2026 to 36% by 2028. The same firm forecasts worldwide AI spending to reach $2.59 trillion in 2026, a...
Asian Footwears Launches ‘Mojo Clay’ Sneaker Campaign
Asian Footwears unveiled its limited‑edition “Mojo Clay” sneaker, capping production at 1,500 pairs. The launch is anchored by a two‑phase Instagram campaign that encourages buyers to sculpt designs with clay kits and share them for a chance to win miniature...
Influencer Marketing Grows Up
Influencer marketing has shed its gut‑feel origins to become a measurable performance channel, with creators now viewed as standalone media assets. Publicis’ 2024 acquisition of AI‑driven platform Influential for $500 million integrates creator data into its broader ad tech stack, linking...
KidZania India Names Bloomingdale PR as Influencer Marketing Partner
KidZania India has hired Bloomingdale Public Relations to serve as its influencer marketing partner, aiming to amplify digital storytelling and creator‑led engagement across the country. The agency will orchestrate influencer collaborations, creator experiences, and digital‑first campaigns that showcase KidZania’s immersive...
TitanX Launches TitanTV to Redefine How Modern Sales Teams Learn Precision Outbound
TitanX announced TitanTV, a new media channel that streams weekly episodes on outbound sales mastery. Hosted by founder Joey Gilkey and top B2B revenue leaders, the series aims to replace outdated volume‑based tactics with precision‑focused frameworks. Available on the TitanTV...
Meta Ads Strategy: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls and Optimize for Success
Meta’s ad platform is riddled with default settings that can siphon budget away from real revenue. The article walks marketers through the most critical toggles—from choosing a leads or sales objective to configuring attribution windows and audience targeting. It stresses...
Topsort Launches TikTok Offsite Ads to Extend Commerce Media Beyond Onsite Placements
Topsort unveiled TikTok Offsite Ads, a new AI‑native capability that lets marketplaces and vendors run TikTok campaigns directly from its commerce media platform. The feature integrates TikTok advertising into the same catalog, budgeting, scheduling and reporting infrastructure that powers onsite...
Aftermarket Auto Parts Retailer Grows AI Search Revenue 344% in Six Months, New Visibility Labs Case Study Shows
Visibility Labs released a case study showing its six‑month AI SEO campaign propelled Private Label MFG, an aftermarket auto parts retailer, from under 1% to more than 20% visibility on generative‑AI prompts. The effort generated a 344% jump in AI‑driven...
Performance Marketing: The Growth Engine GCC Is Building On
Performance marketing has moved from a supplemental tactic to a primary growth engine across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Mobile‑first consumer habits and app‑embedded commerce create a structural advantage that brands are leveraging. Rising acquisition costs on Meta and Google,...
Why Thinking Like an AI Agent Matters to Marketing
Brands must shift from traditional SEO to generative engine optimization (GEO) as AI agents like ChatGPT become primary product recommenders. GEO focuses on appearing in a single AI‑generated answer—the “third shelf”—instead of ranking among many web pages. Joseph Levi of...
It Works Until It Doesn’t: AI Content Strategies That Backfire via @Sejournal, @Lilyraynyc
AI content creation tools have been adopted widely for scaling SEO and GEO output, but a new analysis of over 220 sites shows the gains are short‑lived. Most sites experience a rapid traffic surge followed by steep declines, with 54%...
Saudi Report 2026: From Campaigns to Ecosystems
The Saudi market is moving from simple localisation of global campaigns to fully integrated go‑to‑market ecosystems that connect brand, product, and experience from day one. Young, digitally native consumers demand culturally relevant, data‑driven interactions across every touchpoint. Technology—AI, data analytics,...
How Properly Positioning My Product Helped Me Compete Against Google — and Win
The article recounts how PayPal’s founders abandoned a Palm‑Pilot‑only digital wallet and repositioned the service around email‑based money transfers, unlocking mass adoption. It argues that proper product positioning—clarifying why customers should choose you—can turn a good idea into a market...
War Child Appoints BigSmall for Strategic Brand Refresh
War Child, the international charity supporting children in conflict zones, has hired UK agency BigSmall to lead a strategic brand refresh. The partnership follows a competitive pitch process that evaluated multiple agencies. BigSmall will overhaul visual identity, messaging, and donor‑engagement...
How to Automate Ad Personalization in 7 Steps
Automating ad personalization in 2026 hinges on centralizing first‑party data in a CRM or CDP, using AI to segment users by intent, and deploying modular creative assets through dynamic creative optimization (DCO). These personalized ads are then pushed to platforms...
MasterFoods Barbecue Sauce Takes On Fashion Week Because ‘Tomato Never Would’
MasterFoods is debuting its new "Tomato Would Never" campaign by showcasing its Barbecue Sauce at Australian Fashion Week. The activation, created by Publicis Groupe’s OneMars and agency T&P, places the sauce in backstage, front‑row and street‑style visuals alongside designer Jordan Gogos. Over...
Contract Advertising and LupinLife Launch Film for Softovac Starring Varun Dhawan
LupinLife Consumer Healthcare has launched a digital‑first campaign for its digestive‑wellness brand Softovac, starring Bollywood star Varun Dhawan. Created by Contract Advertising, a VML Company, the film uses humor to confront the stigma of constipation and is being rolled out on...
Creator Content Drives Brands on Snapchat
Snapchat’s new report shows creator‑led ads outperform standard placements, with creator ads playing 25% longer and delivering 16% more active attention. The study finds 57% of Snapchat users follow creators to glimpse daily life, and brand‑sponsored creator content makes users...
How To Promote an App: Proven Mobile Growth Strategies
In today’s crowded app ecosystem, launching an app is only the first step; sustained growth requires a coordinated, data‑driven promotion strategy. The guide emphasizes app store optimization (ASO) as the foundation, then layers website banners, smart deep links, social and...
8 Ways to Use AI in Marketing, According to Anthropic’s Austin Lau
Austin Lau, Anthropic’s first U.S. growth‑marketing hire, built AI‑driven performance, SEO, and lifecycle workflows that helped lift the company’s revenue from $150 million to $7 billion in two years. In a May 13 fireside chat at the AirOps Next Conference, he outlined eight...
Myntra Expands Creator Commerce Push with New Affiliate Feature
Myntra has introduced an affiliate feature within its Ultimate Glam Clan (UGC) programme, allowing creators to share personalised storefronts and earn commissions on sales. The tool activates after a creator publishes three UGC posts, expanding the platform’s creator‑led commerce model....
Plum Position: How Mutti Turned Tinned Tomatoes Into a Status Symbol
Italian tomato giant Mutti has become the UK’s top non‑supermarket tinned‑tomato brand, capturing nearly 11% market share after a 19% sales jump to €26.2 million (about $28.8 million) in 2025. A £6 million ($7.6 million) marketing campaign and a touring van have propelled its...
Dean Kadi Talks Clients Ignoring Performance Data
Dean Kadi, head of paid growth at One Link Media, recounted how a client forced the pause of high‑performing Meta ads for a premium woodworking brand in favor of heavily branded creatives. The original user‑generated content (UGC) campaign had lifted...
Don’t Send Generic Emails — This Is the Personalization Shift That Will Boost Your Profits and Engagement
Email personalization has moved from a nice‑to‑have to a consumer expectation, with more than half of shoppers willing to share personal data for tailored messages. Data shows personalized emails deliver 82% higher open rates and generate 52% more sales than...
AI Search Is Rewriting Local SEO for Multi-Location Brands
AI-generated answers are redefining local search, turning simple “near‑me” queries into synthesized recommendations. SOCi’s 2026 Local Visibility Index shows only 1.2% of locations surface in ChatGPT, 7.4% in Perplexity and 11% in Gemini, making AI visibility up to 30 times harder...
Celsius Holdings’ Plan for Acquired Rockstar Brand Takes Stage
Celsius Holdings, now the third‑largest U.S. energy drink brand, is leveraging its 2023 purchase of Rockstar from PepsiCo to broaden its portfolio. The company unveiled a "Live Loud" brand identity that blends Celsius' health‑focused image with Rockstar's aggressive, music‑and‑sports‑centric vibe....
Why Would a Social Media Platform Tell You to Get Off Your Phone?
Pinterest launched a new brand campaign urging users to put down their phones, highlighted by a viral anthem film that has amassed over 54 million YouTube views. The initiative includes a phone‑free Coachella activation where attendees stored phones in Yondr pouches,...
Educate, Entertain, or Be Out of the Game: Marketing Award Winner Reveals Top Social Media Tips
Sunna Van Campen, winner of NutraIngredients Europe’s Marketing Initiative of the Year, explained how his startup Tonic built a 1.6 million‑strong audience on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok by treating social platforms as education and entertainment channels rather than product showcases. The...
How to Find Buyer Intent Keywords for Organic & AI Search
Buyer‑intent keywords signal a shopper’s readiness to purchase and now appear in both traditional organic results and AI‑generated answers. The guide explains how these terms range from commercial phrases like “best running shoes” to transactional queries such as “buy iPhone 17.”...
Razorpay Elevates Apuarv Sethi to CMO
Razorpay, India’s leading omnichannel payments platform, has elevated Apuarv Sethi to chief marketing officer. In his new role, Sethi will steer the company’s marketing and SME growth strategy across India and Southeast Asia, emphasizing AI‑led innovations that enhance brand trust...
Coachella, Carolyn Bessette and Coach Didn’t Get the Generational Marketing Memo and neither Should You
The article argues that marketers have over‑relied on generational segmentation and should instead focus on five timeless constants that resonate across ages. These constants—lore, inclusive spaces, story‑driven identity, authentic maker ethos, and belief—drive brand relevance more than demographic labels. Real‑world...
AJIO Names 22feet Digital Agency of Record After Multi-Agency Pitch
AJIO has appointed 22feet as its Digital Agency of Record after a competitive multi‑agency pitch. The agency will oversee AJIO’s digital and social media strategy, covering content creation, campaign execution, and community engagement. 22feet’s mandate emphasizes platform‑first storytelling, social‑first campaigns,...