Targeting Insomniacs, Sleep App ‘Rest’ Hijacks TikTok Shop Broadcasts in the Early Hours
Rest, a subscription sleep‑coach app that uses AI and cognitive‑behavioral therapy, launched its "Late Night Mistakes" awareness campaign on March 9 by hijacking TikTok Shop live broadcasts during the 2‑3 a.m. window. The brand partnered with roughly two dozen creators who received full creative control, delivering 15‑second, humor‑driven spots that spotlighted typical late‑night blunders rather than traditional relaxation cues. Early metrics show a sharp traffic surge and increased quiz completions, while a first‑month discount incentivizes conversions. Rest plans to extend the creator‑led approach to Instagram and other markets beyond the U.S.
How Smart GovCons Increase Win Probability Before the Draft RFP Drops
Government contractors are shifting from post‑RFP hustle to disciplined pre‑RFP marketing, embedding capture, business development, and proposal teams months before a draft solicitation appears. By monitoring agency signals such as RFIs, industry days, and policy trends, firms craft win themes...
Study: Repurposed Traditional TV Ads for CTV Is a Missed Opportunity
A TripleLift study finds that 49 % of connected‑TV (CTV) ads still use traditional 15‑ and 30‑second spots designed for linear television, despite record streaming viewership and ad spend. High‑impact formats such as pause ads, overlays, and native units boost brand...
Celio: The Savvy Publicity Coup Propelling the Launch of Its Womenswear Range
Celio is rolling out its first dedicated womenswear line, using a clever “missing L” teaser that sparked a viral wave across social platforms. The campaign, orchestrated by Havas Paris, featured six high‑profile female influencers and amassed over 40 million organic impressions. Prices...
Consumers Are Divided Over This Dr Pepper-Inspired Sausage – And That’s the Point
Johnsonville introduced a Dr Pepper‑inspired sausage, available fresh and smoked, on March 1. The product was deliberately crafted to be divisive, sparking “low‑stakes disagreement” on social media and encouraging conversation around the brand. Partnering with Dr Pepper, the company seeks to...
The Future of Content Belongs to the Tastemakers
The piece argues that AI has turned content creation into a commodity, making editorial "taste" the new competitive edge. Brands that embed judgment—deciding what not to produce—avoid audience fatigue and preserve brand relevance. Senior editors and clear, flexible principles act...
Google Tightens Rules on Out-of-Stock Product Pages
Google Merchant Center now mandates that out‑of‑stock product pages display a visibly disabled, grayed‑out buy button instead of removing or keeping it active. The rule also requires a clear availability label—such as “out of stock” or “back order”—that matches the...
Google Business Profile Tests AI-Generated Replies to Reviews
Google is piloting an AI‑generated reply tool within its Google Business Profile platform, initially surfacing in the United States, Brazil and India. The feature suggests response drafts to customer reviews, which businesses can edit or publish directly, though rollout timing...
Is Marriott Preparing a New Brand? What Its Global Trademark Filings Reveal
Marriott has filed worldwide trademarks and secured web domains for a prospective brand called “Matter Hotels by Marriott.” The filings, spanning the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, cover hotel, spa, dining and entertainment services, indicating a full‑service concept. Executives have...
Roblox Moves to Take a Cut of All Brand Integrations on Its Platform | Exclusive
Roblox announced it will begin charging creators a fee for publishing brand integrations, with charges scaling based on user traffic and engagement, slated to roll out in 2027. The policy is presented as a move to standardize ad labeling, improve...
L'Or?al Drives Brand Awareness and Employee Engagement on Social Media with Sprinklr Advocacy
L'Oréal launched a global employee advocacy program powered by Sprinklr Advocacy, turning staff into brand ambassadors. Within 18 months the initiative generated over 33 million organic impressions and delivered a four‑fold return on investment. The pilot began in 2024 with 900...
How an Air Force Stint in South Korea Helped Make Chuck Norris a Uniquely American Brand
Chuck Norris’s six‑year Air Force service in South Korea forged his martial‑arts expertise and introduced a disciplined, patriotic image that later defined his public persona. The experience gave him a black belt and authentic combat credibility, which propelled his transition...
How Consumer Brands Can Win the Misinformation Wars
Consumer brands now face a relentless misinformation economy, where AI‑generated content, social media chatter, and rogue posts can trigger rapid brand crises. Misleading narratives spread across Reddit, X, TikTok and traditional outlets, forcing companies to allocate resources to constant monitoring...
Ditch the Discount, Says Brand Marketer
Cherene Aubert, founder of Growth Capital, advises D2C brands to stop discounting slow‑moving inventory and instead use bundles or free‑gift tactics that preserve margins. She recommends pairing a popular full‑price product with a discontinued item, allowing customers to perceive added...
The Art of Desire in Luxury Marketing
Luxury marketing hinges on creating desire rather than competing on price or promotions. Douglas Mandel explains the "Haute Couture Principle," where an unattainable apex—like a hand‑beaded gown or a Formula 1 program—sets the aspirational tone for all product tiers. Brands reinforce...
Adobe to Shut Down Marketo Engage SEO Tool
Adobe announced it will retire the SEO tile in Marketo Engage, effective March 31, 2026. The feature, considered low‑usage, will be removed on April 1, requiring customers to export any existing data. The move follows Adobe’s 2025 acquisition of Semrush, positioning the...
How Coca-Cola Embraces a Challenger Mindset to Market Mr. Pibb
Coca‑Cola has revived its spicy cherry soda, Mr. Pibb, after a two‑decade run as Pibb Xtra. The brand launched a national campaign featuring NBA legend Scottie Pippen to challenge the notion that the drink is “second best.” The 30‑second ad,...
How Breathe. Doubled Their Monthly Listeners on Spotify
Australian electronic duo Breathe., together with agency Group Speed, overhauled their Spotify presence by reactivating five‑year‑old catalog tracks and launching a data‑driven artist playlist. The playlist paired Breathe. with slightly larger, stylistically similar acts and was promoted through Spotify’s ad...
Depth Over Diversification: Inside 9shines’ Focused Category Strategy
9shines Label, founded in 2017, has built a D2C nightwear and comfort‑wear business around a single, well‑defined category. By prioritising breathable fabrics, inclusive sizing up to 7XL and functional details, the brand enjoys a near‑50% repeat purchase rate. Its hybrid...
McDonald’s LTOs Deliver Traffic Lift Ahead of the McValue 2.0 Launch – Placer.ai Blog
McDonald’s limited‑time offers (LTOs) – the Shamrock Shake and the pilot Big Arch Burger – generated modest, short‑lived traffic lifts, with visits up 5.5% YoY during the Shake launch week and 2.2% YoY for the Burger week. The gains evaporated quickly,...
Social Media Competitor Analysis: 3 Easy Steps to Improve Your Performance
Social media competitor analysis is essential for shaping a data‑driven digital strategy in 2025. The guide breaks the process into three steps: identifying direct and indirect rivals, analyzing their platforms, content, and engagement, and applying insights to improve your own...
Hispanic Consumers and Mobile In-Game Ads: Here’s What the Numbers Say
Portal Latino’s December 2025 survey of 1,691 Hispanic consumers reveals that 81% play mobile games weekly, with 61% gaming at least five days a week. Hispanic gamers show a strong appetite for culturally resonant titles, with 77% preferring games that reflect...
John Deere’s Archives Are Powering Its Modern-Day Marketing
John Deere’s heritage team is turning its extensive archives into a live content engine for marketing and PR. By surfacing vintage assets—like a historic snowmobile—the company generated over half a million Instagram likes and sparked engagement across platforms. The archivist...
Google Ads Creative Tools Expand, Microsoft Simplifies Bidding – PPC Pulse via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Google Ads has integrated the latest Nano Banana Pro AI generator and expanded its Creative Toolkit, giving advertisers free, in‑platform access to prompt‑based image creation, conversational editing, and a library of Google‑owned assets. The updates let marketers produce photo‑realistic visuals...
The Semantic SEO/GEO Revenue Equation: Best Practices for Building Global Content in the Age of AI Discovery
The article argues that AI‑driven search has shifted global demand generation from simple keyword translation to semantically rich content that machines can understand across languages and markets. It explains that traditional SEO tactics—high‑volume keywords and literal translations—often miss buyer intent,...
This Brand Broke the Biggest Rule of E-Commerce—And Made Customers 3.5x More Valuable
Huckberry’s newsletter, launched 15 years ago, includes external links to curated stories, defying the e‑commerce rule against outbound links. The brand treats customers as community members, offering entertainment, education, and connections beyond its product line. This content‑first approach yields customers...
Mastering Brand Management: Context, Strategies, and Real-World Examples
Brand management has become a core business discipline, turning reputation into measurable assets like brand equity that justify premium pricing and protect market share. Consistent visual identity, tone, and customer experience reinforce trust and align internal teams around a clear...
Customers Reject AI Slop: Don’t Let Automated Ads Ruin Your Retail Marketing Strategy
Retail marketers are facing backlash as AI‑generated ad “slop” erodes brand trust. Recent incidents like Blue Apron’s gibberish copy highlight consumer rejection of low‑quality automated content, now dubbed Merriam‑Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year. While platforms such as Meta and...
How to Make Your Business Stand Out in only 30 Minutes
MyBroadband’s "What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou" offers South African executives a 30‑minute video‑podcast interview to share their company story, solutions, and growth insights. The episode is published on MyBroadband’s site and syndicated across YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify, Soundcloud and more....
Shaping Supply: Is Curation the Antidote to Ad Wastage?
Connected TV (CTV) ad spend in the U.S. is set to near $38 bn this year, cementing its role as a core media channel. However, the rapid expansion of premium SVOD, FAST channels, and OEM interfaces has fragmented the supply, making...
BA ‘An Original British Briefing’: The Great Escape
British Airways unveiled “An Original British Briefing,” a surreal safety‑video‑style campaign that reimagines the pre‑flight briefing as a guide out of everyday stress. Directed by Jeff Low, the film places flight attendants in mundane settings—traffic jams, dentist chairs, chaotic homes—to...
CFDs Broker HFM Sponsors Arsenal
Cyprus‑based retail broker HFM has secured a multi‑year Official Global Partnership with Premier League leaders Arsenal. The deal grants HFM match‑day branding at Emirates Stadium and visibility across Arsenal’s digital channels, including the new *The Arsenal* platform. HFM, rebranded from...
Influencer Marketing Platform Market to Be Worth $2.03 Billion by 2031
MarketsandMarkets projects the influencer marketing platform market to grow from $1.15 billion in 2026 to $2.03 billion by 2031, reflecting a 12% compound annual growth rate. The expansion is driven by brands’ push for data‑backed, transparent campaigns and the need for faster...
Ads of the Week: 10 Campaigns That Caught Our Eye, From Burger King to Uber
This week’s ad roundup highlights a wave of self‑aware campaigns, from Burger King’s decision to retire its iconic King mascot and crown the consumer, to Uber’s meta “Irish exit” spot featuring reality‑TV star Maura Higgins. Brands such as Ugg, JCPenney,...
Quicken Is Producing 100 Pieces of Content Every Few Weeks Using AI
Quicken, a financial‑planning software firm, discovered its strong SEO presence did not automatically translate into visibility within AI‑driven answer engines. After lagging behind a smaller competitor in generative search, CMO Euan Campbell launched a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategy. The...
Dentsu X Launches The Creator Catalyst Playbook for Creator Marketing
dentsu X unveiled The Creator Catalyst, a playbook that transforms fragmented creator activity into a systematic growth engine for brands. The framework, built for the Algorithmic Era, combines AI‑driven casting, early‑stage cultural integration, and commerce‑focused measurement to deliver scalable, measurable...
NYF Announces Creative Marketing Strategy & Effectiveness Executive Jury Led by Ellie Bamford
New York Festivals (NYF) has unveiled its 2026 Creative Marketing Strategy & Effectiveness Executive Jury, chaired by Ellie Bamford, Chief Strategy Officer at VML. The global panel of chief strategists from agencies such as Ogilvy, Dentsu, BBDO and others will...
Everyone Hates Ads on Social Media. Or Do They?
Researchers leveraged Meta's 14.5 million‑user no‑ads holdout to test whether Facebook users care about advertising. In a 2022 survey of 53,166 participants from 13 countries, the median amount users would accept to quit the platform was $31.04 for ad‑exposed users and...
Why Comments Are the Real Secret Behind Every Viral Instagram Post
Instagram’s algorithm now prioritizes comment velocity over likes, saves or views when deciding which posts to amplify. Early‑hour comments act as a quality signal, prompting the platform to test the content with larger audiences. Creators can deliberately trigger this loop...
America’s Test Kitchen Puts Direct And Programmatic Access On Its Menu
America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) has launched direct and programmatic buying for its free ad‑supported FAST channels, allowing advertisers to purchase inventory as a standalone product rather than through genre bundles. The move follows a 30% year‑over‑year rise in streaming audiences...
How Is Sukoshi Scaling in a Crowded Beauty Market?
Sukoshi, a Canadian‑born Asian beauty retailer, has expanded from a 355 sq ft Toronto shop in 2018 to a 20‑store chain across the US and Canada. The company differentiates itself by acting as a launch and acceleration platform for emerging Asian brands,...
Bioré Enters South Korea With Global Campaign Featuring Stray Kids
Kao Corporation is launching its Bioré skincare line in South Korea as part of its Global Sharp Top strategy, expanding the brand’s presence beyond the 66 countries where it already operates. The rollout includes a unified global campaign for Bioré UV...
Sunquick and Havas Malaysia Celebrate “Air Tangan Mak” In Ramadan & Raya Campaign
Sunquick has teamed up with Havas Malaysia to launch a Ramadan and Hari Raya campaign built around the Malay concept of “air tangan mak”, the mother’s caring touch. The film showcases Sunquick as both a refreshing drink and an ingredient...
Luxury Briefing: Zara Bets on Galliano to up Its Pricing Power
Zara has launched a two‑year creative partnership with John Galliano to reinterpret its archive, marking a deliberate push upmarket. The collaboration is positioned as a branding exercise as much as a product line, aiming to infuse luxury credibility into the...
9 Types of Google Ads (Pros, Cons, and when to Use Each)
Google Ads now comprises nine distinct ad formats, each designed for specific user intents and placements across Google’s ecosystem. Search ads deliver text‑based results driven by keyword intent, while Display, Shopping, Video, App, Discovery, Local Services, Performance Max, and Smart...
QBB Pure Ghee Returns to Its Roots in Hari Raya Campaign
Malaysian dairy giant Lactalis Trading has teamed with advertising agency THE SHOUT GROUP to launch the “QBB – Pilihan Dipercayai Sepanjang Generasi” Hari Raya campaign, spotlighting QBB Pure Ghee’s heritage. The initiative centers on a “Cook with QBB” contest, offering...
Levi’s Bets on ROSÉ to Keep Its Denim Cool and Culturally Fluent
Levi’s has entered a multi‑year global partnership with K‑pop star ROSÉ, integrating her aesthetic into the denim brand’s women’s line. The deal builds on previous collaborations, including campaigns with Alia Bhatt and Beyoncé, and features custom stage outfits displayed at Levi’s...
Naga DDB Tribal Malaysia Brings Care and Craft Back to Raya Gifting with “Sampul Dodol”
Malaysia’s Naga DDB Tribal agency launched “Sampul Dodol,” a handcrafted Raya gift that replaces generic envelopes with traditional dodol confectionery. The initiative frames the labor‑intensive sweet as a metaphor for nurturing client relationships, emphasizing care, attention, and shared effort. By...
Pepsi MAX Launches Pepsi Football Nation Platform
Pepsi MAX announced the launch of Pepsi Football Nation, a global platform that celebrates football culture and fan expression. The initiative highlights a roster of star players—including Vinícius Júnior, Alexia Putellas, David Beckham, Florian Wirtz and Lauren James—while blending digital, social and on‑pack activations. It leverages...
Optimisation Everywhere & No Signs Of Progress: Learn What You Can Do
On 1 April 2026, Quantcast and B&T will host a Breakfast Club event in Sydney to confront the pervasive “optimisation fatigue” marketers face. The panel features Chloe Jones of Princess Cruises, Gemma Poesaste from Telstra’s Roam Agency, Dan Lee of Quantcast, and...