As marketing becomes increasingly digital, one channel still stands out for creating real connections: the branded products people hold onto. New research from the Promotional Products Association International shows how merch turns everyday items into lasting brand loyalty.
Broadcast TV’s share of viewing declined YoY in October despite inching up slightly from the prior month thanks to the NFL season, per Nielsen’s total TV/streaming estimates. Meanwhile, streaming continued to increase its viewership share—highlighting how live sports viewers are increasingly shifting to digital. Those who thrive in the shift to digital will steadily increase budgets for sports streaming while still maintaining some investment in cable and broadcast to reach the many live sports viewers who continue to watch through traditional channels.
Magnite launched a Live Scheduler tool on Tuesday, an industry-first asset that enables media owners to seamlessly plan, execute, and evaluate ad campaigns around live events. Live Scheduler turns chaotic, real-time tentpole events into a predictable, scalable, and programmatic marketplace—giving advertisers the opportunity to capitalize on major cultural moments without as much unpredictability.
Consumers are increasingly turning to ChatGPT instead of Google for product discovery, shifting search from links to answers, and Peec AI is working to give marketers visibility into how their brands appear in AI-generated answers. It focuses on generative engine optimization (GEO) and search that is shaped by prompts, sentiment, and context instead of SEO-reliant keywords and links. Brands should treat AI chatbots with the same reverence as they do Google Search by identifying high-value prompts and analyzing the sources that inform AI. Improved GEO targeting gives brands better oversight over generative search discovery.
The internet went dark Tuesday for users across services like X, ChatGPT, Spotify, Uber, Shopify, DoorDash, Dropbox, and Canva—disabling social media, customer engagement, and creative production. Content delivery network (CDN) Cloudflare restored service after the hourslong global outage that began at 6:20am EST. Cloudflare attributed the outage to an internal error. Marketers should push for business continuity expansion plans. Redundant CDNs, multi-cloud strategies, and cross-cloud failovers protect them from being at the mercy of a single CDN provider. Building for resilience keeps customers confident during outages and keeps online sales moving.
32% of US and UK consumers say AI is negatively disrupting the creator economy, up from 18% in 2023, according to July 2025 data from Billion Dollar Boy.
Jeff Bezos is returning to an operational role for the first time since stepping down as CEO from Amazon in 2021. His new startup—Project Prometheus—launched with $6.2 billion in funding, instantly making it one of the best-capitalized early-stage AI companies, per The New York Times. The company is focused on "physical AI" for engineering and manufacturing across computers, humanoid robots, aerospace, and automotive. Brands should watch how physical AI reshapes manufacturing and R&D. The next competitive edge will come from using AI to prototype new products, automate factory intelligence, and bring ideas to market with unprecedented speed.
WPP is reportedly eyeing a merger with holding company Havas and private equity firms KKR and Apollo, per the Times. A merged WPP and Havas would provide more value to advertisers by giving access to a broader mix of services.
LinkedIn’s AI-driven people search lets users type plain-language queries like “marketing leaders with AI experience” and instantly find matches—even if those exact words don’t appear on a profile, per TechRadar. The upgrade, available to US Premium subscribers, makes LinkedIn far more context aware—and strengthens its role as a precision targeting engine at a time when its ad business keeps climbing. For marketers on LinkedIn, the implications are significant and offer improvements in precision targeting, campaign efficiency, and intent-driven discovery.
Mozilla SVP Suba Vasudevan argues that digital advertising’s next frontier isn’t automation—it’s accountability. In her view, trust is no longer a soft metric but a measurable driver of performance. As advertisers recoil from fraud, opacity, and unsafe inventory, Firefox Ads positions itself as the premium alternative: a clean, privacy-first space where engagement aligns with user consent. The data backs her up—CPMs are climbing, and brands are paying more for quality—but the shift remains uneven. Many still prize efficiency over ethics. For marketers, the new equation is clear: trust and performance are converging, and only one will sustain the other.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Meta in Q3 and beyond: How will AI-generated social video affect social media? What’s the biggest takeaway regarding Meta using AI chatbot conversations to target ads? And do Meta's new smart glasses really have a future? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Analyst Emmy Liederman, and Principal Analyst Minda Smiley. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Travelers are becoming more comfortable with AI and incorporating it into their trip discovery and planning processes, presenting an opportunity for travel companies to apply the technology for decision-making and customer experiences. However, the travel industry is still in an experimental phase and could be missing user and revenue gains. To capitalize on travelers’ use of and confidence in AI, travel companies need to move from testing the technology to fully integrating it. That includes building traveler trust through transparency, investing in data infrastructure, and exploring consumer-facing AI agents.
Agency and digital marketers are adopting AI en masse, but notable confidence and training gaps could hinder execution and ROI. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of agency and brand marketers worldwide plan to use AI next year, per MIQ. However, less than half (45%) are confident in their ability to use it to drive operational efficiencies. CMOs need to treat upskilling as a core investment so employees can help support pilots and work independently on AI-driven projects. Leaders should develop role-specific training paths, establish AI leads to answer project questions, and offer prompt libraries to safely practice engaging with AI.
While 45% of US adults expect free shipping on any order, 16% of those consumers will not make a purchase if they have to pay for shipping, revealed August 2025 data from Radial and Dynata.
Walmart and Target will both transition to new CEOs on February 1, but the circumstances behind the changes diverge sharply. Walmart is handing John Furner a business with strong momentum, expanding ecommerce capabilities, rising membership adoption, and continued innovation, including its partnership with OpenAI. Target, by contrast, is passing leadership to Michael Fiddelke as sales soften, traffic slows, and its digital efforts lag behind key rivals. The continuity approach aligns with Walmart’s stable trajectory, but Target’s persistent challenges suggest it would benefit from broader strategic shifts to regain competitiveness.
Google offered remedies to settle an antitrust case in the European Union following a nearly €3 billion ($3.5 billion) fine arguing that Google abuses its dominance in digital advertising. The EU’s tough stance signals that the global regulatory environment is intensifying.
A Snapchat, Publicis Media, and Ipsos study revealed creator preferences for brand collaborations, outlining the path ahead for brands who increasingly rely on influencer marketing. Accounting for creator preferences is key to striking influencer partnerships that last and make a tangible impact.
“To say that anybody has an emotional response to any marketing expression is the highest praise one might receive,” said Nicolas Chidiac, chief strategy officer at Razorfish. “But the reality is it’s a significantly harder reality to materialize.” The gap between belief and consumer behavior is wider than many realize.
Rising CPMs, algorithmic volatility, and audience fatigue are flattening social’s growth curve as marketers run into diminishing returns on Meta, TikTok, and Google. That ceiling is forcing brands to seek fresh reach—and connected TV (CTV) is stepping into that void with premium screens, measurable outcomes, and higher emotional lift. As social hits its natural saturation point, CTV delivers the attribution clarity and emotional weight brands can’t get from feeds anymore. Advertisers should make CTV a central line item—not an extension of social video—and use AI-powered optimization to drive efficiency and real-time tuning.