News/Marketing
AI will automate 78% of marketing tasks within 3 years, upending customer journey
The advertising industry's annual pilgrimage to Cannes Lions has always served as a barometer for where marketing is headed. This year's festival revealed a seismic shift that's been building for over a decade: the traditional advertising agencies that once dominated the iconic Croisette have been replaced by tech giants including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Pinterest, Reddit, Spotify, and Salesforce. This changing of the guard represents more than a simple industry reshuffling. We're witnessing the death of marketing as we know it, replaced by an AI-driven paradigm that's rewriting every fundamental rule. IDC, a leading market research firm, predicts that...
read Jun 23, 2025What do the Lakers have to do with loving BBQ ribs? Deloitte, AWS use AI to decode sports fan behavior
Deloitte and AWS are leveraging AI to analyze sports fandom and consumer behavior through Deloitte's Converge service, which synthesizes massive amounts of data to create highly personalized fan profiles. The collaboration demonstrates how AI-powered analytics can unlock deeper insights into consumer preferences across multiple industries, with media and entertainment identified as the next frontier for expansion. What you should know: Converge by Deloitte uses AI and propensity modeling to create granular profiles of sports fans, helping brands understand the intersection of team loyalty, league preferences, and consumer behavior. The service targets what marketers call "that Venn diagram of the team,...
read Jun 23, 2025The end of free AI is coming—and ads will replace VC funding
AI-powered consumer applications are currently subsidized by venture capital funding, similar to how companies like Uber and DoorDash operated at losses to build market share in the 2010s. This "AI lifestyle subsidy" is expected to end as companies shift toward advertising-based revenue models, fundamentally changing how users discover and interact with AI-generated content. The big picture: Just as venture capital previously funded unprofitable startups that sold services below cost, investors are now subsidizing AI applications that provide expensive large language model access at artificially low prices. Dedicated groups are already exploiting free trial accounts from AI startups to resell access...
read Jun 23, 2025AI platforms quietly court advertisers at Cannes Lions 2025
AI platforms made their first quiet moves into advertising at Cannes Lions 2025, with companies like Perplexity and Anthropic sending ad executives to the festival for early-stage conversations with agencies and brands. The stealth approach signals AI platforms' inevitable shift toward advertising revenue as their high infrastructure costs demand sustainable monetization strategies. What you should know: Major AI platforms are laying the groundwork for advertising businesses despite maintaining low public profiles at the industry's biggest marketing event. Perplexity sent Taz Patel, its head of advertising and shopping, to meet with agency and brand leads about the company's current ad capabilities...
read Jun 23, 2025Google’s AI overviews slash website traffic 30% since May launch, publishers freaking
Google's AI Overviews feature is dramatically reducing website traffic as users increasingly rely on AI-generated summaries instead of clicking through to source websites. Data from multiple analytics firms shows click-through rates have dropped 30-35% since the feature's May 2024 launch, threatening the revenue model that has sustained web publishers for decades. The big picture: AI search tools are fundamentally breaking the symbiotic relationship between search engines and content creators, with Google crawling far more pages than it refers traffic to. Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, a web infrastructure company, revealed that Google's ratio of pages crawled to visitors referred has...
read Jun 19, 202545.7% of searches are branded—why consistent branding wins
A new report from Ahrefs, a leading SEO analytics platform, reveals that 45.7% of all Google searches in the US are branded searches, meaning they include specific company, product, or brand names. This finding challenges the prevailing focus on AI optimization and generic SEO tactics, suggesting that traditional brand building remains the most critical factor for online business success. What you should know: The data comes from a comprehensive analysis of approximately 150 million US keywords, providing statistically significant insights into search behavior. 45.7% of all Google searches include a brand name, while 36.9% of unique search queries are branded....
read Jun 19, 2025Snapchat launches AI ad tools to challenge Google and Meta dominance
Snapchat has launched Smart Campaign Solution, an AI-powered advertising suite designed to compete with Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+ tools. The platform is targeting advertisers who are frustrated with returns from Meta and Google, positioning itself as a credible alternative rather than trying to beat the tech giants outright. The big picture: Snap believes it doesn't need to surpass Meta and Google entirely—it just needs to give enough underwhelmed advertisers a compelling reason to diversify their ad spending. Chief business officer Ajit Mohan argues that Meta and Google have become "the equivalent of broadcast television; you can't get fired...
read Jun 18, 2025Globant launches 5 AI agents to automate full-funnel marketing workflows
Globant, a digital transformation company, has launched FUSION, a comprehensive suite of five AI agents designed to automate and optimize marketing workflows from initial strategy through final campaign execution. Unveiled at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the platform represents a significant shift toward AI-powered marketing operations that promise to deliver measurable business outcomes rather than just technological novelty. The announcement comes as marketing departments increasingly struggle with the complexity of managing campaigns across multiple channels while maintaining brand consistency and measuring performance. Traditional marketing workflows often involve disconnected tools and manual processes that slow execution and create inconsistencies....
read Jun 17, 2025Max rolls out AI-powered video previews to improve content discovery
Max is rolling out AI-powered autoplaying video previews that will automatically select "standout" scenes from its library of shows and movies. The feature represents a significant shift in how streaming platforms curate content discovery, with Warner Bros. Discovery betting that AI can dramatically reduce the manual effort required to create engaging previews while improving user experience. What you should know: The video previews are launching to US users now, with the AI-assisted clip selection coming in the "coming weeks." Users will see previews when hovering over content, similar to Netflix's interface. Max will include options to turn off audio or...
read Jun 16, 2025WhatsApp adds ads to Updates tab targeting 1.5B daily fish-in-a-barrel users
Meta will begin showing ads inside WhatsApp for the first time, marking a significant shift in the messaging platform's business model as the company seeks new revenue streams to fund its heavy investments in artificial intelligence. The ads will appear exclusively in WhatsApp's "Updates" tab, which attracts 1.5 billion daily visitors, allowing Meta to monetize the platform without disrupting users' private conversations. What you should know: WhatsApp will introduce advertising through its Status feature, similar to Instagram and Facebook Stories. • Ads will appear in the "Updates" tab, a section separate from users' private messaging inbox. • The Updates tab...
read Jun 16, 2025Adobe launches LLM Optimizer to track brand visibility in AI chatbots
Adobe has launched LLM Optimizer, a platform designed to help brands track and boost their visibility across AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. The tool addresses a fundamental shift in how consumers search for information online, as traditional Google search gradually competes with conversational AI interfaces that are reshaping digital marketing strategies. What you should know: The platform provides marketers with comprehensive visibility into how their brands appear across various large language models and AI chatbots. Marketers receive real-time updates when their content appears in LLM responses to user queries, offering insights into how, when, and where their brands...
read Jun 16, 2025Samsung CMO says AI has hit a “tipping point” for hyper-personalized marketing
Samsung CMO Allison Stransky says artificial intelligence has reached a "tipping point" that's fundamentally changing how marketers reach consumers, enabling hyper-personalized campaigns that were previously impossible at scale. The shift represents both Samsung's biggest opportunity and challenge as the tech giant races to leverage its vast first-party data ecosystem while navigating new AI-powered search behaviors that complicate traditional attribution models. What you should know: Samsung is moving beyond basic personalization toward what Stransky calls "hyper-personalization," using AI to connect multiple data sources across its ecosystem. The company built its first clean room in 2025 and has a pipeline of additional...
read Jun 16, 2025Survey: Only 25% of AI users pay for premium, forcing chatbots toward ads
Advertising is coming to AI chatbots because most users refuse to pay for premium features, according to a new Bloomberg Intelligence survey of 1,000 respondents. Only 25% of generative AI users have paid subscriptions, with most willing to spend just $20 monthly for enhanced capabilities like advanced search and content generation. This reluctance to pay is forcing AI companies to pivot toward advertising-based revenue models, fundamentally reshaping how these platforms will monetize their massive user bases. The stark economics: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, exemplifies the challenge facing AI companies trying to monetize through subscriptions alone. Despite having over 600...
read Jun 13, 2025AI will handle 95% of marketing tasks but human creative augmentation is here to stay
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently predicted that artificial intelligence will handle 95% of marketing tasks, prompting industry leaders to grapple with how human creativity can survive AI's rapid integration into advertising. This shift represents advertising's most dramatic transformation, with agencies and brands now racing to harness AI's capabilities while preserving the emotional intelligence and cultural nuance that make campaigns memorable. What industry leaders are saying: Executives emphasize that combining AI with human creativity, rather than resisting it, is essential for survival in the evolving landscape. "To resist AI to save your job is the surest way of losing it," said...
read Jun 13, 2025Kalshi’s NBA Finals ad costs just $2K using Google’s AI video tool
The betting platform Kalshi aired a fully AI-generated advertisement during the NBA Finals that cost just $2,000 to produce using Google's text-to-video generator Veo 3. The 15-second spot showcases the growing accessibility of AI video creation tools and signals a potential shift toward AI-generated content in mainstream advertising. What you should know: The ad was created by AI filmmaker PJ Accetturo in just 2-3 days, representing what he claims is a "95% cost reduction vs traditional ads." The advertisement features surreal scenes including an elderly man in a cowboy hat carrying a chihuahua, someone swimming in a pool of eggs,...
read Jun 12, 2025Agentic AI or AI agent? CIOs warned against agent marketing hype as vendors oversell capabilities
AI practitioners are beginning to distinguish between AI agents and agentic AI as two related but separate technologies, with experts warning CIOs against vendor confusion and marketing hype. Understanding this distinction is crucial for IT leaders to make informed purchasing decisions and avoid overpaying for "glorified chatbots" masquerading as advanced AI systems. What you should know: AI agents and agentic AI serve different purposes and have distinct capabilities that CIOs need to understand. AI agents are tools designed for specific functions within IT systems, with predictable outcomes and limited learning ability. Agentic AI is an umbrella technology that uses agents...
read Jun 11, 2025Outset raises $17M to automate market research with AI interviews
Outset, a San Francisco startup using AI to conduct market research interviews, has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by 8VC to accelerate adoption among Fortune 500 enterprises. The two-year-old company promises to deliver research results that are 8 times faster, 81 percent less expensive, and provide 10 times more reach than traditional human-led research, with major customers including Nestlé, Microsoft, and WeightWatchers already replacing decades-old market research methods. What you should know: Outset has developed the first AI-moderated research platform that conducts video interviews with participants at unprecedented scale and speed. AI moderators use computer-generated voice, text,...
read Jun 11, 2025Meta plans full AI automation for ads by 2026—here’s what agencies think
Meta plans to fully automate ad creation and targeting using AI by 2026, allowing brands to handle their advertising without human intervention. While creative agency executives aren't surprised by the announcement, the move could intensify competition for client retention and new business acquisition as automation continues reshaping the advertising landscape. What you should know: Meta's AI automation strategy aligns with broader industry trends as major platforms race to integrate artificial intelligence into advertising tools. The social media giant joins Google, Snap, TikTok, and Pinterest in developing AI-driven ad products over the past two years. Last year, Meta introduced AI ad...
read Jun 10, 2025Seedtag launches neuro-contextual AI that reads consumer emotions, feelz for ad targeting
Seedtag has launched neuro-contextual advertising, an AI-powered system that predicts not just what consumers see, but how they feel about content. The contextual advertising company's AI, called Liz, interprets deeper psychological signals like interest, emotion, and intent, applying these insights to optimize ad placement across premium connected TV, video, and the open web. The big picture: This represents a significant evolution beyond traditional contextual advertising, which typically relies on keyword matching or basic content analysis. Seedtag's neuro-contextual approach combines AI with neuroscience principles to understand how people think, engage, and make purchasing decisions. The system aims to identify "emotionally charged...
read Jun 6, 2025Bluumly AI cuts small business marketing time from 10 hours to 30 minutes
Bluumly has launched the public beta of its AI-powered marketing platform designed specifically for micro and small businesses, following a private beta that began in April. The platform aims to automate digital marketing campaigns for the 32 million small business owners in the U.S. who struggle with limited time and resources, reducing weekly marketing tasks from 5-10 hours to just 30 minutes per month. What you should know: Bluumly's AI generates fully designed, brand-consistent campaigns across multiple social media platforms after users simply describe their marketing goals. The platform supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest with smart scheduling to...
read Jun 5, 2025Nestle India slashes ad budget 25% but boosts digital marketing
Nestlé India's strategic pivot to digital storytelling and ecommerce comes amid a significant 25% reduction in advertising spend for FY25. Despite financial headwinds, the FMCG giant has maintained brand investment through focused digital transformation initiatives and targeted campaigns for flagship products like Maggi and KitKat, demonstrating how major consumer brands can sustain market presence even with constrained marketing budgets. The big picture: Nestlé India slashed its advertising and promotional spending to Rs 965.86 crore in FY25, down from Rs 1,287.68 crore the previous year, while simultaneously experiencing a 15.7% profit decline. The company reported Rs 3,314 crore in profit, down...
read Jun 4, 2025A whole ad from just a product image? Meta plans automated ad campaigns rollout by 2026
Meta's push toward fully automated advertising by 2026 represents a significant evolution in digital marketing, potentially transforming how businesses approach ad creation and campaign management. This AI-driven approach would eliminate the need for advertisers to create assets or determine targeting parameters, instead allowing Meta's systems to handle the entire advertising process autonomously based on minimal inputs like a business URL and budget goals. The big picture: Meta plans to launch completely AI-automated advertising systems by 2026, enabling advertisers to create campaigns by simply providing their business URL and letting Meta's AI handle creative development and targeting. The Wall Street Journal...
read May 22, 2025Google launches AI agents to simplify digital marketing
Google is revolutionizing digital marketing with new AI agents designed to automate and enhance campaign management across its platforms. These agentic tools represent a significant evolution beyond Google's conversational AI features introduced two years ago, which have already been used by over half a million advertisers to create higher-quality Search campaigns. The new capabilities aim to address the growing complexity marketers face in analyzing data, creating content, and optimizing campaigns across multiple platforms and touchpoints. The big picture: Google is introducing agentic capabilities to both Google Ads and Google Analytics that can perform complex marketing tasks under advertiser guidance. These...
read May 21, 2025Adobe raises Creative Cloud prices ~14% with new AI-powered Pro plan
Adobe's Creative Cloud price increase reveals a strategic pivot toward AI integration, fundamentally reshaping the company's premier subscription plan. The transformation of the All Apps plan into Creative Cloud Pro represents a significant investment in AI capabilities while requiring users to pay substantially more for access to these new features. This pricing strategy highlights the growing premium Adobe places on AI as a core component of creative software rather than an optional add-on. The big picture: Adobe is increasing its Creative Cloud All Apps plan price by over $140 annually while rebranding it as Creative Cloud Pro, with the changes...
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