#marketing-strategy

#marketing-strategy

Schaefer's book makes the case that people increasingly delegate their thinking and decision-making to AI. He illustrates this point with a simple yet powerful analogy: If you're in the diaper business, babies are the end users, but they are not the decision-makers. Decision-makers are the caregivers responsible for the end users. Therefore, diaper companies know to market to the caregiver responsible for the baby, not the baby.

"Now where we're moving is actually a blend of creativity, because now it's a creator economy of authenticity that's coming out," she said on an Inc. panel for National Entrepreneurship Month (watch the session below). "Being able to tell stories like we did previously in the broadcast generation of ads, and then layering in the ability to actually measure that with data."

"There is the plan that targets the end buyer," said Van Pelt, the CMO of Plante Moran. "And there's now going to be the plan that targets the AI."

It's getting harder for publishers to get traffic from organic search. For some publishers, that means they have to spend more money to get people to come to their sites, through paid audience acquisition tactics - like ads to promote their content - and traffic arbitrage. Publishers didn't mince words when they described the pain of declining search referral traffic at the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe last month. Less traffic means fewereyeballs to serve ads to - an existential threat to some publishers' businesses.

Brand loyalty is often less influenced by emotional connection than by pragmatic considerations like convenience and situational need, according to new GWI research conducted on behalf of Razorfish. While nearly two-thirds (65%) of marketers believe repeat purchases are rooted in love for a brand, less than a quarter of consumer respondents cited brand love as a key motivator for repeat purchases or usage across categories including grocery, airlines, credit cards, streaming platforms and hotels.

It's no wonder personalization programs so often fall short of expectations - they're focused on stats, not mindset. Consider this: even within the same demographic group, nearly 90% of people disagree with one another. Demographics tell us who a customer is, but behavior reveals why they act the way they do - and that's what drives trust and loyalty. Here's a slightly controversial take: I don't believe in personas. They work for storytelling and empathy building, but for personalization, they're too limiting.

Pinterest has shared some new tips for marketers looking to tap into the 2026 Back-to-School period, in order to ensure that you have your plans in place ahead of the shopping season. Yes, we're talking post-holidays, Back-to-School, which still feels like a long way off. But as Pinterest notes: "On Pinterest, back-to-school planning starts as early as October. Here, people build lists, save inspiration and make shoppable plans. In fact,

The narrative goes like this: If you want to connect with your customers, you need to tell stories that capture hearts, not just wallets. But here is the truth. Storytelling is not the right investment for every brand. Done well, it can be powerful. Done without the right context, it can become a costly detour. Story takes time, patience and consistency.

Nostalgia is running rampant in marketing, with myriad brands resurrecting old ads, taglines and mascots to build emotional resonance. What happens when an organization wants to do the opposite of nostalgia bait: make consumers forget its most-recognized slogan in favor of something fresher and more relevant? The National Pork Board was recently faced with such a challenge, and its journey to repositioning pig protein carries larger lessons for how legacy brands are adapting to the digital age.

Zero search occurs when people find information or make decisions without performing a conventional search. Instead, they ask AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini to synthesize and explain what they want to know. These tools no longer provide a list of links. They deliver synthesized, conversational responses that blend data, opinions and relevance. In doing so, they're becoming the new entry point to brand awareness.

Culture is how people connect. And as brands work to be seen as relevant, to build relationships with their communities, and to ride the visibility wave of trending topics, engaging in culture feels like a natural way to get in front of consumers. The problem? Not every brand gets it right. Even though participating in, and especially shaping culture, can be powerful when done well, the way brands show up doesn't always deliver the impact they intend.

It's not news that many of the alcohol industry's brand managers seek to bring their products to cities where they themselves don't actually live. These people often live in cities like New York and Los Angeles and commute to smaller cities across the country in an attempt to integrate their brands. But while doing so, they often market through the lens of what's working in their home cities, not necessarily through the lens of what people in their target markets are actually doing.

Simply put: Colors drive emotions, and emotions drive purchasing behavior. The brain processes visuals faster than text, so colors trigger subconscious associations that shape perception before other messages make their way in. For consumers connecting with a brand or product, color helps them instantly categorize products and streamlines their decision-making. It happens fast- customers form judgments about products within the first 90 seconds of interaction, with up to 90% of that assessment based solely on color.

There were three big themes that stood out,

Remember the last time you saw a bright red can in a vending machine and immediately knew it was Coca-Cola without even looking at the logo? Or when you heard that "tudum" sound from a friend's laptop and realized in a split second that they were watching Netflix? Instant familiarity. While every brand aims for this level of brand recognition, it's elusive, built over years of hard work. But what if we told you there are strategies that can help accelerate the process? Curious how?

The way most marketing teams approach AI is probably the way I approach my inbox at 4:59 PM on a Friday. With reckless optimism and zero follow-through. But Katie Miserany, SurveyMonkey's Chief Communication Officer and SVP of Marketing, thinks the real problem isn't AI - it's that most marketers have forgotten a fundamental truth: Just because you can talk about something doesn't mean you should.

Over the course of more than two decades at Ryanair, Dara Brady has helped shape a brand voice that's often irreverent and sometimes controversial. It's an approach that cuts through the noise of regular travel marketing like a loudspeaker in a quiet terminal. Brash slogans of the early 2000s, such as "The Low Fares Airline" and "Ryanair. Fly Cheaper," centered on price. These contrast with the current "Low Fares, Great Care" motto, which pairs strong customer service with competitive pricing.

Wrapping up nearly 10 years of production, Stranger Things has been ramping up its marketing this past month, relying heavily on nostalgia. With many sayings such as "the end of an era" and "one last adventure" on Instagram, it seems like the directors, the Duffer Brothers, are really drumming up anticipation as Netflix's "best TV show" comes to an end.

Taylor Swift's latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, dropped last week, and it has once again smashed records (regardless of whether it was well-received or not. Hint: not so much). The album marked Swift's biggest first-week US album sales, with 2.7 million copies sold in just 24 hours, AND $37 million in ticket sales were earned for the "Release Party of a Showgirl" in global screenings.

Some brands have to do these things when they're struggling, and we wanted to launch a refresh from a place of strength," Trumbull said. "There is risk, certainly, to doing anything, but there's a lot of risk to doing nothing. And I think if you're stuck or refusing to change because you're in a place of fear, I don't think you'll innovate.

Her expertise lies at the intersection of data-driven insights and creative storytelling, enabling her to build marketing engines that not only acquire customers but foster lasting brand loyalty. Throughout her career, Suha has guided a diverse portfolio of clients, from fast-growing SaaS startups to established consumer goods brands, helping them navigate complex market dynamics and achieve significant digital transformation.

One of the most important ways marketers measure success is by the number of people landing on their websites. But that traffic is dropping at double-digit rates, and the trend shows no sign of slowing. HubSpot-the long-time gold standard for B2B SEO-has seen its blog traffic collapse by around 70-75%. The pain is being felt across industries: According to Pew Research, users are half as likely to click on any link when an AI Overview appears in the search results.

British brands are failing to unlock an estimated $10 billion in value by relying too heavily on short-term marketing tactics and struggling to differentiate themselves, according to the latest Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable UK Brands report. Globally, brand contributes 33% of company value on average, but in the UK that figure slips to 29%, highlighting a significant gap in long-term brand building.

Beauty advent calendars have become big business. They started around a decade ago - for example, Liberty's first beauty advent calendar launched in 2014, at a cost of £149 (packed with products worth £420).[1] This year Liberty's calendar is yours for £275 and gives you products worth £1245.[2] As the season turns from summer to autumn, and we pull out winter coats and jumpers and boots, we start the countdown to Christmas. (Around 80 days at the time of writing.)

In recent years, companies have turned to marketing as a shortcut to growth, pouring millions into campaigns, cultural plays, and acquisition tactics. But this focus often comes at the expense of what truly drives loyalty: better products and services. Consumers see the gap between glossy promises and lived experience - and their patience is wearing thin. The customer satisfaction crisis Customer satisfaction is at an all-time low. Across industries, American consumers are frustrated, feeling they get less value for more money.

Fanuele, who reports to CEO Rob Lynch, started on Sept. 15. Since earlier this year, Fanuele has worked with the company as a consultant and "played a key role in strategic brand positioning and the selection of a new creative agency partner," the press release said. The addition of a chief brand officer is aligned with Shake Shack's plan to increase its paid media ad spend to help boost sales.

As consumers seek value and prioritize high-protein foods, bold flavors and brand nostalgia, the marketer plans to focus on what makes its brands "remarkable" to help return to organic growth. "Sustainable, profitable growth comes from making sure that all elements of remarkability - product, packaging, messaging, omnichannel execution, and value-truly resonate with consumers," Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening said in prepared remarks around the earnings.

Who, by running challenger tech brand OnePlus, knows exactly what it's like to have to constantly iterate, innovate and make every marketing penny work hard in an ultra-competitive market. So we asked Celina, whose career has taken her to Motorola, Nokia, Huawei and Asos before joining OnePlus in 2019, about the real challenges marketers face in such a fast-paced environment. She also shared shrewd advice on working for challenger brands, on the complexities of bringing work to life and creating award-winning campaigns on a budget.

That's a loaded question

"Why should they choose you to either talk at conferences or talk on a webinar and, from the patient standpoint, why should they trust you with their family?" Kemp, an account manager with Marketing4ECPs, said in this Healio video. "It's OK to talk about yourself online, making sure you're focused on the key elements of what makes you unique and different."

While unsuccessful entrepreneurs obsess over what makes their brand special, successful entrepreneurs instead ask a more powerful question to transform their business into an unstoppable brand: What am I fighting against? This is the concept of the " strategic enemy," which I wrote my new book about, and it is the most powerful yet underutilized tools in brand building. A strategic enemy is the oppositional force that your brand or category stands against. It could be a competitor, category, convention, or concept.

I don't like the traditional target market definition that focuses on demographics and firmographics: We sell to small businesses in the UK. Our fast-casual restaurant appeals to college students and young professionals. We target outdoor enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest Our TV show is targeted at females, 19-29 years old. Sometimes this sort of description warranted. If you sell back-office software specifically for dentist offices under Norwegian law, then a demographic description is accurate. But my experience is that, for most companies, these dimensions incorrectly describe the market.

"This is like a dream job, where I get to help early stage companies make noise, but then I also get to help the late-stage companies prepare for IPOs," Machiz says.