Marketing

Marketing

Odeon no longer wants to be beholden to the film slate and so has launched its biggest brand campaign to date. In doing so it pivots its marketing strategy away from showcasing films to selling the cinema experience. There was a titanic shift when film release windows reduced from 16 weeks to 45 days. It's forced a rethink at the top cinemas. When a movie comes to the home faster, the business has had to get better at selling the experience it provides.

A big marker of brand success is recognition. When customers can pick out any of your products or services and easily identify them as part of your brand, you know you've made a lasting impression. A great example is Google, whose products and services are distinguishable from a mile off, from Gmail and Google Ads to Google Maps and Google Pay.

Instead of making daily manual tweaks to keep pace, campaign total budgets optimize your spend, and aim to fully and effectively utilize your budget by your end date.

If you're familiar with the world of SEO, I probably don't have to tell you there's been a serious shift in its landscape. Marketers are no longer just optimizing content for Google's traditional blue links; we're now optimizing for AI. The shift is called Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO. Some practitioners also refer to it as AI engine optimization, and both terms are used interchangeably. But what does it mean to optimize your content for AI engines? I'll explain.

In this playoff season, I try to shut my eyes to products featured in commercial time-outs. You've seen them? The cryptic medicines to treat unspecified ailments? The pickup trucks and beer brands that signal ruggedness and romantic success. Or more tempting, the gooey-delectable double-cheese-pepperoni pizzas with yet more cheese stuffed in the crust. But one other caught my ear for novel English usage. Namely, the new infinitive "to fan."

For years, marketing to the "general market" was a reliable path to growth. Broad reach, consistent messaging, and scale-driven efficiency helped brands build awareness and momentum.

High-performing marketing teams connect firm strategy, market demands, client insights and performance data. They help leaders answer hard questions like: Which industries should we double down on? Which services are scaling and which are not? Where is demand coming from, and where are we misaligned? This means marketing leaders need to turn data into clear direction, and teams must see how their work supports the firm's overall growth, not just individual campaigns.

A silent migration across checking accounts is redrawing the map of customer stickiness. Customers aren't closing existing accounts or storming off after a bad experience. Instead, they're moving the greater part of their financial activity elsewhere while keeping their old accounts open. Their linked debit cards still exist in the drawer. Their credit cards still accrue small charges. But the nucleus - the 'primary account' - is relocating.

"In this upgraded role, Ayaz will lead a new internal organization comprised of all Disney marketing teams (including those in parks, sports and other sectors) meant to "support a more connected approach to how Disney reaches audiences, elevates its campaigns, and advances the business goals of each segment and the company as a whole," a Wednesday announcement said. Ayaz will report to Disney CEO Bob Iger, as well as vertical leaders Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, parks head Josh D'Amaro and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro."

At $8 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot, celebrities are expected to maintain their monopoly on Big Game commercials this year, keeping influencers and creators in the wing for social and experiential campaigns. "It's just viewership demographics. You cast a really wide net of people watching it, and you want as many people as possible to recognize the person you're putting on the screen," said Jerry Hoak, chief creative officer at The Martin Agency.

UK businesses invest heavily in digital marketing. Yet many struggle to grow. The issue is not effort. The issue is disconnected systems. Ads, websites, and CRM often work apart. This makes it hard to track leads and sales or scale with confidence. This problem is common in: Home eCommerce brands, like furniture and home decor stores, that depend on online sales

The UK PR Industry is always transforming itself and that means that it looks much different in 2026 than it did even a couple of years ago, so if you are looking for a company to represent you and come up with campaigns that actually bring results this year, you are going to have to choose wisely. Not only that, but journalists are under more pressure than ever, news cycles move at breakneck speed, and generic press releases simply don't cut through anymore, and you're going to find it much more difficult to make an impression if you do not have the right PR agency on your side.

The automotive industry stands at the edge of a revolution, and it's not just about the technology inside cars. An automotive digital marketing strategy has become critically important for companies to survive in the market, because 95% of potential car buyers begin their research online. We're living in a time when traditional sales methods (showrooms, printed catalogs, radio ads) simply don't work as effectively anymore.

AI is coming for unprepared businesses. The tools that seemed futuristic last year are now mainstream. Your customers can access the same information, generate the same content, build the same websites. What if your business became obsolete because you didn't see what was right in front of you? The businesses that thrive in 2026 will be the ones that take action today. They'll build trust through human connection and prove their value beyond what any tool can replicate.

The design here is so visually dense that it commands your full attention. Every surface is covered in saturated oranges, hypnotic swirls, or bold cheetah spots, creating a total environment that feels completely detached from the outside world. This level of immersion is a deliberate choice, engineered to produce highly shareable content. The entire experience is a meticulously crafted backdrop for social media, and that's not a criticism; it's a recognition of a very shrewd and effective design objective.

In his telling, AI has yet to graduate from pilot programs into anything that materially reshapes how marketing departments are staffed, structured or paid. Until that changes, agency chiefs can stop bracing for a shift to outcome-based compensation. CMOs, he said, are still buying time and headcount. "Without naming names, I can remember a real situation where the marketer said 'of course we'll move to an output model' and then you get into a conversation with their procurement people and they're just worried about getting caught out," he continued. Which, in plain terms, means they're worried about paying agencies more than they have to.

It's a bet - like, a large financial bet,

In almost unprecedented fashion, Publicis blew away its rival holding companies by a gigantic margin, landing $9.5 billion in wins and only $1.6 billion in losses. And, well, WPP ended the year very much in the negative, having lost more than $2 billion relative to what it won or retained, according to Comvergence's provisional tally for the year. (The numbers reflect only media wins, not creative.)

That urgency comes after several challenging years for the company. Target has faced declining sales, shrinking traffic, and a loss of market share to competitors, compounded by backlash tied to several controversial business decisions. Among them were changes to its DEI initiatives, which sparked consumer boycotts and ultimately led to a class-action lawsuit filed by its own shareholders in 2025.

Marketers spend billions trying to persuade consumers that a product is right for them. But our research shows that sometimes the most effective way to market something is to say that it isn't for them. In other words, effective marketing can mean discouraging the wrong customers rather than convincing everyone to buy. We call this "dissuasive framing." Instead of saying a product is perfect for everyone, a company is up front about who it might not be for.

Nearly 6 in 10 US teens (59%) say they've used ChatGPT, more than double Gemini's 23%, according to an October survey from Pew Research Center. Beyond the chart: This chatbot preference is already shaping commerce habits. In fact, 61% of Gen Z shoppers have used AI tools to help with a purchase in the last year, according to a September 2025 survey from PayPal.

Mark Ritson, a leading figure in the world of marketing With a BSc and PhD in marketing, Mark has spent the past 25 years teaching his unique method to MBA students at some of the world's top business schools, including award-winning courses at London Business School, MIT and Melbourne Business School. Not only has he taught on these prestigious programs but his teaching has been widely acclaimed with Mark winning the teaching prize