Upon entering the one-day immersive installation known as GrazaVerse, guests were greeted with a surrealist tableau: a Renaissance-style cherub statue "peeing" olive oil, with bread skewers for dipping, risotto served by a mysterious set of disembodied hands behind a wall, and a soap dispenser filled with olive oil for drizzling on soft serve. As bizarre or offbeat this event, built to introduce olive oil brand Graza's new glass bottles, might sound, it represents a cross-industry trend in which brand creative is getting ... weird.
Trends can make or break a brand. One viral post can put a business in front of millions overnight. But as quickly as the views rise, they can fall. The real skill isn't going viral; it's staying relevant once the noise fades. The brands that last are the ones that see trends early, act fast, and know how to turn fleeting attention into lasting connections.
As media director at CKE Restaurants, Sutton oversees both Carl's Jr and Hardee's - two brands that, until recently, shared one marketing strategy. "A few years ago, we marketed Carl's and Hardee's together," he says. "It made sense from a media efficiency standpoint. But the personalities of the brands got a little watered down." The fix? Split them apart. "It's created some challenges," he admits.
Ciara Siegel is a Brand & Marketing Strategist with 15 years of experience helping businesses grow-from global giants like Pampers, Godiva, and TikTok to small business owners and solopreneurs building something of their own. She takes the strategy and frameworks that billion-dollar brands rely on-and ditches the bloated timelines, buzzwords, and 40-page PDFs. What's left is brand clarity you can actually use: messaging that clicks, strategy that works, and a brand that finally feels like you.
Marketers have a lot of misconceptions about marketing mix modeling (MMM). But it's far less expensive - and easier - to execute than it used to be. Deli meat brand Land O'Frost has been investing in MMM for years, seeking insights into how different cultural trends, campaign strategies and channels impact its KPIs. Historically, it's been challenging to find "solid data points" to prove that certain channels, like paid social and influencer marketing, are driving sales, Land O'Frost COO Saverio Spontella told AdExchanger.
Brand positioning statements are practical tools that help you define the core of your brand strategy. Instead of starting with a blank page, you get a structured format to work through the key questions: Who are you for? What do you offer? How are you different? Why should anyone care? A strong brand positioning statement defines what you're really selling-not only the product or service but also the value, the feeling, and the experience.
We live in a world where it's easier than ever to surround ourselves with people who think exactly like we do. Social media bubbles, corporate cultures and even leadership teams can all become echo chambers, places where the loudest reinforcement drowns out the most valuable challenge. The problem? Echo chambers create blind spots. They emphasize what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. They boost our confidence but rarely bring clarity.
Smaller, less healthy food (LHF) brands should not fear the forthcoming legislation that will restrict when and where they advertise. Rather than weakening performance, compliant ads can increase comfort and trust and evoke positive emotions with viewers. This is a key finding of a study undertaken by Azerion in the run-up to the three-month voluntary compliance period, which started on 1 October 2025, ahead of the rules coming into force on 5 January 2026.
The 'madferits' showed exactly how powerful nostalgia can be. It takes us back to (perceived) happier, simpler times, igniting sentimentality, joy and yearning. There is an instant comfort in fond memories and rose-tinted perspectives, and brands attaching themselves to this emotional response can thrive from this association. An emotional connection to a brand holds significant power, it has the potential to turn a one-time customer into a lifelong fan.
"Brand building is a bit like pointillism ... Every time you activate your brand, you're placing a dot in somebody's brain," said Kaplan, explaining that those individual dots cluster over time to form richer perceptions of a brand. Marketers who have a strong grasp of such perceptions can act with confidence on whether and how to deploy their brands in different cultural contexts while those who don't may simply create more noise.
What's the biggest company in the world? Apple? Amazon? Microsoft? No. It's Nvidia, which in early August became the world's first $4 trillion company, overtaking both Apple and Microsoft. Last week's results were eagerly awaited by the world's markets and actually helped push the S&P 500 and Dow Jones to all-time highs. By the end of August, Nvidia accounted for more than 8% of the S&P 500, the largest weighting for a single stock in the index's history.
For Anders Braso, chief marketing officer at Monocle magazine and one of our Rebel 50, rebellion is about discipline, not chaos. For Berit Block, head of marketing at WeTransfer, it's about remembering your creative roots and supporting a community that thrives when the rules are bent. Together, their perspectives highlight how rebellion isn't about rejecting everything; it's about knowing what to reject, what to double down on and when to zag while everyone else zigs.
Amram said the company sees three buckets of value in retailers' ad businesses: driving growth with specific retailers, being great first-party data sources on how consumers interact with a category, and driving top-of-mind awareness - even beyond that retailer's website. He said the question for retailers is how effective the media networks are in helping brands access and interact with them to drive incremental growth.
At Shinola, Bailey will oversee creative direction across all brand touch points, including paid, owned and social. Although Ruthie Underwood had previously served as chief creative officer, "This is a new role for the brand," Shinola said. "It will shape how our voice, identity, and creative strategy evolve - while honoring the creative foundation built over the past 12 years. This position will specifically oversee the brand's creative direction across marketing, campaigns and storytelling."
Small business owners are all saying the same thing: "My website traffic is tanking, and the stuff that used to work just doesn't anymore." And they're right. A 2024 study by SparkToro CEO Rand Fishkin found that nearly 60% of searches in the U.S. don't end in a click - people are getting answers from AI and never visiting your site.
President Donald Trump's tariffs are starting to make a mark on businesses and consumers, with Americans facing a cumulative increase in prices that will cost the average household some $2,700 in lost income, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Some products will be worse hit than others: Clothing prices are expected to rise by 36% in the short term, while motor vehicle prices will rise some 13%, Yale predicted. And on a broad scale, experts have estimated that GDP could shrink by as much as 6% over the long-term as demand for goods and services dwindles.
They are ubiquitous in this day and age, and the industry is huge. But aside from the odd scandal here and there, they more or less make sense in terms of the message and art direction. However, when you look at ads from the past through a modern lens, you realize just how much cultural attitudes have shifted over the decades and centuries.
Trust isn't just a nice-to-have in 2025. It's the foundation for every meaningful customer relationship. In an era of widespread misinformation, rapidly shifting social expectations, and tightening consumer wallets, brand trust is now one of your most valuable currencies. According to recent eMarketer data, 62.7% of B2B marketers agree that branding is critical to long-term success. But here's the challenge: proving ROI on trust-building efforts is notoriously difficult.
Over the past several years, I've had the privilege of leading Suburban Propane's sports marketing initiatives, including our ongoing multiyear partnership with NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports. These collaborations have allowed us to connect with millions of fans through meaningful brand experiences, on-site activations and integrated community outreach. From powering campgrounds at race weekends to creating fan engagement zones, I've seen how the right sports partnership can amplify brand visibility, foster loyalty and strengthen relationships with local communities.
Many marketers are learning that bigger isn't always better when it comes to influence. Campaigns involving nano-influencers can cost a fraction of those that involve celebrities or macro-influencers.
