How To Improve the Quality of First-Party Signals With Tagging Audits

Maximizing the quality of first-party signals through regular tagging audits is a way to enhance the effectiveness of performance campaigns, especially as we move away from third-party cookies. Embracing this practice and performing quarterly audits will help brands to stay ahead and truly connect with their audience.

Data-Driven Creativity in Marketing

By grounding our creative processes in data while nurturing human insight, we create campaigns that are not only effective but also unforgettable.

Three Men and an LLM: Why Building Scalable GenAI Is Just Like Parenting a Child

Parenting isn’t done in isolation – as a parent, you rely on family, schools, and communities to help raise your children. AI is similar: businesses should rely on partnerships: consultancies, open-source communities, and collaborations to build robust AI systems that deliver lasting competitive advantage and grow with a company’s evolving needs.

Meet the All-New Kellogg’s Cornelius the Cockerel

Remember Cornelius, the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes mascot? Here in the United States, the character was created at Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett and made his debut on cereal boxes in 1957. “Corny,” as the character was nicknamed, was illustrated with a green body, red comb, yellow beak and a whole lot of personality.

Precision Marketing in the Era of Precision Medicine

As you plan for 2025 and beyond, ask yourself: could our marketing work harder? It’s time to try something different. After all, healthcare marketing doesn’t have to be mediocre; it’s only mediocre if we allow it to be.

2025 Will be a Banner Year

2025 promises to be a pivotal year for the marketing industry. By addressing these challenges head-on and leveraging the tools at their disposal, marketers have a unique opportunity to shape the future of advertising in a way that drives real impact. The question is, will they rise to the occasion?

How Brands Can Drive Positive Change in Youth Sports in 2025

Youth sports are more than just competition. For kids, parents, and fans, they’re a cornerstone of life. For brands willing to join the journey, it’s a chance to create meaningful change while forging authentic connections that drive lifelong loyalty.

The Future of TikTok Is Human – How Can Brands Adapt?

By focusing on authentic human interactions at the core of their strategy, brands can foster meaningful connections and build loyal communities on TikTok. That’s how brands play the social media long game to win.

5 Brand Mascots That Had the Best Christmas 2024 Ads

What do yetis, sunglasses, cinnamon rolls, and the song “Satisfaction” by Benny Benassi all have in common? Each has a starring role, or an extremely prominent cameo, in PopIcon’s ranking of 2024’s five best Christmas ads.

From Roar to Whimper: How Modern Branding Tamed the Jaguar

If Jaguar wants to course-correct, it’ll need to do more than ride the wave of modern design. It’ll take serious work to listen to its customer base, rebuild trust, and reclaim the emotional resonance that made its brand roar in the first place.

The End of Cookies Is the End of Understanding

Shopping, browsing, learning and playing online doesn’t have to feel like you’re being taken advantage of by cookies. Instead, every experience should feel like it knows you and understands how best to serve you.

How Do Brands Really Get Effective CPMs?

By measuring genuine engagement with key moments rather than surface-level metrics, brands can build advertising strategies that deliver real value across platform boundaries.

Great Advertising is Simple, Just Make Great Ads

In this industry where technological advancements are booming and we’re constantly being introduced to new touchpoints, it can be hard to focus on the simple truths of building great ads.

Strategic Decision-Making: Consolidate SEO for Growth

Beyond personal development, staying informed about algorithm updates can elevate your value within your team. You’ll be better equipped to offer proactive advice and position yourself as a go-to resource when SEO challenges arise.

Is AI the Future of Gaming?

Whether in the fast-paced world of casinos or in the wide landscapes of open-world video games, AI influences how players interact with the games and the systems that run them

Can We Save AI? A Philosophical Answer

If we are willing to accept that AI, even in its most advanced applications, remains bound to some knowledge, without intentionality or understanding of causality, it is mandatory to ask: what are the limits of AI’s epistemic capabilities?

Why a Strong Brand Is Key to B2B Commercial Success

By building a memorable brand, B2B businesses can wean themselves off a relentless focus on ROI, and instead build successful relationships with customers and prospects in new, exciting and efficient ways, building long-term value.

Sonic Branding is Dead. Long Live Sonic Branding!

Sonic branding isn’t just about creating a sound that works in an ad; it’s about building a sound that becomes synonymous with your brand. The potential is enormous — when done right.

Pharma Advertising: The Last Frontier for Creativity

In the end, the brands that embrace this reality, that push past the status quo, will be the ones that redefine pharma advertising for good. The stakes have never been higher. The potential for breakthrough work is enormous.

How Culture Brands Work

Whereas cult brands are smaller by nature and often aligned to an existing niche, culture brands can be scaled, effectively defining and creating their own niche as they grow.

50+ Consumers: A Must-Win Audience for Pet Marketers

Adults 50+ want to live life to the fullest, and having a pet is an important part of the 50+ lifestyle. Pet owners over 50 spend significant time and money to ensure their pets are happy and well cared for, so that their pets can live their best life, too.

Reaching Sports Fans as Easy as Looking At the Second Option

As advertisers gear up for the start of a new season of the NBA, NHL, they should explore all of their options to find the right fit for their audiences and their products. The types of fans are expanding as are the ways to reach them. Mapping out a smart targeting strategy is the best way to maximize spend.

The Robots are Coming! The Robots are Coming!

The robots are coming but whether they will be more like Rosie from the Jetsons or Arnold as the Terminator depends, in large part, on us humans coalescing and putting our considerable buying power and weight behind protecting and supporting our very human IP whether it be written articles, video, artistic content or brand assets.

How To Create Legacy In The 21st Century Agency

By building unshakable pillars of stability, transparency, and humanity, we create a clear path to achieving a win-win-win for our industry and leaving behind a legacy we can all be proud of and excited about.

Identity: The Current Challenge for CTV Advertising

CTV isn’t going away. It’s ability to deliver high-quality campaigns with engaged audiences is unmatched. But it is in the data available on the platform where the real potential lies to differentiate itself from its Linear counterpart.

Why Data Collaboration Will Spell Marketing Success This Festive Shopping Season

For those looking to maximise opportunities during this retail Golden Quarter, it’s important to strategically enhance the business’s ability to engage in data collaboration. This will allow them to fully access customer insights available within privacy-focused clean rooms and across the full variety of channels and data environments. Securing long-term and effective outreach to high-value audiences in the run-up to Christmas and beyond.

Interview: Kinective Media by United Airlines- The Traveler Media Network

Hear from James Rothwell, Managing Director, Brand Marketing for MileagePlus and Kinective Media on the mission to create the world’s first and largest traveler media network, standing up a business in 9 months, examples of successes so far, and now scaling through innovation and partnerships.

Scaling Up vs. Selling Out

Instead of conceding that meaningful interactions in the marketplace are only the territory of smaller, niche brands, culture brands demonstrate that powerful brand stories can be leveraged at any size.

The Value of Intent in Intelligent Experiences

Using technology and creativity to design human-directed experiences that respond to intent in delightful ways. This is the roadmap for Intelligent Experiences in retail —and the realization of the hidden value of intent.

A Presidential Campaign is Taking More Risks Than Your Brand

Savvy campaigns and brands understand that not every trend or social reference is for them. Effectively engaging with social culture isn’t about chasing the latest viral sensation; it’s about identifying conversations where your brand can contribute meaningfully and authentically.

Adapting to Life Without Oracle

As Oracle exits the advertising business, the industry is confronting a significant shift. Oracle’s suite of tools—built through a series of key acquisitions such as Crosswise, BlueKai, Datalogix, and Grapeshot—has been foundational for many marketers, data providers, and platforms. With Oracle’s departure, these stakeholders are now facing the challenge of finding reliable alternatives to maintain their data-driven strategies.

Making Memories: How Events Can Be Redefined

If your event ends with the audience focussed on a big screen, ditch the generic PowerPoint. Invest in on-brand, purpose-driven content that’s visually striking and make sure your speakers and production is well-prepared.

Cultural Moments, Lasting Memories: The Power of Pop Culture in Brand Engagement

Pop culture offers brands more than relevance; it provides an opportunity to create lasting, emotional connections with audiences. At a PMC-hosted Advertising Week New York 2024 panel, leaders from Maybelline, Dick Clark Productions and Billboard shared how iconic collaborations, immersive experiences, and cultural moments are shaping the future of brand engagement.

Demystifying the Real Value of AI in Marketing

Learn about the latest AI tools for marketers and how brands are investing in AI to increase campaign effectiveness, reimagine resource constraints and garner real marketing results.

Through a Brand’s Lens: Navigating the Ever-Changing Advertising Landscape

Brands recognise that traditional media planning, buying, and measurement models are no longer effective. They are now looking for technology platforms that have adapted to offer solutions that simplify their media supply chain, maximise their media investment, and seamlessly integrate the next emerging channel — whatever or wherever that may be.

The History of Kool-Aid Man

Whether bursting through walls or simply bringing a smile to people’s faces, the Kool-Aid Man continues to be a beloved character, reminding us all to embrace the fun and refreshing moments in life.

How Cutting-Edge Technologies Are Transforming the Financial Sector

It’s about time for the financial industry to undergo a significant technological transformation. Blockchain’s speed and transparency are upending the status quo, AI is personalizing financial services, and digital currencies are fundamentally changing the way we think about money.

Decoding the Jargon: Separating CTV from DOOH for Better Campaigns

Now is the time to eliminate the confusion and provide a clear blueprint for why venue-based streaming is an integral part of future media mixes. Everyone with a vested interest in the space should clearly communicate the benefits of this medium and insist that everyone in the industry should move forward with transparency and a clear communication of why this is different, but as potent, as CTV.

Power in the Community

In communities, brands have entire audiences ready and waiting to become customers – or, even better, lifelong fans. But they must first find these communities, and spend time understanding their audiences so they can build 3C frameworks to tap into the power of like minded groups collected in one place.

ReachTV and The Weather Company Roll Out Localized Weather Forecasts at U.S. Airports, Elevating Travel Experience

ReachTV, the nation’s largest streaming television network for travelers, boasting over 50 million monthly viewers, has teamed up with The Weather Company, globally recognized as the most accurate weather forecaster, in a new venture set to revolutionize how travelers stay informed about weather conditions at airports across the United States.

Enterprises vs. SMBs: Important Distinctions in the B2B Buyer’s Journey

Ultimately, having access to high-quality buyer data will make or break success in today’s B2B marketing landscape. Data-driven segmentation is key. If your organization is marketing to enterprises in the same way that it markets to SMBs, there’s a good chance you’re missing the mark on both sides.

Thriving in a 24/7 Connected World: The Balance Between Work and Family Life

We may live in an always-connected world, but that doesn’t mean employees should always be reachable. By following the above best practices, business leaders and managers can keep their team members operating at their highest levels, and their businesses will get a considerable boost in return.

Having a Social Presence vs. Being Present on Social

If your brand chooses dialogue over monologue, engages authentically with its communities, remains ready to respond to its audience, and stays consistent with its own core truth, then you will have more than just a perfunctory social media presence. Instead, your brand will be part of the community and truly present.

Turning Data Deluge into Decisive Insights for Marketers

By rethinking data strategies and considering integrated solutions, marketers can turn their current data overload into an insight and action-oriented machine and stop wondering when the payoff will happen, because it will already have happened.

AW Throwback: Johnny Horizon

Another mascot was active during the same timeline as Smokey and Woodsy and his name was Johnny Horizon. In looking back on the short-lived legacy of Johnny Horizon, PopIcon discovered that one Idaho county is still determined to uphold the outdoorsman’s legacy today.

Playing the Political Game Doesn’t Need to Be a Trap for Brands

By leveraging their position and visibility, brands can be prominent in helping drive healthy conversations, share useful information, and promote trustworthy news sources. They can help arm young voters with the insight they need to make the most of this cultural moment, proving their relevance to this audience, and forging connections that last through the election and beyond.

Why AI Is Becoming More Human

Brands need to maintain a level of human oversight to manage complex or sensitive interactions that the AI may not be equipped to handle. AI, like humans, makes mistakes. It’s a fast learner, though. With the right oversight, AI can build both emotional and intellectual trust that generates brand loyalty.

The Agency of the Present

The message to the industry is clear: the evolving consumer landscape is calling for a new type of agency, one that represents the diverse mainstream, and balances inclusivity with specificity. 

IRL in the Age of AI: The Renaissance of Real Experiences

To succeed, today’s brands must blend the best of both worlds, fostering in-person connection while considering the role our online lives play in that picture. The goal isn’t to get noticed; it’s to be remembered. And nothing is more memorable than a shared, real-world experience.

Embracing the Power of Mobile Gaming Communities

To truly make an impact, brands must avoid superficial engagement. Gamers are highly discerning and demand authenticity. Demonstrating a genuine passion for gaming culture and understanding gamers’ needs is crucial for building trust and credibility.

PlayersTV and DIRECTV Expand Athlete-Driven Content with Strategic Partnership

In a strategic move that underscores the evolving landscape of sports media, PlayersTV has announced a new distribution agreement with DIRECTV. This partnership is set to expand the reach of PlayersTV, the first-ever athlete and fan-owned media network, to millions of new viewers, marking a significant milestone in its growth.

Marketing AI in Business: What to Showcase and What to Avoid

Consumers do not want to feel like everything being fed to them is created by AI. Authenticity and transparency are incredibly important when using AI. AI should never replace the human element in marketing entirely but can be used to assist and optimize as needed. 

The AI Shadow War in Advertising

Advertisers need to be aware of the wave of AI-fuelled content flooding the internet, while also embracing the right AI-powered solutions that will help them automate their brand safety and media performance strategy.

Streaming TV: Bundle or Bust?

In theory, bundling makes sense for both consumers and content providers. They can help viewers save money while helping content providers keep consumers in the ecosystems and unlocking more advertising opportunities.

Group Black Partners with Advertising Week to Create Exclusive NIL Content, Programming and Create a First-of-its-Kind ‘Match-Making’ Event

Group Black, Greenwood Ave, and Lockstep Ventures have partnered with Advertising Week to create NIL+, an exclusive program dedicated to marketing and content opportunities within the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) space. This unique initiative will take place on October 8 during Advertising Week New York 2024.

Harnessing the Growth of Pinterest Users to Boost Brand Performance

While there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution to fulfilling media plans and driving target audience action, marketers that are equipping themselves with the right data and insights is essential for maintaining cost-efficiency and high conversion rates. This strategy minimizes cash burn and keeps your brand ahead of the competition.

Using AI to Shorten the Sales Cycle

Implementing AI solutions thoughtfully and strategically can empower sales teams to navigate the complexities of the modern sales environment. As these technologies continue to evolve, the potential for AI to enhance sales processes will only grow, making it an indispensable asset for any forward-thinking organization.

Three Ways Marketers and Insights Professionals Can Maximize ROI

Brand integrations represent a promising way of connecting with consumers. Faced with rising costs and an increasingly fragmented media landscape, many marketers are turning to the strategy of weaving a brand into the existing story lines of film, TV, streaming or influencer programming.

Transforming Shopping Moments into Real Outcomes

Change and disruption is the new normal, but by focusing on creating opportunities on the Open Internet retail marketers can not only keep up, but stay ahead of the curve by creating unique personalised content to already engaged audiences and transform shopping moments into real outcomes.

How to Build a B2B Social Engine That Hums

Capturing attention requires cross-organization collaboration and teams that think bigger, make better content, and ensure it’s delivered through the right channels to engage audiences.  After all, engaging audiences is the ultimate goal—and what matters to a company’s bottom line.

Meet Tina and Milo, Official Mascots For The 2026 Winter Olympics

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games may be over, but in two short years it will be time for the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics, or Milano Cortina 2026. Hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, registration is now open on the ticketing platform for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Creativity, Brands and the Future of Music and Marketing

Few careers are more vocation-driven than creativity – whether that is music, art or the movies.  It often transcends material considerations and bestows on many creators a spiritual feeling of entitlement and self-fulfilment. 

Eastbourne Borough FC and ReachTV Announce Exclusive Naming Rights Partnership

Eastbourne Borough Football Club (EBFC) and ReachTV have entered into a one-year exclusive naming rights partnership, renaming the Priory Lane home ground as the “ReachTV Stadium.” This collaboration extends the successful relationship initiated in late 2023, which included the pilot of the TV show “Health of the Game.”

Prioritize Privacy, or Cling to a Model Doomed to Disappear

To those in the digital advertising industry, another twist in the tale of the cookie deprecation was not unexpected. But that Google would seemingly renounce its promise to cut off these third-party identifiers all together, was abrupt to say the least.

If You’re Scrolling, You’re Olympics’ing

The Olympics in marketing is a little like the Super Bowl, but it only comes around every four years. A lot of brands are counting on a lot of eyeballs to make marketing budgets count. In the past you could almost hear the marketing shots being made by big advertising execs, and see them fall flat on big billboards and small scrollable screens.

Happy 80th Birthday, Smokey Bear!

Doesn’t it feel as though it was just yesterday when we were wishing Smokey Bear a happy 75th birthday? Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday officially falls on August 9, 2024, marking eight decades of the mascot having the longest running public service initiative in United States history.

9 Risky Financial Decisions You Might Consider Making as Soon as Possible

There’s a reason why most people aren’t taking these risks. Risks are scary. You’re more likely than not to lose money by following this list. However, as long as you’re careful, approach it strategically, and invest only the money that you can live without, there’s a potential for a huge profit. Some people are fine with these odds.

The New Brand Advantage: B2B with a B2H Mindset

It’s time to define your brand’s approach to doing B2B with a B2H mindset. If you focus, prioritize, and then test new approaches, you can create experiences that drive new impact and deliver more of the value needed to grow.   

How Nike’s Iconic Brand Can Get Back on Track

As a longtime runner and Nike devotee, I recently found myself with an unexpected dilemma. While shopping for new running shoes prior to a business trip, I was drawn to a pair made by On Running instead of my usual Nikes.

Who Boomers Are Today – and How You Can Reach Them

Boomers remain the agents of social change and consumer superstars that they’ve always been. Celebrate them, help them pursue their dreams, facilitate their desire to give back, and take advantage of their tech-savvy ways to reach them in environments they trust and prefer.