Southeast Asia’s eCommerce economy is booming, but cart abandonment remains a major challenge. Despite the region’s internet economy nearing US$330 billion by 2025, Asia Pacific records some of the world’s highest abandonment rates at 75%–87%, well above the global average of 70%.

Welcome to a new week of social updates. LinkedIn is providing more ways for users to show their AI literacy and skills with a verified identifier. This could boost employment options and help legitimize any upskilling or training you’ve been working on. Let’s take a deeper look and see what else has improved.

The marketer is continuing a revived Pepsi Challenge around its Pepsi Zero Sugar brand, and its big game ad features an icon from Coke’s advertising.

The findings from the SAMY Marketing Trends 2026 report, reveal that investment is rising in the channel but with a clear caveat from the C-suite – demonstrate clearer performance, integration and return on investment.

Despite the fear that AI-generated ads will sacrifice quality for speed, a new study has found that advertising made with the technology can match the performance of ads created by people and, in some cases, even better it.

Publicis isn’t just growing faster than the rest of the global ad holding companies; it may also be redrafting the rules of what a scaled agency model looks like in an AI-first market.

Return on investment (ROI) alone cannot provide adequate support to guide media investment decisions. Marketers need more as artificial intelligence gets complicated, and analysing data happens in real time, according to data released today.

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In a world of deepfakes, bots and post-truth politics, it’s not surprising that consumers are seeking shelter in trusted environments where accuracy is everything, and facts are back in fashion. Regulation and verification have never been sexier.

This study found that streaming video outperformed YouTube mobile by 66% on attention. It said streaming video beat large format out of home by 74% and linear TV by 80%. The study reported that streaming video exceeded scrollable social by 123% and display advertising by 161%.