Marketing teams have become vastly better at optimising campaigns and communications through ever-more precise data and measurement tools. But for the likes of Les Binet, Mark Ritson and James Hurman, such precision puts brands in danger of losing sight of how we generate future demand.

As the platforms take on more of the operational work and AI becomes capable of handling increasingly complicated tasks, the value of having someone manually operate an account starts to fall. Conversely, the value of having someone who understands what the system should be doing, what information it needs, and where it should go next starts to rise. That’s going to change what a PPC agency actually is. Read further.

Marketer spending on product placements will grow 13.7% worldwide, and 12.8% in the U.S. this year, the greatest rate of expansion since the industry rebounded from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, according to the 2026 edition of PQ Media's Global Product Placement Forecast.

Andrew Tindall digs into data across 1,478 brands and argues ad awareness deserves a place back in effectiveness planning, alongside attention, emotion and business outcomes. Ad awareness became quite a dirty word in effectiveness. The industry focused too much on it, and we correctly steered toward more System 1 thinking, subconscious engagement and attention, alongside metrics that felt closer to an outcome. But we overcorrected.

Google Ads introduces channel prioritization and budget allocation controls, giving advertisers more flexibility over spending across Search, Performance Max, and other campaigns. Advertisers will be able to designate channels as high or low priority, with the option to cap spending on lower-priority inventory rather than excluding those channels entirely.

Google Ads is introducing commerce audience sharing, allowing retailers and marketplaces to share first-party audience segments with brands and sellers running eligible retail media campaigns.

Based on an event hosted by OpenAI and AppsFlyer on Oct. 7, Salmon reported that the number of advertisers now buying ads on ChatGPT is greater than 60,000. That's up from more than 20,000 a little more than a month ago. More importantly, ChatGPT’s advertiser growth mirrors Facebook’s: self-service platforms let SMBs and direct-to-consumer brands advertise alongside the biggest players.

INSTAGRAM - The app that started as a photographic showcase may soon become video first. THREADS - Introducing Gems, a digital badge designed to recognize perspective, discussion and originality. X - Revealed a new AI ad tool called X Lift, and it reads your website and generates ad campaigns based on what it finds. PINTEREST - Is offering a new collaboration method for brands and influencers. REDDIT – Expanding beyond B2C marketing and into B2B, it’s also expanding its connection with CRM tools as well as new optimization options.

Netflix has shed about 1,000 employees, about 6% of its workforce, in its largest layoff yet, primarily affecting the product, technology, legal and human resources teams as part of organizational changes intended to prioritize key areas and maintain discipline in resource allocation.

Released on Tuesday, 13 October, Publicis’ third-quarter organic growth has topped market expectations, driven by client demand for AI-powered marketing. According to Sadoun, Business momentum was strong on all fronts. “Our marketing transformation capabilities benefited from the growing demand from clients for our AI-powered products and services, with Connected Media and Intelligent Creativity growing high-single-digit and single-digit, respectively.