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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

OpenAI launches ChatGPT’s first major brand campaign

The campaign marks a shift in OpenAI’s marketing to long-term brand building. Source

People aren’t buying Apple’s iPhone 17 ‘scratchgate’ explanation

It wouldn’t be a proper Apple release without a design controversy. After antennagate, bendgate and butterfly keyboardgate (OK, that doesn’t quite have the ring to it), Apple now faces iPhone 17 scratchgate, and its attempts to dismiss the problem aren’t convincing people. On the very same day that the new iPhone was released, there were

And The Truth? This Writing Style Screams AI

Six months ago, you could spot AI-generated text by its polished grammar, rigid essay structure, suspicious fondness for em dashes – and, of course, the inevitable emoji bullets (🔥🚀✨). The real giveaway, at least to my eye and ear, isn’t the emojis or the punctuation. It’s the cadence. AI writing has a rhythm problem. The

Workers report being left to teach themselves how to use AI

Tech disruptions are costing companies with 2,000 or more employees nearly $4 million annually in lost productivity, according to the latest research — something that should get the attention of every HR leader as their organizations pour more resources into AI and digital transformation. The numbers reveal a troubling disconnect. While 92% of companies plan

Elizabeth Goodspeed on what happens when design becomes prefab

The idea of a brand marketplace may feel novel, even radical, but it consolidates practices already happening informally in the industry. In 2006, long before BLT was a twinkle in Lyon & Lyon’s eyes, British ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty launched Zag, a brand-invention arm that developed concepts to license or sell for revenue shares.

Google App Adds Search Live For Real-Time Visual Search

Google has rolled out Search Live in English in the United States, bringing real-time, camera-aware conversations to the Google app on Android and iOS. You can tap the new Live icon under the search bar, or open Google Lens and choose Live to start an interactive voice conversation that can also see what your camera

FTC Locks In Omnicom–IPG Deal With Stricter Ad Rules

The FTC has approved a revised final consent order tied to Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), explicitly preventing the company from denying ad dollars to publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints—unless a client expressly directs it. In June, the FTC conditionally cleared the deal with a proposed consent decree barring politically

This ‘3D’ optical illusion is the most divisive I’ve ever seen

A supposedly 3D optical illusion has been posted online and is possibly the most divisive I’ve ever seen on the optical illusion. Comments are either steadfastly denying any effect whatsoever, with others saying it’s one of the best illusions they’ve seen. The illusion consists of a patterned set of blue and red circles, set out

SEO Starter Stack: Get Found Without Paying for Ads

All businesses, large or small, must establish a level of authority for the products and/or services they offer in the minds and hearts of their target audience if they expect to convince them to engage and buy. This universal marketing truth plays out daily for small businesses looking to capture the attention of local customers

OpenAI is staffing up to turn ChatGPT into an ad platform

OpenAI is hiring a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer to help develop tools for ad platform integration, campaign management and real-time attribution. The role is part of a new ChatGPT growth team tasked with building the backbone of OpenAI’s in-house paid marketing platform. OpenAI wants to monetize free users via ChatGPT ads by 2026, according

Remembering Nathaniel Russell’s charming and economical illustrated columns for The Smudge

The Smudge is a pretty cool magazine – run by interviewers, writers, comic book creators and advice columnists, their description stresses that they are ‘not activists, not editors, but we have a printer and we know how to use it’. It sounds like a threat, but in the spirit of underground and alternative presses of

How People Use ChatGPT & What It Means For The C-Suite

ChatGPT adoption is accelerating at a scale rarely seen in technology. By mid-2025, around 700 million people worldwide were using it every week, sending 18 billion messages, which is roughly 10% of the global adult population. For a new technology, this speed of adoption has no precedent. Yet if you look at your analytics dashboards,

Brands including Diageo, Unilever and Tinder form cross-category insight group

The insight group, known as The Think Party, will focus on the future of socialisation, to allow the brands involved to see “the whole picture”, not just a category-specific “slice”. Source

The 2026 World Cup mascots are FIFA’s most innovative yet

Along with World Cup logos, the World Cup mascots are a big part of the identity of one of the biggest global sporting events, particularly for kids. I remember how much I loved Italia ’90’s Ciao, still easily the best World Cup mascot for me, and certainly one of the most abstract. The designs tend

Pinterest Launches “Top of Search” Ads In Beta

Pinterest has introduced new ad products focused on visual search, highlighted by ‘Top of Search’ ads. Currently in beta across all monetized markets, these ads can appear within the first ten search results and in Related Pins, targeting users as they begin discovering products. Why This Matters For Search Marketers Pinterest is a search platform

New York Times Cooking taps personality-led video to drive subs

The New York Times’ Cooking vertical has debuted a new baking video series and newsletter franchise led by Cooking writer Vaughn Vreeland, making the featured recipes free to access as part of a push to attract younger audiences into its subscription funnel. Although the Times plans to monetize the videos and newsletters with ads (there

A new book on art features David Shrigley’s on-the-nose illustrations and Kate Bryan’s tongue-in-cheek words

How To Art, a new book about art written by Kate Bryan with illustrations from the one and only David Shrigley, is fittingly named after the down to earth ethos of its author and illustrator. David, known for his simple satirical drawings, and Kate, who’s built an extremely respectable career in arts after years of

YouTube Answers Creator Questions On Profanity Monetization

YouTube released a video to clarify how its recent update to advertiser-friendly guidelines affects creators. The company acknowledged communication gaps and outlined what it has already done for previously affected uploads. What Changed? YouTube relaxed its rules about strong language at the beginning of videos, making it easier for creators to monetize their content. The

AI Startup Friend Bets On Foes With $1M NYC Subway Campaign

The founder of Friend is betting on making enemies. Avi Schiffmann, CEO of the AI companion startup, poured more than $1 million dollars into a New York City subway takeover—plastering stations and cars across all five boroughs with stark white posters that practically beg to be defaced. “This is the world’s first major AI campaign.

Did we really need yet ANOTHER Taylor Swift album cover?

Just recently our design editor wrote about how the alternate album cover art trend was going too far. From Sabrina Carpenter to Charli XCX, it’s like artists can’t choose any more. The cynical among us might say that it’s ploy to milk the most diehard fans. Either way, artists are weakening the identities of their

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