Edition #534
A voice radio, the disconnect between CMOs better equipped to scale AI and those that aren’t and margin expansion.
You’ve heard the saying, they have a voice for radio. But podcasters are recently finding out, they need to turn on the video.
In the search for more ad dollars, the extended reach of video, podcasts which have been audio only are now pressing the video record button.
There’s some rationality to this, you’ve already got the content, why not repurpose it for little cost, and any additional dollars is upside. Video discovery & distribution tools are better.
But creatively, an audio experience is different to a visual one. TBPN wrote on how they took inspiration from sports broadcasters, rather than other podcast aesthetics. They knew that the visual identity had to stand out in the feed. Just turning on video, doesn’t immediately achieve that.
This week Marketing Dive/Gartner shared While 70% of CMOs say AI is a key focus for 2026, only 30% feel they have the infrastructure to achieve their goals.
Digging in the differential is that organizations that are better equipped to scale AI are allocating 21.5% but the average is allocating 15.3%.
Top performers, tend to spend more but also get more from their investments.
Notable stories this week
- Coca Cola and partner pushing for new measurement standard.
- Digg tries again, this time as an AI news aggregator.
- Bravo is creating unscripted microdramas for the Peacock app.
- MrBeast’s creator platform signals a more programmatic creator economy.
- CNN launches CNN Weather app.
- Legacy media spins age as its advantage.
- TikTok’s Branded Buzz and Search Hubs connect creator content to search.
- AI remains a top priority for CMOs but spending lags.
- Google doesn’t care that it’s terrible: Brand, agency execs air frustrations with The Trade Desk, Google’s Performance Max, Meta’s Advantage+.
- Netflix’s ad ambitions just keep growing.
- Samantha Jacobsen is heading to OpenAI.
- LinkedIn wants to host thousands of events a year as part of its bet on creators.
- Mail Metro Media shifts ad strategy towards PMPs and fewer ads as it unifies stack.
- MIPCOM Cannes launches ‘MIP BrandWorks’ to bridge brands and global studios.
- We should own it: Hershey’s programmatic chief on AI agents and media mix modeling.
- Former Trade Desk CMO Ian Colley to lead marketing at DeepIntent.
- What CMOs actually want from TV during the industry’s big pitch week.
- OpenAI makes it easier to run shopping ads in ChatGPT.
- YouTube promises all this to all advertisers with some help from AI.
- Viant Sees A Growth Wave Coming, But First Marketers Must Really Ditch Walled Garden Ad Tech.
- Life360 reports record Q2 26 results.
- iHeartMedia best on programmatic advertising to fuel Radio’s next chapter.
- At Fox’s Upfront, the World Cup, Tubi, and AI Adtech headline the pitch.
- Marketers put up guardrails as AI agents reshape programmatic buying.
- Bloomberg wants contextual targeting to work in live video.
- Adthena launches ChatGPT ads intelligence platform.
- Variety and NBCU partner on cross platform content initiative.
- The end of the Martech stack.
- TikTok builds for the Ai future, welcoming third-arty agents for ads.
- Top 50 US news websites: half of sites see traffic fall 20% or more in a year.
- Globe and Mail grows newsroom by 10% fueled by online subscriptions.
- DoubleVerify warns of rising AI-fueled CTV fraud.
- The click that cost $11,000 and other travel pitfalls.
- News podcasts are, increasingly something wyou watch).
- Semafor’s new AI tool helped boil down its entire flagship conference into nine takeaways.
- NowThis Built a TV Network on Social Media. Now It’s Teaching Brands How to Advertise on One.
- Prime Video Ads can now change based on what viewers already saw.
- Penske Media illuminates dark traffic to find new revenue.
- Dentsu retains Heineken.
- Time launches online games.
- Adtech is lining up behind OpenAI.
- ChatGPT Ads Manager opens up.
- Ad techs quarter of mixed fortunes.
- Inside Expedia’s year-long partnership with mega creator IShowSpeed.
- [From me] Destination content.
- [Smart take] Dow Jone’s $1b bet on newsletter and niche intelligence.
Deals/M&A
- BuzzFeed’s $120m sale.
- InMobi expands advertising platform with acquisition of AI app analytics firm MobileAction.
- BranchLab Raises $26M Series A Led by McKesson Ventures to Bring AI to Pharma Commercialization.
Campaign of the week
- Timothy Chalamet in this brand film for Adidas, Backyard legends. Enjoy.
Smartest commentary
- “NowThis instead measures whether its shows are becoming culturally useful: whether celebrities ask to appear, whether advertisers want in before a show is formally pitched, and whether formats can move beyond the feed into live events, merchandise, and branded extensions.” –NetInfluencer.
Datapoints of note
- Paid Substack subscriptions to UK based creators surpasses half a million.
- 85% of content never makes it into ChatGPT’s Answers.
- Findings from the company’s “CMO Spend Survey” found 15.3% of marketing budgets on average are directed toward AI, however, organizations that are better equipped to scale the technology allocate an average of 21.3%.
- Netflix’s ad supported tier now reaches 250m viewers each month.
- “Survivor” has been consumed for more than 700 billion minutes, or upwards of 1.3 million years, per Nielsen. The show has earned CBS $273.3 million in the past four years alone.
- Issa Rae’s new microdrama series nears 75m views in first week.
Events
- Watch this space.
That’s it for this week.
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