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Leading Edge
Why OOH's Biggest Strength Is Building Anticipation
A cryptic "TS" billboard for "Toy Story 5" sparked fan theories and earned media across three cities — without revealing a thing. The campaign shows how creative restraint in out-of-home advertising may generate more audience engagement than information-heavy executions ever could.
Marketing News
Kraft Heinz and The Walt Disney Company Announce Partnership
Kraft Heinz and the Walt Disney Company announce a multi-year alliance placing 10 brands across Disney parks, cruise ships, and media platforms. The deal could reshape how food brands pursue cultural relevance through experiential and entertainment partnerships.
Leading Edge
AI Synthetic Performers in Advertising: Emerging State Requirements and Ethical Considerations
New state laws are forcing advertisers to disclose when generative AI creates synthetic performers, and California may soon follow New York's lead. Marketers who act now on transparency could reduce compliance risk and build consumer trust before regulation tightens further.
Event Recaps
Chief Brand Officer Keynote: Why Marketing Must Inspire Growth
At the 2026 ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference, Michael Fanuele, chief brand officer at Shake Shack, argued that marketing's growth challenges stem less from operational inefficiencies and more from a lack of inspiration. He explained why passion, emotion, creativity, and bold ambition remain essential for driving business results.
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AI and Generative AI in Marketing
How has the rapid development of artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, affected marketing and brands?
B2B Sales and Marketing Alignment
How can I align my marketing and sales departments to improve leads and revenue?
Generative/Answer Engine Optimization (GEO/AEO)
How can brands optimize their search strategy for the best AI-powered results?
How Maybelline Changed the Face of Beauty for Asian Americans
Maybelline New York’s Face the Difference campaign, launched during Asian Pacific American (AAPI) Heritage Month, set a new benchmark for inclusive beauty marketing by authentically engaging the AANHPI community through cultural storytelling, strategic partnerships, and co-creation.
Sprite Transforms Its "Obey Your Thirst" Campaign with a Fresh Spokeswoman
The beverage brand sought to appeal to African Americans through a partnership with track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson.
Western Union’s Appeal to South Asian, Filipino, and Jamaican Communities
The campaign highlighted the brand’s emotional role in facilitating remittances in culturally specific ways.
Corona’s Beach Upgrades Empower First-Time Visitors with Disabilities
Corona launched Accessing Paradise to make Canadian beaches more inclusive for people with mobility impairments, combining accessibility upgrades with community engagement and environmental responsibility to expand access to nature.
RECAP: Global CMO Growth Council Leadership Forum from Cannes, 2026
The Global CMO Growth Council convened one of its most consequential forums to date — bringing together someof the world's leading CMOs withleadership from the ANA, 4A's, and IAB. The forum covered Growth Council progress across its core working teams, as well as focusing on critical growth areas including Commerce Media, Marketing Talent, and AI Leadership.
Enterprise Growth Architecture 2.0: Beyond Marketing
Based on 500+ interviews and thousands of investor calls, this report makes the case that CMO skills — understanding people, building trust, reading organizational context — are exactly what businesses need to drive growth now. Produced in collaboration with Growth Council contributor - the Institute for Real Growth (IRG).
Winning as a B2B Brand in the Age of Gen AI Search
B2B marketers are facing a defining inflection point: as generative AI search reshapes how buyers discover, evaluate, and trust brands, the playbook that worked yesterday is no longer enough. This presentation tackles the two most pressing questions CMOs are asking right now: how do we get cited in AI search results as click-through rates plummet, and how do we build authentic human connection when AI is the mediator?
Chief Brand Officer Keynote: Why Marketing Must Inspire Growth
At the 2026 ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference, Michael Fanuele, chief brand officer at Shake Shack, argued that marketing's growth challenges stem less from operational inefficiencies and more from a lack of inspiration. He explained why passion, emotion, creativity, and bold ambition remain essential for driving business results.
Client/Agency Relationships: Authenticity or Opportunism?
New research presented by Joanne Davis, Pat McLean, and Pete Lempert revealed significant perception gaps between agencies, marketers, and procurement teams. The findings show how differing experiences around agency reviews, feedback, communications, and relationship transitions create friction — and highlight opportunities for stronger, more transparent partnerships.
Elevating Brand as a Driver of Enterprise Value
At the 2026 ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference, Alfred DuPuy and Laurence Newell of Brand Finance presented a framework for quantifying brand value and translating marketing investments into financial terms. Their session demonstrated how strong brands drive customer preference, revenue growth, profitability, lower financing costs, and long-term shareholder value.
Beyond the Framework
Only 3 percent of B2B organizations have achieved full brand-to-demand integration, yet those further along report up to 208 percent more marketing-generated revenue. New research and case studies from the 2026 ANA Brand-to-Demand Conference reveal what separates leaders from the field — and why the gap may be widening.
Long Live the World Cup Mascots
The FIFA cycle of introducing and retiring World Cup mascots may be undermining one of marketing's most powerful tools: sustained character familiarity. Brands that treat mascots as long-term narrative assets — not single-tournament props — could build the emotional depth that drives lasting recognition.
Kid-Powered, Parent-Approved: How Gen Alpha Is Rewriting the Path to Purchase
Collage Group’s 2026 Gen Alpha study explores how the traditional purchase funnel has evolved into a dynamic, non-linear system shaped by kids, parents, and culture. Drawing on survey data of households with children ages 6–13, the research highlights how Gen Alpha drives discovery, co-creation, and influence, while parents act as filters of trust and value.
From Dull to Distinctive: What Every Marketer Can Learn from the Categories That Get Emotion Right
More than 50 percent of ads generate zero emotional response, and System1's new research reveals which categories get feeling right — and why. The findings could reshape how B2B and B2C marketers approach creative strategy.
CTV's Share of TV Consumption, 2025
IRIS.TV and Upwave share Nielsen data that quantifies CTV’s share of TV viewership relative to broadcast and cable TV.
Marketers’ Uses of AI in 2025, by the Numbers
The ANA shares survey findings from its “Impact Pulse” report that illuminate the popularity of different AI use cases among marketers.
ROI by Media Channel, 2025
The ANA shares findings from its “Impact Pulse” report that quantify the average ROI of various marketing channels, including direct mail, email, paid search, social media, and digital display advertising.
Where Legal Definitions of "Sensitive Data" Are Trending
Agility Lab Consulting charts the changes that statutory definitions of “sensitive data” have undergone in the last several years.
ABM Account Plan Canvas 2026
Use our ABM Key Account Plan Canvas to create a simple, one-page action plan for each of your target accounts.
ABM Buying Committee Diagram
Use our ABM Buying Committee Diagram to build an organizational chart of the buying committee at one of your target accounts.
ABM Campaign Plan and Checklist
Use our ABM Campaign Planning Tool to plan and execute successful ABM campaigns.
State of the Multicultural Marketing Function
The purpose of this study is to establish a baseline understanding of how organizations currently structure, staff, fund, measure, and govern these efforts. By examining where multicultural marketing resides within organizations, we can better understand how companies are translating growth opportunities into organizational commitment.
The 2026 Marketing Capabilities Framework: A Human-Centered Skills Blueprint for the AI-Enabled Era
In the ANA's updated 2026 Marketing Capabilities Framework, marketing leaders make one thing clear: AI is transforming how marketing work gets done, not the core capabilities that drive growth. The framework identifies the skills rising in importance, the capabilities becoming foundational, and the human strengths that will define successful marketers in the AI-enabled era.
Inclusive Marketing Excellence: Award-Winning Case Studies — Volume 2
Multicultural communities are not niche segments. They are shaping culture, commerce, and the future of brand building. The ANA has built a broader ecosystem of alliances, research initiatives, benchmarking studies, and industry collaborations designed to help marketers better connect with growth audiences and build stronger brands and businesses.
Training Takeaways
Get smarter at a glance with career-critical insights drawn from expert-led trainings.
Eight Tips for Aligning MarTech with Strategy
Integrating marketing technology (MarTech) with marketing strategies is the deliberate alignment of your technology resources with your marketing objectives and the specific actions planned to accomplish those objectives. To achieve this integration, consider eight tips, drawn from the ANA’s on-demand training course, “Introduction to MarTech.”
Four Tips for Discovering and Distilling the Insights Necessary for a MarTech Assessment
Learn how to uncover your organization’s MarTech needs and challenges while aligning with key stakeholders.
Four Tips for an Effective MarTech Business Case
Learn the four key communication objectives, which, if followed, will give your MarTech business case clarity and earn it a receptive audience.
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