Editor's Picks for ANA Magazine

Marketing measurement is fracturing under the weight of fragmented data, artificial intelligence-driven search, and the collapse of third-party cookies. New approaches — from marketing mix modeling to incrementality testing — may reshape how brands prove their value to the C-suite.

Fan engagement is moving off the field as brands chase audiences through social media, docuseries, and multiyear athlete deals. Shifting sports consumption habits may be reshaping how marketers reach — and retain — younger and female fans.

Creator budgets are surging and AI is reshaping how brands reach audiences, putting digital strategy under pressure. Marketers may need to rethink platform relationships and brand clarity to stay competitive.

Marketers sharpen data governance to build trust, improve AI performance, and adapt to fast-changing privacy expectations and attribution models.

The challenge for brand managers will only get more pronounced as AI pervades a growing number of aspects of marketing, and advertising and consumers sharpen their antenna for content they view with a jaundiced eye.

It's a window into the not-too-distant future of marketing. No dashboards. No manual switches, prompts, or interventions. Systems speak and act almost entirely on their own, thanks to machine-to-machine, which is poised to change how marketers strategize, plan, and measure their ad campaigns.

Gen Zers are increasingly informing brand marketing strategy, with their spending power expected to grow to $12 trillion by 2030. The challenge is how to connect with gen Zers, the first cohort of digital natives who are skeptical of traditional advertising and — despite an insatiable appetite for digital content — remain elusive consumers.

Despite recent fluctuations, marketing jobs are fundamentally changing amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). The best marketing job candidates for the AI era demonstrate not just curiosity, but impatience, marked by a burning desire to experiment and pursue projects without handholding.

While immensely popular with consumers, gaming commands less than 5 percent of global media spending. That's starting to change, as brands like Jack in the Box, Jägermeister, and Lowe's ramp up their investments in the sector either by creating their own online venue or partnering with big gaming platforms.

Search engines fueled by artificial intelligence, or zero-click search, are starting to eclipse traditional search. That's leading marketers to reevaluate their search engine optimization strategy from keyword-stuffing to context-crafting.

Generative engine optimization (GEO), a digital marketing strategy centered on ensuring a brand's name is featured in the top answers provided by platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and other large language models, is starting to accelerate throughout the marketing and ad sector.

Social media continues to be a critical marketing channel for SMBs, yet many companies struggle with creating enough content to feed the maw and measure ROI effectively. To close the gap, SMBs are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence (AI), which can spur content creation and personalize messaging, new surveys reveal.

Justin Thomas-Copeland, who was recently named CEO of the 4As, says the ad agencies best positioned to thrive in the current climate are flexible, fast, and have a large window into their clients' business.

Account-based marketing (ABM) has been a tough sell in the past few years. But the tide may be turning, with 87 percent of marketers saying they expect their organization's ABM budget to increase in the next 12 months, with an average bump of 9 percent, per a recent study.

The dizzying number of influencers, creators, and media channels now available to marketers — combined with the rise of generative artificial intelligence — is altering not only how branded ads are produced, but also how many.

Less than three years after AI-based ChatGPT launched, spurring dramatic change throughout the marketing and advertising field, large language models (LLMs) are taking marketing operations to yet another level.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banning red dye No. 3 and recommending more detailed food and alcohol labeling underscores several questions for marketers. Namely, should brands be more proactive and opt for greater transparency about health concerns associated with their products?

Regardless of its fate in the U.S., TikTok has spawned the "TikTokification" of digital content, in which advertisers are on the hook to produce short, punchy, and often irreverent content to appeal to gen Zers and other younger demos.

Brand spokescharacters are having a renaissance as companies scramble to fuel engagement in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Whether it's enduring spokescharacters, such as the Green Giant and the Kool-Aid Man, or edgier mascots, including the Duolingo owl, brand mascots not only fuel engagement but provide some levity to consumers and additional opportunities for integrated marketing.

Despite ample lead time, many brands remain ill-prepared for the European Accessibility Act, which goes into effect on June 28, 2025. Those marketers who haven't already started may need to enhance their websites and algorithms to comply with the comprehensive new law and cater to people with disabilities.