Data + Privacy
How Vanity Metrics Stole Marketing’s Credibility – And How CMOs Can Get It Back
Vanity metrics have been a sugar rush for marketers for nearly two decades, but they’re ultimately unsatisfying. Clicks, likes, page views and time-on-site may look impressive on a dashboard or great in a deck, but they rarely correlate to true success where it matters: revenue, growth and long-term business performance. These surface-level metrics give a […]
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Research
Study: Enterprise B2B Marketers Focusing More on Financial Metrics and Efficiency
Enterprise B2B marketers are now emphasizing revenue-focused KPIs over vanity metrics such as clickthrough rates and lead volume, according to a study from B2B marketing specialist 2X and management consultancy Avasant.
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Data & Analytics
McKinsey Growth Survey Spotlights CMO-CEO Disconnect on Metrics Tied to Business Outcomes
We sat down with McKinsey & Co. partner Robert Tas to discuss the report findings, reasons for the CMO-CEO disconnect, how successful companies are handling customer growth and the biggest lessons for CMOs moving forward.
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Data-Driven Thinking
The Death Of The DSP? How Ad Tech’s Cash Flow Crisis Threatens The Entire Ecosystem
Programmatic advertising is experiencing a dramatic shift. Conversational and agentic AI are here, and their effects are already being felt. Microsoft announced the shuttering of its DSP in May, stating that the current DSP model no longer aligns with its AI-powered priorities. As ad tech barrels toward automation, companies of all sizes along the supply […]
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Data-Driven Thinking
Fresh Meat: Cannes Lion Festival In Retrospect From An Industry Novice
Early last Wednesday evening, I found myself in a closed courtyard off the Croisette in Cannes at an exclusive event co-hosted by a publisher and a tech company. Who am I and why was I there? I’m just a dude with a passion for interesting tech accompanying my girlfriend as she navigates her industry’s largest […]
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The Big Story
Why The FTC Tied The Omnicom-IPG Merger To Brand Safety
The FTC approved the Omnicom-IPG merger, but with a brand-safety caveat: The agencies cannot create agency-level blocklists of any media that’s political or ideological. With Ad Fontes CEO Vanessa Otero, we unpack the consent order’s ramifications.
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Data-Driven Thinking
Cannes Lions 2025: A New Era Of Tech-Enabled Creativity And Collaboration
In 2025, the Cannes Lions festival entered its third era of creativity. The first era focused on the creative itself: the work that inspires consumers to change their behavior. Then media entered the mix, and the creativity tent grew to include how publishers, platforms and brands cultivate consumer engagement. This year, it was clear that […]
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The Big Story
The Human Cannes
From Cannes Lions, our editorial team discusses the mix of perspectives on the ad industry’s application of AI: the opportunity, the hesitation and the predictions of how it will disrupt marketing.
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Data-Driven Thinking
Retail Media’s Growing Pains: How To Push For Transparency Before The Bubble Bursts
We’ve seen this movie before. A new tech-fueled, transformative business opportunity emerges; irrational exuberance takes over; and the bubble ultimately bursts. This is what happened 25 years ago with the dot.com era and then, much less spectacularly, with the programmatic, personalized digital advertising era and its poster boy for bad behavior, retargeting. When it comes […]
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Branding/Marketing
Survey: Marketers Addressing Tariff Flux with Value Messaging, Pricing Transparency
In response to the continuing changes and uncertainty regarding tariffs, marketers are amending their strategies and tactics, focusing more on highlighting value and cutting spend on non-digital channels.
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Data-Driven Thinking
Pivot, Don’t Panic: How Smart CMOs Turn Market Volatility Into Growth
In times of economic uncertainty, marketing budgets are often the first target for cost-cutting. Nearly half of marketers now report feeling significantly less optimistic about the US economy compared to the previous quarter, reflecting heightened anxiety across industries. Yet, indiscriminate cuts can undermine long-term strategic goals and may ultimately cost businesses far more than they […]
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