Digiday

Some brands, particularly small businesses, are laying off customer service agents or scaling back outsourced call center contracts in favor of AI chatbots. In this piece by Allison Smith, we speak to Greg Shugar of Beau Ties of Vermont, Puneet Mehta of Netomi, Luke Barkley Young of OUTLINES, Jake Kalick of Made In, Lisa Popovici of Siena AI, and Brandon Thurgood. https://lnkd.in/ety2Tnzp

Generative AI tools promise economies of scale for small creative agency teams. Good news for indie shops struggling to find some breathing room on the bottom line – until clients begin expecting those savings to be passed along. In this piece by Sam Bradley, we speak to Lucinda Peniston-Baines and Christine Downton of The Observatory International, Jonathan Healey of IDHL, Mike Hayward of Copacino Fujikado, Hannah Hattie Matthews of Uncharted, and Gati Desai Curtis of Elite Media. https://lnkd.in/eq5ZyyHq

Google's recent claim that AI Overviews is good for publishers struck a nerve. But platforms often use this playbook. Here's a guide on how to spot the spin. Story by Seb Joseph and Sara Guaglione. https://lnkd.in/ecDMUqKW

The Trade Desk posted Q2 revenues of $694 million, up 19% year-on-year, beating analysts’ earlier expectations, with The Trade Desk also naming a new chief financial officer, Alex Kayyal, and board member Omar Tawakol. Story by Ronan Shields. https://lnkd.in/emHiZGuX

Meta’s Superintelligence is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s latest vision: AI that surpasses human cognitive ability. Advertisers say it’s already being touted in conversations with their Meta reps. In this piece by Krystal Scanlon, we speak to Shamsul Chowdhury of Jellyfish, and Jack Johnston of Tinuiti. https://lnkd.in/e72jtN7p

Sunglass Hut is betting on streaming TV ads to drive reach and increase traffic. One of its latest campaigns drove people to its stores through special localized QR codes. In this piece by Julia Waldow, we speak to Matt Wasserlauf of Blockboard, and Tony Marlow of LG Ad Solutions. https://lnkd.in/e6TS6pcN

In the AI era, there's a new MVP in the room. Publishers are hiring execs for the role of the AI negotiator to strike deals with platforms -- not just for revenue, but for survival. In this piece by Sara Guaglione, we speak to Matt Prohaska of Prohaska Consulting, and Samrat Sharma of PwC. https://lnkd.in/ec9MpXSD

It’s no secret that the creator economy has hit critical mass. Advertisers are getting more specific in their asks — whether it be more meticulous metrics or carefully curated creators — to have more control over their influencer partnerships and content creator deals. Brands are turning to creator-generated content (CGC) as a means to solve for some of this. Think of it as another factor in the already fragmented influencer marketing landscape. In this piece by Kimeko McCoy, we speak to Krishna Subramanian of Captiv8, and Danielle Wiley of Sway Group. https://lnkd.in/exyMJUXF

Sure, there’s gloom and doom if you want to go looking for it. But there’s also reasons to be cheerful (well, cautiously optimistic) about the ad economy. In this piece by Sam Bradley, we speak to Tom Swierczewski of Goodway Group, Taji Zaminasli, and Brian Wieser, CFA. https://lnkd.in/e2KH9jMC