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The GRADIENT: Why Taste Is the New Moat

Hanaé Sanchez grapples with dual heritage in a delirious film and accompanying zine

Hanaé Sanchez finds it hard to describe herself, but as she put together a multi-disciplinary diptych project, which is composed of a short film and a zine, she realised that her identity, background and art were deeply intertwined. After completing her A-Levels and a foundation year in fine art in France, she studied moving image

How To Amplify And Measure Executive Voice For Real ROI

In this series (here and here), I’ve covered why founder-led marketing works and the systems you need to stay consistent, based on the playbook I co-authored for LinkedIn (my employer). You’ve built the content engine and the operational frameworks to avoid burnout. Now comes the final, most critical part: proving it works. Your founder provides

Google to auto-link YouTube channels and Google Ads accounts

Google is set to begin automatically linking YouTube channels with Google Ads accounts when its systems detect what it calls a “high-confidence connection” between the two. The move is aimed at reducing setup friction and expanding access to YouTube audience data — but it also raises new questions around control and transparency. What’s changing:If Google

KPop Demon Hunters finally gets the art book it deserves (and it’s free to read online!)

KPop Demon Hunters has been a massive hit for Netflix, becoming the most streamed movie on the platform and demonstrating a huge appetite for animation among adults. It certainly has us excited for a revival of animation in 2026. Even Netflix was surprised by the success of Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhan’s movie, and it’s

The Behaviors And Mindset Of Marketers Who Win With Performance Max

Performance Max (like the more upper-funnel Demand Gen) is different enough from other Google Ads campaigns that it requires a different approach, even if the underlying search behavior and marketing principles are the same as they’ve always been. For what it’s worth, Performance Max is typically not the first campaign to launch in any account.

It’s time to bring back guerrilla marketing

Marketers need to stop playing by the rules and start writing new ones, grounded in cultural relevance, creativity and authenticity. Source

Studio Helmo’s experimental poster designs for Jazzdor festival have been compiled into a book

It’s quite a rare joy to see a studio build a continuous body of work for a single client over multiple decades, but that’s exactly what Studio Helmo, the french graphic design duo consisting of Thomas Couderc and Clément Vauchez, have done. For over 20 years they’ve headed up the visual identity surrounding Jazzdor, a

Google’s Mueller Questions Need For LLM-Only Markdown Pages

Google Search Advocate John Mueller has pushed back on the idea of building separate Markdown or JSON pages just for large language models (LLMs), saying he doesn’t see why LLMs would need pages that no one else sees. The discussion started when Lily Ray asked on Bluesky about “creating separate markdown / JSON pages for

Instacart tripled its smart cart store count this year

Instacart’s smart carts are in triple the number of stores this year than they were in 2024, the company told Modern Retail. The carts, called Caper Carts, are now deployed in 100 cities in 15 states and more than a dozen retailer banners, according to Instacart. In the U.S., that includes nearly 20% of Wakefern

Save $100 on PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro, but which should you buy?

Black Friday has finally delivered the PlayStation deals we’ve been waiting for, and at the top of the pile is the PS5 Digital Edition with $110 off at Walmart, now at its lowest-ever price. If you’ve held off upgrading from PS4, this is the moment: it’s the cheapest route into Sony’s current-gen console, giving you

Paid Ad Scheduling Across Time Zones That Actually Works

Scheduling ads in Google or Microsoft Ads sounds simple until you realize how many hours you’re wasting showing them at the wrong time. A campaign that performs well in one market might fall flat in another, not because your targeting or creative is off, but because of when your ads appear. Managing time zones is

Heading Into the Holiday Season, Apple and Samsung Are Winning the Wearables Market by a Longshot

Heading into the biggest shopping season of the year, expect wearable tech to be a top gift item. It’s quickly becoming a glutted field. Just this year, Meta launched AI glasses with Ray-Ban, Whoop rolled out two new wearable devices, and Oura introduced a ceramic smart ring. These companies face a steep upward climb as

Has judging a book by its cover gone too far?

It begins with her reading the book – fiction cover to cover, and non-fiction dipping in and out, letting images and questions come to mind in the hopes of finding a natural starting point (Na does know of some designers who don’t read the book and still do an “amazing” job). But, she says: “I

The Impact AI Is Having On The Marketing Ecosystem

I’m not someone who’s drunk much of the AI Kool Aid. I have sipped it. Swilled it around my mouth like you would an 1869 Château Lafite Rothschild. But I’ve seen enough cult documentaries to know you should spit it back into the glass. Do I love the opportunities it’s provided me in a work

Most AI agents fail without data and governance maturity

Every vendor right now is selling a version of the same dream: AI agents that automate campaign execution, write content, optimize performance and orchestrate entire workflows while you sleep. Marketing leaders are buying in fast, but there’s a problem. According to Gartner’s 2025 survey of martech leaders, 81% are piloting or actively using AI agents.

Save up to 57% on 3D printing powerhouses like Bambu Lab, Creality and Anycubic

Georgia has worked on Creative Bloq since 2018, and has been the site’s Editor since 2023. With a specialism in branding and design, Georgia is also Programme Director of CB’s award scheme – the Brand Impact Awards. As well as immersing herself with the industry through attending events like Adobe Max and the D&AD Awards

ChatGPT Gets Shopping & What Drives AI Citations

Welcome to the week’s Pulse: updates affect how product discovery works, what drives visibility in ChatGPT, and how background assets impact Core Web Vitals. OpenAI launched shopping research in ChatGPT, SE Ranking published the largest study yet on ChatGPT citation factors, and Google’s John Mueller clarified that background video loading won’t hurt SEO if content

Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot overtakes Sainsbury’s as the most recognised Xmas ad, study finds

Burberry is scoring highest for ad empathy despite low recognition scores, according to Ipsos data. Source

Jo Iijima’s graphic design works are cosmic swirls of moving image and blended brand identities

“Ever since I landed on Earth, I’ve known words to be limiting,” says Jo Iijima, a graphic designer and creative based in New York City. “Visuals, however, speak to me in infinite ways.” Through design, Jo layers cultures, colours and typography that go beyond mere language and dimension – and it shows. His brand identity,

Google’s Mueller Says Sites In A ‘Bad State’ May Need To Start Over

Google’s John Mueller says sites with low-quality AI content should rethink their purpose rather than manually rewrite pages. Starting fresh may be faster than recovering. Manually rewriting AI content doesn’t automatically restore a site’s value or authenticity Mueller recommends treating recovery as starting over with no content, not as a page-by-page editing task Recovering from

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