Latest Marketing & Advertising News
BIA Increases 2026 Local Ad Forecast to $184.5 Billion
BIA Advisory Services revised its U.S. Local Advertising Forecast upward, projecting total local ad revenue to reach $184.5 billion, reflecting approximately 8.1% year-over-year growth compared with 2025. The increase is driven by stronger-than-expected performance in mobile, social, video, streaming, political ad spend, and advertising technology, while traditional media remains essential for scale and credibility
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AT&T Launches 'Connection' Campaign at Masters Tournament
West BBDO created AT&T's latest 'Connection' campaign running April 9-12 during the Masters tournament, featuring nine spots plus a Spanish-language version. The campaign introduces Ted as AT&T's new ambassador and highlights the importance of human interaction, with ads running across TV, online video, digital pre-roll, and YouTube
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DigiMarCon Silicon Valley 2026 Returns to San Francisco
DigiMarCon Silicon Valley will return June 16-17, 2026, at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Hotel, uniting marketers, brands, and agencies to explore AI, marketing automation, and digital growth strategies. The event features high-impact keynotes, master classes, and expert-led panels with both in-person and online attendance options
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Media Fusion and Marketing Worldwide Execute AI-Driven Media Platform LOI
Media Fusion Inc. and Marketing Worldwide Corp. (OTC: MWWC) executed a Letter of Intent on April 9, 2026, to integrate Media Fusion's global media business into MWWC's public platform. The transaction positions MWWC as an active operating global media company with reach of 900 million TV households, 3 billion digital consumers, and 850+ FAST and streaming channels, powered by AI-driven advertising systems
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Dentsu Report Links Video Attention to Long-Term Brand Growth
Dentsu's 'The Brand Reset' report, developed with Kantar and Lumen Research, establishes the link between attention, brand equity, and sales outcomes across next-gen video platforms and linear TV. The research reveals that a single exposure to video advertising can contribute to a 1%-5% sales increase over three years, and that quality of attention matters more than duration beyond 20 seconds
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TikTok Integrates with Wix for SMB Ecommerce Brands
TikTok announced a new global integration with cloud-based website builder Wix, allowing small and medium-sized ecommerce brands to connect their digital storefronts directly to TikTok for Business. The integration enables brands to create, manage, and optimize ad campaigns in one unified space, with early results showing a 19% boost in incremental events and 15% boost in CPA for advertisers
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Marketing Measurement Confidence Falters as Budgets Climb
According to Haus' 2026 Marketing Decision Confidence Index, although 9 in 10 marketers say marketing drives growth, just half measure what leads to better outcomes. 78% of decision-makers believe at least 10% of marketing spend is wasted due to insufficient measurement, with one-third concerned about reliability and conflicting data across channels
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Incrementality Testing Emerges as Most Trusted Measurement Solution
Incrementality testing is trusted by 60% of marketing decision-makers as the most reliable measurement solution, significantly ahead of media mix modeling (40%) and multi-touch attribution (37%). The fragmentation of measurement solutions across firms continues to create data access challenges and undermines marketers' confidence in their metrics
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Brands Redirect Investments Toward Reliable Digital Channels
Marketing measurement uncertainty is leading brands to significantly increase investments on Google Search, TikTok, YouTube, and Meta, channels they consider more reliable and easier to measure. This shift reflects marketers' efforts to improve campaign attribution and reduce wasted spend in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape
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Connected TV Achieves Parity with Linear TV for Brand Building
Dentsu's research demonstrates that connected TV has the power to build brands on par with linear TV, reflecting how audience behavior has fundamentally changed. The finding challenges long-standing assumptions about the supremacy of linear television and highlights the importance of video quality across multiple platforms
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Digital Video Formats Deliver Multi-Year Brand-Building Effects
The Brand Reset report reveals that digital video, including short-form content, delivers multi-year brand-building effects comparable to traditional linear TV. Voluntary attention—when viewers choose to watch an ad rather than skip it after two seconds—works harder than forced attention and produces greater brand-building outcomes
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