Secure your place at the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Nashville, March 2-4
DIGIDAY+ MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
‘Comment sections are not customers’: American Eagle brings back Sydney Sweeney amid celebrity push
Anatomy of how brands like American Eagle decide whether cultural backlash is noise — or a business threat.
Media
WTF is Markdown for AI agents?
AI systems prefer structured formats or APIs to ingest and surface content more efficiently. And “markdown” has quickly become the common language used by AI systems and agents.
From feeds to streets: How mega influencer Haley Baylee is diversifying beyond platform algorithms
Kalil is partnering with LinkNYC to take her social media content into the real world and the streets of NYC.
‘A brand trip’: How the creator economy showed up at this year’s Super Bowl
Super Bowl 2026 had more on-the-ground brand activations and creator participation than ever, showcasing how it’s become a massive IRL moment for the creator economy.
Marketing
‘Being very careful’: Weeks after unveiling ad plans, OpenAI works to control the message
A month into its ad strategy, OpenAI tries to balance growth and trust.
Future of Marketing Briefing: AI’s branding problem is why marketers keep it off the label
The reputational downside is clearer than the branding upside, which makes discretion the safer strategy.
While holdcos build ‘death stars of content,’ indie creative agencies take alternative routes
Indie agencies and the holding company sector were once bound together. The Super Bowl and WPP’s latest remodeling plans show they’re heading in different directions.
Future of TV
Future of TV Briefing: CTV identity matches are usually wrong
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at a Truthset study showing the error rate for matches between IP and deterministic IDs like email addresses can exceed 84%.
Future of TV Briefing: How AI agents prime TV advertising for ‘premium automation’
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how agentic AI can enable TV networks to automate the sales of complex linear TV ad packages.
Inside NBCUniversal’s test to use AI agents to sell ads against a live NFL game
NBCUniversal’s Ryan McConville joined the Digiday Podcast to break down the mechanics of the company’s first-of-its-kind agentic AI ad sales test.
Media Buying
Why brands are shifting toward ‘less precise, more accurate’ gauges for paid social
AI modeling and an understanding that there’s more to life than the last click are changing the way clients evaluate paid social investments.
Media Buying Briefing: Attivo breathes new life into Hill Holliday and DNY with senior media hires
Ex-Mediacom execs Sasha Savic and Anush Prabhu will lead Attivo’s expanded U.S. agencies, with a combination of tech and expanded media offerings.
Canadian indie Salt XC expands its U.S. presence with purchase of Craft & Commerce
Less than a year after buying Nectar First, an AI-driven specialist, Salt XC has expanded its full-service media offerings with the purchase of Craft and Commerce.
Annual research reports
Podcasts
Research
Clarins, the 72-year-old French heritage cosmetics brand, has found a sweet spot between AI-powered technology and in-person customer service. In 2025, it quietly launched a beta test called Clarins AI Shade Finder developed in collaboration with IlluminateAI, a Silicon Valley deep-tech start up that emerged from stealth in August of last year. Thanks to its success, Clarins is now rolling out the advisor-assisted tech to 200 locations.
Clarins, the 72-year-old French heritage cosmetics brand, has found a sweet spot between AI-powered technology and in-person customer service. In 2025, it quietly launched a beta test called Clarins AI Shade Finder developed in collaboration with IlluminateAI, a Silicon Valley deep-tech start up that emerged from stealth in August of last year. Thanks to its success, Clarins is now rolling out the advisor-assisted tech to 200 locations.
While last year saw the collapse of chains like Joann and Rite Aid, 2026 is expected to be a brighter year in retail as store openings accelerate.
While last year saw the collapse of chains like Joann and Rite Aid, 2026 is expected to be a brighter year in retail as store openings accelerate.