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Gartner's CMO spending survey shows that AI remains a top priority for marketing executives, but insufficient infrastructure and budgets constrain scaling efforts. 70% of CMOs rank AI leadership as a key goal for 2026, with only 30% believing their organizations have the necessary infrastructure. Marketing budgets account for 7.8% of company revenue, roughly flat compared to 7.7% in 2025, but AI-optimized organizations average an 8.9% revenue share.
Since becoming Papa Johns Chief Marketing Officer in November 2024, Jenna Bromberg has driven a series of initiatives to enhance brand cultural relevance. This week, the brand announced a global collaboration with Disney and Pixar for Toy Story 5, spanning over 40 countries, featuring three collectible packaging boxes, character-inspired recipes, and the AI ordering assistant Lou AI. In an interview, Bromberg elaborated on the collaboration details, loyalty programs, value differentiation, marketing cooperatives, and the role of new agency Leo Chicago.
In a high-stakes turnaround plan led by CEO Michael Fiddelke, Target is pressing the 'reset button' on its creator strategy. Chief Digital and Revenue Officer Sarah Travis told Marketing Dive that the company has terminated its 2023 affiliate creator program, replacing it with a dual-track approach: LTK-powered Target Ambassadors (launched May 1) and Club Target for small and mid-sized creators (ending its pilot this week). The move aims to address challenges from the rise of social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop and the company's consecutive sales declines. Travis emphasized that Target is mentioned in user-generated content over 50,000 times daily and is the most-followed warehouse retailer on TikTok, calling social commerce 'one of the biggest shifts in retail in a generation.'
DoorDash launched a multi-channel advertising campaign ahead of Mother's Day on May 10, including spoof reality show content of 'Real Moms in Group Chats' and animated meme ads, and partnered with brands like Ulta Beauty to offer discounts. The campaign spans Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, aiming to convey the emotional value of a supportive community among moms.
As marketing budgets continue to flow into the creator economy, Nestlé is integrating CreatorIQ and CreativeX platforms to establish a more rigorous process for converting creator content into ads across its thousands of products. The integration uses AI to score creator-submitted content for brand suitability, ensuring quality control before media placement, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and accelerate production cycles.
On April 30, Claire's announced the launch of its ASMR-themed summer campaign, "A Girl SMR at Claire's," targeting Gen Alpha and showcasing its new brand mission of celebrating girlhood. The campaign includes a summer sensory store product line, in-store ASMR recording stations, and partnerships with Coverstar and VidCon.
Expedia announced a global partnership with renowned streamer IShowSpeed, aiming to attract more Gen Z travelers. The collaboration kicks off with a multi-island Caribbean cruise, featuring a 12-hour marathon livestream, a dedicated interactive website Exspeedia.com, and subsequent North American city itineraries. Natalie Wills, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing at Expedia, stated that this initiative aims to combine travel inspiration with real-time creator content, aligning with the industry trend of creator marketing as a core media channel.
VaynerX announces the establishment of a new agency, Tamara Group, led by CEO Ryan Harwood, dedicated to helping brands enhance content production capacity in the attention economy dominated by platforms like YouTube and TikTok. The agency merges publishing and creative strategies with a production-first core philosophy, with initial clients including Ulta Beauty, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, Hisense, Method, and PetSmart.
Celsius kicked off a new marketing campaign on Monday, releasing a 30-second commercial titled "The Surge" to promote the limited-edition Electric Vibe flavor and reinterpreting its brand slogan as "Live. Fit. Goal.", aiming to integrate sports, music, and cultural elements ahead of the World Cup.
'The Devil Wears Prada 2' is set to release on May 1st, with an expected opening weekend box office of $66 million. Since the project's inception two years ago, Disney has partnered with over a dozen brands across beauty, beverages, technology, and other sectors, creating a marketing ecosystem aligned with the film's world through joint advertising, digital extensions, and offline experiences.