Consumers want less digital, more real world from brands in 2026

Consumers want less digital, more real world from brands in 2026

Marketers in 2026 face two priorities: bring back real-world brand experiences and get ready for AI-led discovery, according to the “Signals from the Stage” report from the ANA Masters of Marketing Conference.  These strategic tensions reflect a rapidly shifting consumer landscape shaped by digital fatigue, rising expectations for personalization and growing reliance on AI agents …

Is your martech evaluation process still stuck in a pre-AI world?

Is your martech evaluation process still stuck in a pre-AI world?

Your martech vendor evaluation process doesn’t work anymore—not because it lacks rigor, but because it’s rooted in outdated assumptions about the market, the tools and your needs. The martech landscape has exploded beyond what anyone can reasonably evaluate, and every tool in it claims AI capabilities. Your email platform promises AI-powered subject line optimization. Your …

Why evergreen content expires faster in an AI search world — and what to do about it

Why evergreen content expires faster in an AI search world — and what to do about it

Your best-performing article from last year just disappeared from ChatGPT’s results. The one that took three weeks to research, ranked in the top three for your core keyword and drove 40% of your demo requests last quarter. A competitor published something similar two weeks ago. Now their post shows up in AI-generated answers. Yours doesn’t …

How MOps and CreativeOps can align to unlock operational excellence

How MOps and CreativeOps can align to unlock operational excellence

Creative and marketing operations are essential to how in-house teams function. Both roles exist to increase effectiveness and efficiency so teams can deliver greater impact more consistently and with measurable accountability. But rigid org structures and low-collaboration habits often separate these functions into silos that create duplicate work, slower campaigns and missed insights. These teams …

7 no-code AI tools marketers can build today to boost productivity and engagement

7 no-code AI tools marketers can build today to boost productivity and engagement

In MarTech’s “MarTechBot explains it all” feature, we pose a question about marketing to our very own MarTechBot, which is trained on the MarTech website archives and has access to the broader internet. Question: What are some simple AI tools marketers can build today without coding — and how can they make daily work easier? …

The real story behind Cracker Barrel’s rebrand — and why it matters for B2B brands

The real story behind Cracker Barrel’s rebrand — and why it matters for B2B brands

Now that the dust has settled, the branding agency fired and the old brand restored, it’s a good time to look at what really happened with the rebranding of Cracker Barrel — something the mainstream media largely overlooked. Let’s start with the firing of the agency behind the rebrand. Prophet — founded by Scott Galloway …

Marketers navigating low consumer confidence amid high holiday sales

Marketers navigating low consumer confidence amid high holiday sales

This holiday season, marketers are staring down a paradox that’s hard to ignore: Consumers are feeling cautious, cutting back and worried about affording gifts — yet total retail sales are expected to hit an all-time high. On the one hand, sentiment surveys paint a picture of a financially strained shopper. Nearly half of Americans (47%) …

Most marketers think consumers like AI, few consumers agree.

Most marketers think consumers like AI, few consumers agree.

MarTechCharts regularly highlights data of interest to marketers and marketing operations professionals. There is an enormous disconnect between marketers’ perceptions of AI’s impact on customer experience and how consumers actually experience it. According to Invoca’s “B2C AI Marketing Impact” report, 86% of marketers believe AI is enhancing the customer journey, only 35% of consumers agree. …