Emily Gallagher

AI can generate hundreds of ideas, produce countless variations of an ad, and churn out storyboards in a matter of seconds. But speed and abundance do not produce work that connects with people.

Some 69% of US consumers plan to use AI while shopping this holiday season, according to Impact. Finding deals, comparing prices, and summarizing promotions tied as the top use cases. Shoppers also plan to use AI for product recommendations, review summaries, and local inventory checks.

For years, marketers have concentrated resources on two questions: Where do consumers spend their time, and where do they spend their money? AI product recommendations add a third: Where do large language models (LLMs) get the information that shapes what they recommend?

Article by Emily Gallagher Oct 7, 2026 Retailers and marketers are putting more money behind experiential activations tied to Halloween.

Article by Emily Gallagher Oct 12, 2026 Commerce media has spent years riding a wave of new advertising dollars.

Block, parent company of Square, Cash App, Afterpay, and Tidal, partnered with ecommerce relevance technology company Rokt to deliver personalized offers at checkout. The partnership has evolved from a single-product integration into a model for scaling partnerships across multiple business units while maintaining customer experience quality.

The limited shelf life of Halloween raises the stakes. Seasonal campaigns don't have months to turn awareness into consideration and eventual purchase. The path from creator content to checkout needs to be easy to follow, for consumers and marketers alike.

Teaming up with "The Real Housewives of New York City" alum Dorinda Medley, the beauty brand launched an early-morning party at NYC's Smiley Coffee in January 2026, complete with music, dancing, and the brand's caffeine-infused eye cream. At a panel during Advertising Week New York (AWNY), executives from e.l.f. Beauty and creative agency SHADOW discussed how they identify cultural moments worth participating in and turn them into campaigns that reflect the brand's identity.

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Article by Emily Gallagher Oct 20, 2026 Health problems are a serious matter, but for people living with such conditions, humor can make difficult conversations easier to endure.