In 2026 and beyond, audience segments will reshuffle; media channels will converge; paths to purchase will shorten; and AI will optimize everything. Media planning requires a long-term view and full-funnel integration. The rules of media planning rewrite themselves every quarter: Consumer behaviors shift overnight; new platforms emerge while established channels merge and transform; AI-powered optimization tools promise to automate what once took teams of analysts weeks to accomplish. But here's what stays constant: the need for strategic, data-informed media planning that connects brands with audiences across the entire customer journey. At Exverus by Brainlabs, we've spent 12 years refining our approach to full-funnel media planning for growth-stage, culture-creating brands. Here's what demonstrably works. Table of Contents What is media planning? Elements of a full-funnel media plan Brand vs. performance media Omnichannel marketing Example of award-winning campaign Measurement & attribution FAQs about media planning & buying Learn tested-and-proven methods of media planning and buying for outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. What is media planning? Media planning is the strategic process of determining where, when, and how to deliver marketing messages to target audiences. It's about making informed decisions on channel selection, budget allocation, timing, and creative deployment to achieve specific business objectives. Think of it as the blueprint for your marketing investment. A strong media plan answers critical questions, like: Which channels will reach your ideal customers most efficiently? How should budget be distributed across awareness, consideration, and conversion tactics? What frequency and timing will maximize impact without wasting spend? How can we build creative, unique activations that stand out from our competition? Media placement choices aren't guesses; they're based on surgically precise audience data points gathered from multiple sources. What elements does a full-funnel media plan need? Budget, Timing, and Scope of Work Category background / business challenge. What problem are we solving for? Objectives. What specific campaign key performance indicators (KPIs) are we working toward, and how will they solve our business challenge? Insights. Define the target audience(s). Gather competitive insights. What media does the target audience consume? What research can inform our strategy? Strategy. What will be the key elements of our plan? How will we space out activations throughout the given timeframe? How will paid media collaborate with earned media, owned content, and other agencies? Execution. Make the idea come to life! Monitor performance and adjust in real time. Measurement. What are the results? Did we meet our KPIs? Did our KPIs accurately align with business goals? What did we learn for the next campaign? Timing Considerations Media planning is a marathon, not a sprint When times are tight, many marketers feel the pressure to close the sale and place a disproportionate emphasis on short-term performance metrics -- that's understandable! But be careful not to lose sight of your long-term brand equity. While the immediate ROI metrics can look attractive and seem to reinforce this approach, we caution marketers not to get short-sighted and overlook the importance of long-term brand-building. This mistake is called short-termism. Short-termism is the marketing fallacy of focusing too heavily on acquiring new customers and activating sales, at the expense of building long-term customer retention and loyalty. The most successful media strategies balance immediate performance goals with long-term brand building. Track leading indicators that signal future performance, not just lagging metrics that report yesterday's results. Invest in understanding how different tactics work together over time, not just in isolation. 'Always-on' vs. Spend spikes Being consistent with your brand media spend over time is imperative. But being evergreen isn’t simply doing the same thing all year — it’s about adapting to consumer behavior and business cycles so the brand remains relevant off-season. A “set-it-and-forget-it” media campaign that simply repeats the same content or messaging all year can get stale. Audiences’ needs, contexts, and attentional bandwidth change throughout the year; what worked during a product-launch window or seasonal peak may not resonate mid-year. Constant presence without variation can erode brand identity, rather than reinforce it. Brands and their media teams should lean on data-driven signals and adjust the strategy in real time by shifting budgets, pivoting messaging, or launching new offerings. Balance tentpole moments (for brand-building impact) with strategic always-on presence in high-intent channels (retail media, search) and advanced measurement (brand lift studies, multi-touch attribution, incrementality testing) to see the strongest results. Example: This plan depicts paid media running throughout the campaign timeline but mixing up the formats and spend levels around tentpole moments. Brand vs. Performance Media Combine brand and performance under one scientific brain The old divide between brand and performance marketing is quickly dissolving, but the tension between immediate results and long-term value creation remains. Smart media planning finds the right balance for your specific business context. Performance marketing delivers measurable, trackable results. Direct response tactics drive immediate conversions, generate leads, and produce clear ROI metrics. These campaigns justify their existence through attribution models and conversion tracking. Brand marketing builds mental availability and emotional connections that compound over time. It creates the conditions for efficient performance marketing by reducing friction in the purchase decision. Strong brands enjoy higher conversion rates, lower customer acquisition costs, and greater pricing power. But these benefits often appear months or years after the initial investment. The optimal brand-performance mix depends on several factors: your market position product category customer lifetime value (CLV) purchase frequency, and competitive intensity. New brands typically need heavier brand investment to build awareness and consideration. Established players might shift more budget toward performance tactics that convert existing demand. Unfortunately, most brands underinvest in brand building. They over-index on performance tactics because the results are visible and immediate, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that slowly erodes long-term growth potential. The metrics look good quarter over quarter, but customer acquisition costs creep up and market share stagnates. Click to learn real case studies of brands that built equity effectively vs. those that didn't. The solution isn't abandoning performance marketing. It's integrating brand and performance tactics into a unified, full-funnel approach where upper-funnel brand activities amplify lower-funnel conversion efficiency. Test different budget allocations. Measure impact across multiple time horizons. Find the mix that balances short-term results with sustainable long-term growth. The age of AI product discovery and agentic buying demands an integrated, full-funnel strategy. Here's how to build it. Omnichannel marketing: New paths to purchase The linear marketing funnel is dead. Modern consumers don't follow predictable paths from awareness to consideration to purchase. They zigzag across channels, devices, and touchpoints in patterns that seem chaotic but reveal underlying logic when you know where to look. Someone might discover your brand through a podcast ad, research options on their phone during lunch, compare features on a desktop at work, and finally purchase on a tablet at home three weeks later. Or they might see social ads for months, ignore them completely, then convert immediately after receiving a promotional email. The variations are endless. Omnichannel media planning acknowledges this complexity. Instead of forcing customers into predetermined funnels, it creates multiple paths to purchase across interconnected touchpoints. Different channels play different roles for different customers at different moments. Click to learn several new models for mapping consumer behavior that evolve beyond the linear funnel. Omnichannel media planning requires several capabilities: Consistent messaging across channels. Adapt creative to each platform's format and context while maintaining brand coherence. Cross-channel measurement. Track customer journeys across touchpoints rather than evaluating each channel in isolation. Flexible budget allocation. Shift resources toward channels and tactics proving most effective for specific customer segments. Media channel convergence accelerates these needs Social media is becoming social commerce. Streaming TV ads are now shoppable CTV. AI Chatbots are the new search engines Social and Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are now discovery hubs The boundaries between awareness, consideration, and conversion channels blur as platforms compete to own entire customer journeys. For 2026, expect paths to purchase to shorten as channels become more integrated and AI-powered personalization becomes more sophisticated. Example of award-winning omnichannel media campaign Exverus by Brainlabs' "Premier Nutrition: Winning Prime Day" campaign was awarded a WARC Effectiveness Award for Best Path to Purchase in 2024. The campaign demonstrated ingenious tactics for successfully bridging social media with e-commerce, making Premier Protein shakes one of the top-selling items on Amazon for 3 years in a row! Learn more below: Measurement & Attribution They say, "What gets measured gets managed," but measuring full-funnel media effectiveness remains one of marketing's hardest problems: attribution models break down in omnichannel environments; privacy regulations limit tracking capabilities; platform-provided metrics serve platform interests more than advertiser needs. Effective measurement requires a multi-layered approach that combines different methodologies to build a complete picture of media performance. No single metric or model tells the whole story. Start with business fundamentals. Revenue, customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), market share of voice (SOV). These north-star metrics connect media activity to actual business outcomes. They should anchor all other measurement efforts. Impressions and CPMs are just vanity metrics. Learn to track your paid media investment's real impact on overall business growth. Layer in channel-specific performance metrics. Click-through rates, view-through rates, engagement metrics, conversion rates. These tactical indicators help optimize individual campaigns and placements. But resist the temptation to over-optimize channel metrics at the expense of business outcomes. Add incrementality testing to understand true causal impact. Geo-tests, holdout groups, and controlled experiments reveal which tactics actually drive incremental results versus simply capturing existing demand. This is where you separate correlation from causation. Here's an example: We ran a clean incrementality study in the 2026 Gotta Habit campaign, isolating our media as the causal driver. Click to learn more. Implement marketing mix modeling to understand how different tactics work together and inform strategic budget allocation. These statistical models analyze historical performance across all channels to quantify each tactic's contribution and interaction effects. Learn how AI powers MMM for comprehensive looks at campaign results, plus when to use MMM vs. MTA (multi-touch attribution). Complement quantitative measurement with qualitative insights. Brand tracking studies, customer surveys, and market research provide context that numbers alone can't capture. They explain the why behind the what. Brand lift studies are a scientific approach to measuring your upper-funnel media's impact on real business demand creation. The measurement environment will continue evolving throughout 2026. Privacy-focused attribution models, AI-powered analytics, and cross-platform measurement solutions promise to improve data quality and insight generation. But the fundamentals won't change. Great measurement requires clear business objectives, rigorous methodology, and honest assessment of both successes and failures. FAQs about media planning and buying How much should I budget for media planning? Media budgets vary widely based on: company size industry growth stage competitive intensity As a general framework, B2C companies typically invest 5-15% of revenue in marketing, with media representing the largest portion. B2B companies often spend 2-10% of revenue. High-growth startups may invest 20-40% or more to capture market share. Work backward from your customer acquisition cost targets and lifetime value to determine sustainable spending levels. Which media channels should I advertise on in 2026? Media channel selection depends entirely on where your target audiences spend time and how they make purchase decisions. That said, several channels show particular strength heading into 2026: Digital Advertising Channels Retail media networks for driving sales, even for non-CPG brands Connected TV (CTV) and Digital Audio for reaching broad audiences Influencer / Creator partnerships for trust-building Paid Search and Social for capturing high-intent demand The way to differentiate from what all your competitors are already doing (especially if you don't have the budget to outspend them) is to think outside the box and build creative campaigns that stick in people's minds better than a digital ad. Experiential Marketing Campaigns Gen Z shoppers have been skipping digital ads since they were born. They grew up in a world where social media and technology are ubiquitous, making it harder for traditional advertisements to capture their attention. Experiential marketing is about creating immersive experiences that engage consumers on a deeper level. Photo Credit: Habit Burger & Grill / Yum! Brands. Click to learn how Habit embedded itself into Los Angeles culture by joining Dodger Stadium and becoming a home base for fans. Contests & Sweepstakes Get your target audience engaged and excited, rather than passively consuming ads they likely won't recall later. Contests and sweepstakes with enticing incentives get people involved and emotionally invested in your brand more deeply than with your competition. Here's an example of an Adweek award-winning contest campaign we ran for former client Stella & Chewy's: Click to read more about how this massively effective campaign worked! How do I prove media ROI to C-suite executives? Connect media activities directly to business outcomes using clear attribution and incrementality testing. Report in business language (revenue, customer acquisition, market share) rather than marketing jargon (impressions, reach, engagement). Show both short-term performance and long-term brand building impact. Use control groups and holdout testing to demonstrate causation, not just correlation. Be honest about measurement limitations and uncertainty rather than overstating confidence in attribution. Is it cheaper to hire a media agency or buy media in-house? The right model depends on your resources, expertise, and strategic priorities: In-house teams offer greater control, brand intimacy, and agility. Agencies provide specialized expertise, cross-client insights, and scalable capacity. Many successful brands use a hybrid approach: in-house strategists and planners who set direction and manage performance, with agency partners providing specialized capabilities in areas like creative production, platform expertise, and advanced analytics. Learn more here. How often should we revise our media plan? Media strategies should be revisited quarterly at minimum, with major strategic reviews annually aligned to business planning cycles. Tactical optimizations happen continuously, with real-time adjustments daily or weekly and always-on refinements monthly. The key is distinguishing between strategic pivots (which require careful consideration and cross-functional alignment) and tactical adjustments (which can happen quickly based on performance data). Don't confuse motion with progress by constantly changing strategy without giving tactics time to work. Learn why media plans need time to accumulate growth, like an investment account, rather than day trade. What role does AI play in media planning? AI excels at tactical optimization, pattern recognition, and processing large datasets. It can: predict performance personalize creative, and identify audience segments at scales impossible for human teams. But AI doesn't replace strategic thinking. Humans still need to set objectives, define brand positioning, understand market dynamics, and make judgment calls that require business context. As a Brainlabs agency, we operate under a philosophy of Real Intelligence - the optimal blend of artificial and human intelligence that enables brands to connect directly with consumers. Using Brainlabs' proprietary Cortex AI system, we bring the most cutting-edge technologies to growth-stage brands worldwide. Ready to build a full-funnel media strategy that delivers results? At Exverus by Brainlabs, we combine strategic planning, data-driven optimization, and cross-channel expertise to help brands navigate the complexity of modern media. Let's talk! For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter here. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Efficiency KPIs aren't bad, but efficiency without effectiveness is just cheap media. If you've been measuring marketing and advertising campaigns by the same media metrics for several years — or if your analytics docs still have Google+ goals — it's time for an update. With data coming in from so many different channels and sources simultaneously, understanding the true impact of your media campaigns can be tricky. The goal of most ad campaigns is to drive sales, so the number of clicks or video views is inadequate if they don't lead to actual conversions. Why traditional marketing metrics fall short Traditional metrics like clicks, impressions, and view completion rates are now just distractions. ROAS and last-click metrics can be misleading because they capture a narrow slice of the journey, often overstating the role of addressable channels and understating long-term brand impact. This doesn't mean traditional marketing metrics are wholly meaningless. Clicks, impressions, and views are still indicators of reach and engagement, which do play a role in building brand awareness and nurturing customer relationships. But they should be complemented by advanced measurement strategies that provide a more in-depth understanding of your campaign's true impact on sales and overall business success. Traditional upper-funnel metrics like impressions and cost-per-mille (CPM) have served as foundational measurements in digital advertising, but they suffer from several key limitations: Measure potential exposure rather than actual engagement Don't account for viewability or attention quality Provide no insight into brand perception changes Can be artificially inflated by bot traffic and fraudulent activity Click to learn best practices for baking brand equity into your media planning & measurement from the outset. The hidden cost of efficiency as a KPI Efficiency feels fiscally responsible, but in media planning, it's often a trap. When marketers prioritize efficiency — CPMs, CPCs, lowest-cost reach — they often end up cutting quality. They end up with cheaper impressions, lower-impact placements, and less relevance; which means wasted budget. Efficiency isn't bad — but efficiency without effectiveness is just cheap media. It's tempting to optimize for what's easiest to measure instead of what actually grows the business. But, as WARC data proves out, performance marketing alone costs more in the long run because the brand becomes less memorable, creating the dreaded "doom loop." How can attention metrics improve your paid media campaigns, and are they worth the cost? Set SMART goals for all your media campaigns That trusty old mnemonic still holds water when it comes to planning your paid media campaigns for the upcoming quarter or fiscal year: Specific — Exactly what is your business objective? What specific marketing objectives will ladder up to it? What actionable items will you take to fulfill those objectives, and why? Measurable — If it gets measured, it gets managed. Determine the appropriate KPIs for each tactic and gather industry benchmarks so you know if your strategies are effective or not. Achievable — Are your goals realistic? It's good to aim high, but unrealistic goals set you up for unnecessarily negative results. Look at historical data and competitor analyses. Relevant — Will your campaign ideas effectively serve your short-term and long-term business goals? Are your metrics measuring the right variable? Time-Bound — Set clear parameters around the timing of your campaigns and check in midway. Measure short-term KPIs earlier and long-term KPIs later. When it comes to advertising, focusing too closely on short-term gains is like day trading — the quick returns might grab headlines, but they usually lack staying power. Sustainable business growth requires pairing performance with building brand equity, brick by brick, just like you'd invest in a retirement account. Establish KPIs for each touchpoint in the journey By choosing the right KPIs for each channel in your media campaign, you can evaluate whether your paid media investments are paying off and how to optimize them going forward. Top of Funnel — Brand lift, visibility, & attention metrics Brand awareness, consideration, and purchase intent Brand preference and message association Active attention time and viewability duration Scroll velocity, audio engagement, interactive events Note: Raw impressions and CPMs still have a role, but must be paired with quality signals. Brand lift studies illuminate the full sales impact of your performance media. Mid Funnel — Engagement & consideration metrics Average time on page, pages per session, video completion rates (VCR) Social media shares and saves MQLs, email engagement rates, newsletter subscription retention AI chatbot or calculator usage, sample/demo requests, wishlist additions Media (or marketing) mix modeling tracks the compounded effect of each channel down the funnel to long-term business growth. Lower Funnel — Conversion & revenue metrics Conversion rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC), ROAS Customer lifetime value (CLV) — the often-overlooked imperative A closer look: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) The total revenue a business can expect from a customer throughout their entire relationship, minus the costs of acquiring and serving them. Think of it as calculating the long-term profitability of a customer relationship instead of focusing on one-time transactions. Gather marketing benchmarks for comparison To establish your campaign benchmarks, look at trusted third-party sources. Good metrics and benchmarks should derive from: Historical Data. Analyze past performance trends to set a baseline for future expectations. Your own data is always the most relevant starting point. Industry-Wide Data. Understand where you stand compared to competitors. Sources like EMARKETER, Nielsen, Numerator, and Statista publish reliable benchmarks by industry. Platform-Specific Benchmarks. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and other media channels offer their own sets of benchmarks so you know what performance is typical in those environments. Partner/Vendor Guidelines. Useful, but remember there may be a conflict of interest — vendors often aim to portray high performance. Triangulate against independent sources. Media mix modeling or multi-touch attribution? Both serve important purposes. Learn which is best for analyzing your media campaign. Analyze and report The marketing benchmark analysis cycle begins with regular performance reviews where teams assess current metrics against industry standards using executive dashboards and team scorecards. During these reviews, conduct gap analysis to identify variances from benchmarks, which should be documented in structured variance reports. Use trend identification to spot patterns over time, displaying these in trend analysis reports that help contextualize current performance. Finally, translate insights into resource allocation and action planning, supported by ROI assessments and budget impact reports — creating a continuous feedback loop where reporting directly informs the next round of analysis and decision-making. At Exverus, we hold quarterly health checks with all our clients and provide quarterly business reports (QBRs) so they know exactly how their ad spend is performing. We're agile and nimble enough to quickly pivot or reallocate budget as needed mid-campaign. Exverus VP of Analytics Joshua Edelman contributed his expertise to this 2026 EMARKTER report about the state of MMM adoption. What is dual cadence measurement? CTR, ROAS, and CPM fluctuate constantly due to seasonality, creative fatigue, platform changes, and broader market dynamics. Most weekly swings are not strategy signals — they're media metrics noise. The metrics that actually indicate future revenue operate on a longer cycle: brand equity, consideration, share of voice. These are quarterly by design. Brand lift, MMM, and awareness tracking need time to become directional. Across our client base, we regularly see weekly signals contradict what longer-term measurement proves, so teams end up cutting the very investments that drive growth! The answer is to have two separate measurement tracks running; that's the dual cadence: Weekly check-ins for pacing and delivery, spend efficiency, creative signals, early indicators of issues Quarterly reports for brand lift and awareness, share of voice, CAC trends, MMM and incrementality Assign each KPI a timeline before launch - define what decisions it informs and when it will be read. And make brand health non-negotiable. Include at least one forward-looking metric in every QBR — awareness, consideration, or brand lift. Learn tested-and-proven methods of media planning and buying for outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. Translate media metrics for the C-Suite Media still gets misread by the C-suite. Most media strategies are presented in terms marketers understand: impressions, reach, CPMs. But CFOs and CEOs speak a different language - one of margin, revenue, market share, and risk. Smart marketers know this and adapt. They frame media in business terms, not marketing metrics. They tie campaigns to top-line goals. And they get more buy-in, bigger budgets, and better results because of it. For your next executive presentation, rewrite one slide to frame media performance in C-suite terms. Replace a ROAS metric with an incrementality or brand lift metric. See what happens! Advanced measurement strategies may not guarantee a successful campaign, but they provide a more nuanced understanding of ad performance; and that nuance separates brands that grow from brands that guess. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Where smart media buyers are spending in podcasts, radio, video, & gaming Key Takeaways: Audio ad spend is failing to keep pace with listening time, with US adults averaging 2 hours 44 minutes of daily audio consumption per EMARKETER — creating a competitive opening for brands willing to move budget into audio before the space gets crowded. Gen Z listening behavior is platform-agnostic and multi-device, favoring YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music simultaneously, which means single-platform audio strategies are no longer sufficient to reach this audience. Spotify and Apple Music are integrating technology to let podcast creators publish video once across both platforms with unified monetization, reshaping the video podcast landscape by tier and potentially offering lower CPMs on emerging shows versus YouTube's established creator base. Audio advertising is expanding beyond traditional formats into retail media networks (like Lowe's in-store audio) and non-intrusive in-game placements, giving brands new contextually relevant touchpoints at the moment of purchase intent or during gameplay. Learn tested and proven methods of outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. The audio consumption vs. ad spend gap We've been sounding the alarm on the value of Audio Ads for years: Audio taps into a deep, built-in trust between listener and host/artist Reaches precisely targeted audiences by interest, location, demographic Provides detailed analytics from radio, streaming, or podcast platforms But fresh data from EMARKETER shows that Audio ad spend is not growing nearly as fast as actual listening time is - US adults now spend an average of 2 hours 44 minutes listening to audio content per day! That's a huge competitive gap your brand could fill. This gap is your competitive advantage. While most brands sleep on audio, listeners are there—engaged, in personal moments, every single day. If you can move budget into audio while the landscape is still less crowded, you're ahead. Why podcasts, streaming ads, and programmatic audio are essential marketing channels; and how to buy them efficiently. What is Gen Z is listening to these days? Gen Z's audio habits are rapidly shifting as streaming, social discovery, and multitasking reshape engagement. They're not behaving like older cohorts. Gen Z particularly loves YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music for discovering new music and listening to (or watching) their favorite podcasts—and they listen everywhere they go. This matters because it's not just about podcasts or music anymore. For Gen Z, the format is almost irrelevant; the behavior is "always on, across multiple devices." If your target is Gen Z, single-platform plays won't cut it. You need to show up wherever they're listening—which increasingly means video format, not audio-only. Source: EMARKETER Video podcast wars: Spotify vs. Apple vs. YouTube YouTube has been steadily rising as the world's top media platform for video podcasts (aka vodcasts) for its powerful algorithm, ad targeting, and social promotion capabilities; but creators had to upload separately to YouTube, manage different revenue streams, and deal with separate analytics. So, Spotify & Apple Music have teamed up to tune it out. Spotify is integrating Apple's technology to let creators publish video once and reach both platforms simultaneously, with unified monetization starting later this year. This removes friction for smaller and mid-tier shows, which are likely to consolidate around the Apple-Spotify ecosystem because the barriers are now lower. What this means for your audio strategy: The video podcast landscape is fragmenting by creator tier. Emerging partner programs on Spotify and Apple will have different reach profiles than established YouTube channels—and potentially lower CPMs as creators are still building audiences there. If you're targeting emerging voices or specific communities, these partnerships might offer better unit economics than YouTube's established creator base. The ubiquitous video platform is now America's #1 home for podcasts. Learn how your brand can benefit from its reach, engagement, and loyalty. What's new in audio advertising integrations? Audio is converging with other channels to create entirely new opportunities for brands. Two groundbreaking developments are reshaping the way we think about digital audio advertising: Retail media gets a soundtrack The retail media revolution has found its voice – literally. Lowe's introduction of in-store audio advertising to its retail media network (RMN) marks a significant evolution in the space. This innovation allows brands to reach shoppers at the precise moment of decision-making, creating a direct line of communication when purchase intent is at its peak. Imagine if customer browsing the tools section could hear a strategically timed message about your premium paint brand. These contextually relevant audio messages can influence purchasing decisions in real-time, adding a powerful new dimension to retail media strategies. Early tests have shown promising results, with brands reporting increased consideration and sales lift from these targeted in-store audio campaigns. We foresee more RMNs to follow the example in the future! Exverus' Sean Edwards spoke at MediaPost Live about how we successfully promoted an Entertainment brand via Audio Ads In-game audio is non-intrusive Gaming audio advertising (think mobile games) is also maturing. Rather than interrupting gameplay with video ads, audio messages play seamlessly in the background. This respects the user experience while maintaining high engagement rates – a win-win for both brands and gamers. How brands can adapt their omnichannel commerce strategies to meet consumers everywhere Actionable steps for brands in 2026 1. Seek podcast partners in the Spotify Partner Program Don't assume all podcast ad buys are equal. Advertisers can seek podcast partners enrolled in the Spotify Partner Program. Compare reach, CPMs, and conversion rates before reallocating material budget. Let data, not speculation, determine the split. The shift toward easier cross-platform distribution means partner networks are solidifying now. Lock in early if you find the right shows. 2. Consider a partner like iHeartMedia for a unified buy If you're looking for reach at scale, iHeartMedia owns both terrestrial radio and hundreds of digital podcasts—all in one central buying platform. They have a new partnership with TikTok creators, too, which opens up Gen Z distribution without fragmentation. Digital streaming may dominate music and podcasts, but AM/FM radio is still king for news and sports. Learn how to build it into a high-performing, full-funnel media plan. 3. Don't discount AM/FM Radio Radio captured an impressive 64% of ad-supported audio listening time among US adults in Q2 2025, per Edison Research, beating podcasts and streaming for time spent. If your brand's audience includes anyone outside the 18-34 bracket, radio deserves budget. Cost-per-impression is often lower than podcasts, and reach is enormous. At Exverus, we’re passionate about helping brands navigate these emerging channels to drive measurable results. Let’s explore how audio could amplify your next paid media campaign in 2026 and beyond. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Your consumers are never without their phones, so make buying your brand a breeze. Here are a few tips for winning at mobile commerce. Real quick, do you have your phone nearby? I do! Your future customers do, too. We’re all tethered to our mobile devices these days, making them one of the most effective ways to reach your target consumers. In fact, Statista reports that the majority of retail website traffic now comes from mobile devices! That means countless opportunities to reach shoppers in a purchasing mindset and persuade them to choose your brand. Smart advertising campaigns are no longer conceptualized and then later “optimized for mobile” – they’re built with mobile in mind. What is m-commerce, and how does it differ from e-commerce? Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) is a subset of e-commerce that specifically uses wireless or handheld electronic devices for buying and selling goods and services online. M-commerce can take place in a mobile web browser or in an app, and it allows for payment via digital wallet or contactless payment in addition to manual credit card data entry. According to Adobe Analytics, 56.4% of U.S. online holiday transactions in 2025 were completed on a smartphone, up from 54.5% the year before. That means brands need to build their e-commerce stores with mobile in mind from the start and make mobile shopping as seamless as possible, or they'll lose out to the competition. What are some popular mobile advertising formats? Mobile advertising refers to any form of digital advertising that appears within a mobile or handheld device. The creative possibilities are endless, but a few of the most impactful forms include: Display (or Banner) Ads Display ads must be designed for mobile users, which means eye-catching designs and interactive user experiences. Our award-winning mobile marketing campaigns have included rich media, tappable location maps that guide people to physical stores, and fun AR filters that consumers love adding to their photos. Native Ads Most of us are primed to visually recognize and skip over advertisements that stand out from the content we're looking at. Native ads blend in with the surrounding content so viewers will read them without disruption. Audio & Video Ads Video ads are extremely effective on mobile devices because they combine two forms of attention: sound and motion. They provide an opportunity to convey your brand's personality through creative visuals and sonic branding. Audio is a highly trustworthy, memorable medium with less competition from other brands than crowded platforms like Social. Click for Lexi's comprehensive guide to buying media on YouTube Augmented Reality As mentioned above, AR-infused ads can make your brand stand out from the stream of static and video ads, especially for apparel and home goods. Customers want to see how items will look in their space before purchasing, and with AR tech, you can give them the visuals they need to make a decision in real time. Branded App In your own proprietary, controlled environment, consumers (current and future) can shop, get advice, and access new releases instantly. Give app users access to exclusive community deals that make them feel like part of an in-group. 58% of shoppers say an exclusive offer would increase their likelihood to purchase. 82% say it would increase how often they shopped with a brand. Gamification Turning a digital ad into a quick, fun puzzle or quiz increases user engagement exponentially. What's even better: offering a reward for ad engagement or offering purchase credits for in-app game participation can build long-term customer loyalty. Learn how we drove over 1 million app downloads in 3 months for "The Chosen" Again, the possibilities for successful m-commerce campaigns stretch as far as your imagination. Gather a healthy sample of consumer data so you know who your audience is and what they want, and you can build an impactful campaign that serves your consumer well. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

We made Premier Protein the top-selling item on Prime Big Deals Day twice - but how could we hold onto our top spot in 2025? The Challenge Premier Protein (PP) had been a category leader in the past, but in 2025, our market position was in real danger. The protein craze in America brought a stampede of challengers nipping at our heels; marketing budgets were being slashed across the board, and brand loyalty was at an all-time low among Millennial and Gen Z consumers. The old playbook wouldn’t work anymore - we needed to think of something truly innovative if we were going to win without increasing budgets. From July-September 2025, we were challenged with staving off the competition, driving immediate sales, and refreshing the PP brand’s image with a new logo and seven new product launches. Instead of replicating old tactics, we tested new ones. Our media plan had three main objectives across the funnel, each with distinct KPIs: Build Equity: Lift overall brand awareness among target audience +7pts or more Test Social Reach innovation, aiming for 10% more efficient video views than concurrent Meta campaign Increase July’s Prime Day sales by at least 20% YoY We targeted everyday health enthusiasts and fitness-seekers, plus GLP-1 users in need of daily protein. The Social Reach Solution Paid Social had always been a strong mid-funnel performer for PP, but in a year when TikTok’s future in the US hung in the balance, and global social media use plateaued, we couldn’t rely on social platforms’ off-the-shelf tools – we invented new ones. Exverus VP of Planning & Strategy Tasha Day oversaw the campaign build, and VP of Performance Marketing Hillary Bram pioneered an adtech collaboration: We partnered with video ad-tech provider SeenThis to develop a first-to-market ad unit called Social Reach, which takes a brand’s existing vertical video assets and spreads them across SSP PubMatic’s premium open web Display slots. This would deliver our top-performing social videos beyond the walled gardens with lightning-fast speed, using adaptive streaming technology. If it worked, it could exponentially increase our reach at no additional creative cost. Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest would run as part of a larger, omnichannel plan that included CTV, Audio, Search, and Retail Media. Results When it came time for quarterly reports, the halo effect created by our social-centered strategy blew us away. Exverus VP of Performance Marketing Hillary Bram initiated the partnership with SeenThis to develop Social Reach at no additional production cost. Our Social Reach test achieved 3.3MM more completed video views than the Meta Ads running during the same period, at half the cost of Meta’s benchmark ($0.03 per click vs. $0.06) - in other words, Social Reach outperformed Meta by 50% efficiency! At the bottom of the funnel, July’s Prime Day campaign delivered exceptional results, achieving a remarkable +31% increase in daily sales average compared to 2024 and an impressive 4.85x return on incremental investment. These outstanding results underscore the power of coordinated paid media strategies during high-stakes retail events. And yes, Numerator confirmed Premier Protein shakes were the #1 selling product on Prime Day for a third straight year! For more media tips, campaign case studies, and industry analyses; subscribe to our free Paid Media Insights newsletter here.

Exverus by Brainlabs launched a sprawling, upper-funnel media play in just three weeks Exverus by Brainlabs is spreading Club Pilates' message of inclusivity and belonging with a broad-reach brand awareness campaign. OCTOBER 7, 2025 (LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Club Pilates, the largest network of Pilates studios globally, launched its first national brand campaign from independent creative agency Zambezi and media agency Exverus by Brainlabs. "Pilates for Every Body" is running paid media across Broadcast, CTV, Social, Search, Audio and Out-of-Home; as featured in LBB Online. Club Pilates is an exciting account win for Exverus by Brainlabs, adding to its robust roster of CPG / health and wellness brands like Premier Protein & Dymatize, Theralogix supplements, and Habit Burger & Grill. The "Pilates for Every Body" campaign balances two goals: reassert Club Pilates' leading spot in the market by utilizing wide-reaching media to build brand salience, and re-engage consumers in the consideration stage with personalized, addressable media at scale. "Our communications framework is built around the message that people of all types can incorporate pilates into their fitness routine for physical and mental health," says Exverus Media Director Vanessa Pinzon. "We're scaling that message while making individuals feel seen and spoken to directly." As Pilates becomes more popular, it's being swept into a fast-paced, filtered fitness culture—one that celebrates aesthetics over authenticity. But as the century-old practice takes off into the pop-culture stratosphere alongside a prevailing image of the ideal body, Club Pilates and Zambezi reinforce the true power of Pilates, a practice built on strength, healing and accessibility. The “Every Body Club Pilates” campaign sends a pointed message that Pilates is intended for everybody, no matter their age, body type, or activity level. “Since 2007, we’ve opened our doors to all bodies, all ages, and all abilities—whether you’re just starting out in Pilates, new to movement or simply seeking strength,” said Amanda Croce, Chief Marketing Officer at Club Pilates. “We believe the practice isn’t about looking a certain way—it’s about feeling better, moving better, and belonging.” The campaign debuts today during The View where it will continue to run through the end of the year, in addition to Good Morning America, GMA3, and General Hospital. About Exverus by Brainlabs Founded in 2014, Exverus by Brainlabs is a global, independent media agency building growth-stage brands through full-funnel media planning, traditional and programmatic advertising, retail media & e-commerce, paid search, paid social, and analytics. Our data-driven media plans combine precise market research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus by Brainlabs is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust. Learn more at exverus.com. About Club Pilates Founded in 2007, Club Pilates is the largest Pilates brand by number of studios, designed with the vision of making Pilates more accessible, approachable and welcoming to everyone. Based in Irvine, CA, Club Pilates has appeared in both Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 and Fastest-Growing Franchises nine years running, Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 lists multiple times, and was honored with Forbes’ Best Customer Service Award. Club Pilates offers extensive training certification for its instructors, including its 500-hour training program. Club Pilates is headquartered in Irvine, CA and part of the Xponential Fitness family of brands, a leading curator of boutique health and wellness brands. To learn more about Club Pilates, visit https://www.clubpilates.com. For more media buying tips, agency news, and case studies, subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.

We don't do this work for the trophies. But when an industry as demanding as media planning stops to say this campaign was something special, we're not going to pretend it doesn't mean something. So, we're proud to share that Exverus by Brainlabs has been named a winner of the 2026 MediaPost Planning & Buying Award in the Pharma/Health/Wellness Thercategory for our "Wellness Women Can Trust" campaign on behalf of client Theralogix. The award was presented at the annual MediaPost Planning & Buying Awards ceremony on April 15, 2026, at The University Club in New York City. The Brief: Do More With Less Theralogix has been developing rigorously tested, affordable nutritional supplements — focused on fertility, uterine health, and menstrual regularity — since 2002. The brand deserves to be found. The challenge in Q2 2025 was that women searching for health information online were drowning in conflicting, often misleading advice. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, women's health remains severely underresearched, and declining public trust in institutions since the COVID pandemic has made it harder than ever for science-backed brands to cut through the noise. Our mandate was aggressive: improve Social ROAS by a minimum of 50% quarter-over-quarter, launch Google Performance Max at a $3 ROAS, and grow overall brand sales at least 10% year-over-year. The twist? We had 18% less media budget than Q1 to do it. Congratulations to Media Director Georgia Schreiner (2023 AdAge Media Planner of the Year), Senior Media Planner Jillian Telman, and every specialist across search, social, programmatic, analytics, and ad ops who made "Wellness Women Can Trust" a campaign worthy of that name. The Strategy: Full-Funnel, High-Precision This is exactly the kind of brief that makes our team lean in. Rather than chasing reach with a scatter-shot approach, we built a precision media plan anchored in audience intelligence — reaching the right women with the right message at the right moment in their health journey. According to EMARKETER, search behavior is being fundamentally redefined by generational shifts. Social platforms today aren't just discovery channels; they're search engines and points-of-sale simultaneously. We built a media plan that treated them that way, diversifying across social commerce, search, programmatic, and emerging channels to maintain a balance between brand building and performance without sacrificing either. Learn more about how to reach digital-savvy consumers everywhere they search and shorten the path to purchase. The Results: Unprecedented Performance In three months, the numbers didn't just hit targets. They redefined them: Meta ROAS more than doubled quarter-over-quarter ($4.66 → $9.77) TikTok Search ROAS surged 293% Google PMAX generated $107K from 1,217 new customers at a 4.3 ROAS, clearing the $3 objective Web traffic grew 20% while cost-per-view dropped 3.55%, despite the smaller budget Overall purchases rose 18%, ROAS lifted 21%, and annual sales grew 19.5% YoY — nearly double the goal The bottom line: In one quarter, with less money, Exverus delivered 19.5% year-over-year sales growth for Theralogix — nearly double the target — by building a diversified, full-funnel media plan that met women where they actually search, discover, and buy. What this means for our clients This win (our latest in a long line that includes 8 Adweek Media Plan of the Year awards, 3 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year honors, and 3 Cannes Lions finalist recognitions) reflects the talent of the entire team who brought this campaign to life. For our clients, it's a signal of something more important than hardware: it means the thinking, tools, and team we bring to every engagement are being measured against the best in the industry — and coming out on top. Most importantly, we helped real women find a supplement brand that actually delivers on its promises. That's the work that matters. Exverus Senior Manager of PR & Communications Michelle Andrade accepted the award onsite on behalf of the media planning & buying teams. Frequently Asked Questions What is media planning? Media planning is the strategic process of determining where, when, how, and to whom a brand's advertising should appear across paid channels — from paid social and programmatic display to search, native, streaming, and beyond. Done well, it's not a logistics exercise. It's a creative act: one that requires deep audience insight, disciplined data analysis, and the ability to connect the right message to the right person at the right moment in their decision journey. Learn how growth-stage brands can outsmart the sleeping giants with smaller budgets but bigger ideas. What is the MediaPost Planning & Buying Award? The MediaPost Planning & Buying Awards are an annual competition recognizing excellence in media strategy, planning, and buying across categories including social media, performance media, native marketing, and health/wellness. The awards are based on the belief that the process of planning and buying media is as creative and impactful as traditional advertising creative development. Exverus by Brainlabs won the Pharma/Health/Wellness category at the 2026 Awards for the "Wellness Women Can Trust" campaign, created for nutritional supplement brand Theralogix. What results did the Theralogix campaign achieve? In Q2 2025, the campaign delivered: Meta ROAS that more than doubled quarter-over-quarter, a 293% surge in TikTok Search ROAS, 18% growth in purchases, a 21% ROAS lift, and 19.5% year-over-year sales growth — on 18% less media budget than the prior quarter. What is Exverus by Brainlabs? Exverus by Brainlabs is a Los Angeles-based, full-funnel media planning and buying agency. Founded in 2014, Exverus was acquired by global digital agency Brainlabs in 2025. The agency manages over $100M in annual media spend and has earned recognition as a three-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year (Media), an eight-time Adweek Media Plan of the Year winner, and a three-time Cannes Lions finalist. Ready to talk about what precision media planning can do for your brand? Let's connect.

Exverus earned Gold at the 2025 Festival of Media North America Awards for "The Chosen: Indie Streams to Big Screens" The Challenge: It’s red carpet season in Hollywood, and all eyes are on the stars of Hollywood Boulevard premiering their new blockbusters. But could the next box office hit be an indie TV show…set 2,000 years ago? We proved it could! Led by Exverus VP of Media Planning & Strategy Tasha Day and Media Director Anna Elema, the planning and performance marketing teams behind the campaign engineered an entirely new model for the entertainment industry: Instead of movies starting in theaters then going home to streaming, we took an existing TV series and expanded it to movie screens. It was an unusual strategy; we didn’t have a dollar to waste. We had to build major anticipation to make Season 5’s theatrical debut successful! "It's exciting to be part of this unconventional way of bringing entertainment and content to people. I do think it very much could be the way of the future. It's shifting from traditional studios to making it about what the fans want, and they're showing (or they're proving) that they want it by investing in it." --Tasha Day, VP of Media Planning, Exverus by Brainlabs The Strategy: Infiltrate mainstream culture Our media strategy leveraged the show’s biggest strength: community. Community-building has been core to The Chosen’s business model from day one. Unlike traditional big-studio funding, they relied on a patchwork of individual contributions, nonprofits, licensing fees, and merch sales to keep the lights on. We knew video-driven media, featuring heart-stopping visuals everywhere fans gathered online, would be huge. But viewing platforms are fragmented, so measurement would be a challenge; and engaging with social media or an app does not equate to going out to the movies. We needed to bridge the gap. A job like this required a few influential people to rally the masses: Enter famed Vogue photographer Annie Leibovitz, who shot gorgeous portraits of the cast on set. With the help of NPRP Media, we took over Times Square & digital billboards around the world To maximize Leibovitz’s work in public, we planned our biggest digital out-of-home (DOOH) media activation ever: a Times Square takeover followed by multilingual billboards across the globe: Los Angeles, Rome, Madrid, Sao Paolo and more. Digital audio would be another exciting avenue for storytelling and calls-to-action; while interactive digital media builds would cultivate community and drive traffic. For fun and measurability, we designed immersive, shareable Snapchat lenses to make Gen Z fans get hands-on. The Results: A record-breaking year We catapulted awareness and fandom larger than we thought possible! And set a personal box office record in the process… Non-viewer awareness of the show increased 44%, to a whopping 72% in Season 5! DISQO brand lift studies showed an aided awareness level 4.6x Entertainment category norms. After the Times Square takeover, financial contributions to the show spiked significantly Variety, Yahoo!, IMDb, The Tonight Show w/Jimmy Fallon, The View, and other top-tier outlets featured the iconic strategy. And most importantly, "The Chosen: Last Supper" sold 6.1MM tickets, grossing $50MM in theaters to set a new record and putting the franchise at over $140MM in global lifetime revenue! Our omnichannel media plan reached beyond core audiences while expanding The Chosen as genre-breaking entertainment. We were even awarded Gold for Best Campaign by an Indie Agency at the 2025 Festival of Media: North America Awards! Watch the official campaign case video below: About the Indie Agency Award Festival of Media: North American Awards (FOMNA) was launched in 2017 and has significantly grown every year since. It recognizes, benchmarks and amplifies the best of the best media work from North America and Canada. The jury, featuring industry leaders from Google, The Coca-Cola Company, Meta, PepsiCo, Amazon, Microsoft, Mars, L’Oréal, and Audible, convened for the final round of judging to determine this year’s winners. The awards were announced live on Thursday, December 11th, 2025 in New York. See the full list of winners here. About the Director Anna Elema is a Media Planning Director at Exverus and CampaignUS' 2026 Media Planner/Buyer of the Year honoree. Currently overseeing full-funnel advertising strategy for smash TV hit 'The Chosen', Anna's 11 years growing Fortune 500 brands like MasterClass and Stella & Chewy's have earned Adweek Media Plans of the Year, MediaPost Planning & Buying Awards, and MediaPost OMMAs. She earned her degree in Psychology from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Wonder what we can do for your brand this year? Drop us a line below, and let's talk!

AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude will soon collapse the customer journey into a single conversation, and brands need a full-funnel media strategy to own them. Key Takeaways: Declining click-through rates don't mean your marketing is failing — they may mean it's working. As AI Overviews and LLM answers absorb more of the discovery process, brands should track "share of model" (how often they're cited and mentioned inside AI-generated answers) alongside traditional share-of-voice metrics, rather than relying on website clicks as the primary success signal. Agentic commerce has moved from concept to measurable reality. GenAI-driven traffic to Amazon rose 3,000% during Prime Day 2026, and roughly 8% of consumers are already completing purchases directly within AI platforms like ChatGPT — early adoption numbers that are expected to climb as retailers deepen partnerships with AI providers. Brand building and performance marketing are no longer sequential — they have to run at the same time. When an LLM answers a product question, it's weighing brand mentions, website authority, customer reviews, and product data simultaneously, not moving a consumer through separate awareness and conversion stages. Full-funnel media strategy is now table stakes, not a long-term investment to "graduate" into. Consistency across search, product data, and retail listings determines whether AI models cite your brand at all. Because LLMs pull from multiple signals at once to generate a single answer, brands need aligned, specific, and accurate information across search content and retail product detail pages (PDPs) to be surfaced and recommended in AI-driven shopping conversations. Learn tested and proven methods of outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. On a hot, Arizona day in March 2026, Exverus VP of Performance Marketing Hillary Kupferberg (now Bram) took the stage to tell a roomful of marketers and media buyers: You're behind. She was talking about the dawn of AI shopping, or agentic commerce, a process in which consumers turn to AI chatbots like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity for product recommendations, and an AI shopping agent fills their basket. It's the future (no, the present reality) of e-commerce, and brand marketers need to adapt their marketing strategies quickly. When the whole product discovery-to-purchase pathway is collapsed into a single chatbot conversation, traditional advertising tactics like Paid Search driving clicks to a website become irrelevant. Let Hillary explain: Zero-click Search Marketing We're entering a world where better marketing produces worse-looking Search metrics. One of our CPG brands saw a 30% decline clicks to site but were actually winning and gaining share in AI overviews. Brands relying on website clicks today to measure their success are actually falling behind, and your marketing is looking worse. So, we need to measure differently. We all know the old terms of share of voice, but what we're quickly finding is that in order to win today, you actually need to be looking at share of model. Is your brand or your product being cited and mentioned in these LLMS? The reason this matters is, if we evaluate all these new forms of technology under our own old models, we're going to lose. Now we're marketing to AI and consumers. So we really are thinking about this differently today, rewriting success. And when we look at all the new new traffic sources, where are leads coming from? Is it ChatGPT? Is it Copilot? Is it Gemini? These things matter. Reddit is a huge source that's really powerful. For one of our brands, we were able to identify that Reddit is the third most visible domain on Google, and that's pulling into all of the AI Overviews. Agentic commerce On Amazon Prime Day, we saw a 3,000% increase of GenAI traffic to Amazon. That's huge! And we really entered a tipping point that is quickly transforming the commerce world. The point of sale is now inside the conversation. Discovery is happening within all of these conversations. And if you think about the first prompt you ever gave AI, "I need a new pair of sneakers" is very different than how I talk to AI now and likely you do, as well. Really in-depth prompts about exactly what type of hiking shoe I need, that it needs to fit in my carry-on, I want them to be waterproof, only in blue. These are the types of information that customers are giving; they're having deep conversations with AI to find the right products. They're not visiting your website, but ultimately what we're seeing with retailers and commerce partners actively partnering with OpenAI is the future of retail and e-commerce. Conversational AI is a new purchase channel. As of very recently, we can start to buy ads there. But even without paid media, this is a really important tool for your brands to be thinking about because AI is predicting, recommending, and ultimately completing the transactions all within that chat. The retailers, as they continue to partner with OpenAI, will have really strong purchase data that isn't happening on your brand site. And we see that people are really leaned in. 63% of users are doing this for research and discovery, and 53% take it a step further and compare products and prices. So everything from your search to your retail PDPs need to be specifically consistent and translate to the AI so the AI models can mention and cite your brands and your products when relevant. A full-funnel media approach When we talk about building a brand, we're really talking about creating authentic relationships, repeat purchases, and brand enthusiasts. But LLMs have collapsed the timeline. In the old world, you'd invest in brand awareness for months, watch awareness metrics climb, then capitalize on that brand equity through performance channels like retail media and search. Brand and performance were sequential. Now, they're simultaneous. When a consumer asks ChatGPT or Claude, "What's the best protein powder for weight loss?" the LLM is pulling from: your brand mentions your website authority your customer reviews and the specificity of your product data, all at once. It's not deciding between brand awareness and conversion intent; it's weighing credibility signals and purchase readiness in a single answer. If you've only invested in performance metrics (ROAS, conversion rates), you're invisible to the LLM. If you've only built brand awareness, you won't show up in the purchase recommendation. You need both operating as one scientific brain. That's not a nice-to-have anymore; that's table stakes. Actionable Takeaways I encourage you to save this slide because these are tangible things you can bring back to your organization to introduce new ways of measuring success in this agentic commerce world. And just remember that if your organization is still measuring clicks, you're a little bit behind. But the good news is we're here to help. FAQs about AI shopping Q: I loved your insight about Reddit and how brands could get some leverage there. Jay Walker Smith [of MediaPost] wrote a piece recently that the number one source of expert information on the LLMs is Reddit. Number two is Wikipedia. Is that dumbing down the expertise, and is there going to be kind of backlash for brands who are using LLMs for, how should I say, less than perfect information? A: Definitely. It's it really is the wild west. I can't predict what will happen, but I think it's a "both/and situation" between what's happening on Reddit and Wikipedia (more of that user-generated [content]), plus what the brand is putting out. So you have to do both to in order to succeed. And so it does take a lot to be commerce-ready and visible and consistent across many different touch points where the formats are different. How people want to consume the information is different, but brands that are paying attention to both I think will be ahead. Q. The relationship between AI and search is undeniable in terms of the level of disruption there. I'm curious what you're seeing in the ripples with programmatic and display as well, because if that whole behavior and model shifts where people aren't searching online, and we're not retargeting them, and going through that traditional funnel, what are the recommendations, or where do you see programmatic moving with AI now? A. I think programmatic will take a lot of signals from what we're seeing and learning honestly with search as new releases are happening, in terms of product, and what the actual ad formats available will be, and it'll change over time. Again, I don't think it's replacing what we've seen. A lot of fears around volume of search decreasing didn't actually come to play; volume of search is actually up, but how people are consuming and ultimately getting the information is just resulting in less clicks. So, what we're expecting in the programmatic space is even more innovation in terms of ad formats and similar results in terms of expectations around click-based performance. Q. I'm excited now that you said we will soon be making a purchase within an AI platform, and I'm just curious, can you share anything about like a personal purchase that you found very smooth through an AI platform? A. Definitely. Walmart is doing it really well. [Adoption] is low right now. We're at about 8% of people are actually transacting within ChatGPT. I think there's still concerns around adoption and trust. So, giving ChatGPT your credit card is the default, but actually you're giving Walmart your credit card. Purchases that I've made are pretty boring, but mostly in the grocery category. For further reference Watch Hillary's presentation video: MediaPost Live on YouTube. "The New Path from Discovery to Digital Shelf." March 2026. For more on personalization in AI shopping: EMARKETER. "How AI has remade product pages, discovery, and personalization." March 2026. For different retailers' offerings: ADWEEK. "Walmart and Target Are Battling to Show Up in AI Shopping Tools. Here's How Their Strategies Compare." March 2026. About the Author Hillary Bram is the VP of Performance Marketing at Exverus by Brainlabs where she holistically oversees the agency's robust retail media and e-commerce team, programmatic advertising, paid search, and paid social teams. Over a decade-plus in advertising, Hillary's expertise has expanded to meet each new technological innovation, bridging gaps between channels for the strongest possible returns. Previously, Hillary served as Director of Digital Strategy for top luxury brands, winning industry awards and speaking at conferences like IAB.

It's not all backpacks and pencils; any CPG brand can get in on the spending frenzy. Creators, Coupons, Click-and-Mortar shopping drive back-to-school sales in a year of uncertainty It's almost time for the kids to head BTS (back to school)! *Hold for applause* Beyond being the "most wonderful time of the year" for parents, it presents an incredible opportunity for a midyear revenue bump for brands of all types, not just folders and notebooks. So, how do you build a campaign that converts? Let's answer some... FAQs about back to school media planning: When should we start running back-to-school campaigns? Should we target parents or kids? How should we allocate budget between media channels? How do we compete with Amazon's dominance in the BTS space? How do we track the impact of upper-funnel awareness on lower-funnel conversions? When should we launch back-to-school media campaigns? Start in early summer and keep going. The back-to-school season is a quick flash in the pan. Many consumers decide on purchases weeks before school actually starts, so don't wait too long to launch your campaigns. In 2026, the National Retail Federation reported that 32% of shoppers had started their back-to-school shopping by early June, up from 22% just two years ago! But don't cut it short, either! Different states start school in different months. And some families wait to get teacher supply lists or class schedules to buy supplies, so last-minute deals are a key component of the season. Stay active through September! Should we target parents or kids separately? Consider parents' challenges and concerns when sending their kids back to school. After all, kids aren't the only ones with new schedules in the fall! Parents and caregivers adjust their weekday routines, too, so your messaging should reflect this. New solutions to save time or energy will surely be appreciated! For food and beverage brands, parents need on-the-go convenience for rushed breakfasts, packable lunches, dinner between practices, and car snacks. Brands that offer prepared or pre-cooked meals, ingredients that speed up or simplify the feeding process can capitalize on parents' needs through their messaging. Over half of millennial parents say their kids influence their back-to-school purchases (relatable content right there). While much of your content should center on explaining to parents why your product should be their go-to, don't forget about co-viewing media opportunities like Connected TV and YouTube, so the kids know it, too. A mix of channels that speak to both parents and children will go a long way toward your success. A one-night event and a month-long tournament are fundamentally different math problems. Here's how to plan for each. How should we allocate budget between media platforms? This, of course, will depend greatly upon your unique audience, product, budget, and goals. But there are a few main ways to frame your media strategy: a. Product-focused approach Naturally, CPG brands will want to focus their marketing budgets on retail media networks like Amazon, Walmart, and Target with sponsored search marketing. Adding back-to-school-related keywords to your search mix can boost visibility and drive sales. For example, a granola bar company could add long-tail keywords like "granola bars for school lunches", or "healthy after-school snacks" to their current bidding strategy. b. Content-focused approach These days, shoppers predominantly discover brands on social media and learn about trends from social influencers. Deloitte’s back-to-school survey showed that 75% of Gen-Z parents and 46% of millennial parents plan to use social media in their shopping journey. JanSport backpacks’ “Always With You” campaign used absurdity and humor in its TikTok and YouTube ad spots to appeal to Gen Z shoppers. This strategy hooks viewers with entertainment and then talks about the product, as opposed to centering product features like the search strategies above. Social media platforms are now brand discovery hubs, and search engines are now mid-funnel. Learn how to meet savvy consumers everywhere they search. c. Blended approach Historically, most BTS shopping took place in brick-and-mortar stores. But now, click-and-mortar shopping is the preferred modus operandi. This could look a few different ways: Buy Online and Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) Click and Collect, or buying online and returning in-store (BORIS) Discovering brands in one digital channel and purchasing in another So, a linear model of your customer journey is really indefensible now. Learn some more updated ways to think about your ideal customer's path to purchase below: How do we compete with Amazon's dominance in the back-to-school space? Though everyone is trying to save money amid inflation, offering discounts alone won't set your brand apart. The strong sales reports coming out of this year's Prime Day indicate that people are willing to spend right now! What keeps you top-of-mind in a sea of sameness is your brand equity, and it must be nurtured year-round to show up when it counts. Click to learn how to build brand equity that lasts Emphasize a specific brand value that's important to your ideal buyers. For example, clothing brands could highlight their commitment to “sustainable fashion” or “eco-friendly” materials. A food brand could boast "allergy-free" or "nontoxic", something important for most children. Highlight something unique your competitors don't have. AI LLMs are the funnel now. Surely we couldn't get through an article about product marketing without mentioning AI or agentic commerce, could we? Real quick: what the retailers and commerce partners actively partnering with OpenAI are designing the future of retail and e-commerce. Conversational AI is a new purchase channel. And, as of very recently, we can start to buy ads there. Learn more below: AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude will soon collapse the customer journey into a single conversation, and brands need a full-funnel media strategy to own them. How do we track the impact of upper-funnel awareness on lower-funnel conversions? You can do this a few different ways, depending on your campaign objectives, budget, and KPIs: A. Utilize full-funnel attribution models Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA). MTA models give credit to all touchpoints in the customer journey, allowing you to understand how upper funnel activities contribute to conversions. Media Mix Modeling (MMM). MMM analyzes the overall impact of different marketing channels on sales, helping you understand the contribution of upper funnel efforts. We’ve got the breakdown on how to determine whether MMM or MTA is right for your media campaign analysis! B. Implement testing Geo-Testing. Run campaigns in specific geographic areas to isolate the impact of upper funnel activities on sales and conversions. A/B Testing. Test different ad creatives, targeting strategies, and other variables to optimize your upper funnel campaigns. Analyze Data from Multiple Sources. Integrate data from various platforms (Google Analytics, social media analytics, advertising platforms) to get a holistic view of your marketing performance. C. Zoom out to the lifetime customer relationship Long-Term Perspective. Recognize that upper funnel marketing often has a delayed impact on conversions, and avoid focusing solely on immediate results. Avoid the trap of short-termism! Build Relationships. Emphasize building brand loyalty and fostering long-term relationships with customers, not just focusing on individual sales. Dig deep into your particular audience’s content & consumption habits, and build a custom-tailored media plan that makes your brand stand out from the crowd (in a good way). For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter here.

Inside the paid media strategy behind a tentpole night in sports marketing FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2025 (LOS ANGELES) — Legendary Hall-of-Fame boxer Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao historically emerges from retirement and returns to the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) ring Saturday, July 19, 2025 against challenger Mario Barrios, and media agency of record Exverus Media is behind the promotional campaign. But the boxing world has changed since Pacquiao’s retirement in 2021 — fans increasingly gather and share their excitement on TikTok and sports podcasts, while TV viewing is more fractured than ever. Exverus and PBC have been working together since early 2024 to bring exciting matches like Tank vs. Martin and Canelo vs. Berlanga to a new generation of fans everywhere they watch. Planning media for the Super Bowl is very different from the World Cup. Learn how to plan one-night bursts and monthlong tournaments alike. So, to expand brand awareness for PBC and sell pay-per-views on Prime Video, the Exverus team (led by Media Director Vanessa Pinzon and Senior Planner Anna Acuna) has been driving a video-first media mix that includes social media, YouTube, Spotify Video ads, and custom partnerships with TMZ and Overtime. "We had our work cut out for us on this fight,” says Pinzon. “Pacquiao is such a recognizable name; all we had to do was get the word out of his return, and we knew fans would come running to buy the event.” Meanwhile, shoppable CTV ads are running across live sporting events like the MLB and NBA Summer League, while Rich Media branded takeovers provided by Kargo are reaching multicultural audiences on sites like Barstool Sports, Univision, and Telemundo Deportes. Interactive TV ads collapse the path between entertainment and purchase. As Pacquiao said last month at a media workout in Los Angeles, "This fight is very important to me because it’s history. I believe I’d be the first Hall of Famer to win another world title, and I’d also break my own record as the oldest welterweight world champion.” The event is available for purchase on Prime Video and fans will have continued access to the telecast through traditional cable and satellite outlets and PPV.com. About Exverus by Brainlabs Founded in 2014, Exverus is a Los Angeles media agency elevating growth-stage brands through full-funnel media planning, traditional and programmatic advertising, retail media & e-commerce, paid search, paid social, and analytics. Our data-driven media plans combine precise market research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust. Learn more at exverus.com. LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube About Premier Boxing Champions Launched in 2015, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) is a live boxing television series that features the greatest array of boxing talent in all weight divisions, with fighters representing over 22 countries including the United States and Mexico. From former Olympians to Unified World Champions, the series features consistent quality programming where the best fight the best in thrilling, high-stakes matchups. Dedicated to delivering the highest quality product in the sport, PBC has consistently dominated the Boxing world with championship fights and spectacular events and has established itself as a powerhouse in the world of combat sports. For more details, visit premierboxingchampions.com. Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

FAST, or free ad-supported streaming TV, is staking its claim in the streaming wars A growing number of Americans would rather see ads than pay for subscriptions. The SVOD (subscription video on demand), or streaming, wars are hotter than ever, between Paramount (trying to) merge with Warner Bros and Netflix getting into podcasting. But there's another, more quietly growing corner of the overall streaming sandbox. Ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) and Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels are emerging as compelling alternatives for both viewers and advertisers. While the FAST market is still nascent, recent data suggests a bright future ahead. What are the most popular free ad-supported streaming services? The days of FAST being a well-kept secret are long gone. According to Comcast, 6 out of 10 households with connected TVs are using FAST services like Tubi, Xumo, Pluto, The Roku Channel, or Freevee; signaling a dramatic rise in adoption. These networks include full-screen TV programming across entertainment genres, news, sports, and local channels that premium CTV streamers don't provide. In fact, research published by Performance Marketing World shows that almost 7 in 10 CTV users prefer FAST to premium options! Learn the pros & cons of Premium CTV vs. FAST, measurement that matters, and how CTV drives downstream sales growth. Why is FAST growing in popularity (besides that it's, well, FREE)? Simply put, the ease of use. All you need is internet and your laptop, phone or smart TV. No subscription required, and sometimes you don't even need to log in. Just flip it on and scroll through channels, like TV in the good ole days. If you haven't tried it for yourself, check out Tubi or Pluto TV and you'll find everything from live sports to classic episodes of The Price is Right. More importantly, these platforms are delivering on their promise – many viewers report positive viewing experiences on FAST channels and enjoy the content they offer. News programming leads the pack in popularity, but the content spectrum spans far beyond headlines. Crime TV series, movies, and various other genres have found their home on these platforms, creating a diverse content buffet that rivals traditional cable offerings. The linear nature of FAST channels, mimicking traditional TV's familiar flow, has proven to be a significant draw for viewers seeking a more structured viewing experience. This quick yet comprehensive guide to programmatic advertising will help you make smarter investments in CTV, Display, Video, DOOH, and more. Are FAST channels worth the buy for advertisers? For advertisers, FAST platforms represent a goldmine of opportunities. These services offer precision targeting capabilities that traditional television can't match, allowing brands to reach specific audience segments with unprecedented accuracy. The ability to connect with cable subscribers through a digital medium, combined with cost-effective advertising rates, makes FAST an increasingly attractive proposition for media buyers. Benefits of advertising on free ad-supported streamers: More efficient & higher impressions than other CTV platforms Additional touchpoints to reach your audience on incremental platforms More flexibility to find your audience, given fragmented viewership habits More access to premium content across smaller platforms However, the terrain isn't without its challenges. Transparency remains a persistent concern in the FAST channel market. Direct buyers currently enjoy privileged access to valuable data – such as Samsung's automatic content recognition (ACR) information – while programmatic buyers often face limited visibility into their advertising performance. What's the future of FAST media buying? The future of ad-supported streaming services points toward a fascinating convergence with traditional linear television. Industry leaders anticipate increased focus on personalization and enhanced user experiences, blending the best aspects of both worlds. Major players like Comcast Advertising and Xumo are already pioneering this evolution, developing sophisticated tools and services for advertisers looking to capitalize on the FAST phenomenon. These platforms are also investing more resources in advertiser education, helping brands understand and leverage the unique benefits of free, ad-supported television. As viewers embrace these free alternatives and advertisers discover their potential, FAST channels are positioning themselves as a vital component of future media plans. While social media platforms face increasing scrutiny and premium CTV channels command premium rates, FAST channels represent an exciting frontier for brands seeking to connect with audiences from the comfort of their couches. Curious about telling your brand's story on FAST or traditional streamers? Drop us a line! We love talking TV. For more ad buying news and tips, join our free, weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.