Dig Insights

Reporting live from IIEX APAC in Thailand is our own Joanna Lepore 🇹🇭✨ Joanna, EVP of Global Market Expansion & Foresight at Dig, took the stage with a provocative session designed to pull senior leaders out of the short term and into the future that’s already taking shape. Her talk challenged audiences to think 10–30 years ahead, spotlighting how foresight can become a practical, strategic advantage today for APAC-based organizations. We couldn’t be more excited to see Joanna representing Dig on a global stage and shaping our presence in the APAC region 🤩

Consumers say one thing. Their shopping carts often say something else. This isn’t new, *but* ignoring the gap between the two is one of the biggest missed opportunities in innovation. In this week’s podcast episode, Jess Gaedeke sits down with Cristina Marinucci, VP Global Growth & Omni Commercial Insights at Mondelez, to explore how understanding how people really make snack choices helps brands close the say–do gap and build innovation that actually shows up on shelf. They discuss: 💡 Why the say–do gap is one of the most overlooked drivers of growth 💡 How Mondelez moved from one-off launches to platform-led innovation 💡 What it takes to balance global scale with local relevance in snacking Catch the full episode now👇

Why is everyone obsessed with Pepsi's newest Super Bowl ad? Short answer: nostalgia. But the real reason is strategy. Familiar eras create instant emotional buy-in. And right now, brands are using that shortcut to stay relevant. That’s why PepsiCo brought back the cola wars, why Samsung Electronics is going all-in on flip phones or why McDonald's revived its 1980s Changeables Happy Meal toys. We used OneCliq, our AI-powered Cultural Context Engine, to analyze 19,000+ online conversations and uncover what makes Millennials and Gen Z so drawn to the past. And the insight is simple: when the world feels heavy, nostalgia offers something rare - relief. We unpacked: - Why Gen Z is obsessed with eras they didn’t live through - How nostalgia is becoming a key strategy for brands - What it means when fandom becomes identity Read the full story now - the link is in the comments 👇

A BALENCIAGA x Crocs collab shouldn’t work on paper. But that’s EXACTLY why it does. In our research on brand collaborations, we discovered a big strategic move that brands use to plug into culture and actually belong - Cultural Access Points. Carly Wages, Senior Manager of Trends & Innovation, walks through 4 ways brands are making moves: ✨ Unexpected pairings 🛒 Cross-category collabs 🌱 Micro-community engagement 🎤 Cultural stages Dig deeper in our full report - find the link in the comments!

Complacency kills innovation. That’s why we never sit still. At Dig, we challenge assumptions and never settle for safe. We have some big news coming your way soon. Keep your eyes peeled on this space! 👀

Culture doesn’t wait for research to catch up 🙅♀️ People generate millions of cultural signals every day through posts, comments, memes, and conversations online. But most insight teams can’t analyze them fast enough to keep up. That’s where OneCliq comes in. In this month’s Digest, we explore why understanding culture is getting harder, and how insight teams can stay relevant without sacrificing rigor. Oh, and we have a new episode of Dig In with a new Chief Commercial Officer at Land O’Frost, Saverio Spontella, and share what our team learned at CES. Catch the full edition here 👇

If AI is forming opinions about your brand before people do… that feels worth paying attention to. In this week’s episode of the pod, Jess Gaedeke is joined by Dig's very own VP of Marketing and Brand Strategy, Meagan Healey, to talk about how AI and LLMs are changing the way marketers get discovered, get shortlisted, and get chosen, and why, despite all the tech, humans still make the final call. They cover: 💡 Why AI is speeding up marketing discovery (and raising the bar for how brands show up) 💡 How cultural signals and content shape decisions earlier than most teams realize 💡 Where judgment, trust, and real human chemistry still matter most Check it out 👇

a 2-min rant incoming 😤 Think being an AI expert is all fun and rainbows?! Think again. Our AI expert, Joel Armstrong vents about one of the most frustrating parts of working with AI: the constant swing between over-hype (“It can do everything!”) and impossible expectations (“Can it do this magical thing?”). Hint: No, it can’t do the impossible. But yes, it can do some amazing things—if you know how to work with it. Want to be less frustrated when AI doesn’t give you what you’re looking for? Learn how to master AI prompts for better insights: https://lnkd.in/gKT_5q2w

POV: you run a QSR brand and need innovation inspo for 2026👇 Flavor flexibility, smart personalization, and continuous innovation are setting the agenda for what comes next. Explore how they connect and plan for 2026 with The Dig Hotline. https://lnkd.in/dg629k6h

CES 2026 in a nutshell: Your new innovation advantage = ease 🤔 Our Future Strategy & Innovation team (Joseph Baroud, Carly Wages, Aish Baratan) hit the floor in Vegas alongside Dig’s CEO, Paul Gaudette, and CRO, Jess Gaedeke. And we all walked away with the same reaction: this wasn’t a year of tech trying to impress. It was tech trying to integrate. Here are three trend signals our team spotted: 1️⃣ AI stopped showing off. Whether agentic, applied, or ambient, AI became the quiet operator in people’s daily lives. Trust took center stage, with on-device processing, explainable systems, and shared safety. 2️⃣ Digital entertainment got physical. Gaming and XR went full-body. Haptics, motion-based inputs, and interactive companions brought entertainment off the screen and into the room, with repeat use as the goal. 3️⃣ Health and beauty became part of the background. Wellness shouldn’t feel like work. Sensors in mirrors, beds, and bathrooms turned routine moments into subtle, supportive health check-ins. Long story short: The future lies in removing effort. The brands that win next will be the ones that fit so naturally into daily life, their value is only noticed when it’s missing. Our team had a blast exploring the biggest launches and buzziest booths at CES. Swipe through to see them in action! 📸