Amit Nigam

How We're Tracking on Leveling Up at Digitas North America This Week Every Friday, I take stock—where are we pushing boundaries with DigitasAI. Here’s the scoreboard, mapped to what matters most: 1. Accuracy: We’re doubling down here—tapping into unique data pipes that give our teams a sharper, more truthful view of the landscape. Those unseen signals are pure gold. The advantage? More context, less guesswork. 2. Efficiency: This week, AI agents got formally mapped into core workflows across Brand Strategy, Connections Strategy, Social Strategy & Experience Strategy. It’s already freeing up our best minds for lateral leaps instead of just linear lifts. 3. Impact: Biggest impact right now? 2026 planning. DigitasAI is helping us juggle more variables and scenarios without drowning in data—teams can focus on both today’s work and tomorrow’s vision (without losing sleep). 4. Sparkle: Highlight of the week: watching Caitlin Looney of our funniest strategists—turn her personal magic into a coded assistant. She merged her signature style with a brand’s DNA to build a Social Strategy super tool for that brand. That’s what “sparkle” looks like when tech meets talent. Daily usage numbers have jumped since July 1st—and as my boss Amy Worcester Lanzi always reminds me, change is HARD. But that’s why we tackle it from every angle. #NetworkedExperiences #DigitasAI #EarnYourWayIn

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Google just flipped the switch on AI Mode. Available now in Search Labs. Users type in 3-part questions. Get AI-generated answers. No click needed. Exciting? Absolutely. Terrifying? Especially if your content isn’t optimized for AI ingestion. Rethink page formats, logical clarity, multimodal inputs. AI SEO just got a new frontier. Are your pages ready to be read by AI, or skipped by it.

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Thanks to ADWEEK and Lauren Johnson for covering PODEAN's point of view on the ending of the de minimis loophole that has benefited many foreign manufacturers over the last few years. "The ending of de minimis means that China-based retailers will need to raise their prices to offset higher import prices. We’ll likely see Temu, Shein, and even TikTok Shop be less compelling for consumers in certain areas, given prices will have to increase as a result and [face a] possible disruption in availability.” "The end of de minimis is likely to cause delays and backlogs at ports that could impact all brands, regardless of whether they previously used de minimis." You can ready the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gQQ-hKjh #deminimis #marketplacemarketing #globalecommerce

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Half the people boycotting Cracker Barrel weren't actually people. They were bots. Great piece by Patrick Coffee in today's WSJ about how some brand controversies are manufactured crises. I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS. But a few that immediately come to mind: 1. We have to stop reacting to every social media fire. Half the outrage may not even be real people. So before you pivot your entire strategy or issue an apology, first understand what you're actually dealing with. 2. Build bot detection into your crisis playbook. Find partners or work with firms that can quickly identify coordinated attacks. Don't let a few dozen bots masquerading as thousands of angry customers drive your decision-making. 3. Accept that everything is now weaponizable - but for the love of comms, have some CONVICTION. Logo changes, DEI programs, product launches - bad actors are scanning for literally anything that can be turned into culture war content. The constant reversals we're seeing (ABC/Kimmel, Cracker Barrel, etc.) send a dangerous message: that brands have no backbone and will cave to any pressure. So when you flip-flop at the first sign of bot-amplified outrage, you're confusing customers AND you're literally training algorithms that artificial campaigns work. You're also creating material business risk for investors and shareholders who can't predict which way you'll pivot next. Don't let bots set your strategy. https://lnkd.in/gQCcMQj8

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Just read an absolutely fantastic article by Henry Innis “Do Upfronts Still Matter? — Kind Of” on Marketing Economics, and wow — this is one of the clearest takes I’ve seen lately on where the media business really is. What makes this article great: 1. It cuts through the hype and looks at actual results vs. promises — something often missing in conversations about Upfronts. 2. It acknowledges the shift toward always-on, programmatic, on-demand buying without dismissing the ongoing value of Upfronts. It’s not “one size fits all” — which is refreshing. 3. It highlights trade-offs: predictability vs flexibility, scale vs targeting, commitment vs agility. In “media math” these trade-offs matter more than ever. So as most brands and agencies are wrapping up their upfronts and building their 2026 media plans, a few thoughts: 1. Planning matters — yet so does adaptability. Upfronts give stability (budgeting, forecastable reach), which is crucial for many brands. But markets move fast — cultural moments, shifts in audience behavior, emerging platforms — so you need a mix: the backbone of Upfronts plus the flexibility of agile buys. 2. Accountability & measurement drive everything. If Upfronts become just about “I pay now, you promise reach,” without transparent metrics, brands lose out. The future is in anchoring those commitments to performance data, cross-platform reach, incrementality. 3. Audience first, not format first. Whether Upfronts or programmatic, it’s the audience that matters. If Upfronts help secure high-value audiences efficiently, they’ll stay relevant. If they don’t deliver better audience outcomes than newer methods, they’ll fade. In short: Upfronts still matter — but not in isolation. The strategy that wins is one that blends the discipline of planning with the nimbleness to respond to what’s happening in real time. This article nails why that isn’t just “best practice” — it’s becoming essential. https://lnkd.in/efm7B5D9

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Things are tight for a lot of brands right now. A confusing macro (tariffs, income disparity, AI-growth-concentration), cost pressure (materials, shipping, ad costs), increasing competition and an increasingly choosy and discerning customer (brand optionality, retail channel options, influencer, reddit etc) all mean growth is hard right now. The profitability squeeze specifically is real for a lot of brands. And the approach most brands take looks something like this - we'll call it the "Focus on What 'Works' Playbook": - Cut all long tail efforts - channels, initiatives etc - Cut overall ad spending 10-15% - Focus on attributable, same-day-ROI, demand capture channels like brand search, meta retargeting. - Manage day to day budgets and performance with obsession Sometimes this is a painful but necessary approach to preserve cash on a very short term basis. But sustaining this model for longer than a few months begins to disproportionately impact future growth, and has the potential to only make the profitability problem worse moving forward. You need a certain baseline of revenue to cover your fixed costs, after all. And don't forget, new customers are a major source of future profit. So what is the answer? REACH (yes, I'm a broken record). If you are in this situation, you likely cannot be pouring $ into reach building campaigns. But you need to be monitoring reach growth closely and managing reach growth. A few tips based on my own observations: - Aim to avoid 3+ straight months of negative reach growth - strategically plan budgets, organic activations and interventions to avoid these sustained periods of decline that are very difficult to come back from. - Avoid over concentrating money (>30%) into LOW reach demand capture efforts like retargeting, remarketing & brand search - it's OK to invest in these, but maintain caps for how much you invest across this aggregate bucket. - Maintain a small, always on budget for future growth - if you are concerned about measurability or waste, you can focus on something more mid funnel (add to cart, site traffic). - Avoid overly reactionary daily swings in investment/strategy - the data you are actioning on is lagged, modeled and only fractionally reflective of the day's activities. These consistent swings can lead to higher CPMr and ultimately incentivize concentrating budgets in the lowest funnel, lowest reach efforts. - Report on your reach - awareness of the dynamic is always step 1. Make yourself aware, and make your ELT/Finance team aware. There is a good chance you can explain negative business trends with your reach data. Your business will not grow purely based on reach. However, your business is highly unlikely to grow (or get healthier) if you are not growing reach. New Engen

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