Blueprint — page 166 | The Gradient

Omnicom Shrinks. WPP Cuts. Publicis Grows.

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Omnicom Shrinks. WPP Cuts. Publicis Grows.

Luca Bjørnsten revels in the sugariness of pop culture in these luminous paintings

Luca Bjørnsten makes art that looks like it completely fits with his Instagram username: Nugget Brain. You’d find it hard to believe Luca was born, raised and currently based in Copenhagen given his large output of fluorescent and gleefully childish paintings depict vaporwaved Florida beachscapes. But Luca’s paintings stretch further than mere geography, and become

Content That Enables & Adds Value In The Modern Search World

Too often in our content and messaging, we default to listing features in a succession of brief, disconnected claims rather than showing readers how those features will make a genuine difference in their lives. As a result, they are left to fill in the gaps themselves, often choosing to skim and move on rather than

Making AI deep research work for strategic marketing tasks

Recently, I put some of the newer, more powerful deep research tools through their paces to see if AI could handle the kind of deep, strategic research marketers have to do but rarely have time for. What I found surprised me. It wasn’t about automating work. It was about surfacing research, case studies and trends

Best Buy has a back-to-school tech sale happening right now – these are my 3 picks for creative laptops, all under $700

Calling all students: whether you’re back to school or off to college – I’ve found 3 pretty sweet deals on creative laptops that I’d definitely buy if I were still a photography student (I graduated almost 4 years ago, yikes). I know how tough it can be to find tech on a budget, so all

5 Ways To Prove The Real Value Of SEO In The AI Era

As SEO evolves with AI optimization, generative engine optimization, and answer engine optimization, brands and marketers must rethink their SEO strategies to stay competitive. Instead of focusing solely on traditional SEO strategies and tactics, you need to be visible in AI-powered search and answer engines. Showing the value of SEO in this new world means

With sports driving the marketplace, David Levy and Chris Weil hope to clean up with HS&E

As evidenced all over the upfront marketplace, which is wrapping up in entirety either this week or next, sports was the main attraction for any network lucky enough to have it to sell, and a strong driver of advertiser dollars from media agencies looking to place their clients in content that delivers audiences. Any seller

Yasuhiko Iida’s new photobook humanises London

At its launch at The Photographer’s Gallery, Yasuhiko Iida’s new photobook Thousand Fold sold out thanks to its audience of passionate skaters, artists and fellow photographers – in what looked like more of a bloc party than a book launch. But in the pages of Thousand Fold, you can see exactly how this community came

Why Is SureRank WordPress SEO Plugin So Popular?

A new SEO plugin called SureRank, by Brainstorm Force, makers of the popular Astra theme, is rapidly growing in popularity. In beta for a few months, it was announced in July and has amassed over twenty thousand installations. That’s a pretty good start for an SEO plugin that has only been out of beta for

Live Aid Docuseries Helps CNN Capture 2nd

CNN’s airing of the Live Aid: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took On the World docuseries propelled the network to a second-place finish in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. As usual, Fox News was the leader of the evening, with the 7 p.m. ET edition of The Big Weekend Show taking the top spot

What 330 Metallica gigs taught me about creativity

As music continues to dominate headlines, from Oasis’ much-anticipated reunion tour to the BBC’s choices around which Glastonbury sets to show, and Ozzy Osbourne saying his final farewell at what media dubbed “heavy metal’s Live Aid”, it’s made me realise just how deeply music has shaped my creative instincts – and the way I see

Why A Site Deindexed By Google For Programmatic SEO Bounced Back

A company founder shared their experience with programmatic SEO, which they credited for initial success until it was deindexed by Google, calling it a big mistake they won’t repeat. The post, shared on LinkedIn, received scores of supportive comments. The website didn’t receive a manual action, Google deindexed the web pages due to poor content

The profile of RevOps is rising in many organizations

MarTechCharts regularly highlights data of interest to marketers and marketing operations professionals. Revenue Operations (RevOps) is undergoing a rapid transformation, according to a study by Wakefild Rsearch and Salesloft. Traditionally, many organizations viewed RevOps as a sales support and reporting role. The study, “The Rise of RevOps to the C-Suite,” found RevOps is taking on

Studio Select’s brand identity for perfumery Serviette is steeped in sophistication

“To witness how Ben and Alicia play off of each other’s creativity, with references to old type foundries and obscure print magazines, foreign cinema or underground artists, was such a joy to witness,” says Trey. This union of kindred spirits is evident in the cleanliness of Serviette’s identity. Each idea coalesces into the next, a

Stop Paying the Google Ads Tax Without Realizing It [Webinar]

Most brands don’t know they’re wasting money on branded ads. Are you one of them? What if your Google Ads strategy is quietly draining your budget? In this data-backed session, you’ll learn: Why CPCs rise even without competitor bidding How to detect branded ad waste in your own account What this hidden flaw is costing

How brands are navigating culture war risks, political polarization

In the midst of escalating culture wars, brands seem more careful than ever to avoid political pitfalls and anything that could be considered a PR crisis. But it’s a monumental task: The lines are increasingly blurring between culture and politics. Marketing messages are taking longer to craft as they wait for approval from corporate comms

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 7 is what happens when PC hardware wears its software like a glove

One of the biggest advantages Apple has in the laptop market is that it controls both its hardware and software. It could be one reason why its MacBooks ride so high as the best laptops for graphic design, and it’s not something that any other major player can claim apart from Microsoft. In the Surface

Google Confirms CSS Class Names Don’t Influence SEO

In a recent episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast, Martin Splitt and John Mueller clarified how CSS affects SEO. While some aspects of CSS have no bearing on SEO, others can directly influence how search engines interpret and rank content. Here’s what matters and what doesn’t. Class Names Don’t Matter For Rankings One

Meta to Stop Serving Political Ads in the EU in October

Political, electoral, and social issue ads will no longer be served on Meta-owned platforms in the European Union, starting in October. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is complying with the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation that is set to take effect Oct. 10, requiring tech companies to clearly label political advertising

Ard Su’s editorial illustrations are simple yet unique

No one has quite a style like the New York based illustrator Ard Su, who’s been commissioned by the likes of Apple and Adidas, and has graced the pages of The New Yorker, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Washington Post and The Hollywood Reporter with brilliant images that strike an unique blend of

Google Search Central APAC 2025: Everything From Day 3

Google Search Central Asia Pacific 2025 focused on three pillars over the three days. The theme for day one was crawling, and day two of the event focused on indexing, with a big announcement about the new Google Trends API entering alpha. Day three picked up from there, diving into how Google actually returns search

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