The Unhedged Marketer

A podcast by Marissa Homere

Marketing runs on money. Who's spending it, who's losing it, and what that does to the brands you see every day. Unhedged Weekly is a ten-minute Monday morning listen on what moved in marketing and advertising that week, and what it actually means, from someone who's spent twenty years in the business and has opinions about most of it. Every episode: one big story done properly, the money move you should know about, the brand decision worth picking apart, one number that means something, and the ad that was worth your time. No jargon, no hedging. What moves markets moves marketing. marissahomere.substack.com

Episodes

  1. 13h ago

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Big Tech’s $52 billion ad gap

    The Take: The $52 Billion Ad Gap The world’s 25 biggest advertisers spent 56% more on advertising between 2019 and 2025. They also spent a smaller share of their revenue on it. Both of those are true, and the gap between them is where the interesting part is, including $52 billion that four tech companies didn’t spend. Also in here: Publicis grew 5% while its biggest clients tightened up, a UK bank admitted its AI videos were “degrading our brand,” and Chipotle made a three-foot-wide takeout bag you can’t buy. * WARC Media: Global Ad Trends report on the cost of being seen * Marketing Week: Coverage on ad-to-sales ratio shifts across major advertisers Market Signal: Publicis Pulls Ahead Publicis grew 5% while its biggest clients tightened up. On Tuesday, Publicis reported third-quarter revenue of €3.8 billion, up 5% on an organic basis, which strips out acquisitions and currency swings. That’s faster than the first half of the year. CEO Arthur Sadoun called it the company’s “25th quarter of outperformance.” * Publicis Groupe: Q3 2026 revenue and organic growth details * WPP: Corporate updates and upcoming earnings report context * Diageo: Leadership appointments and CFO news The Move: Lloyds Says Never Again Lloyds Banking Group posted AI-generated videos of a miniature version of its black horse to sell pet insurance. At the Festival of Marketing, its chief customer and experience officer, Suresh Balaji, told the room what happened next: “We very quickly realised that we were degrading our brand by creating this.” Lloyds pulled the approach and said, “we will never do this again.” * Marketing Week: Lloyds on pulling its AI horse campaigns * Festival of Marketing: Session recap on AI content and brand reputation The Number: 28% That’s the share of UK marketing leaders who expect to add staff in the fourth quarter, up from 17.4% last quarter, according to the IPA Bellwether survey. The net balance went from −7.8% to +10.1%, ending the longest run of negative readings since the IPA started asking the question a decade ago. * IPA: Q3 2026 Bellwether Report on UK marketing budgets and hiring sentiment Signal vs. Noise What’s actually real, what’s overhyped, and what’s just weird. * Reuters: SpaceX agrees to buy nationwide 800 MHz spectrum from Grain Management for $8B * RBC Capital Markets: Downgrades U.S. tech stocks citing valuations * Deutsche Telekom: Telecom market reactions following Starlink Mobile spectrum moves Creative of the Week: Chipotle’s Big Ass Bag Chipotle introduced a takeout bag that is three feet wide, two feet tall and holds 170 litres, to promote its Family Meals, which feed four to six people. You can’t buy it. Chipotle gives away 2,000 a week until November 10 to U.S. Rewards members who order a Family Meal through the app. It’s the first big national campaign from GUT, Chipotle’s new agency. * Chipotle Rewards: Official Big Ass Bag promotion details * GUT Agency: Creative strategy behind the Big Ass Bag campaign Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Big Tech’s $52 billion ad gap
  2. 6d ago

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - PhotoShop, but make it vibe coded.

    What moves markets moves marketing. Here’s everything I broke down this week. The Take: ArtCraft and Adobe A frustrated software engineer got hit with Adobe’s cancellation fee one too many times, so he used AI to rebuild the entire Adobe Creative Suite and put it online for free. We’re looking at why this is a massive warning sign for anyone relying on high switching costs instead of a great product. * Gizmodo: Someone vibe-coded a free knockoff of Adobe Creative Suite * Amateur Photographer: The developer’s own account of why he snapped and built it * TechSpot: “Software is over” — how AI is changing what one person can build * Adobe Q3 FY2026 Results: The official numbers Market Signal: Tariff Refunds & Ad Budgets The government is paying back unlawful tariffs from last year, and giant brands are taking those windfall checks and dumping them straight into advertising. But a one-time refund makes for a tricky marketing budget next year. * CNBC: Levi Strauss Q3 2026 earnings and marketing cash * PepsiCo: Q3 2026 prepared management remarks on U.S. food and drink ad spend * Constellation Brands: 10-Q filing for the quarter ended Aug. 31, 2026 The Move: Uber & ezCater Uber is dropping two point three billion dollars in cash to buy ezCater. Instead of grinding to win over individual consumers one promo at a time, they’re buying a direct pipeline to office managers who order lunch for thousands of employees every single week. * The Boston Globe: Uber is acquiring ezCater for $2.3 billion The Number: 83% That’s how often a Google search for a brand’s own name now opens with an AI Overview instead of your actual website. When people search for you, Google’s summary is the first thing they read. * Ahrefs: AI Overviews currently appear for 83% of branded searches Signal vs. Noise What’s actually real, what’s overhyped, and what’s just weird. * Adweek: TikTok expands its off-platform ad network to U.S. advertisers * SocialDay: Smart+ campaigns and how your ad dollars might bleed into third-party apps by default * Ashley Furniture: Teddy Swims named “Chief Mood Officer” * Lightspeed: New study finds AI favors big national chains over local stores 9 out of 10 times (unless you ask nicely) Creative of the Week: Chanel’s “Nicole Kidman” TikTok Chanel spent zero time on a hyper-polished, multi-million dollar ad film this week, opting instead to hand a phone to Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, and Dua Lipa in the front row at Paris Fashion Week to lip-sync to a viral joke about Nicole Kidman. It pulled millions of likes by midweek. * Parade: Inside the viral Chanel TikTok moment From the Substack Want the full, deep-dive version of today’s main story? Check out my piece over on Substack: * Read it here: Adobe’s right to rent (and a new era) The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - PhotoShop, but make it vibe coded.
  3. Oct 5

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Nike's $1.3 billion flip-flop

    In this episode, I unpack Nike’s high-stakes gamble: doubling down on $1.3 billion in flashy brand advertising right after cutting costs and laying off staff under their new “Pace” plan. Is pouring money into emotional storytelling a proven strategy for surviving a slump, or proof of a pivoting strategy? I also cover how retail giants like Amazon are quietly shutting out AI shopping agents to protect ad revenue, why Google is heading to a jury trial over a $3.2 billion publisher ad-tech lawsuit, and why an industrial bearing manufacturer resurrected Greta Garbo via AI for a commercial. The Take: Nike’s marketing budget * CNBC, Nike Q1 FY27 earnings: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/01/nike-nke-q1-2027-earnings.html * Marketing Week, Nike increases brand marketing investment: https://www.marketingweek.com/nike-brand-marketing-investment/ * Nike 10-Q for the quarter ended Aug. 31, 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320187/000032018726000193/nke-20260831.htm * Marketing Week, Nike’s earlier shift to sports “micro-communities”: https://www.marketingweek.com/nike-brand-sports-micro-communities/ * Marketing Week, Adidas’s World Cup marketing uplift: https://www.marketingweek.com/adidas-marketing-uplift-world-cup/ * Marketing Week, Helen Edwards on Boots and consistency: https://www.marketingweek.com/boots-marketing-consistency/ Market Signal: retailers and AI shopping agents * Summary of the Wall Street Journal’s reporting: https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9107483/ai-shopping-agents-retailers-split-on-embracing-technology * Semafor, retailers picking sides on shopping agents: https://www.semafor.com/article/09/22/2026/retailers-are-picking-sides-on-ai-shopping-agents The Move: BrewDog “Under New Ownership” * Yahoo Finance UK, BrewDog distances itself from previous owners: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/brewdog-distances-itself-previous-owners-105957934.html The Number: Google’s $3.2 billion publisher case * Claims Journal, judge allows publisher claims to proceed: https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2026/10/02/340522.htm * VideoWeek week in review, including the Penske dismissal: https://videoweek.com/2026/10/02/week-in-review-goalhanger-brings-ad-sales-in-house-google-faces-3-2-billion-in-publisher-lawsuits-and-iab-europe-pushes-ctv-measurement-standards/ Signal vs. Noise * Marketing Dive, Gartner on entry-level marketing roles: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/cmos-must-rethink-entry-level-talent-as-ai-alters-marketing-needs-gartner/831604/ * The New York Times, “Have We Reached Peak Protein?”: URL-NEEDED Creative of the Week: SKF and Greta Garbo * Reuters via Yahoo, Swedish ball-bearing ad revives Greta Garbo: https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/swedish-ball-bearing-ad-revives-125116538.html From the Substack * The Art of Discovery: https://marissahomere.substack.com/p/the-art-of-discovery Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Nike's $1.3 billion flip-flop
  4. Sep 28

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY -"Meta, cancel my gym membership."

    AI agents are coming for your forgotten subscriptions. Meta’s Muse can scan your spending, find the subscriptions you’re not using and cancel them for you. That’s convenient for consumers, less convenient if your business model depends on people meaning to cancel and never quite getting around to it. That’s the big story this week. Also: McDonald’s puts Geico in the drive-thru, On explains why Mbappé doesn’t need to sell football shoes, Costco finds younger customers through delivery apps, marketing hiring continues to struggle, Staples invents the Hard Button, and Kraft Dinner makes a cheese-adjacent cream soda. Plus, this week’s Substack: what Adobe looks like when switching costs stop doing the retention work for it. Links: The Take: Meta’s Muse and subscription “ghost members” * Barchart via Yahoo Finance, Planet Fitness and Muse: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/meta-muse-threatens-ghost-members-170845201.html * Investing.com, winners and losers of Muse: https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/metas-muse-who-are-the-winners-and-losers-of-more-agentic-ai-adoption-93CH-4914391 * Benzinga, Citrini’s 90 subscription stocks: https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-stock-ratings/analyst-color/26/09/61971690/citrini-ai-short-list-90-subscription-stocks-agentic-cancellation * Axios, subscription stocks and the cancellation-friction research: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/24/meta-muse-subscription-stocks * CNBC, Muse, Amazon’s block and Recurly’s pause data: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/27/meta-muse-ai-personal-agent.html Market Signal: McDonald’s Media Network * Marketing Dive, McDonald’s investor day: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/inside-mcdonalds-new-marketing-model-as-it-enters-media-network-fray/831170/ * Gizmodo, the drive-thru demo: https://gizmodo.com/mcdonalds-is-putting-ads-in-its-drive-thru-and-everywhere-else-2000817423 The Move: On’s investor day * WWD, On investor day takeaways: https://wwd.com/footwear-news/shoe-industry-news/on-running-investor-day-takeaways-golf-financial-targets-1239254540/ * Sporting Goods Intelligence, what’s inside On’s 2029 plan: https://www.sgieurope.com/strategies/investor-day-ons-2029-plan-is-more-than-football/123217.article The Number: Costco * Modern Retail, Costco’s $33 billion in digital sales: https://www.modernretail.co/operations/costcos-digital-sales-hit-33-billion-in-2026-growing-more-than-20/ Signal vs. Noise * Business Insider, Indeed’s CMO on marketing hiring: URL-NEEDED * Indeed Hiring Lab job postings data: https://github.com/hiring-lab/job_postings_tracker * TV Insider, Tilly Norwood on Piers Morgan Uncensored: https://www.tvinsider.com/1292123/tilly-norwood-cantonese-glitch-piers-morgan-uncensored-interview/ * Business Wire, KD × Solly’s Cream Soda: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260923939374/en/Kraft-Dinner-Pops-Into-the-Beverage-Aisle-with-First-of-its-Kind-KD-x-Sollys-Cream-Soda Creative of the Week: Staples * Marketing Dive, Staples’ Hard Button: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/staples-cmo-on-introducing-a-hard-button-amid-bigger-b2b-push/830611/ From the Substack * Adobe’s right to rent: https://marissahomere.substack.com/p/adobes-right-to-rent-and-a-new-era Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY -"Meta, cancel my gym membership."
  5. Sep 21

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - The inbound and unbound of it all.

    When the company that invented inbound marketing starts selling ads and cold outreach, what does that say about inbound? This week, I look at HubSpot’s first UNBOUND conference, why the old content model depended more on free Google distribution than we liked to admit, and what happens to B2B marketing budgets when that traffic stops being free. Plus: Omnicom plans for 15,000 fewer employees while raising its growth forecast, Toys R Us builds stores with influencers in mind, OpenAI experiments with ads that turn into sales conversations, and Sonos goes back to selling the exact thing its broken app put at risk. Links & Resources Mentioned * HubSpot: Fall ’26 Spotlight and the launches from UNBOUND * HubSpot + OpenAI: ChatGPT Ads integration and small-business ad credit * Yahoo Finance: HubSpot’s revenue outlook and August share drop * Boston Globe: Why HubSpot renamed INBOUND * Mediaweek: Omnicom plans to end the year with roughly 15,000 fewer employees * Retail Dive: Toys R Us opens 120 stand-alone stores, including Creator Studios * Financial Planning: Cerulli’s survey on AI and hiring at financial advisory firms * PPC Land: OpenAI tests Sponsored Agents inside ChatGPT * TechCrunch: Profound raises $180 million as brands focus on visibility in AI answers * Boston.com / AP: Converse pulls its Chuck 70 X campaign and apologizes * Sonos: Love the Sound. Feel the System. The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - The inbound and unbound of it all.
  6. Sep 7

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Amazon's fake bidder, Pepsi fires its ad agency, and KFC decides one boss isn't enough.

    Welcome to my first podcast edition of Unhedged Weekly, a newsletter I’ve been running on LinkedIn for a few months. I figured I’d give readers a different format of the newsletter, hope you enjoy! Okay, so the most interesting thing I read this week was a lawsuit… stay with me. It’s about how Amazon decides what a brand pays for an ad, and the answer turns out to be “a bidder who doesn’t exist.” The second most interesting thing was Amazon’s reply, because they make a point I agree with, which is annoying. Pepsi and KFC are in here too. This week’s episode gets into it. To read this week’s news instead of listen to it, head over to my LinkedIn and subscribe. — Marissa Links: FTC and 22 states sue Amazon, press release, Aug 31: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/08/ftc-states-sue-amazon-over-secret-ad-surcharge-scheme Amazon's response: https://www.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-ftc-sponsored-ads-lawsuit-response Marketing Dive on the suit (the $70B and three-quarters figures): https://www.marketingdive.com/news/amazon-hid-surcharges-on-ad-auctions-alleges-ftc-complaint/829274/ Pepsi moves to Publicis: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/pepsico-hands-global-media-to-publicis-amid-transformation-at-cpg-giant/829556/ KFC's first global chief brand officer: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/kfc-names-first-global-chief-brand-officer-amid-identity-overhaul/829675/ Dr. Squatch and IShowSpeed: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/why-dr-squatch-is-investing-in-experiences-not-ads-with-ishowspeed/829009/ Chipotle's 100 creators: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/chipotle-deploys-100-creators-for-latest-ads-spotlighting-fresh-food/829149/ The UPS Store's Blu: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/the-ups-store-enlists-first-brand-character-to-support-franchisees/829215/ Axe, "You got better. So did we.": https://www.marketingdive.com/news/axe-vies-for-more-mature-brand-positioning-while-nodding-to-y2k-roots/829426/ Stop the slop: The Unhedged guide to AI tells: https://marissahomere.substack.com/p/stop-the-slop-the-unhedged-guide Get full access to The Unhedged Marketer - Marissa Homere at marissahomere.substack.com/subscribe

    UNHEDGED WEEKLY - Amazon's fake bidder, Pepsi fires its ad agency, and KFC decides one boss isn't enough.

About

Marketing runs on money. Who's spending it, who's losing it, and what that does to the brands you see every day. Unhedged Weekly is a ten-minute Monday morning listen on what moved in marketing and advertising that week, and what it actually means, from someone who's spent twenty years in the business and has opinions about most of it. Every episode: one big story done properly, the money move you should know about, the brand decision worth picking apart, one number that means something, and the ad that was worth your time. No jargon, no hedging. What moves markets moves marketing. marissahomere.substack.com