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Day three felt like a mix of progress and pause with incremental roll outs, and real conversations about where the lines should be . Personally, attending this event for me is as much about my desire to listen to and learn from fascinating minds on their areas of expertise while understanding how to tap into their field, products and services for marketing purposes and/or cultural connections. This mindset also led to a restorative stroll with sharing of ideas with a former c

Over the years CES has become as much a marketing and media hub as it has a home for technology companies. From branded activations to parallel agency programming, the more transactional and revenue focused elements have made their way into the fabric of the trade show. Pinterest’s Chief Content Officer, Malik Ducard at ADWEEK House discussed how 96% of queries are unbranded and that’s huge because users want to be inspired and now with its CTV play via tvScientific, advert

Announcements and unveilings at CES are tables takes for a brand that’s meaningfully participating. Now whether these cause desired commotion and interest is another story. Overall, what we are seeing so far is about systems, collaboration, and how technology is quietly reshaping how we work, create, and play. Siemens is partnering with NVIDIA to build an Industrial AI Operating System and launch the Digital Twin Composer. This isn’t flashy consumer tech…it’s the invisible

Even before the "official opening" today, rising search trends around “CES 2026,” “AI innovation,” “next-gen gadgets,” and “future tech,” the world’s largest technology show helped prove continued dominance the tech trade show has.   NVIDIA's announcement of its Vera Rubin platform has garnered most of the Internet's interest over the past 24 hours. Just like its predecessor, Blackwell, the new architecture will become the standard for the upcoming chipsets aimed at AI workfl

Something felt different about marketing in 2025. Ads were easier to ignore, recommendations felt more personal, and people became quicker to decide what was worth their time—and what wasn’t. Behind the scenes, brands were quietly reworking how they connect with audiences, moving away from flashy tactics and toward simpler, smarter systems built around trust and relevance. What emerged was a new marketing reality shaped by trust, relevance, and proof—not hype. Here are the fi

Consumers became more sceptical of surface-level purpose messaging. Brands that won in 2025 demonstrated values through actions , partnerships, and product decisions.   In practice: Brands like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s continued to integrate values into operations and partnerships—not just campaigns. Patagonia  continued to lead by embedding environmental commitments directly into its business model , not just marketing. A key objective is for its globally owned and operat

In 2025, CTV crossed the line from awareness-only to measurable, performance-driven media , especially for ecommerce and subscription brands. CTV ad spending in the US will near $46 billion in 2028 and surpass linear TV ad spending for the first time (eMarketer). Streaming-first ad buys  on Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime Video replaced linear TV for many brands. CTV crossed a psychological threshold in 2025. It was no longer framed as “the new TV,” but as measurable

In 2025, something shifted in how people decide what to buy, watch, and trust. It wasn’t brands getting louder, it was people becoming more influential . Creators moved from being promotional add-ons to becoming central voices in how products, culture, and values are communicated. This post looks at why creator-led marketing replaced traditional influencer campaigns in 2025, how trust—not reach—became the deciding factor, and what brands learned when they stopped scripting an

Retail media was no longer optional in 2025, it was a must have. As third-party cookies fade , brands followed first-party data straight into retailer ecosystems. Amazon's dominance in the retail media space is undeniable, with ad-supported tiers in Amazon CTV driving ad revenue growth by 19% in Q3 2024. Retailers are now media platforms with unmatched intent data. RMNs sit mid-funnel to lower-funnel , but increasingly influence awareness via video and CTV. In Practice: CPG b

In 2025, budgets tightened, attention fractured further, and consumers became faster at filtering what felt useful versus what felt like noise. As a result, we had fewer “shiny object” strategies and more operationalized, performance-driven marketing rooted in trust, relevance, and proof. Global digital ad spend is projected to surpass $790 billion (AI Digital) and this year marks a tipping point where AI-driven hyper-personalization collides with tightening privacy regulatio

(Fotos de MusiCon by RT 2025 en Santo Domingo, Rep ú blica Dominicana) El viernes 21 de noviembre concluimos MusiCon by RT 2025, una plataforma diseñada para ofrecer conocimiento práctico y acceso a profesionales de  la industria musical en la República Dominicana, donde las oportunidades  abundan : Contribución Económica:  ~2% del PIB, más de 100,000 empleos dentro de la  “Economía Naranja” , que incluye música y producción. La región latinoamericana , que abarca gran parte

(Photos from MusiCon by RT 2025 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) On Friday Nov. 21 st  we wrapped MusiCon by RT 2025, a platform designed to provide actionable knowledge and access to music industry professionals in the Dominican Republic, where opportunity is plentiful : Economic Contribution: ~2% of GDP , 100k+ jobs in creative "Orange Economy”, which includes music and production  The Latin American region, which encompasses much of the Caribbean, experienced a 19.4%

Every once in a while, a cultural moment hits that perfectly bridges art, audience, and brand voice. One of the most exciting music releases of the year—Berghain by Rosalía—is one of those moments. Named after Berlin’s legendary club, the song pulses with the same energy, attitude, and irreverence that define both the artist and the venue. Rosalía’s “Berghain”  — isn’t just a track; it’s a cultural flashpoint. The song blurred pop, art, and underground energy — and hit over 1

In 2025, the Latin music market in the U.S. is not just growing—it’s accelerating. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), recorded-music revenue for the Latin genre hit US $490.3 million  in the first half of the year—a 5.9 % increase  over H1 2024. This marks the 12th straight year of mid-year growth , underscoring the sustained upward trajectory of Latin music. Latin (music) now accounts for 8.8% of total U.S. recorded-music revenue , positioning

( This article was first published by the Advertising Club of NY ) Culture , as a term is used daily online, and other media to talk about elements of society that appear to be at odds, politically and/or socially. Even when you look the Oxford definition of the word, you’ll see that it can mean BOTH “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.”   AND “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual a

If you found “Digital Litter”  irritating and lacking in quality,  “AI Slop” must have a similar  tug at your sensitivities.  I’m not...

Pedro L. Rodriguez launches PLR Group Inc. a Communications and Marketing Consultancy. Our mission is simple: blend creativity,...