Higher education marketing needs more differentiation, according to Justin Bell, Fordham University’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications.

In his view, the industry’s marketing follows an obvious formula — touting an institution’s research, beautiful campus and student outcomes after graduation — that calls for new tactics in order to stand out. Bell is leaning into experiential marketing to showcase the school’s attributes and a brand platform that helps target more than 20 personas and work toward long-term ROI. Chief Marketer sat down with Bell to discuss the unique approach.

Shoe insoles brand Vktry debuted its first TV ad featuring professional, college and high school athletes. We review the company's new marketing direction after years of growth from social media videos.

A new survey from Forrester suggests that B2C CMOs are planning to make the customer experience (CX) their top priority in 2026 — a notable shift from last year, when CX didn’t even crack the top five priorities. We examine the study's key takeaways.

After a successful test during the 2024 holiday season, Target has upgraded its app and AI Gift Finder for the 2025 holiday season to allow shoppers to find products in a more conversational way. Shoppers can enter free-form responses into the chatbot about the person they’re shopping for, relating to things like age, gender and interests. And the bot will respond with product recommendations in various categories and price points. Here's a look at this year’s upgrades.

Lastly, Adobe Analytics released its holiday season forecast, which revealed that social media ads, generative AI and Prime Day boosted online October sales. But holiday sales growth is expected to slow, as consumers tend to holiday shopping earlier to manage broader costs.

Until next week,