I’d like to talk to you about Social Media. The most buggered-up and misunderstood element in contemptuous marketing (Contemporary, surely? Ed). I mentioned some time ago that I attended a University BA show in media and advertising where many of the students were producing 30” TV spots for their brand
OpenAI has taken its first bold step into ecommerce with the launch of Instant Checkout, a feature that lets U.S. users shop and pay for products directly inside ChatGPT. The move signals the company’s entry into “agentic commerce,” where AI doesn’t just recommend products—it completes the purchase. The rollout begins
The marketing playbook is being rewritten in real time as generative AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity become the new gatekeepers of information. For brands, this shift is both a risk and an opportunity: the answers consumers receive from these tools are shaping purchase decisions, brand perception, and even
The claim that 1,500 people per week use ChatGPT before dying by suicide continues to surface online. But experts and emerging research caution it is not evidence-based… it remains a speculative extrapolation, not a grounded statistic. The number appears to originate from a rough calculation by OpenAI’s Sam Altman: starting
By Victor Tangermann A team of researchers from the Harvard Business School has found that a broad selection of popular AI companion apps use emotional manipulation tactics to stop users from leaving. As spotted by Psychology Today, the study found that five out of six popular AI companion apps — including Replika,
Malaysia’s social media landscape is being reshaped by a contentious battleground: influencers and the promotion of online gambling. As regulators intensify pressure on platforms and creators, marketing ethics and legal boundaries are converging in a new grey zone. Malaysian authorities are demanding stronger action against gambling ads proliferating on Meta
Inside Microsoft, the rapid pivot to AI has coincided with workforce reductions and reorganisations, leaving many employees uneasy. Sources cited by Futurism say morale is low, with some staff concerned their roles could be automated or made redundant as AI systems become more capable. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella is
By Prasoon Joshi Creativity has always been about more than expression. It’s been about building identity and cultural capital. In the modern era, brands have expanded their role to become storytellers, carrying culture, values and meaning into consumers’ lives. Today, creativity faces a new lens: AI. Celebrated, doubted and endlessly
Malaysian shoppers are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI), with 58% saying they use it to enhance how they shop. This places the country well ahead of the global average, where only 37% of consumers report using AI in their shopping journey, according to the newly released Adyen Retail Report 2025.
Google has been fined €2.95bn (£2.5bn) by the European Commission for allegedly abusing its dominance in the ad tech sector — the system that decides which online ads are shown and where. According to the Commission, the tech giant breached competition laws by giving preferential treatment to its own advertising
