Future of Marketing Institute

AI agents might become your new customers. 👀 Think about the last time you bought something online. You probably searched, compared reviews, checked prices, and then made a decision. But that process is starting to change. AI shopping agents can now help shoppers filter options, compare products, track prices, and make recommendations in the background. Amazon and Google are already moving in this direction. For marketers, this is a big shift. In the future, your brand may need to do more than just impress consumers. It may also need to be understood, trusted, and recommended by AI. This carousel explores what AI shopping agents are, how they’re changing consumer behaviour, and why this matters for brands and marketers. Swipe through.👇

Are marketers moving from campaigns to experiential worlds? What will it take to attract customers to these experiences and encourage them stay? Google’s Project Genie 3 wants to make building interactive digital environments as easy as crafting a prompt. Imagine an immersive brand interaction marketers could create and personalize to every user - fast! 🚘 An automotive brand could launch an interactive city where consumers test-drive vehicles across various weather and road conditions and they feel like they're in the driver's seat. 🛩️ Travel brands could open the door for customers to explore destinations, hotels and famous sites before they leave their home on vacation. But where would these brand worlds live? On connected TVs as a new type of interactive series, within gaming platforms, or on AR and VR headsets, where consumers take part in a virtual shopping adventure in real-time? As this technology continues to evolve, marketing could move from media and become a world of its own. https://lnkd.in/gP64jRv3

Marketing is changing fast, and AI is at the center of that change.   That is why the Future of Marketing Institute has curated a Spotify podcast playlist. Each week, we feature a smart, practical conversation at the intersection of marketing, AI, strategy, and innovation.   Here are five Marketing + AI podcasts from our playlist worth adding to your rotation:   👉 Marketing Against the Grain 👉 The Artificial Intelligence Show 👉 AI Explored 👉 Leveraging AI 👉 AI Marketing Companion   Whether you are teaching, learning, leading a brand, or building the future of marketing, these podcasts offer useful ideas for staying ahead.   Which one is your favorite? And, if we missed a good podcast, please let us know.   Listen to the curated FMI playlist here: https://lnkd.in/gar5d82K Kipp Bodnar Kieran Flanagan Paul Roetzer Mike Kaput Isar Meitis Michael (Mike) Stelzner Sandy Carter

Meet the Future of Marketing Institute’s Summer 2026 Team! 💚 💙 We’re excited to welcome our new Marketing Specialists: Aarya Doshi, Alisha Thapar, Erika Wassilko, Matteo Iacovelli, Mehak Manzoor and Simranpreet Randhawa. And our newly promoted Managers: Asima Samam and Avreet Bains. This talented team will be behind FMI’s content this summer with creativity, curiosity, and fresh ideas. We can't wait to see the impact they’ll make! 📈👏🏼 Schulich School of Business - York University Detlev Zwick

For many people, scent is one of the strongest senses. Yet, it has remained underused in marketing due to the difficulty of producing precise, controllable smells. 👃 In the past, marketers attempted to use scent in retail by releasing chemicals into the air. Results were inconsistent, and these systems relied on liquids that were costly, messy, slow to clear, and difficult to scale across environments. Now, new ultrasound-based technology may change that. Researchers are exploring ways to stimulate scent perception without releasing physical chemicals, using focused ultrasonic waves to create targeted olfactory experiences. Here is an article that talks about this new methodology. https://lnkd.in/dD6TXm4j In retail, this could be a breakthrough. The Future of Marketing Institute can envision consumers buying running shoes in a store while smelling a forest trail. Or, how about evaluating patio furniture with the scent of summer rain, all delivered cleanly, precisely, and on demand? If scalable, this new technology could open up a new sensory layer for retail experiences. In the near future, we will see if this new tech passes 'the smell test'.

There's no question generative AI is changing writing, creativity and content production. How should marketers adapt? A few weeks back, FMI Associate Director, Martin Waxman, MCM, APR, appeared before a Senate of Canada Transportations Communications committee studying the effects of AI on content. The latest FMI newsletter features a transcript of his remarks including his recommendation that AI policy makers should focus on three areas: research, training and governance. What do you think?

We’re incredibly proud to celebrate our FMI Excellence Award winners, Nashia Hussain and Simone Pimenta 👏 Through their leadership and the support they’ve shown others, they’ve played a major role in shaping the FMI experience. Their impact is evident in their work and in the people they’ve helped along the way. Congratulations again, Nashia and Simone. So well deserved, and we wish you continued success!

Even the biggest tech companies are still figuring it out. Some days, it feels like tech strategy is being rewritten in real time. Meta pivoted from the metaverse to AI. OpenAI built hype around Sora, then decided to shut it down. And platforms like Instagram keep testing features that appear and disappear. It’s clear AI has become Silicon Valley’s center of gravity. But when every company moves in the same direction without a clear vision, the risk is not failure but fragmentation. Fast launches, faster pivots, and experiences that don’t always connect. It starts to feel like a page turner without a plot. What does this mean for marketers? Stop treating platforms as stable. They’re designed to evolve. The question isn’t just where to show up, but what values and behaviour your brand is expressing. Because while platforms pivot, people don’t. And in the future of marketing, trust, consistency, and relationships still win.

Persistent memory is quickly changing how AI understands users. Instead of depending on single interactions, AI systems can now store information across multiple exchanges, recalling preferences, behaviours, tone, and intent over time. This means customer profiles may move from static snapshots to a constantly evolving understanding. For example, if a travel platform remembers that you prefer a quiet room, go to bed early, and often book boutique hotels, the next time you search, it will automatically suggest smaller hotels on higher floors, without ever needing to repeat those preferences. For marketers, this could transform how audiences are understood and targeted. This could mean: - Personalization that improves over time - More accurate recommendations and predictive targeting - Messaging that adapts to a customer’s changing needs As persistent memory becomes more common in AI systems, the brands that benefit most will be those that learn how to use ongoing customer context to deliver genuinely relevant experiences.

What if marketing isn’t changing… just repeating? Soap operas were once created by brands like P&G as a form of product-led storytelling. Now we are seeing a similar playbook return through microdramas in China and North America. Microdramas are short, serialized brand led stories designed to capture attention quickly while weaving products naturally into entertainment. Different format, same idea. Story first. Brand is built into the narrative. And it is happening beyond entertainment, too. Brand ambassadors are becoming AI influencers. Product placement is becoming hyper-targeted and algorithmic. Catalogue-style personalization is reappearing as AI-curated storefronts. What looks new is often an old idea rebuilt for new behaviour, new platforms, and new technology. Maybe that's the real shift. The future of marketing isn't always about creating something entirely new. Sometimes, it's about reinventing what has already worked. As Kotler said, “Marketing is the art of creating genuine customer value.” So what’s next? What other idea from the past is about to be reimagined for modern marketing? Sources: https://lnkd.in/eRbDUsc3 https://lnkd.in/ev9tfs28