How QSRs are building on value marketing with pop culture, nostalgia

Fast food marketers including McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s will have to move beyond price-point value to drive sales and traffic.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 18, 2026

Folgers mixes iconic jingle with ‘wake up’ songs from across years, genres

The J.M. Smucker coffee brand is trying to reach new generations of consumers as it looks to change perceptions.

By Sara Karlovitch • Feb. 17, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Marketing Dive

From the continued rise of artificial intelligence to the emergence of new digital channels, here's a look at key trends driving marketing in 2026.

By Marketing Dive staff

PepsiCo’s CMO on how its Super Bowl strategy informs 2026 growth plans

Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer Jane Wakely explains how efforts by Lay’s, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Poppi extend beyond the big game.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 17, 2026

Campaign Trail: Squarespace turns domain names into a noir nightmare

The brand enlisted Hollywood duo Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos to break out of the “sea of sameness” in Super Bowl ads.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 13, 2026

Major League Soccer extends reach in substantial marketing push

“MLS Is Back” puts the league in the spotlight ahead of the World Cup, which is coming to the U.S. this year.

By Sara Karlovitch • Feb. 12, 2026

Sweetgreen names Wpromote paid media AOR as brand looks to reignite growth

Wpromote is tasked with balancing a cohesive national strategy with more market-specific opportunities as Sweetgreen combats a sales slump. 

By Peter Adams • Feb. 12, 2026

Marketers weigh in on Super Bowl 60 ads, from the weird to the audacious

Marketing Dive readers and adland experts assess five of the most talked about big game ads.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 11, 2026

Kotex serves up brand platform, refreshed identity with ‘Own Your Flow’

The Kimberly-Clark brand uses tennis as a metaphor in a purpose-driven effort that remakes Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 11, 2026

CeraVe dubs NBA’s Durant its ‘Face of Legs’ in social-first campaign

The global effort responds to viral posts mocking the Rockets star for his dry skin, including through a Mean Tweets-inspired video.

By Peter Adams • Updated Feb. 10, 2026

Dove lets Redditors do the talking in transparency-focused campaign

“Dove r/eal reviews” leverages Reddit’s growing beauty community and the platform’s reputation for honest product takes.

By Sara Karlovitch • Feb. 10, 2026

Ulta Beauty taps women athletes for marketing push

The retailer enlisted a group of professional female athletes to participate in omnichannel marketing, including digital trading cards.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 10, 2026

‘Don Draper is rolling over in his grave’: Super Bowl 60 ads play it safe

Most brands returned to the same conceptual wells while emergent ad categories like AI and health and wellness offered a mixed bag.

By Peter Adams , Chris Kelly • Feb. 9, 2026

Super Bowl 2026: Viewership, engagement and ads analysis

Breaking down all the key stats from the big game’s ads, including cost, reach, social engagement and more.

By Sara Karlovitch • Feb. 9, 2026

Ortega goes for younger consumers with brand refresh

The update comes as the brand looks to combat declining sales amid supply chain issues and increased competition.

By Sara Karlovitch • Feb. 9, 2026

Edward Jones’ brand chief on marketing wealth management via sports, ads

Chief Brand, Experience and Marketing Officer Hema Widhani discusses the firm’s recent ad campaign and college football partnership.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 9, 2026

Programmatic advertising in 2026: Proving performance while it still matters

What if programmatic’s biggest risk isn’t wasted spend, but delayed insight before budgets are gone.

Feb. 9, 2026

Chipotle pokes fun at AI Super Bowl ads to spotlight real ingredients

After another brand's AI-generated Super Bowl spot airs, the restaurant chain will post a video on Instagram Reels to dole out free entree codes. 

By Jessica Hammers • Feb. 5, 2026

Uber Eats lets fans build their own Super Bowl ad with in-app integration

The delivery platform created a content library full of alternate scenes for its own commercial that include cameos from a handful of celebrities.

By Aaron Baar • Feb. 5, 2026

Chipotle teases robust marketing plan amid search for ‘unicorn’ CMO

The fast casual chain plans to better support its marketing with targeted media as it looks to reverse negative sales growth.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 4, 2026

Why Rocket’s Redfin is kicking off a $1M home giveaway at the Super Bowl

CMO Jonathan Mildenhall explains how consumers can take part in a home search via a scavenger hunt in the Redfin app.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 4, 2026

Ritz doubles down on salty positioning in second Super Bowl campaign

The Mondelēz brand continues to embrace more culturally attuned marketing with a Ritz Island ad starring Bowen Yang, Jon Hamm and Scarlett Johansson.

By Peter Adams • Feb. 3, 2026

VML: Marketing must balance consumer anxiety and hope in 2026

Marketing trends, such as microdramas and consumers who are expressing a sense of “dysoptimism,” are identified in the agency’s “Future 100” report.

By Peter Adams • Feb. 3, 2026

E.l.f. taps into halftime show hype with purpose-driven Super Bowl play

The brand will be giving loyalty members a free subscription to Duolingo to help democratize access to learning a second language.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 3, 2026

How to write better AI prompts for prospecting

If your AI outputs sound generic — your inputs probably are too. In part two of "Selling with AI", Apollo.io breaks down the exact structure for writing AI sales prompts that drive results with real examples from experts.

Feb. 2, 2026

Grubhub — and George Clooney — make Super Bowl debuts to ‘eat the fees’

The delivery platform promotes a new offer to remove delivery and service fees on restaurant orders over $50 in an oddball ad directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

By Chris Kelly • Feb. 2, 2026