If there’s one thing David Protein is going to do, it’s try to stand out. That’s why when it came time to pick the packaging, the team behind the brand went for gold.

“If you walk down the [protein bar] aisle today, you get bombarded with colors and different brands and really very little differentiation,” Oula Ghanem, chief of staff at David, told us. “[Our] strategy has been trying to differentiate across every possible feature of the product.”

Even the brand’s name, a reference to Michelangelo’s David sculpture, intentionally deviates from category standards, said Rion Harmon, co-founder and ECD at creative agency Day Job, which works with David. “We have lines for the brand like, ‘Nature made marble and humans made David,’ and it’s sort of hilarious, right?” he said. “We're talking about protein bars here.”

That irreverence and desire to be different is a big reason why the brand’s marketing has been unconventional for a protein bar. Since launching in September 2024, David has raised eyebrows selling cod on its website, sending sex toys to influencers, and running subway ads without a lick of text—just a picture of the product.

Ghanem said the goal in all of this is to drive David’s cultural relevance and attract audiences that fall outside the typically male and performance-driven protein bar consumer.

Continue reading here.—KH

The economy isn’t exactly humming along, but marketers in the US are set to keep spending.

US marketers are expected to spend 9.5% more in 2026 than in 2025, according to projections from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The growth, which is projected through polling domestic buy-side ad investment decision-makers primarily at agencies and brands, is in part due to “major cyclical events” like the midterm elections, Winter Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup, but even excluding those events, growth still hovers between 7.1% and 7.8%.

Social media and CTV stand to grow the most among various channels, the IAB found, increasing 14.6% and 13.8% YoY, respectively. (The report did not break out total dollar figures.)

The bigger picture: According to Omnicom data cited in the report, the trifecta of cyclical events could bring in $9 billion in incremental spend. However, advertisers are facing some challenges that could inhibit growth, and there’s roughly a one-in-three chance that a domestic recession could hurt growth, the report read.

Marketers are also dealing with other challenges around cost. Growing customer acquisition costs contributed to a 10-point decline in the importance of new customer acquisition for marketers, as driving repeat purchases has grown as a priority. Another concern is tariffs. Nine in 10 buyers said they are “concerned about the negative impact of tariffs on ad spend,” according to the report.

Read more here.—JS

ICYMI, everyone’s talking about agentic commerce. And a big reason is because agentic commerce has the potential to completely change how consumers shop, from the products they buy to the retailers they buy from.

As more people turn to LLMs to shop, a focus on product assortment and innovation could be key for some retailers and brands to continue to land in shoppers’ carts, especially in a crowded retail segment like beauty.

“Competition is real, especially in this category,” Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman said on stage at NRF this year during her keynote session. And for Ulta, a strategy for edging out that competition in the age of AI is working with brands to create exclusive products or launching brands that are only sold at the retailer.

“We are really getting into Only at Ulta, which I think is going to be really important as you’ve been hearing a lot about agentic AI,” Steelman said. “The more that you can have that’s exclusive in your assortment, the more engaged the customer, the agent, or the guest is going to be coming into your specific brand.”

Could strategies like these be increasingly important in the age of agentic commerce?

Loyal pain: Loyalty has already been a pain point for retailers and brands as many cash-strapped shoppers have shifted their buying habits to make the most of their money. Agentic AI could present more challenges for retailers on that front.

“​​You could look at OpenAI and Google that now have created these global marketplaces—does the customer care where they get product X from?” Brett Leary, AI lead for Accenture, said.

Continue reading here.—EC

Welcome to Marketing Brew Weekly! This week, we’re diving into the pros and cons of selling a project with a showmance. Inspired by the buzz around the upcoming Wuthering Heights film, we explore whether off-screen chemistry can translate into real marketing momentum—or backfire spectacularly. Tune in as we break down the strategy, the risks, and what brands can learn from Hollywood hype.