Short reads for short attention spans

Ad agencies brace for cautious spend as brands choose ‘safe’ creative

Adweek reports that many brands are entering 2026 with budget caution, opting for familiar, lower-risk creative instead of bold or experimental concepts. Economic uncertainty, internal approval pressure and a continued focus on short-term ROI are driving advertisers toward “safe” execution styles, particularly in Q1 planning cycles.

Why it matters:

• Safe creative may protect budgets, but it risks blending in, reducing cut-through and long-term brand building.
• Agencies should help clients quantify the cost of creative timidity, not just creative investment.
• A bolder, story-led approach may deliver disproportionate gains in a crowded, low-differentiation media environment.

Further reading at Ad Week:

ADWEEK Creativity Advantage: Brands Are Cautious as They Aim For Safe Money

PubMatic inks deal to inject ads into AI chatbots via programmatic auctions

PubMatic has partnered with startup Kontext to enable advertisers to place programmatic ads inside AI chat interfaces, expanding the definition of “inventory” beyond screens into conversational environments. Advertisers will bid on chatbot-embedded placements similarly to display or native units, opening a new frontier for attention.

Why it matters:

• The first wave of “AI conversation ads” hints at a major shift in how and where brands can appear.
• Media buying may soon include conversational placements as standard line items.
• Agencies should prepare clients for creative formats optimised for dialogue, not just display or video.

Further reading at AdExchanger:

Programmatic Ads Are Coming To AI Chatbots

New Uber Intelligence platform turns rides & take-out data into advertiser insights

Uber has launched a new analytics platform combining trip patterns, food-delivery behaviour and consumer movement data via clean-room integration with LiveRamp. Brands will be able to analyse cohort-level mobility insights, such as neighbourhood-level behaviour, peak travel times and purchase correlations, to refine targeting and media planning.

Why it matters:

Uber’s behavioural data offers powerful, real-world signals beyond traditional digital analytics.

• Mobility + purchase data can improve local planning, OOH strategy, audience modelling and measurement.
• This marks another major step toward first-party, privacy-safe data ecosystems replacing third-party identifiers.

Further reading at the Business Insider:

Uber's latest play for ad dollars: turning data about your trips and takeout into insights for marketers