Most marketing budgets are built to capture demand—people already searching—but Indeed CMO James Whitemore says that's leaving future demand on the table. He explains why Indeed is shifting spend beyond traditional demand capture toward passive and future job seekers, using culture, fandom and brand-building campaigns like "Jobs Need People" to do it.

Whitemore also breaks down how Indeed balances that brand investment with performance marketing, including the blackout and holdout tests it runs to prove top-of-funnel spending actually improves lower-funnel results rather than just adding cost.

He also discusses why he believes the current anxiety around AI and the labor market calls for a more empathetic approach to advertising—and what other marketers can learn from matching their tone to consumers' emotional state.

Dig deeper

~Indeed turns workplace nightmares into punchlines in Tombras campaign

~How America's Hottest Brands are winning with feedback, fandom and smart collaborations

~Performance marketing vs. brand-building—how the best brands weave them together

~5 CMOs share their biggest AI fears—and how they fixed them

~Belonging is the new brand loyalty for financially squeezed consumers

An idea isn't a strategy. Kayak's marketing team gets plenty of raw material—search behavior, trending topics, notions floating around a meeting room—but treats none of it as ready for creative until research confirms it's real. That process turned a theory about group travel into "Bookboards": 84% of travelers have watched a group trip stall in the chat, and 90% blame one friend who won't commit.

The travel brand's senior VP of global brand marketing Carolina Montenegro walks through how Kayak separates a real consumer pattern from a passing one, how the brand teases familiar behavior without punching down, and what that discipline looks like for marketers outside travel.

Dig deeper:

~Kayak's 'Bookboards' let friends shame a holdout who won't commit to a trip

~Millennials get thrashed in Kayak's biting booking campaign

~How brands can separate passing fads from valuable consumer insights

~Circana's Cara Pratt on inventory versus insight, and why more data isn't the answer

As brands try to make their campaign dollars stretch farther, they're looking to culturally resonant marketing that creates engagement—comments, likes and shares—and results in sales gains. Calvin Klein's Spring 2026 campaign with actress Dakota Johnson is an example of how the clothing brand is using content to 'game the algorithm,' according to Jonathan Bottomley, global chief marketing officer of Calvin Klein and executive VP, group consumer and brand strategy at parent company PVH Corp. Not only did the provocative campaign attract 26 million views on Instagram, but it also helped create a single-digit increase in women's underwear sales and a double-digit increase in women's denim sales, Bottomley said, noting that 30% of Calvin Klein's audience is actively engaged on Instagram. By cultivating such engagement on social media, the brand is building a sense of virality, he said.

On the podcast, Bottomley also discusses the role of community and product-led marketing, as well as how Calvin Klein is evolving its brand messaging to connect with Gen Z consumers.

Dig deeper

-https://adage.com/brand-marketing/aa-winners-losers-calvin-klein-jeopardy-seafood-city-rei-david-campbells/

-https://adage.com/events-awards/cannes-lions/aa-cmo-marketing-trends-budgeting-ai-measurement-agencies/