Marketing news, week of July 20, 2026

Machine summary A Media Buying Briefing says China remains a tough market for holding companies to figure out. The briefing said holding company revenues in China have been held back by a long-term shift among Chinese advertisers toward e-commerce, key opinion leaders and platforms.

1. Per COMvergence data cited by Digiday, WPP Media held the greatest market share in 2025 at 8.4% but saw billings contract 5.5%, while Dentsu and Havas also saw billings fall.

Reported by Digiday.

• WPP
• COMvergence

Machine summary A MarTech article by Rokt mParticle states that most marketing teams do not track match rate, the share of an uploaded audience a platform can recognize and target.

1. According to the MarTech article by Rokt mParticle, most teams do not track match rate and many do not know it is a number at all.
2. The article states that platforms report performance against the matched portion of an audience.

Reported by MarTech and Search Engine Land.

• mParticle
• Rokt
• Rokt mParticle

Machine summary Indiagazette.com reports that 94% of mobile shoppers at India's D2C brands do not make a purchase.

Reported by indiagazette.com (Big News Network), Aninews and calcuttanews.net (Big News Network).

• D2C Brands (India)

Machine summary Founder, MD and CEO Ishank Joshi said the new identity reflects a shift the company has been working towards and that the Neural Engine is the clearest expression of where it is headed.

Reported by adgully.com and bignewsnetwork.com (Big News Network).

• Mobavenue Neural Engine

Machine summary A report by ImageKit says digital asset management systems have solved the library problem but now face a content activation gap. It cites Adobe research that 62% of surveyed marketers say content demand has increased 5x or more in two years, and a G2 report that eight out of 10 DAM vendors cite exponential asset growth as their primary operational pressure.

1. According to ImageKit, the original promise of DAM was organization, and modern DAMs solve that library problem well.
2. ImageKit says activation is a supply chain problem, with assets needing to reach campaign pages, product detail pages, social posts, emails, and partner CMSs in the right format, quality, and moment.
3. According to ImageKit, a 2025 Adobe study polled over 1,600 marketers and discovered 62% report that over the past two years content demand has already risen by at least five times.
4. According to ImageKit, a 2026 DAM report from G2 discovered that 80% of DAM vendors currently name exponential asset growth as their main operational pressure.
5. ImageKit says that to close the content activation gap, five specific shifts are required, which most DAM implementations have not undertaken.

Reported by MarTech and Search Engine Land.

• Adobe
• G2
• Digital Asset Management (DAM)
• ImageKit

Machine summary Key facts from the reports:

1. American Eagle on Wednesday began rolling out its back-to-school campaign, per details shared with Marketing Dive.

Reported by Marketing Dive and Retail Dive.

Machine summary Social Media Today said it is publishing a series of marketing overviews on building an organic social media presence, with a post examining Reddit. The post states that Reddit Pro is free and offers analytics tools including keyword tracking and post performance insights, and that Reddit Trends provides AI-generated overviews of discussion trends.

Reported by Social Media Today and Marketing Dive.

• Reddit
• Social Media Today
• Reddit Pro

Machine summary eCommerce Expo | DMEXCO Asia announced it will become an independent event in 2027, scheduled for 7-8 April in Singapore, the reports said. The event had been part of Tech Week Singapore, and the reports said the 2027 edition is expected to draw over 5,000 attendees, 100 exhibitors and 150 speakers. CloserStill Media and Koelnmesse jointly deliver the event, the reports said.

1. The event was previously held as part of Tech Week Singapore.
2. Organisers said the 2027 edition will be the first under the new format.

Reported by manilatimes.net and itnewsonline.com.

• Tech Week Singapore
• eCommerce Expo | DMEXCO Asia

Machine summary NetEase's AI-generated trailer featuring the digital likeness of retired star Joey Wong reignites the debate on using AI doubles for brand endorsements. Meanwhile, actor Lawrence Ng licensed his younger self for an AI film.

1. Joey Wong, 59 and retired since 2004, licensed her youthful likeness for an AI-generated 87-second game trailer 'Qianying' by NetEase.
2. The trailer used NetEase's DM Monet tool and ByteDance's Volcano Engine generative AI, with no live-action footage.
3. Ng signed a contract limiting the digital double's use to the specific film.

Reported by europe.chinadaily.com.cn and usa.chinadaily.com.cn.

• ByteDance
• NetEase
• Volcano Engine
• DM Monet