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One of the questions we hear most often is: “How much should we invest in paid media?” The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The right budget depends on your business goals, historical performance, competitive environment, and growth plans. The most effective paid media budgets aren’t based on gut feel or arbitrary percentages of revenue. […]

Political advertising will continue to affect the paid media marketplace, and brands should be prepared for another highly competitive environment as the 2026 midterm election cycle accelerates. The 2024 election cycle became the most expensive in U.S. history, with political advertising spending surpassing $11 billion nationwide. While Presidential election years typically generate the largest overall […]

One of the most common reactions to AI is also one of the most telling: “It’s fine… but it’s kind of generic.” The outputs are clean. Grammatically correct. Even directionally helpful. But they lack depth. They lack specificity. And they don’t feel particularly tailored to your situation. That’s not a limitation of the tool—it’s a […]

There’s a lot of conversation right now about what AI can do. The list is long: it can analyze data, generate ideas, summarize information, produce polished outputs, and even help plan your Girls’ Trip to Napa. But as AI becomes more capable, the more important question isn’t just what it can do—it’s what it can’t.  […]

After the initial wave of excitement around AI, most teams are now asking a more practical question: Where does this actually add value? Because while using AI is easy, using it well is something else entirely. The difference isn’t between teams that are using AI and those that aren’t. It’s between teams that are using […]

AI is very good at sounding right—even when it isn’t. It sounds confident, never uncertain, and very, very smart. The word “intelligence” is in its name, and it has all of the data the internet can hold at its fingertips. It’s easy to type in a question or request and take what it gives you […]

I recently completed the Masterclass Certification, “AI Fundamentals: Think, Create, and Work Smarter,” with the goal of better understanding how to use AI and how AI tools actually fit into the way we work—not just in theory, but in practice. As part of that process, I’ve been translating those learnings into real-world application for our […]

by Liz Scott, CEO at Catalyst Media Design   Every election cycle, we get asked if advertisers should change up their strategies, particularly when it comes to Television advertising. And the answer is, of course, it depends.  But let’s start by first taking a step back. Television, in particular Broadcast TV, has historically been the […]

July 1st is quickly approaching: Are you ready? Effective July 1st, Universal Analytics (UA) will be replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Below are some FAQs concerning the change, along with details on what you need to do to protect your past and future data. What does this mean? Starting July 1st, all new data […]

There has been so much coverage over this past year surrounding the death of 3rd party cookies, and although the “end date” keeps getting pushed further and further out (we are now looking at some time in 2023), the topic keeps cropping up. Even with all of the coverage, it’s still hard to follow exactly what the issue is or what effect this change will have on advertising.