We arm you with all the stats you need to tackle the week ahead.
60% of UK consumers say later World Cup kick-offs will make them more likely to stay in to watch games, according to research from YouGov.
The later kick-offs, due to the tournament taking place in the US, Mexico and Canada, may mean fewer people go to pubs and bars to watch World Cup games. Just 8% of consumers say they plan to primarily watch the games in pubs and bars.
A quarter of viewers (25%) completely agree they will go to pubs or bars less during the World Cup 2026, while 22% say they will order fewer takeaways.
Overall, many consumers do not expect the World Cup to increase their spending. Nearly half (47%) say they are not going to drink more alcohol, while 33% say they are not going to order more groceries to stock up for matches.
Over a quarter (26%) of viewers expect to prepare food and snacks at home compared with just 14% who plan to order delivery. Similarly, 18% say they are more likely to buy alcohol for home consumption, while 10% expect to purchase more low- and no-alcohol drinks to consume at home.
Source: YouGov
Social commerce is now growing four times quicker than traditional ecommerce, according to data from creator marketing agency Influencer. Social commerce is growing by 32% versus regular ecommerce, which is growing at 8%.
Social commerce is projected to reach $8.5tn (£6.3tn) globally by 2030.
According to the data, over half (54%) of all consumers say creators influence their purchase decisions.
Health and beauty is one area where social commerce is particularly booming. Health and beauty now accounts for 79.3% of all TikTok Shop sales in the US. Consumers who use TikTok shop now spend an average of $120 (£89) on beauty products via the channel.
Source: Influencer
Research surveying 300 global CMOs finds that 43% report marketing investments in AI will pass $15m this year, according to data from BCG. That is a significant increase versus last year, when 28% of CMOs saw their AI investment exceed $15m.
Marketing as a function has significant influence over businesses’ AI strategy, the research suggests. Roughly half of CMOs say the marketing organisation now leads AI investment decisions, compared with 14% led by the CEO or board and 15% led by strategy.
Almost all (96%) CMOs surveyed feel that AI is driving end-to-end transformation of their function. Perhaps as a result, 80% of CMOs say they are making significant investments in AI-specific upskilling programmes across all levels of their organisation
Agentic AI is a particular area of focus for many marketers looking to the future of their AI strategy. Almost a third (31%) of B2C CMOs and 20% of B2B CMOs claim they are already achieving significant, measurable revenue impact from their agentic marketing transformation.
Source: BCG
LinkedIn’s 2026 Global B2B Marketing Outlook suggests 78% of B2B CMOs believe brands need to reinvent how they engage customers to remain relevant.
This is because three-quarters (74%) of marketers say buyers are more sceptical of traditional marketing than they were in the past, according to the survey of 1,299 B2B marketers and CMOs across the UK, US, France, Germany and India.
More than half (53%) of UK marketers agree that traditional marketing tactics are losing their effectiveness among increasingly discerning audiences.
Globally, nine in 10 CMOs say buyers now need to know and trust a brand before they are willing to engage with it.
In the UK, 53% of B2B marketers agree that brands need to rethink their approach to engagement, while 65% say buyers must trust and know a brand before they will consider interacting with it.
The study also highlights the challenges marketers face as younger generations come to dominate buying committees.
It finds 71% of B2B buyers are now Gen Z or millennials, prompting marketers to adapt to changing behaviours, technologies and content consumption habits.
Source: LinkedIn
Irn Bru’s football anthem ‘Made in Scotland from Girders’ has topped effectiveness platform System1’s ranking of 2026 World Cup ads as consumers’ favourite, despite not being an official partner of the tournament.
The Susan Boyle-fronted campaign scored 5.9 stars, the highest score for long-term brand building potential on the platform, suggesting brands can still win by connecting with fans when not official sponsors.
Overall, 22 football ads scored above four stars, a big leap on just two ads during the 2022 tournament.
Also scoring highly was Lay’s in the US with ‘Bandwagon’ (5.1 stars), Lego’s ‘Everyone Wants a Piece’ (4.9 stars) and Guinness – not an official partner, although owner Diageo is – with ‘Singing Pints’ (4.8 stars)
The BBC’s coverage announcement also scored 4.8 stars, as did EE’s ‘Yes Boys’ offering.
Closing the list of the top 11 ads are Mastercard in Argentina with ‘For You, The Fans’ (4.7 stars), McDonald’s Brazil’s ‘As seleções do Méqui estão de volta’ (4.7 stars), Adidas’s ‘Backyard Legends’ (4.5 stars) and Volkswagen in Brazil with ‘O Sonho (The Dream)’ with 4.5.
Notably, Nike didn’t make the top ranking with its World Cup 2026 campaign ‘Rip The Script’.
Source: System1
The sportwear giants have made big swings for the tournament, but which is out in front in the battle to own the World Cup?
The first retailer to build dedicated TikTok studios for live streaming, QVC wants to match the pace of social commerce, while building on trusted foundations.
Almost half of senior marketers admit to operating AI without a strategy for developing their teams’ AI skills, according to new research from CIM.
The global KFC brand is undergoing “an evolution”, encompassing its menu, brand design and restaurants, as it looks to lead the busy chicken category with confidence.
At the end of every week, we look at the key stories, offering our view on what they mean for you and the industry. From AO’s milestone trust score to Adidas and Nike battling it out ahead of football’s biggest tournament , it’s been a busy week. Here is my take.
Adopting the “yes, and” rule when working out the rights and wrongs of marketing would make for stronger decision making, and a better industry to work in.
Admitting there’s no “handbook” for negotiating the effectiveness agenda, can marketers and their peers in business learn to speak the same language?
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