Dear Reader,

Marketers today aren’t just competing for attention, they’re competing with changing habits, shifting tech, and AI that’s rewriting the rules overnight. This week, we explore how brands and marketers can stay ahead of the curve while the ground keeps moving beneath us.

Let’s dive in.

ChatGPT as confidante: Are we outsourcing intimacy?

More Gen Z and Millennials are leaning on AI for emotional support, sharing secrets and fears they might not tell another human. Is this convenience, comfort, or a slow erosion of our human connections? And where does Maslow’s hierarchy fit when your “best friend” is code?

Read the full piece here

Why you should care: Because AI isn’t just a marketing tool — it’s reshaping consumer behaviour, and that will ripple into how brands build trust and community.

Fevicol’s cultural remix: When glue meets the Teeka.

Can a low-engagement product like adhesive become part of cultural conversation? Fevicol’s TeekaID campaign shows how a legacy brand can fuse a deeply familiar cultural symbol (the teeka) with tech to stay relevant. The takeaway: even “boring” categories can spark attention when they tap into rituals people care about.

Read more here.

Why you should care: Because relevance today isn’t just about awareness, it’s about creating meaning — and tech can be the bridge.

Google’s AI overviews: Post-click is the new reality.

Google’s latest shift could change how consumers find (and trust) information. With AI overviews surfacing answers before a click, content marketing is less about rankings and more about authority and trust.

Read more here

Why you should care: Because your playbook can’t just be “rank and repeat” anymore. Strategy, credibility, and brand voice now matter as much as traffic.

Stories you might have missed

Microsoft launches AI-based Co-pilot Mode in Edge browser

Alibaba takes on Meta, Xiaomi with QuarkAI smartglasses

Creating realistic deepfakes getting easier than ever, fighting back may take even more AI

Amazon set to acquire AI wearable startup bee

From conversations to execution: The rise of AI agents

Over to you

Are you rethinking your content and community strategy for a post-click, AI-driven world? And where do you draw the line between tech as an enabler versus a stand-in for human connection?

Share your take on LinkedIn and tag @ETBrandEquity

Stay tuned for the next edition of MarTech+ newsletter rolling out every week on Wednesday.

– Team ETBrandEquity

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