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Welcome to The Brief by Kuro House, your daily dose of sharp, insightful marketing news. Today, we’re diving into how AI is set to transform publisher websites, the bold moves of retail giants in both digital and influencer marketing, the Australian Open’s ambitions to be the Super Bowl of beauty, and OpenAI’s foundational approach to building its ad business. Let’s get into the details.

First up, from Modern Retail: Albertsons is making a big bet on in-store digital media. After piloting digital display screens in 80 stores last summer, Albertsons Media Collective is rolling out these screens to 800 of its 2,200+ locations in 2026. The goal? Scale as quickly as possible, prioritizing top-performing stores to create a massive, measurable footprint for advertisers. Liz Roche, VP of media and measurement, says their new in-house measurement framework is the backbone of this expansion. Albertsons can now prove that these digital screens deliver real, incremental sales lift—not just surface-level attribution. For example, a recent campaign with Mondelēz for Sargento Cheese Bakes crackers showed a 14% sales lift in stores with the screens, compared to control stores. They’re using Stratacache’s Walkbase sensor tech to track impressions and optimize in real time. The company is careful, though, not to overwhelm shoppers, planning deliberate screen placements and constantly testing what works best in bridging the online and in-store experience. With more than 50 advertising partners already on board, Albertsons is positioning itself at the forefront of omnichannel retail media, aiming to orchestrate shopper journeys from the couch to the checkout aisle.

Switching gears to the world of sports and beauty, Glossy reports that the Australian Open is aiming to become “the Super Bowl for experiential beauty marketing.” This year, Mecca—the iconic Australian beauty retailer—is back as an official sponsor, after drawing rave reviews (and 800 player gift bags) last year. The AO expects over 1.2 million visitors in Melbourne, and Mecca’s pop-up is already drawing tennis stars for beauty touch-ups, as seen in their viral Instagram Reels. The tournament’s partnership strategy is about more than just beauty: it’s about attracting Gen Z and younger audiences, with brands like Shake Shack and Ralph Lauren (which is bringing 200 influencers and celebrities) joining the action. Organizers are even planning to bring third-party Mecca brands into the tournament and eyeing international activations as Mecca’s footprint grows. With tennis’ audience skewing younger and more female, and with major global events like the Olympics and World Cup on the horizon, the AO is positioning itself as a must-have platform for brands that want to own the intersection of sports, beauty, and lifestyle. The ambition? To create interactive fan experiences that reach not just the million on-site, but potentially 100 million online.

Next, Digiday brings us a look inside Dick’s Sporting Goods’ evolving influencer strategy. Dick’s has opened applications for its third creator program, an in-house initiative that now forms the backbone of its influencer marketing. Nicole Marcus, manager of influencer strategy, says every campaign starts with their own roster—which this year includes high-profile athletes like Tara Davis-Woodhall, Hunter Woodhall, and the Cavinder twins. The program, which began with employees in 2024 and opened to the public last year, has already featured more than 50 creators across 20+ campaigns for Dick’s and partner brands like Adidas and New Balance. With influencer marketing spend projected to rise (the broader creator economy ad spend hit $37 billion last year), Dick’s is expanding its roster to cover more sports and more campaigns. The move reflects a wider trend of brands bringing influencer programs in-house to control costs, reduce churn, and drive consistent performance. Still, Dick’s isn’t shutting out agencies entirely—they’ll tap external partners when needed. The bottom line: as influencer marketing matures, brands want more ownership, more data, and more direct relationships with creators.

Now, let’s talk about the future of publisher websites. According to Digiday, 2026 is shaping up to be the year AI fundamentally rewrites how publishers like Forbes, Newsweek, Time, and The Washington Post design their digital experiences. The shift is toward hyper-personalization—AI-driven homepages that anticipate a reader’s needs, serve up summaries, vertical videos, and even interact in real time. Mike Dyer, chief product officer at The Washington Post, envisions a balance between editorial judgment and user preferences, where the homepage morphs based on geolocation, referral source, and past behavior. Newsweek is experimenting with Google’s AI Mode-style homepages, while Time’s AI agent already lets users generate summaries and audio briefs. Forbes is building out AI-powered recommendations and even personal shopping assistants that guide users to the right products. The next frontier? Agentic AI—homepages that proactively serve content, answer questions, and even facilitate purchases, all tailored to the individual user. As traditional homepages start to feel “archaic,” publishers are racing to deliver the kind of personalized, interactive experiences readers now expect—and to figure out how advertising fits in this new world.

Finally, a fascinating development from Digiday on OpenAI’s approach to building its ad business. Despite all the buzz, OpenAI isn’t hiring ad sales execs or creative strategists—at least not yet. Instead, they’re recruiting engineers focused on monetization infrastructure, ad delivery, and internal tools to connect paid ads to products like ChatGPT. The only vaguely traditional ad roles are ecosystem and partnership leads, more about building the commercial foundation than selling inventory. There’s also a trust and safety operations role, highlighting the unique risks of advertising in an AI assistant environment. CEO Sam Altman once said ads would be a last resort, but with OpenAI expected to burn through $17 billion in 2026, advertising is now a necessity. The company is laying the technical groundwork before building a sales force, with brand safety and user experience as core design constraints. As Maor Sadra of INCRMNTAL puts it: “The economics of LLMs just don’t work without some monetization layer—and most users aren’t going to pay.” The ad business is conceptual for now, but with ad testing set to begin soon, OpenAI is preparing to follow Google’s playbook—building the machine before selling the ads.

That’s all for today’s Brief. From AI-driven personalization to the convergence of sports, beauty, and influencer marketing, it’s clear that the lines between digital, physical, and experiential are blurring faster than ever. As always, we’ll be here to help you stay ahead of the curve. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.