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Edgewell CMO: Keep People Central in AI Marketing

Adweek’s Brave Commerce podcast features Rob Master, chief marketing officer at Edgewell Personal Care, in a conversation with hosts Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter about using AI while keeping consumer understanding central. Master discusses how AI can enhance marketing workflows but stresses that strong ideas start with deep audience insight. He also reflects on Edgewell’s approach to growing both iconic and emerging brands and an early career experience at Dove that shaped his willingness to take risks. Key advice from the discussion: keep people at the center, stay curious as technology evolves, and be willing to adapt decisions when new information arises.

GEO Scores Aren't the Solution for AI Visibility

The article argues that Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) scores and current LLM-visibility tools are unreliable measures for brand performance because they rely on synthetic, low-volume query sets that produce misleading precision. The IAB’s new measurement framework warns programs with fewer than 50 queries are not directional, yet many vendors operate below that threshold, producing divergent results across providers. Chasing GEO scores can also degrade human user experience when websites are reworked to be more “LLM-friendly.” The author recommends investing in AI-native infrastructure that serves both humans and AI systems—including a hidden machine-readable layer—rather than optimizing toward a disputed numerical score.

Cannes Marketing Vanguard: Saying No Is Power

ADWEEK's Marketing Vanguard recorded a live conversation at Cannes Lions 2026 where Jenny Rooney interviewed Mainardo de Nardis (global president & COO of Edelman) and Rani Al Hajji (chief growth and transformation officer, personal care at Unilever). The discussion argued that the best marketers win by doing less—making sharper bets, saying no to distractions, and converting visibility into real attention and engagement. Speakers emphasized that paid media should amplify earned relevance, that big ideas must be easy for creators and communities to adopt, and that brands should build around cultural moments (e.g., Unilever and FIFA) without simply buying attention.