AKQA vs Razorfish

AKQA Creates Google Pixel Garden Theory Campaign with Musiala

Google has launched a new social-first campaign titled 'Garden Theory' for its Pixel 11 Pro smartphone, featuring Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala. The campaign was created by digital agency group AKQA and showcases the phone's AI assistant Gemini and the 'HiLight' LED feature, which alerts users to important calls. The conceptual theme suggests that, like a garden, the phone provides a serene environment allowing users to focus amid digital noise. The campaign will run on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other digital platforms like Highsnobiety. It was produced by the production company Zero, directed by Rogelio González, with set design by Nina Oswald and floral artist Valentina Teinitzer De Pasquale. The campaign highlights how the Pixel 11 Pro helps users concentrate on what matters, aligning with Google's messaging that the device is designed to help users stay present.

• Google launched a product campaign for the Pixel 11 Pro called 'Garden Theory'.
• The campaign features footballer Jamal Musiala from FC Bayern Munich.
• The campaign was created by AKQA, a digital agency group.

HubSpot gives high performers the edge in new global campaign with AKQA

AKQA has launched a new global campaign with HubSpot, titled 'HubSpot gives high performers the edge', marking a new client partnership and campaign launch.

AKQA, Google Gemini and Vodafone launch 'Partners in Time' campaign

AKQA Berlin created a summer-themed advertising campaign titled "Partners in Time" for Google Gemini and Vodafone Germany that positions a smartphone and its integrated AI assistant as companions in a romantic five-year story. The films, produced by BWGTBLD and directed by Paul Hermann, show everyday uses of AI (Gemini) such as route planning and furnishing suggestions, and also promote Vodafone's 5-year promise (longevity and quality). The campaign will run nationwide across CTV, digital and social media and uses the song "Bad Love" by Dehd as its soundtrack.

• AKQA Berlin developed the campaign 'Partners in Time' for Google Gemini and Vodafone Germany.
• The campaign dramatizes a five-year relationship story captured on a Vodafone smartphone and features Google Gemini assisting in scenes like route planning and nursery furnishing suggestions.
• The films were produced by BWGTBLD and directed by Paul Hermann.

Agency 'Black Box' Is Breaking, Says Horizon's Bob Lord

Bob Lord, president of Horizon Media and former CEO of Razorfish who led digital transformation at IBM, argues that many agencies are focused narrowly on cost-cutting with AI rather than using AI to drive advertiser growth. Lord says supply-chain opacity, siloed tech stacks and hidden programmatic costs persist, and that transparency, open-source approaches and performance-based compensation models can help agencies become true growth partners. At Horizon, Lord says the agency is shifting toward payment tied to client business outcomes and is pushing for transparent contracts that pass publisher discounts to clients. He calls for systems that let clients self-serve campaign insights and for tighter integration of creative and media to deliver measurable business impact.

• Bob Lord is president of Horizon Media and previously served as global CEO of Razorfish and led digital transformation at IBM.
• Lord says Horizon Media is shifting its model toward performance-based compensation, getting paid when marketers achieve business goals.
• Horizon Media CEO Bill Koenigsberg includes buying-transparency clauses in contracts and passes publisher discounts to clients, according to Lord.

Data Trust Crisis: Customer Data Quality Declines

The article warns that marketing organizations face a growing "data trust" crisis: privacy changes, fragmented platforms, and AI-generated/inferred signals are degrading the accuracy and reliability of customer data. It promotes a MarTech Conference session (online, Sept. 2, 2026) titled “The data trust crisis: Why your customer data is getting worse,” featuring speakers from Actable, Razorfish, Tealium, and Ana Mourão, which will examine technical and regulatory drivers of data decay and methods (e.g., confidence-scored approaches, governance playbooks) for maintaining personalization and measurement when datasets are imperfect.

• MarTech is running a session titled “The data trust crisis: Why your customer data is getting worse” at its online MarTech Conference on Sept. 2, 2026.
• Speakers announced for the session include Craig Howard (chief solutions officer, Actable), Ana Mourão (founder and author of The Experimental Marketer Framework), Ryan Warren (chief CRM officer, Razorfish), and Zack Wenthe (director of product marketing and customer data evangelist, Tealium).
• The article states privacy changes, fragmented platforms, and AI-inferred signals are actively undermining customer data quality and personalization.