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Marketo Co-founder Launches AI Marketing Automation Platform Phave

Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo and Engagio, together with Nick Bonfiglio, formerly head of product and engineering at Marketo, has launched Phave, an AI-powered marketing automation platform for enterprise B2B organizations. After two years in stealth, Phave reached general availability in August 2026 and is now used by 10 companies. Designed to replace legacy MAPs like Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua, and HubSpot, Phave's intelligence engine, Maestro, generates personalized 'Playlists' that dynamically sequence marketing touches based on real-time data, objectives, and governance. The platform treats contacts, accounts, and buying groups as first-class objects, supports natural language configuration, and offers headless access via MCP (exposing 319 tools) and REST API. In an independent evaluation against 481 requirements, Phave scored 2.97, outperforming HubSpot (2.46) and Marketo (2.38). Early enterprise customers include SambaNova, SPS Commerce, mabl, Servion, and Hypha.

• Jon Miller and Nick Bonfiglio founded Phave, an AI-powered B2B marketing automation platform.
• Phave emerged from stealth and reached general availability in August 2026, currently serving 10 companies.
• Phave uses AI reasoning models (via Maestro) and 'Playlists' to personalize and sequence marketing actions.

Demandbase Launches Mojo, the B2B Marketing Agent that Learns from Every Campaign

Demandbase launches Mojo, a B2B marketing agent that turns briefs into live cross-channel campaigns across connected tools like Google Ads, Marketo, and Salesforce.

ChatGPT Referrals to B2B Sites Quadrupled

Demandbase’s Labs data shows ChatGPT-driven referrals to tracked B2B websites rose from about 645,000 in June 2025 to 2.6 million in June 2026 (a 303% increase), with a sharp inflection in May 2026 when volume more than doubled. The Labs dataset covers more than 11 billion visits across 1,584 platform instances, but Demandbase warns the data is proprietary and not independently verified; attribution is further complicated because many AI-influenced sessions appear later via brand searches. Growth was concentrated in OpenAI’s ChatGPT while Perplexity referrals declined and Gemini and Claude remained largely flat. Demandbase also reports rising ad spend on its platform—CTV up 112% and display up 55% year over year, with CTV’s share rising modestly—and says AI-generated referrals may become an increasingly important buyer-intent signal. Independent evidence on conversion value is mixed.

• Demandbase Labs: monthly ChatGPT-referred visits rose from ~645,000 (June 2025) to 2.6 million (June 2026), a 303% increase.
• Labs dataset covers >11 billion website visits across 1,584 platform instances; Demandbase describes it as proprietary and not independently verified, and attribution is complicated by later brand searches.
• Demandbase observed a sharp inflection in May 2026 when ChatGPT referral volume more than doubled versus prior months.

On misses Q2 revenue; currency change may explain

On reported second-quarter net sales of 850.3 million Swiss francs, a 13.5% year‑over‑year increase (21.6% on a constant currency basis), which missed analysts' expectations for mid‑20s constant‑currency growth. Direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) sales rose 26% while wholesale grew 4.8%; regionally, Asia‑Pacific led with 43.1% growth and the Americas were up 4.5%. The company lowered its full‑year outlook to low‑20% constant‑currency net sales growth and a gross profit margin of at least 65% (down slightly from prior guidance). Analysts cited currency effects and limited visibility in international and wholesale channels as drivers of the disconnect with Street estimates.

• On's Q2 net sales were 850.3 million Swiss francs, a 13.5% year‑over‑year increase.
• On reported 21.6% constant currency net sales growth for Q2, below analysts' mid‑20s expectations.
• DTC net sales grew 26% and wholesale sales increased 4.8% in Q2.

Gap launches fall denim campaign starring Inde Navarrette

Gap launched a fall campaign called “Denim on your own” that pairs actor Inde Navarrette with singer-songwriter Malcolm Todd. The spot, directed by Tanu Muiño with creative direction by Gap’s Calvin Leung, features Todd’s cover of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” and was rolled out across Gap’s digital and social channels, email, stores and out-of-home placements (including billboards in Times Square and on Sunset Boulevard). Paid media elements will run on major social/video platforms and via creator partnerships. The campaign highlights Gap’s continued focus on music-and-movement-driven marketing and follows recent celebrity collaborations that have helped revive Gen Z relevance and improved comparable sales.

• Gap launched a fall campaign titled “Denim on your own” starring Inde Navarrette and Malcolm Todd.
• Malcolm Todd recorded a cover of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” specifically for the campaign.
• The campaign rolled out across Gap’s digital and social channels, email, in-store, out-of-home (including Times Square and Sunset Boulevard billboards) and includes paid media and creator partnerships.

Best Buy CMO Jennie Weber Exits; Marty Senn Replaces Her

Best Buy's Chief Marketing Officer Jennie Weber has exited the company after more than 20 years. Chief Creative Officer Marty Senn, who joined Best Buy in January, will take over the marketing role. Incoming CEO Jason Bonfig praised Weber's contributions in a note to employees. Jefferies analysts expressed concern about the pace of recent C-suite reassignments at Best Buy. Senn brings an advertising agency background to the position.

• Jennie Weber exited her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Best Buy.
• Weber worked at Best Buy for more than 20 years.
• Chief Creative Officer Marty Senn will replace Weber as the head of marketing; Senn joined Best Buy in January.