🧠 Macro: Zuck's $14B Bet on Individual-Level Targeting

Zuckerberg dropped a letter on July 30 outlining Meta's vision for "personal superintelligence."

The gist: AI should empower individuals, not replace them. Meta invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI, hired its CEO as Chief AI Officer, and launched Meta Superintelligence Labs.

What this actually means for your ads

Forget audience targeting. Meta is building toward individual-level personalization.

Instead of specific demographics like, "women 25-45 interested in fitness," you'll be serving personalized creative to millions of unique profiles. The AI will know each person's context, preferences, and intent in real-time.

What to keep your eye on

1) Creative requirements: Your static ads won't cut it. Meta will favor dynamic, AI-adaptable assets that can personalize on the fly.

2) Campaign structure: Broad audiences will perform worse. The algorithm wants to optimize for individuals, not demographics.

3) Platform favoritism: Meta's $14B+ investment means they'll prioritize brands using their AI tools. Manual optimization is getting deprioritized.

Meta is already testing individual-level optimization in select accounts. Early adopters are seeing 15-30% better performance on the same budgets.

Your move: Start testing Dynamic Creative with broader audiences. Let Meta's AI handle the personalization instead of trying to segment manually.

🧠 Takeaway: The shift from audience-based to individual-based targeting is happening now. Test Dynamic Creative and AI optimization tools immediately, or watch your CPMs climb while competitors using Meta's AI tools get preferential delivery.

Forward 2025: The Only Conference Focused on TV + Proven Growth Channels

Customer acquisition is getting harder. Paid social is tougher to scale, TikTok’s future is uncertain, and Gen Z is skipping Google, finding brands through creators, communities, and AI.

To drive real scale, brands are adding new channels to the old playbook: performance TV reimagined through Tatari, community‑driven discovery on Reddit, and performance growth powered by AppLovin.

These aren’t experiments; they’re proven strategies fueling top DTC brands today.

On September 4th at The Glasshouse in NYC, Forward 2025 by Tatari will share exactly how to apply these strategies to your marketing mix.

Hear from Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi, poppi Co‑Founder Allison Ellsworth, and leaders from Saatva, Ariat, and more – then cap the day with a rooftop happy hour overlooking NYC.

👉 Seats are free but limited –  RSVP to Forward 2025 and learn how to scale smarter with channels built for today.

📊 Trends: Amazon's AI Push Creates a Two-Front War for DTC

Amazon beat Q2 revenue expectations ($167.7 billion) but stock fell 7%. Investors were spooked by weaker profit guidance and AWS growth lagging competitors.

But here's what matters for DTC: Amazon's advertising revenue jumped 23% to $15.69 billion. And CEO Andy Jassy highlighted that "many millions of customers" are using their AI shopping agents.

The two-front war you're fighting

Front #1 - Platform tax increases

That 23% ad revenue growth isn't organic. Amazon is forcing more brands to pay for visibility. Your organic reach on Amazon is shrinking, and paid is the only way to maintain market share.

Translation: Your Amazon ad spend is going up whether you like it or not.

Front #2 - Demand interception

Millions of customers are now asking Amazon's AI what to buy before they ever see your Facebook ads or visit your website.

Amazon isn't just competing for ad dollars. They're capturing intent upstream, shrinking the pool of customers available through other channels.

You need Amazon's platform to reach customers. But Amazon's AI tools reduce the customers you can reach elsewhere.

So you pay Amazon more while having fewer alternatives. It's a dependency trap that tightens every quarter.

What smart operators are doing:

💰 Budget reallocation: Brands are shifting 20-30% more budget to Amazon, even at lower margins, just to maintain visibility.

📈 First-party data urgency: Direct customer relationships are becoming critical. Email lists, SMS subscribers, and loyalty programs matter more than ever.

⚖️ Margin vs reach trade-offs: Success on Amazon often means sacrificing brand control for distribution. More brands are accepting this reality.

🧠 Takeaway: Amazon's Q2 numbers show they systematically controlling more of the customer journey while charging you for access.

Prioritize building direct customer relationships through email, SMS, and loyalty programs before this squeeze gets tighter.

⚙️ Tactics: How to Win at GEO (Because SEO Isn't Enough)

Traffic from AI sources to retail websites rose 1,200% between July 2024 and February 2025.

Your customers aren't typing "blue maxi dress" anymore. They're asking ChatGPT: "What should I wear to my son's wedding in July in California?"

Which means you need to optimize for AI like you would any other sales channel. 

Here's how to get your products showing up when customers ask AI what to buy.

Your GEO playbook

1. Rewrite for conversations, not keywords

❌ Bad: "Premium cotton blend activewear for women" 

✅ Good: "Perfect for yoga classes and weekend errands when you want to look put-together"

Think FAQ-style. Answer the questions customers actually ask, not the keywords you think they search.

2. Know where AI engines pull data

ChatGPT sources: Yelp, Wikipedia, niche directories

Google AI: Google Business Profiles

Perplexity: Reddit discussions, publisher articles, blog posts

Get your brand optimized across these platforms. If you're not there, you don't exist in AI search.

3. Structure content for AI crawlers

Write like you're answering a friend's question about what to buy.

Use clear headers and bullet points, include pricing and availability (especially for household goods) and add schema markup.

4. Monitor Reddit like your life depends on it

AI engines cite Reddit heavily. Track what customers say about your brand there. One negative thread can tank your AI discoverability.

Traditional reputation management just became 10x more important.

Your next 30 days

Week 1: Audit your top 5 product descriptions. Are they answering questions or listing features?

Week 2: Set up monitoring for brand mentions on Reddit and other AI-cited platforms.

Week 3: Rewrite one product page in FAQ style. Test how it performs in ChatGPT searches.

Week 4: Map your presence across Yelp, Google Business, and Wikipedia. Fill in the gaps.