Pinterest, Kering & Gartner: This Week's Top Five Stories

Mention Me Q&A: How Brands Can Improve World Cup Marketing

Building a brand strategy for huge cultural moments like the FIFA World Cup 2026 can be tricky. 

With the potential for massive engagement on the table, marketing leaders are under immense pressure to deliver campaigns that can capitalise on the excitement without losing brand authenticity and customer trust. 

According to Wojtek Kokoszka, CEO of Mention Me, companies should focus less on visibility and instead prioritise the development of deeper, more meaningful relationships with their audiences in order to thrive during this period. 

In conversation with Marketing Chief, Wojtek shared how he believes brands should develop these strategies, with a focus on advocacy-led growth to build and sustain trust. 

Pinterest Commits US$4bn to AWS for Ad Performance

Pinterest has committed US$4bn to AWS through to 2031 as part of an expanded partnership with the cloud services provider. The agreement could accelerate the company's work on machine learning and improve both search performance and advertising effectiveness.

According to Pinterest, the investment is the largest infrastructure commitment in the company's history. The platform uses AI to power visual discovery for more than 600 million users and to support advertiser performance through personalised recommendations.

Kering's Focus On Stronger Sustainable Fashion Brands

Luxury fashion house Kering has placed its Scope 3 emissions at the centre of its sustainability programme.

The company supports its supply chain in reducing environmental impact through raw material sourcing, circular manufacturing and supplier decarbonisation initiatives.

According to Kering, the business achieved an absolute reduction of 34% across all scopes between 2022 and 2025. Scope 3 emissions fell by 34% over the same period. These emissions represent 98% of the company's total carbon footprint.

The company outlined its sustainability goals in its latest 10-year Impact Report. The reduction could indicate the effects of reimagining raw-material sourcing and manufacturing logistics.

Gartner: Brands Are Trapped in a 'Doom Loop'

Is your brand stuck in a ‘doom loop’? 

According to a survey of 426 marketing leaders conducted by Gartner, 84% of brands are trapped in a ‘brand doom loop’ – where companies are underinvesting in brand measurement, meaning they lack confidence in their results and attract even less funding in the future. 

This, Gartner says, is preventing marketing leaders from proving the impact a brand can have on overall business growth. 

“Brand has long been treated as a communications asset, but it is actually a growth engine,” says Julie Reeves, VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice. “The challenge is that most organisations lack the measurement discipline and executive narrative needed to connect brand health to business performance. This creates a cycle where brand is undermeasured, underfunded and undervalued.”

Lloyds Rolls Out Microsoft E7 to 28 Million Customers

Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed a new multi-year partnership with Microsoft to deploy agentic AI tools across its operations. The financial institution will implement Microsoft 365 E7 across the entire organisation.

The bank will be among the first financial services providers in the UK to roll out the suite company-wide. Lloyds serves more than 28 million customers across its digital banking platforms.

The deployment is designed to scale AI tools within the bank's existing security and governance framework. The aim is to support faster and more personalised services for customers whilst maintaining strict regulatory compliance standards required in financial services.

Microsoft 365 E7 combines Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent 365 into one system. The solution runs on Work IQ and includes Microsoft Entra Suite for identity and access management.

The package also contains Microsoft Defender, Intune and Purview security capabilities to maintain data compliance. These integrated security features are critical for protecting customer financial data and meeting Financial Conduct Authority requirements.