BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS ARE NOT IGNORING AI

17. 7. 2026 Advertising and marketing hype has become heavily saturated with the term "agentic buying" for back-to-school purchases, but the distinction between actual transactional data and futuristic projection only becomes more blurred as the season gets underway.

TV NOVA CONSOLIDATES ITS SPORTS CHANNELS BUSINESS, HEADED BY JAN RADĚJ

16. 7. 2026 Nova is consolidating advertising sales for Nova Sport and Oneplay Sport, with the creation of the Sport Sales team, headed by Jan Raděj.

MAJORITY OF BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS GET A HEAD START ON THE SEASON

14. 7. 2026 Consumers are getting an early start on back-to-school shopping, with 62% of shoppers having already started shopping for the school year by early July, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. While the figure is down slightly from 67% at the same point in 2025, it remains significantly higher than the 55% reported in 2024.

MASCOTS ARE BACK, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW THEM

14. 7. 2026 Future-focused brands know that mascots can embody a brand and bring it to life.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS HEAD TO MASS MERCHANTS, DEPARTMENT STORES

9. 7. 2026 Consumers are worried about their personal finances and plan to shop accordingly as value and affordability steer the market, according to Deloitte.

SIX CZECH COMMERCIALS THAT, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH, WERE SUCCESSFUL. WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?

8. 7. 2026 Humour, emotion, empathy and original ideas are the key factors determining which adverts resonate most strongly in the Czech Republic. This is the finding of a study by Ipsos, which analysed 60 campaigns from 2025, focusing on their creative impact and their connection with consumers.

NOVA IS ATTRACTING AUDITIONERS FOR ‘SUPERSTAR’ THROUGH BORHYOVÁ AND KORANTENG AS WELL

7. 7. 2026 TV Nova has launched a campaign for the new series of the SuperStar talent show under the slogan “Where are you?”. The campaign encourages potential contestants to attend the upcoming auditions, featuring Televizní noviny presenters Lucie Borhyová and Rey Koranteng.

FIFA 2026: HOW THIS YEAR’S ADS CELEBRATE FANS WITH HUMOUR, SELF-DEPRECATION AND FOOTBALL PATHOS

7. 7. 2026 For brands in the advertising industry, the Football World Cup has often been a celebration of successes or individual star players. The MAM editorial team has selected six striking adverts that show this trend is changing. The focus is now shifting to the fans – through humour, irony, pathos and fan rituals.

AI ADS ARE GOOD ENOUGH — AND THAT’S THE PROBLEM

6. 7. 2026 AI can now produce credible, efficient ads, but human-created ads still drive better business outcomes — for now.

THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FILM VELKÝ VLASTNECKÝ VÝLET WON SILVER AT THE CANNES LIONS

2. 7. 2026 The only Czech campaign awarded at this year’s Cannes Lions festival was the communication campaign for the documentary film Velký vlastenecký výlet. The project, produced by Punk Film with support from the creative workshop Fun House, the Leo Prague agency and other teams from Publicis Groupe, won a Silver Lion.

THE EFFIE AWARDS KICK OFF, ADD A NEW CATEGORY FOR B2B AND REVISE THE RULES FOR DIGITAL ENTRIES

30. 6. 2026 The Effie Awards Czech Republic, a competition recognising effective marketing communication, is entering its 29th year. This year, the Association of Communication Agencies (AKA) is introducing a new category for B2B products and services, whilst also refining the criteria for evaluating digital campaigns.

CANNES LIONS WRAP-UP: PART TWO – FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GROWTH, FROM VOLUME TO TRUST

28. 6. 2026 Another part of the overall round-up of the Cannes Lions festival was a panel discussion featuring the heads of content from three platforms: Lions, Contagious and WARC. They took their seats at a table on stage to review the main themes of the past week.

CANNES LIONS WRAP-UP: PART ONE – THE WORLD OF AI AND PEOPLE

28. 6. 2026 AI was one of the main themes at Cannes Lions, but the tone of the debate has shifted. Naive enthusiasm and even irrational fears about the loss of human creativity have given way to more practical and profound topics.

AN IMMERSIVE CANAL+ BRAND SOLUTIONS COLLABORATION FOR SKIN-CARE BRANDS WITH SENSITIVE STORIES TO TELL

26. 6. 2026 LA FACTORY, the creative studio of CANAL+ BRAND SOLUTIONS, produced “Marquer l’Invisible” (roughly, “Making the Invisible Visible”) as an immersive documentary-style piece for the skincare brand Avène.

A TEST OF THE STRENGTH OF CZECH BRANDS: HOW DO THEY FAREWELL WITHOUT A NAME OR LOGO?

25. 6. 2026 A test of the visual identity of six selected brands from various categories, in which the logos were not shown, revealed that more than half of the respondents were unable to recognise any of the brands. The ResSolution Group and Media Age agencies investigated how the brands fared in the test.

FIVE MARKETING TRUTHS: RITSON AND SHARP REACHED A CONSENSUS IN CANNES

23. 6. 2026 Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp are among the most prominent and most frequently cited figures in contemporary marketing. At the Cannes Lions festival, their rare joint appearance was based on a simple premise: given that they are known for frequently competing against one another, are there any issues on which they can actually agree?

STUDY: YOUNGER VIEWERS MORE DISTRACTED BUT MORE RECEPTIVE TO ADS

22. 6. 2026 A new study finds the long-term rise in ad acceptance continues, with ad intolerance falling to a record low across all age groups, and that viewers are supportive of AI tools if they are used to improve discoverability and the viewing experience.

STUDY USA: PROGRAMMATIC CTV PAUSE ADS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL SPOTS

18. 6. 2026 WunderKIND Ads has released a new study analyzing the impact of Pause Ads compared with traditional CTV spots that show Pause Ads delivered nearly two times higher attention than standard 60-second CTV ads.