Setup Blog

Explore the denim duel between AE’s Sydney Sweeney campaign and Gap’s Milkshake-fueled comeback—and what marketers can learn.

Most agency searches begin with urgency: a priority shift, a launch date appears, and suddenly, you’re writing an RFP at midnight. In that scramble, you invite too many firms, ask the wrong questions, and end up choosing based on pitch theater instead of day-to-day fit. The fix isn’t a better RFP template. It’s time - specifically, the time you spend getting to know agencies before you need one.

Marketers are grappling with how to make their strategy feel more impactful and human in 2025, but in the nonprofit world, that challenge comes with the added pressure of limited budgets and expansive missions. For Lynn Godfrey, Chief Experience Officer at Blood Cancer United, the solution lies in staying intentional, deeply segmenting audiences, and adapting quickly in a constantly evolving landscape.

Private wealth marketing is built on personal relationships, which can make the advancements in technology more and more challenging. In an industry where discretion and relationships reign supreme, marketers must learn how to integrate data, automation, and innovation without losing trust. 

To explore this balance, we spoke with Cathy McLagan, Managing Director of Growth Enablement at CIBC Private Wealth US.

Joe Koufman, the Founder and CEO of Setup, explains the benefit of reviving the Atlanta Integrated Marketing System (AIMS). Bringing AIMS back to Atlanta is a chance to unite our community, foster new connections, and share practical insights from across the spectrum. Read about how AIMS benefits the Atlanta marketing community:

“Data-driven” marketing is about proactively leveraging insights to make strategic decisions. But what defines a truly data-driven media approach?

If your media strategy feels tangled and unclear, you’re not alone. Here’s how smart brands are simplifying the chaos and getting real results.

Setup CEO + Founder, Joe Koufman, sat down with Ron McMurtrie, the CMO of Honeywell, to talk about purpose-driven leadership, having a team-focused mentality, starting with why, and more. 

Whether you’re managing campaigns for a national brand, a franchise QSR, or a B2B tech company, the challenge is the same: how do you build smarter media strategies that actually tie back to real business outcomes? We spoke with top experts from Sagepath, Goodway Group, and Look Listen to dig into what’s working, what’s changing, and where media performance and analytics are headed next.

On a bright August morning in Atlanta, marketers from across the city from brands like Hiscox, Coca-Cola, Church’s Chicken, and more gathered for Setup’s latest #MarketersBreakfast, ready to explore a topic on everyone’s mind: How can AI truly enhance, rather than replace, human creativity? 

Over coffee and conversation, attendees rolled up their sleeves for a hands-on, interactive session led by Aby Varma, the Founder of Spark Novus.