Good morning. Marketers need to get their teams suited up with AI, because the agents are already on the field.

Influence campaigns: The big question for most Super Bowl advertisers after the game is whether their multimillion-dollar outlay was worth it. But after 13 consecutive appearances including last Sunday’s Adrien Brody spot, TurboTax feels pretty good about the payoff.

“It's the only reason we do it,” Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of TurboTax parent Intuit, said at the WSJ Tech Council Summit in Palo Alto yesterday. 

The company over its long run of Super Bowl commercials has “fine-turned not just what you do, but how you follow through on it,” Goodarzi said.

Goodarzi also reflected on what he learned during an earlier stint as Intuit’s chief information officer about influencing internal constituencies he didn’t control—a challenge many CMOs will find familiar.

“Generally, people don't want to listen to the CIO,” Goodarzi said. “It's like, ‘Get out of my way, I'll call you if something doesn't work,’ right?”

Goodarzi’s formula eventually came to include setting clear expectations, providing inspiration and having a little bit of patience. “Mountains are built with shovels,” he said.

AI inside: Many companies’ top internal marketing mission right now is getting their teams to better use AI.

Workers often divide into a few “super users that are doing great” with AI and a “long tail of the typical user,” Erik Brynjolfsson, professor at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI and co-founder of the AI consulting firm Workhelix, told the audience at the tech summit.

Most people at a major insurance company Brynjolfsson consulted with were using large language models for tasks like rewording internal communications, he said, “but there were a few users who were developing these multi-part, end-to-end marketing plans.”

Those early adopters should be peer role models, Brynjolfsson said:

The difference a year makes: When the WSJ Tech Council Summit convened in Silicon Valley one year ago, the main takeaway was that AI agents had yet to find their place among large enterprises, Belle Lin writes. This year, AI agents are everywhere. [WSJ] 

McDonald’s says its quest to make its food more affordable is working.

The world’s largest burger chain reported that global same-store sales rose 5.7% in the three months ended Dec. 31, outpacing analysts’ expectations for the quarter, Heather Haddon reports for The Wall Street Journal.

The company’s effort to reduce prices is getting more people to visit restaurants and improving McDonald’s image, CEO Chris Kempczinski said during an investor call.

McDonald’s has been campaigning to reclaim its “value” halo ever since consumer unhappiness over its rising prices helped make images of an $18 Big Mac combo sold in Connecticut go viral in 2023.

Next on the menu: McDonald’s is testing new burgers and beverages, and it expects to introduce a line of new energy drinks, specialty sodas and fruity refreshers in the U.S.

The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.

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Unilever said underlying sales growth picked up in the fourth quarter, with an acceleration in Asia offsetting slower demand in the U.S. and Europe, as the consumer-goods giant bets on a shift to faster-growing categories. [WSJ] 

Rare Beauty, the cosmetics brand founded by Selena Gomez, promoted Joyce Kim to chief brand officer and Ashley Murphy to chief marketing officer. They assume duties that had been handled by CMO Katie Welsh until she left for Chanel last month. [Business of Fashion] 

Disney described a plan called “Year of the Super Bowl” across screens, parks and podcasts leading up to ABC and ESPN’s coverage of Super Bowl LXI. [Adweek]

Casey Wasserman will remain chairman of the committee organizing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, its executive committee said Wednesday, after meeting to discuss the future of his involvement. [WSJ] 

The growing prevalence of AI in marketing means advertisers should think twice before leaning too hard into anti-AI branding. [Digiday]   

BMW’s logo for its new standalone Alpina brand “oozes luxury.“ [Creative Bloq]