Spinutech will sponsor the annual summit and lead a session exploring how AI, social media and fragmented search are reshaping brand discovery and marketing measurement.

The new product lets creative teams turn their repetitive creative work into automated workflows that any team can operate.

Refuel Agency, a media and marketing agency with 35+ years reaching hard-to-reach audiences at scale, today announced its 2026 Youth, College & Young Adult Explorer, a redesigned edition of its proprietary research series.

The study separates the total 1,545 respondents into four life-stage segments — teens (15-17), young adults (18-24), adults (25+), and college versus non-college students — rather than treating “youth” as one group anchored on the college decision. The redesign followed a data point Refuel’s research team could not ignore: roughly 40% of the youth population does not attend college, so a study built only around the college decision was missing a substantial share of the audience.

“If four in ten young people aren’t taking the traditional college path, a study that only asks about college decisions is only describing six in ten of them,” said Liz Carmo, EVP Audience & Brand at Refuel Agency. “We wanted to track what happens after the teen years, whether that’s college, no college, or something in between.”

The study’s most consequential finding: the social-brand-discovery peak has shifted past the teen years. Young adults (not teens) lead brand discovery on TikTok (30% versus 28%) and Instagram (29% versus 23%). Adults now log nearly twice the weekly hours on social platforms that teens do: 40 versus 24, with college students at 40.

“Most brand media plans still treat the teen years as the social-media high-water mark. Our data says the opposite,” said Liz Carmo, EVP Audience & Brand at Refuel Agency. “Brands allocating youth budgets on a decade-old assumption are reaching the wrong audience at the wrong intensity.”

Reach and conversion diverge, too. Social ads lead attention (51%), followed by influencer content (50%), but each converts only 29% of those exposed. Tangible incentives beat passive reach: campus free-food promotions converted 62% of exposed college students, and coupons converted 67% of teens and 70% of young adults. Sampling prompted 60% to research or buy, including 42% who purchased.

The study surfaces a financial paradox: young adults have the lowest credit-card ownership (58% versus 75% for adults) and lowest average spend ($676 versus $982), yet report the highest average number of investments held of any segment — a generation bypassing credit for a different entry into the financial system.

Parental influence recedes fast after the teen years. Parents lead 73-83% of teen decisions on autos, phones, insurance, and finance, including 78% of teen auto purchases; by college, 58% of students decide their own auto purchases.

This research directly feeds Refuel’s proprietary audience AI models, sharpening how the agency targets, plans, and measures performance for youth and young adult campaigns.

Learn more about how Refuel’s research helps brands reach youth better than any other agency at Refuel Research & Intelligence.

Top Conscious CPG Accelerator Selects Five Standout Brands Across Food, Beverage, and Supplements

Ventura County event will bring together women business owners and leaders for an evening focused on leadership, mentorship and meaningful connections

Competitive intelligence in about four minutes demonstrates the GTM Kernel—a machine-readable source of truth for AI-native marketing systems

The deal unites Right Hat’s brand strategy and creative expertise with Granite’s depth in engineering, data and AI, giving clients one accountable partner for integrated brand and digital solutions

• US-based Right Hat brings more than 20 years of specialization in professional services marketing
• It is Granite’s tenth acquisition since 2020 and its second in North America this year, adding a presence in Chicago and Washington DC to its New York base
• Right Hat Partner Jeorjina Tegel and Founder Charlyne Fabi join Granite’s US leadership team: Jeorjina Tegel as VP of Client Strategy & Growth, North America, and Charlyne Fabi as Executive Creative Director of North America
• The Right Hat brand continues, serving clients, including Troutman Pepper, American University, Microsoft, BakerHostetler, BCLP, Vedder, Bracewell, CHRO Association, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Crowell & Moring and JAMS.
• The move follows the acquisition of Creative Media in March and supports Granite’s ambitious US growth plans.

Granite, a global independent digital agency, today announced the acquisition of Right Hat, a US-based agency that designs and builds brands for professional services firms and other B2B enterprises. The deal unites Right Hat’s brand strategy and design expertise with Granite’s depth in engineering, data and AI. Financial terms were not disclosed.

It is Granite’s tenth acquisition since 2020 and its second in North America this year, following the acquisition of performance marketing specialist Creative Media in March. The deal gives Granite a presence in Chicago and Washington DC alongside its base in New York and supports its target of North America accounting for half of its global revenues by 2028.

Two decades of professional services brand expertise

For more than 20 years, Right Hat has helped law firms and other professional services organizations strengthen their brands and compete more effectively in their markets. Its work spans research and strategy, brand positioning and messaging, content, creative and digital experiences. Right Hat has served more than 200 clients worldwide, including Troutman Pepper, American University, Microsoft, BakerHostetler, BCLP, Vedder, Bracewell, CHRO Association, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Crowell & Moring and JAMS. Its ‘Top of Mind’ report, a biennial survey of 100 legal services buyers, has become a reference point for how law firms communicate and win work.

Brand strategy, backed by engineering, data and AI

The Right Hat brand will continue, now backed by Granite’s 200+ specialists in strategy, engineering, design, data and marketing. For clients, the combination means brand strategy that carries through to execution: websites, digital products, performance marketing, analytics and AI-powered tools, delivered by one accountable team.

New US leadership appointments

Right Hat partner Jeorjina Tegel will serve as VP of Client Strategy & Growth, leading business development and client relationships across Granite’s US portfolio and helping drive the agency’s continued growth. Charlyne Fabi will serve as Executive Creative Director, leading Granite’s US creative offering. Both join Granite’s US leadership team alongside Rob Carpenter, Chief Commercial Officer.

Jeorjina Tegel, Partner at Right Hat, said: “For more than 20 years, Right Hat has built its reputation on a deep understanding of professional services firms and businesses with a consultative sales approach. Joining Granite allows us to preserve that specialization while bringing clients capabilities we haven’t historically offered at this scale, from technology and performance marketing to data and AI. It means we can think more broadly about our clients’ businesses and carry the strategy all the way through to the digital experiences their audiences see and use.”

Rob Carpenter, Chief Commercial Officer, Granite, said: “Right Hat brings an exceptional combination of specialized expertise, strategic thinking and longstanding relationships in the US market. The firm’s strength in legal and professional services accelerates our momentum in a sector we know well, while their leadership and experience will contribute to our ambitions across North America. Ten acquisitions in, the playbook is unchanged: find brilliant specialist teams and connect them to enterprise-grade delivery.”

Conor Buckley, Co-Founder and CEO, Granite, said: “The US is key for Granite’s ongoing growth, and Right Hat is our third acquisition in the market and our second in 2026. With North America expected to account for around half of our global revenues by 2028, we’re investing with real intent in our people, our capabilities and our presence on the ground. Increasing our footprint in the US gives us an even stronger platform for that growth, and means we’re better placed to meet our clients’ growing needs with deeper local expertise and a broader range of capabilities on their doorstep.”

Gruskin to Scale First Insight’s AI-Native Platform for Predicting What Customers Will Choose Next

Integrated merchandising/marketing platform spans assortment, base price, promotion, and space — pairing advanced AI with deep retail expertise

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