The news: Klarna partnered with Poshmark so US buyers can resell Klarna purchases on Poshmark through the Klarna app. Our take: Gen Zers have a hunger for low-cost fashion. As fast fashion brands face mounting tariff pressures, Gen Zers may turn toward resale marketplaces to some from someone else’s closet—and use sales from their own closet to fund that shopping.
The insights: Electric vehicle owners are ideal targets for out-of-home (OOH) advertising and foot traffic. Chargers bring in foot traffic to surrounding areas. Half (50%) of EV drivers go grocery shopping while waiting for their vehicles to charge, per a JOLT Audience Insights survey in Australia. Our take: Here’s how retailers, brands, and advertisers can get ahead in this space: Install charging stations outside brick-and-mortar locations to capitalize on both foot traffic and OOH ads. Add QR codes to EV charger advertising that provide discounts to nearby or online businesses. Offer store credits or gift cards that cover the cost of charging fees to boost loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.
Automakers face an increasingly difficult environment as President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the removal of EV tax credits reshape supply chains and production strategy. Like the broader US economy, auto sales have been resilient thus far, as tariffs and other government policies motivate consumers to buy now. Automakers and dealers are capitalizing on the moment with incentives like employee pricing, but the short-term surge is unlikely to last.
The news: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are expanding their portfolios by leaning into better-for-you trends and ingredient transparency. Our take: Even with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo’s massive brand equity, they face the same fundamental challenge as all CPG brands: competing against private labels offering innovative flavors at lower prices, and better-for-you upstarts chip away at brand loyalty. While ingredients like cane sugar and prebiotics may not sway every shopper, they appeal to increasingly fragmented consumer preferences. Expect more targeted innovations as soda makers try to balance nostalgia with modern demands for wellness, transparency, and functional benefits.
The news: AstraZeneca plans to invest $50 billion in US drug manufacturing and R&D by 2030. The big takeaway: Pouring billions into US builds isn’t an option for most generic drugmakers that operate on thin margins. This could result in shortages since companies that make generics may have to choose between exiting the market once tariffs take effect and raising prices when possible. Other players in this space might find it most beneficial to wait it out and see if Trump changes course yet again on tariff policy.
The news: Rare disease drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics is pausing sales of a muscular dystrophy drug, Elevidys, after initially refusing an FDA request to halt sales due to safety concerns. The takeaway: Elevydis’ path to FDA approval was unconventional, but deemed appropriate at the time for a devastating disease. The new deaths and now paused sales serve as caution for both the FDA and drugmakers to balance the emotional sway of unmet medical needs with complete and continued clinical research.
The news: Insurance premiums are set to rise by 15% next year for the people who buy through the Affordable Care Act, per a new KFF analysis. Our take: While the Trump administration is eliminating the ACA tax credits, states where the president won the election account for 88% of ACA enrollment growth since 2020, per KFF research in April. When premium increases roll out across the ACA marketplace, and spillover into higher costs for hospitals and healthcare services, we expect plenty of political finger-pointing over fault, but little agreement on ways to improve US healthcare and keep consumers out of medical debt.
The trend: Consumer perception of healthcare providers worsens when they find out the doctor uses AI, according to research recently published in JAMA Network. Our take: Healthcare is inherently emotional, and many consumers might be under the impression that their doctor is using AI as a shortcut. In reality, the opposite might be true. Physicians use AI to make them more efficient and free them up to spend extra time with patients. But language and details matter, and providers and marketers must ensure this is reflected in their messaging.
The news: A report from DoubleVerify unveiled insights on the state of the digital ad landscape as audiences and brands go digital-first. More than three-quarters (77%) say short-form vertical videos (think Reels) perform better than marketers’ campaign baselines, while 75% say the same for social media feeds, 69% for connected TV (CTV), 67% for commerce media networks, and 58% for audio and podcasts. Our take: As time spent with digital grows, advertisers are pushed to invest—but with ad blockers and brand safety remaining concerns, advertisers must rethink how they earn attention and invest in meaningful, trustworthy, and well-placed experiences.
The news: Netflix and Fox are closing Upfronts on a high note, with ad success driven by live sports and original programming. Netflix anticipates that it will “roughly double” its ad revenues in 2025 from 2024 after a strong second quarter. Our take: Netflix’s and Fox’s success underscores that high-quality, tentpole programming still commands advertiser trust even as broader ad growth slows. Live sports remains a critical touchpoint for advertisers, delivering consistent audience growth and high engagement and attention. Channels that invest in sports—whether streaming or linear—will attract interest.
The news: Google is looking to sign licensing deals with more publishers, per Bloomberg, to improve its products and address the threat of dwindling AI training resources. It’s launching a pilot project to partner with about 20 national news outlets, which could help ease tensions between Big Tech players and the publishers that are demanding compensation for their content. Our take: Google’s increased effort to license more media content shows its gearing up for a future in which AI-generated summaries dominate search. As this shift occurs, brands will need to focus on generative engine optimization (GEO) to get their content into AI summaries, such as by including concise takeaways that LLMs can surface. Preparing for a world where more premium content is behind paywalls could also include deeper publisher partnerships.
CTV passes TV in daily viewing time: Streaming platforms now drive video consumption and viewer behavior.
The news: A major security flaw in Microsoft SharePoint is actively being exploited by hackers around the world. The full impact is still unfolding, but 100 large companies, thousands of SMBs, and at least two US federal agencies have been breached, per The Washington Post. Our take: Microsoft’s restructuring toward AI and cloud has left cracks in its legacy infrastructure, now exploited at scale. For agencies and marketers, the risk is real: Compromised systems mean vulnerable campaigns and lost client IP, data, and brand reputation. For Microsoft, continued breaches could push customers to abandon SharePoint altogether.
20% of US adults say they’ve traveled or will travel less than planned due to the economy, according to a May survey by The Points Guy and The Harris Poll.
40.6% of US adults have researched a product or company after encountering an ad for it in-store, according to March 2025 data from Placer.ai and EMARKETER.
In-store retail media has long been a mysterious black box for marketers—hard to measure and optimize. But thanks to first-party shopper data and AI-driven measurement tools, that’s changing. Marketers can now pinpoint how shoppers engage with in-store campaigns and tie those interactions directly to sales.
Key stat: The number of retail media networks (RMNs) worldwide offering competitive conquesting (the ability to target campaigns to competitors’ shoppers) has risen from 10 in Q2 2024 to 15 in Q2 2025, a 50% increase, according to data from Mars United Commerce.
The news: Forecasters are mixed on the future of Elon Musk-owned platform X after CEO Linda Yaccarino, whose experience as an advertising executive at NBCUniversal helped X reclaim some ad revenues, stepped down. But things aren’t all gloom and doom: We forecast that X’s ad revenues will increase by 25% YoY in 2025. Our take: While X’s ad revenues will likely grow in the short term, the shift toward AI could alleviate long-term struggles resulting from a turbulent few years for the platform—and even if some advertisers shift away, many will feel pressured to stay or face consequences.
Conversational analytics tools like Adverity’s Data Conversations are helping marketers bypass traditional data bottlenecks by enabling instant, plain-language access to performance insights. No longer dependent on engineers or BI teams, marketers can now ask natural-language questions and receive real-time analytics—reducing inefficiencies and encouraging deeper experimentation. This shift coincides with growing investment in AI and analytics, especially amid economic pressure to optimize spending. With autonomous agents and AI assistants poised to automate reporting and flag anomalies, the landscape is moving toward faster, more agile decision-making—so long as teams implement governance, training, and clear frameworks for responsible adoption.