TikTok's NewFronts showcases AI-curated ads and partnerships: Despite regulatory scrutiny, the platform shows no signs of being distracted in its efforts to pursue ad dollars.
Google’s new DSP centralizes video inventory, but there’s a catch: The exchange is the only platform that hosts YouTube inventory, leaving little room to opt-out.
Howard Schultz says Starbucks’ ‘fix needs to begin at home’: Following a tough quarter, the company’s former boss took to LinkedIn to detail how it should revamp its US operations.
Amazon sees a big opportunity in beauty: The retail giant is hosting the Summer Beauty Haul sales event to capture shoppers’ attention, boost retail media spend, and drive sales.
Microsoft and Sanctuary AI team up on humanoid robots: Advanced AI is invigorating the robotics sector. But industry adoption doesn’t indicate consumer demand.
Book bans are on the rise in US: This trend can have implications for brands’ marketing strategies.
Targeting 20% of the world’s high-end chip production by 2030, the CHIPS Act is accelerating investments into digital twin technologies to attract startups.
Paramount merger drama continues: A Sony-Apollo deal is now pitted against Skydance—and it’s unfolding during Upfronts.
Increased vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks are driving up costs for businesses. AI adoption could make them even more vulnerable.
Retailers like Dollar General, Walmart, and Target are rethinking the self-checkout experience, scaling back on kiosks or removing self-checkout from their locations altogether. But considering 55% of US adults prefer to get through their in-store grocery shopping as fast as possible (according to a November 2023 survey from Kearney) it’s unlikely self-checkout will be leaving stores anytime soon. Here are five stats on self-checkout, including how and why consumers like to use it, the reason some retailers are pulling back, and what the future holds for the technology.
Signals about the long-predicted M&A revival remain mixed: Bank mergers had a slow start in Q1, coming off a historically bad year for deal announcements. Despite regulatory headwinds, there’s still reason for hope.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether GenAI is just a solution in search of a problem to fix, how the video streaming world has shifted already this year, how significant of an ad battleground the back seat of a cab can be, how fast people need things delivered, what the most popular pets in America are, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Blake Droesch and vice presidents of content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna.
New AI advertising tools introduced by Meta: Updates are designed to boost Reels campaign performance with advanced creator filtering and dynamic product ads.
Reclassification won’t ease marijuana businesses’ woes: A major policy change would make weed less heinous but still federally illegal—and that’s not reassuring to the many banks that want to avoid compliance hassles.
Intuit Mailchimp used AI to create a B2B marketing campaign focusing on the “clustomer,” the amorphous and diverse audience brands must reach with ads. The resulting ad performed in the top 5% of Ipsos ads, a success which Intuit Mailchimp CMO Michelle Taite attributed to the team’s willingness to experiment with AI.
While social claims a sizable portion of most advertisers’ budgets, two advertising categories—retail and CPG—are responsible for an outsized share of social ad spending in the US.
Retailers take a page from Walmart's playbook: Aldi, Ikea, and Michaels are among the large retailers cutting prices to convince consumers to open their wallets and spend.
45,000 retail stores may close in the coming years: Sam Ash, Rite Aid, and Express are among the retailers shuttering stores in recent weeks.
Bad weather takes its toll on UK retail sales: Footfall and sales slumped in April as shoppers avoided the rain, but deflationary trends could boost spending in warmer months.
“We've seen tremendous resilience from the consumer and that's driving a lot of success for retailers in the brick and mortar space,” said Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing at Placer.ai, during our virtual summit. Despite rising inflation and pullbacks on discretionary spending, consumers are still eager to treat themselves and participate in unique retail experiences. We break down three trends influencing shopping behavior for the rest of the year, each paired with a retail opportunity.