We examine rebranding best practices that bring customers along on the journey.

Adoption will spike by 82.1% from 2024 to 2026—but from a very low base. This translates to only 2.6% of the population using cryptocurrency payments in 2026, affirming its status as a nascent-stage payment option.

Amid real challenges, retailers get a glimmer of good news: Retail sales rose 4.2% YoY in January, and spending at restaurants and bars jumped 5.4% YoY.

Firefly AI debuts with IP-safe video generation, aiming to outshine OpenAI’s Sora. Its Premiere Pro integration could make it a go-to for professionals.

Retail media will account for about 1 in 5 digital ad dollars this year. That’s about double the share it held in 2020. We expect it to surpass the one-quarter mark by 2028.

Broadly, curation routes ad dollars toward a smaller pool of auctioned ad inventory with a unifying characteristic or set of characteristics.

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5. This week, Temu and Shein get a scare, consumers use buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps to discover new products, and Super Bowl viewers don’t really care about ads for AI products or services.

Amazon opens a “parapharmacy” in Milan: The store is part of a broader push into beauty and personal items and marks its latest attempt to crack the brick-and-mortar code.

Consumer tech spending expected to reach record $537 billion in 2025—unless tariffs get in the way: The need to replace pandemic-era purchases and interest in AI-powered features will spur demand, assuming prices stay steady.

X plans first marketing campaign under Musk, but ad revenues will still drop: While brands like Apple are resuming advertising, but it has more to do with politics than ROAS.

Meta’s EU Marketplace ad change shifts power to regulators: The company will allow rivals to buy ads on Marketplace in compliance with EU rules

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5.

AI-powered summaries from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity misrepresent facts, yet audiences buy in—fueling misinformation and risking brand reputation

TikTok returns to US app stores, hinting at a secure future: Regulators and storefronts say they want to keep the app around, putting it on much stronger footing.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how marketers (and consumers) currently feel about brand safety, how publishers are trying to assuage brands’ concerns, and what comes after ‘brand suitability’. Tune in to the conversation with Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, our Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, Vice President Paul Verna, and co-founder and CEO of Mobian Jonah Goodhart. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

It plans to unify its models under one offering, with GPT-5 integrating multiple AI capabilities. The move will simplify access but reduce user control.

Nearly half of US consumers say AI-generated ads make brands seem fraudulent, yet most will still buy, revealing a gap between skepticism and spending habits.

Travel holds up amid headwinds: Consumers continue to prioritize trips, aiding hotel performance and expansion.