On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of August. Each month, Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Emmy Liederman (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Emmy Liederman will defend their list against Principal Analyst, Sky Canaves and Senior Analyst, Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.
Google is enhancing its retail ad offerings with loyalty-driven personalization tools aimed at retention. New features include personalized pricing and shipping perks for loyalty members, a “loyalty mode” in Google Ads’ retention goal to optimize for high-lifetime-value customers, and personalized annotations in Performance Max campaigns. Sephora, an early adopter, reported a 20% lift in click-through rates from loyalty-focused annotations. The launch comes as loyalty ranks high on shoppers’ holiday priorities and as CMOs lean on loyalty programs to bolster first-party data. With Amazon pulling away from Google, the updates position Ads as a retention engine in the retail fight.
The news: A majority of US adults are ready for AI to take their bosses’ jobs. 73% said they’re behind AI having a role in hiring, firing, and budgets, per a new ResumeNow survey. 69% are fine with AI monitoring for productivity purposes. Our take: 41% of C-suite professionals are concerned about the ethical use of AI, per Bearing Point. AI can quickly become a yes man, confirming decisions that might not be in a company’s best interest. Balance and oversight are key when adopting AI solutions. Using AI for hiring and budgeting will help streamline those processes, but AI decisions need to be monitored to keep bias and hallucinations in check.
A leaked Adweek-reviewed file details how The Trade Desk partners with 49 retailers worldwide to sell ad placements built on shopper data. The document reveals steep markups and inconsistent rules: Albertsons charges up to 45% of media costs, Best Buy limits custom audiences, Costco sets $100K minimums, and Walmart imposes fees capped at $3.50 CPMs plus measurement charges. Other retailers add restrictions around ad categories or approvals. The leak highlights both the value and complexity of retail media as brands chase audience targeting tied directly to transactions. Transparency remains a challenge, with costs and conditions varying widely by partner.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what AI Overviews are doing to search behavior, some potential new business models for the internet, and how much “AI slop” might encourage folks to decrease their time on the web. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Analyst, Grace Harmon, and the CEO and Founder of CMO Huddles, and host of the Renegade Marketers Unite podcast, Drew Neisser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: Marketing automation provider Klaviyo acquired social commerce platform Gatsby for an undisclosed sum, per MarTech. The acquisition closes the gap between social discovery and owned marketing channels by unifying fragmented customer data in a social commerce market that we project will surpass $137 billion in sales in 2028. Our take: Social signals are no longer just noise—they’re critical first-party data. The winners in social commerce will be the platforms that help brands capture and act on this data in real time. For marketers, the strategy is to treat every social interaction as a conversion opportunity and build strategies that turn discovery into durable, owned relationships.
Acxiom, IPG Mediabrands, and IRIS.TV have partnered to launch Acxiom Contextual CTV, a privacy-safe targeting tool powered by IRIS_ID. The solution analyzes content context—genre, subject, tone—without using personal identifiers, addressing rising privacy concerns as cookies disappear. Already present in 17–40% of US bidstream inventory, IRIS.TV enables more accurate targeting, while early pilots show higher video completion rates and stronger brand lift. Publishers benefit too, with CPMs rising as much as 25%. With CTV ad sales projected to hit $46.9 billion by 2028, this approach could set a new industry standard for performance, compliance, and contextual relevance.
The news: CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reorganized Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) into four units focused on research, superintelligence, products, and infrastructure, per The New York Times. Meta further splitting its AI division, which it spun off in June, underscores both ambition and internal turmoil as it races rivals like OpenAI and Google. Our take: Meta’s public growing pains show it won’t sit out the AI race, even if upheaval is the cost. Its future direction will have wider implications—if Meta leans into closed AI models, the shift could reshape how outside developers and partners interact with its platforms. For advertisers, the signal is clear: Expect fresh AI features in Meta’s ad products, but brace for volatility as Meta struggles to align its people, platforms, and technology.
The news: Meta is moving forward with its ad automation ambitions by introducing new options to consolidate ad targeting, per a company announcement. Meta’s Ads Manager page noted that “some detailed targeting options have been combined,” and that ads using now-unavailable options no longer deliver starting in January. Our take: Automated AI campaigns are the path forward as long as giants like Meta continue pushing for automation and away from manual—necessitating advertisers take key steps to adapt. Campaign goals must be reframed for an AI-first environment.
Generative AI is rapidly moving from novelty to necessity in advertising, collapsing production costs and timelines while expanding creative possibilities. National TV ads that once required six figures and weeks of work can now be made in days for a fraction of the budget, opening broadcast-quality campaigns to smaller advertisers. With nearly 90% of large video advertisers already adopting AI, use cases like personalization, ideation, and versioning are proliferating. Yet consumer skepticism remains strong—especially among older audiences—underscoring that human craft and cultural nuance still matter. The challenge ahead: merging automation’s efficiency with trust and authentic creativity at scale.
53% of marketers in North America cite data analysis and insights as the top bottleneck slowing down marketing cycles, according to an April GrowthLoop and Ascend2 survey.
LiveRamp kicked off its fiscal year with strong double-digit revenue growth and a 30% YoY earnings increase, driven by momentum across clean rooms, commerce media, and AI-driven infrastructure. CEO Scott Howe spotlighted Cross Media Insights’ early traction, growing adoption in non-retail verticals, and LiveRamp’s strategic shift to usage-based pricing to reach more SMBs. Netflix integrations continue scaling, despite technical complexity, while ROI remains a top sales focus—highlighted by new case studies and a Forrester-backed 300% return benchmark. With 75% of growth still coming from existing clients, LiveRamp is pushing hard to scale new business in a post-cookie, AI-fueled future.
In an EMARKETER interview, Reddit COO Jen Wong shared optimism following the platform’s strong Q2, highlighting its focus on delivering ad outcomes over increasing ad load. Despite capturing just over 1% of US social ad spend, Reddit is growing ARPU through investments in machine learning, creative tools like Memorable AI, and advertiser infrastructure. Wong emphasized Reddit’s auction model supports full-funnel goals, while global expansion is underway through localized insights and self-serve adoption. She spotlighted Reddit Community Intelligence as a milestone, enabling brands to tap into decades of authentic discussion data. The company’s long-term bet: authenticity will outperform algorithms.
Kroger has consolidated its retail media, consumer insights, and loyalty marketing capabilities under the Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) brand.
The news: Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed plans to “significantly” increase AI investments, including acquisitions. The iPhone-maker acquired seven firms this year, some focused on AI, and remains open to deals of any size to boost capabilities, per Business Insider. Our take: Apple’s focus on efficiency and partnerships suggests incremental but impactful AI-driven tools will emerge, especially around privacy-first and device-dependent personalization. Prepare for evolving Apple AI features that emphasize user privacy. Balance campaigns between Apple’s controlled environment and more open, AI-reliant ecosystems like Google’s and Meta’s to optimize reach and precision.
The news: Figma’s high-profile IPO—valued at $19.3 billion—lands it squarely in the league of top-tier software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms and indicates renewed competition in cloud-based tools that agencies rely on for their campaigns. Our take: Instead of being subsumed by Adobe, Figma is now free to chart its own course. Going public gives it the independence to scale, expand its ecosystem, and challenge incumbents directly. For advertisers, Figma remaining independent gives agencies added choice. As creative tools compete for market share, expect faster innovation, more flexible pricing, and features tuned for digital-first campaigns.
The news: OpenAI is preparing to launch GPT-5, a model that will combine traditional GPT capabilities with o3-series reasoning—marking a major leap in performance and model simplification. Our take: GPT-5 could streamline content creation, search, and CX workflows, leading to renewed industry adoption and customization. Enterprise customers should test GPT-5’s API early. Align adoption with marketing workflows and consider consolidating tools into a single platform to reduce costs. Early movers will shape the future of customer engagement.
OpenAI is preparing to launch GPT-5 in early August. The newest and most powerful model combines traditional GPT capabilities with o3-series reasoning—marking a major leap in performance and model simplification. The consolidation play with GPT-5 could further cement OpenAI’s dominance if competitors are slow to respond.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what “authentic storytelling” looks like in practice, surprising findings about the authenticity levels between print and digital, and what’s most important when it comes to a “brand’s handshake.” Join our conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings, Jeremy Goldman, and Vice President of Brand Marketing at Quad, Heidi Waldusky. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.