The news: Consumers who are more familiar with AI are also more likely to mistrust an AI-assisted diagnosis from their doctor, per a recently published Journal of Medical Internet Research survey. Our take: Physicians and healthcare marketers can’t assume people who are familiar with AI will be more comfortable with AI uses in healthcare. Marketers need to talk about AI as a tool with many positive effects like freeing doctors for longer personal interactions and resulting in fewer mistakes.
41% of CMOs in North America and Europe say they leveraged data, analytics, and measurement to optimize marketing performance—the most common tactic followed by AI, according to March 2025 data from Gartner.
The news: PayPal partnered with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences to enable payments for participating student-athletes. Our take: Capitalizing on young, emerging student consumers is a strong opportunity to secure long-time and loyal PayPal and Venmo users.
The situation: Nike’s turnaround will likely take some time. In FYQ4, the company’s sales fell 12% YoY (11% on a constant-currency basis), reflecting what CFO Matthew Friend called the “largest financial impact” from the company’s reset strategy. Still, he expressed confidence that “headwinds will moderate from here,” emphasizing Nike’s focus on execution and controlling what it can. Our take: Turning around a company the size of Nike is like trying to turn around an ocean liner in rough waters. Change takes time, especially amid headwinds like tariffs and shaky demand, and execution missteps keep dragging on performance. Nike is adjusting course—leaning back into wholesale, cleaning up its inventory, and getting more surgical with product drops—but calm seas are still a ways off.
H&M moves to diversify sourcing amid tariff threat: The move will enable it to stay competitive with Zara and minimize tariffs’ impact on its bottom line
The news: A majority of GLP-1 weight loss drug consumers are now staying on the medications for more than a year, per an annual Prime Therapeutics analysis. The Prime study includes 5,780 people via healthcare claims over three years; the mean age was 47 and 80% were women. The final word: Adherence rates longer than a year validates the idea that prescription weight loss GLP-1s, and newer drugs on the way, are here to stay as chronic disease treatments. It shifts typical weight loss marketing from cyclical—keep your New Year’s resolution or lose weight for your wedding—to medical and consistent.
The trend: US consumers trust the pharma companies that advertise the prescription drugs they’re taking. Our take: Pharma companies can take heart in knowing the people who take their drugs trust them and their advertising. But it’s also an opportunity for precise data and media targeting to reach new consumers who would be interested in their medication—undiagnosed people or competitors’ patients—and receptive to learning about them.
The trend: Over three-quarters of US hospitals now task pharmacists with patient care responsibilities, according to a recently published survey from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. Our take: Struggling retail pharmacies should also entrust pharmacists to play a bigger role in patient care, especially as some drugstores pivot to health-focused store formats.
The news: News publishers are investing in social media presence that may not be creating meaningful referral traffic. Although publishers are working to meet audiences where they are—on social and video platforms—their content is being watched, not clicked, per Digiday. Our take: Despite social media not converting engagement into referral traffic, news publishers have little option but to remain—leaving social platforms means losing user attention. Publishers may need to boost their efforts in community-driven channels like Substack and podcasts to foster engagement and reader loyalty.
The news: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T are in various stages of launching satellite messaging services, extending mobile connectivity into remote areas. Key takeaway: Satellite-cellular convergence opens new paths for targeted ads. As T-Mobile, Verizon, Apple, and others build out skyward networks, marketers gain access to previously unreachable users in creative ways. Marketers should prepare for a world without dead zones. With satellite connectivity becoming widespread, it could unlock new inventory, audiences, and high-intent use cases—especially for premium segments.
Economic concerns and global tensions are forcing travelers to rethink their summer plans as booking windows shrink and cost-consciousness rises.
81% of Gen Z adults and 78% of millennial adults often wish they could disconnect from digital devices more easily, according to a February 2025 survey from Quad conducted by The Harris Poll.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss our unofficial list of the most unexpected retailer campaigns this year. This month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial themed list of the top eight retailers based on the most surprising marketing campaigns we've seen in the last six months. In this month's episode, Committee members Analysts Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.
Back-to-school spending is steady in 2025, but shopper behavior is split. Parents are prioritizing tech and clothing—yet these are also the first to be cut when budgets tighten. Consumers are shopping earlier, seeking deals, and using AI to keep costs down. With shopping habits divided by generation and income, retailers must stay flexible, personalize offers, optimize for AI, and create seamless cross-channel experiences.
The rest of the year is top-of-mind for leaders in marketing and retail, which they expect to be challenging but riddled with opportunities to stand out from competition.
The news: AI-fueled résumés have pushed LinkedIn job applications up 45% YoY, overwhelming recruiters and upending hiring norms. Recruiters now face an avalanche of lookalike résumés and fake identities—some even auto-submitted by AI bots. Many are turning to AI-powered hiring platforms to fight fire with fire, per The New York Times. Our take:By relying on AI tools to chase efficiency, both sides could drive up skepticism and erode the core goal: finding the right person for the right role. Businesses with open roles should prioritize clarity, human relevance, and judicious restraint in their own use of AI.
The scene: When Cooper Flagg—the odds-on favorite to be the NBA Rookie of the Year next season—steps onto the court for the first time, he’ll be wearing New Balance basketball shoes. Our take: New Balance’s push to sign Flagg, along with its other star-powered ambassadors, underscores its clear ambition to break into the top tier of global sportswear brands. While Nike and Adidas still lead by a wide margin, New Balance has its sights set on Puma, which reported $9.5 billion in sales last year—well ahead of New Balance’s $7.8 billion. To close the gap, New Balance needs to turn its growing visibility into demand, which is far from a sure thing. From there, it must maintain that momentum with consistent sales across both its performance and lifestyle lines. If Flagg lives up to the hype and the brand finds ways to ride that momentum, New Balance could take a meaningful step up the sneaker hier
The news: Connected TV (CTV) commands higher attention metrics (AU) than online video (OLV) and display advertising thanks in part to its wide variety of interactive ad formats, per industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Our take: CTV's growing attention metrics reflects its shift toward becoming a performance marketing channel
The news: Skims, the shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian, is on an expansion tear as it nears $1 billion in annual sales, per Business of Fashion. The company plans to open 16 stores in the US this year, bringing its total domestic footprint to 22. Over the next nine months, Skims expects to establish itself in seven new markets—including stores in Mexico, London, and Dubai. Our take: While stores are hugely important to Skims’ growth, the company has several advantages over the rest of the D2C field. Unlike most other D2C companies, Skims doesn’t need to rely on its stores as billboards given its high-profile founder, who is also a fixture of its ad campaigns. Its partnership with Nike will give it access to an even larger audience and smooth its entry into the athleisure category—assuming production delays don’t get in the way. The launch will also considerably increase Skims’ retail presence without needing to invest in premium real estate.
The majority (80.9%) of worldwide retail media ad spend will take place in China and the US this year, according to a March 2025 Ģą˝AV forecast.