蘑菇AV

The news: Nearly half of US and UK consumers admit to abusing retailers鈥� returns policies in the past 12 months, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll. Our take: Retailers face a Catch-22 when it comes to returns. Being too generous opens the door for fraud and can result in retailers being overburdened by reverse logistics costs. But being too restrictive can deter shoppers from opening their wallets.

The news: A Sprout Social report found that 41% of Gen Z turns to social platforms first for finding information, ahead of search engines (32%), AI chatbots (11%), and friends and family (9%). In an exclusive conversation with 蘑菇AV, Thomas Markland, founder of creator company HYDP, discussed the shift and the need for brands to adopt a social-first strategy. Our take: As social media users, especially younger generations, increasingly turn to social for product discovery, brands that are willing to adapt and are strategic with their creator partnerships stand to gain most.

Google AI Overviews could face aggressive regulatory measures in UK: A CMA investigation adds to a slew of regulatory challenges that are chipping away at Google鈥檚 dominance in search and advertising.

The news: Women鈥檚 sports is continuing to grow in relevance, reaching new milestones in 2024, per research from the charity Women鈥檚 Sport Trust. Leagues like the Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association (WNBA) grew significantly across social media in the 2024 season, reaching a single-season record of nearly 2 billion video views across WNBA social media platforms鈥攎ore than quadruple the previous season. Our take: As more brands invest in women鈥檚 sports and viewership spikes, advertisers must recognize women鈥檚 sports not as a niche category only relevant for select moments, but as a critical part of a comprehensive sports marketing campaign.

The market will return to growth in 2025, but retailers face ongoing disruption from ultra-fast-fashion players and TikTok Shop.

A new poll finds consumers in the US and UK are almost evenly split鈥擥en Z is upbeat, Gen X is gloomy鈥攁mid a cost-of-living crunch and rapid tech gains. The results remind brand marketers that price, value, and purpose now collide at every purchase decision.

Lloyds, NatWest, and Truist are redefining banking with generative AI. Lloyds moves beyond individual use cases to rethink processes entirely, aiming for a customer-facing AI agent by late summer 2025. NatWest shifted to reimagining entire customer experiences, empowering all 70,000 employees with AI tools to rapidly explore new possibilities. Truist focuses on "knowledge extraction," a low-risk, high-reward use case demonstrating immediate value. Continuous experimentation and adaptable strategies are crucial for AI implementation, requiring agile learning, boundary-pushing, and prioritizing employee buy-in for customer-focused solutions.

The news: Ad quality has a big impact on whether gamers will stay in the game or walk away from a session. Over half (52%) of gamers in the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan would quit playing if they encountered multiple disruptive ad features, per Deloitte鈥檚 Quality Drives Value: A Look into Mobile Gaming Ads survey. Our take: Prioritizing features like rewards and skip options can help players feel in control and properly compensated for their time, helping mobile gamers to stay engaged, click through, and return. Poorly timed or deceptive ads, on the other hand, risk alienating gamers and increasing churn.

The trend: Gen Z is turning to social media for job and career guidance in the UK, but typical pharma company content isn鈥檛 engaging them. The takeaway: Pharma and biotech companies need to embrace social media as serious recruiting channels to connect with Gen Z, and create unpolished, everyday snapshot-type videos with real employees. Social teams should track video trends on TikTok like 鈥渄ay in the life鈥� or 鈥減ut a finger down鈥� and enlist employees to replicate them.

The news: The UK economy contracted by the most in 18 months in April due to the twin pressures of tariffs and tax increases. Our take: The UK economy鈥檚 contraction in April sets the stage for another year of tepid growth. Despite a highly publicized (and yet to be finalized) trade deal with the US, macroeconomic uncertainties are set to weigh heavily on corporate and consumer sentiment, while rising household and business expenses will limit investment and consumer spending.

Total media time is decreasing in all three countries. The decline is slightly less pronounced in France and Germany, where relatively strong traditional media usage and steady growth in digital time help balance the drop.

The US-China trade war drives Shein to diversify its sourcing: Shein and Reliance Retail plan to start international sales of India-made Shein-branded clothes within six to 12 months.

Social users around the world engage with and make purchase decisions from creator content in similar ways. Localizing creator strategies is key, but marketers can apply the same best practices across many geographies.

The news: A wave of cyberattacks is sweeping through the retail industry, with Cartier and North Face the latest to report breaches. Both companies recently notified customers that their names and email addresses had been stolen, although financial information remained secure. Our take: The surge in cyber incidents is coming at the worst possible time for retailers, who are already dealing with extreme upheaval in their supply chains and looking for any opportunity to cut costs. But M&S鈥� cautionary tale should be a wake-up call for companies to invest in cybersecurity.

Hims & Hers expands in Europe via telehealth acquisition: Hims purchased a company with a similar business model overseas. We believe it鈥檚 a sign that Hims is losing its competitive advantage in the US weight loss drug space.