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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 trend: A perfect macroeconomic storm is causing younger consumers to cut back on spending. Our take: These pressures aren鈥檛 going away anytime soon. The Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs are leading retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Macy鈥檚 to raise prices鈥攑utting even more strain on young shoppers already feeling stretched. At the same time, job anxieties are growing. The white collar workforce is shrinking, and more companies are citing AI as a reason for layoffs. Put it all together, and it鈥檚 likely that younger consumers will remain cautious with their spending for some time, especially on nonessentials. Retailers that want to win over this group will need to focus on offering value such as high-quality, private label products.

The news: A federal judge gave Anthropic the green light this week to train its AI on millions of pirated books鈥攄eclaring it 鈥渇air use鈥濃�攅ven as the company used methods that resembled digital looting, per CNET. Our take: 24% of marketers say copyright concerns will be a big challenge for generative AI (genAI) in the next two years, per Econsultancy. To protect themselves, agencies need to pressure-test genAI vendors and ask tough questions about how models were trained鈥攂efore the lawsuits land on their desks.

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 news: While brands invest heavily in social media giants like Instagram and Facebook, smaller platforms are showing steady growth鈥攊ndicating a future where ad opportunities go beyond the big players. While the Meta platforms make up an enormous 72.5% of US social network ad spending, smaller social media platforms are holding their own, experiencing growth at a similar rate to Meta. Our take: While advertisers shouldn鈥檛 discount the massive reach Meta offers, smaller players are increasingly valuable for driving results, especially as competition intensifies on larger platforms.

The news: The FTC has conditionally approved Omnicom鈥檚 $13.5 billion acquisition of IPG, but with a historic behavioral restriction: the merged ad giant is barred from coordinating ad placements based on political or ideological content. This addresses rising concerns over informal industry efforts to blacklist partisan publishers, especially those on the right. Our take: The ruling sends a clear warning that media buying behavior is under federal scrutiny. While brands can still control where their ads appear, holding companies must now walk a tighter line. The age of unregulated middlemen in ad placement may be ending.

The news: Snapchat acquired social calendar app Saturn and about 30 of its employees. For now, Saturn will stay an independent entity, but integration is likely down the road, per Engadget. Our take: Acquiring Saturn was a natural progression in Snapchat鈥檚 social path. It doesn鈥檛 need to reinvent the wheel when it has an app that already has a massive user base of its target audience. Calendar integrations will help brands more easily geotarget ads based on school events.

As marketing teams face higher expectations to prove campaign results, leaders expect data-driven work from every department. This means once siloed teams must find smarter ways to work together.

The news: Amazon plans to bring same- and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities by year鈥檚 end. Our take: Amazon鈥檚 growing focus on rural delivery is squarely aimed at deepening Prime鈥檚 value, driving higher engagement, and unlocking long-term loyalty in a market that still holds plenty of untapped potential.

The news: The FTC has conditionally approved Omnicom鈥檚 $13.5 billion acquisition of IPG, but with a historic behavioral restriction: the merged ad giant is barred from coordinating ad placements based on political or ideological content. This addresses rising concerns over informal industry efforts to blacklist partisan publishers, especially those on the right. Our take: The ruling sends a clear warning that media buying behavior is under federal scrutiny. While brands can still control where their ads appear, holding companies must now walk a tighter line. The age of unregulated middlemen in ad placement may be ending.

The news:The Krispy Kreme鈥揗cDonald鈥檚 marriage is ending. The announcement comes less than two months after the companies said they were pausing a nationwide rollout鈥攄espite doughnuts being available in 2,400 McDonald鈥檚 locations鈥攖o reassess the profitability of the expansion. Our take: The breakup with McDonald鈥檚 comes at a tough time for Krispy Kreme鈥攁nd for many other quick-service chains. The company has pulled its 2025 forecast, paused its dividend, and is now refocusing on what matters most: boosting cash flow, improving efficiency, and growing in a way that actually makes money in the US. The McDonald鈥檚 partnership gave Krispy Kreme more visibility, but not enough profit. With costs rising and margins getting tighter, the company is shifting its focus from rapid expansion to ensuring its business is built to last.

The news: The Trump administration is mulling new policies to make pharma advertising more difficult, per a Bloomberg report. Our take: RFK previously acknowledged the First Amendment hurdles in an outright pharma ad ban. But if he takes an alternate path with new D2C ad regulations, it鈥檚 a win for the industry. Pharma companies can budget for extra media costs of additional TV time and the loss of ad tax deductions, but they get to keep D2C advertising.

The news: BetterHelp inked a deal with three WNBA teams to market and raise awareness of mental health services. Our take: Marketing healthcare products and services by making brand connections to aspirational healthiness via sports is a savvy strategic play for BetterHelp. The company鈥檚 lean into women鈥檚 sports, and especially tapping the surging popularity of the WNBA with relatable personal stories on Instagram, carves out a niche.

The news: Target is testing a factory-direct shipping model that would enable it to offer lower-cost products to customers, per Bloomberg. The model, which lets suppliers ship products directly to shoppers, closely resembles the strategy used by Temu and Shein to keep prices low. Our take: Unfortunately for Target, now is not the best time to increase its reliance on overseas suppliers. While the Temu-Shein model worked spectacularly well for several years, the conditions that fueled their growth鈥攏amely, the de minimis exemption and low tariffs鈥攁re no longer in place.

The news: Around 50 health plans鈥� including large players UnitedHealthcare, CVS Health, Cigna, and Elevance Health鈥攁re pledging to simplify the prior authorization process. Our take: But their commitments don鈥檛 come with mandates or enforcement鈥攎eaning insurers can still get away with tactics that boost their profits over paying for expensive medical care.

The news: Unilever acquired men鈥檚 personal care brand Dr. Squatch鈥攚hich recently made headlines for offering soap containing actress Sydney Sweeney鈥檚 bathwater鈥� for an undisclosed amount as it looks to establish a greater foothold in the fast-growing category. It鈥檚 a notable move for a company that is otherwise shedding brands to speed its turnaround, and a clear sign that Unilever counts men鈥檚 personal care as one of the 鈥減remium and high growth spaces鈥� to prioritize. Our take: While men are hardly a monolithic entity, their optimism about the economy makes them more likely than women to increase their spending this year. At the same time, shifting consumption habits are turning male consumers into a more valuable commodity鈥攁s Saks and Unilever see only too clearly.

The news: Google reduced its sub-$500 million smart TV budget by 10%, laid off a quarter of its 300-person TV staff, and scaled back investments in connected TV (CTV) initiatives like Google TV and Android TV, per The Information. The latest changes prioritize YouTube and cloud, which now drive Alphabet鈥檚 $110 billion annual run rate. Our take: Advertisers should reallocate budgets toward YouTube鈥檚 growing ad ecosystem while exploring emerging CTV platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Google鈥檚 retreat creates openings for competitors to capture market share in CTV advertising.

The news: Fiserv will launch its own stablecoin, FIUSD, by end of year to complement its existing banking and payments infrastructure. Our take: Reporting BNPL data to the credit bureaus would be a solid step toward combatting BNPL鈥檚 鈥減hantom debt鈥� criticism.