蘑菇AV

The news: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) have introduced a bill, The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act, that would prohibit D2C prescription drug advertising on television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. Our take: Despite disdain for drug commercials among consumers and lawmakers, pharma marketers shouldn鈥檛 sound the alarm just yet.

The news: A sweeping internet outage traced to Google Cloud paralyzed various content streaming, cloud productivity, gaming, and AI services Thursday. The outage exposed the dangerous reality of an increasingly hyper-connected digital infrastructure鈥攚hen one provider fails, the entire ecosystem collapses like dominoes. Our take: AI adoption is straining overloaded cloud systems, making widespread outages inevitable as demand grows. While Cloudflare and Google Cloud may have fixed their issues within hours, its customers may have been deeply affected. The full financial impact may take weeks to emerge.

The insight: Gen Z consumers are starting their purchase journeys more often on Google properties, including YouTube and Gemini, according to a Business Insider report citing Morgan Stanley data. Our take: Google is doing a good job of leveraging the popularity of YouTube and increasing interest in genAI-powered shopping tools to win over younger shoppers and establish itself as the first port of call in their customer journeys.

The news: Disney and Universal are suing AI startup Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement. The lawsuit states that Midjourney pirated their content libraries and continues to produce 鈥渋nnumerable鈥� copies of their characters, including Shrek, Homer Simpson, and Darth Vader. Our take: A victory for the studios could cut off AI companies鈥� access to media libraries, accelerate a shift toward paid content licensing deals, and set legal precedents to help web publishers and IP owners protect their content from data scraping.

The insight: The US is mired in the 鈥渨orst housing market in almost 50 years,鈥� RH CEO Gary Friedman said during the company鈥檚 Q1 earnings call, as high housing costs and economic uncertainty chill demand. Our take: With the sluggish housing market showing few signs of improvement, retailers must lean into any pockets of opportunity they find. For RH, that鈥檚 burnishing its luxury credentials and pushing deeper into hospitality, while Wayfair is leaning on its diverse supplier base. The resilient pro market is another area companies should look to take advantage of as they try to ride out the downturn.

The news: Novo Nordisk is partnering with AI drug discovery company Deep Apple Therapeutics to discover and develop new cardiometabolic drugs, including for obesity. The takeaway: Novo is not the biggest loser in the GLP-1 weight loss category, but it鈥檚 trailing Lilly in drug effectiveness, market value, and more importantly public perception. It鈥檚 critical for Novo to come up with new and better weight loss drugs鈥攈ence the deal with Deep Apple鈥攂ut also polish its brand with consumers. A new CEO and new marketing direction could garner Novo some much-needed cachet.

The news: Michaels is getting a head start on the spooky season. The arts and crafts retailer began stocking its shelves with Halloween merchandise this past Friday, marking its earliest-ever rollout of themed items. Our take: Michaels is betting that even as consumers pull back on discretionary purchases, they鈥檒l keep splurging on Instagram-worthy seasonal d茅cor鈥攅specially if they can get it first. From black rose wreaths to candy-colored pumpkins and disco-themed skeletons, the early drop positions Michaels to win over shoppers eager to get a head start on Halloween.

The data: Healthcare providers are struggling to get patients to use digital tools for scheduling appointments and paying for care, according to a recent Experian Health report. Our take: Clinic staff should gauge patients鈥� comfort level with using specific online tools at the first visit. These queries could give marketers the necessary information to remind people of the tech that鈥檚 available to them for accessing and managing their care. Further education around understanding medical bills and the importance of filling out pre-visit forms could drive patients to use a provider鈥檚 portal for these purposes.

The news: Coinbase will launch its first credit card on the American Express network this fall. Our take: This card could be a strong retention play to keep existing users from using an alternative crypto exchange but likely won鈥檛 move the needle on broader adoption.

The news: Chases unveiled 鈥淭he Shops at Chase,鈥� an integrated shopping and promotion platform for Chase Freedom, Sapphire, and Ink cardholders. Our take: Being able to convert Chase rewards into material purchases is a draw. However, retraining Chase cardholders to make purchases at The Shops instead of starting their product search with Google or Amazon will be an uphill battle.

The news: Shopify partnered with Coinbase and Stripe so customers can pay with the USDC stablecoin at checkout. Our take: Coinbase is the biggest winner in this partnership. Cryptocurrency needs to gain traction with a wide merchant network to accelerate its use, and Shopify represents a huge score for Base.

Tariff uncertainty, billion-dollar merger and acquisition deals, and a jump in social commerce will create new dynamics in the payments industry in H2 2025. Burgeoning tech like agentic AI and stablecoins will further shake up the space.

The news: Auto parts maker Marelli filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, making it one of the first high-profile casualties of the Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs. Our take: Not all of Marelli鈥檚 problems can be blamed on tariffs. But tariffs and uncertainty have a way of magnifying the cracks in a company鈥檚 business鈥攃racks that will become harder to paper over the longer the Trump administration sticks to its hardline tariff policies.

The news: Cannes Lions 2025 is highlighting how retail media is moving beyond performance marketing into broader applications across brand storytelling, in-store influence, and customer experience. Executives like Victoria Usher and Jim Kane are calling attention to how brands now activate retail data for segmentation, planning, and innovation across media touchpoints including CTV and search. Our take: This shift reflects growing demand for privacy-safe, first-party data solutions amid signal loss and rising complexity. Cannes will underscore retail media鈥檚 potential to support creativity and full-funnel integration. The future isn鈥檛 just attribution鈥攊t鈥檚 about making retail platforms vital to brand equity and long-term engagement.

The news:** Amazon has quietly doubled the ad load on Prime Video, now serving 4 to 6 minutes of ads per hour鈥攗p from 2 to 3.5鈥攑lacing it alongside Hulu and Paramount+ in volume. This aligns with Amazon鈥檚 effort to scale its connected TV inventory and offers buyers greater reach. Our take: The added ad time could shift Prime Video鈥檚 role in media planning, attracting performance-focused advertisers if CPMs soften, or reinforcing a premium stance if PMP rates hold. Weekly user engagement remains high, making the platform a reliable environment for consistent exposure. Amazon is quietly positioning Prime Video as a leading CTV ad player.

TikTok Shop has emerged for many brands as a pivotal marketplace for discovery and sales. Some 50% of US consumers take product recommendation suggestions from influencers on TikTok Shop, according to February 2024 data from PartnerCentric.

The news: Reddit published a report Thursday highlighting its increasing relevance for advertisers as social media users gain trust in the platform for purchase decisions. Reddit routinely delivers promising ad results. Adding Reddit to ad campaigns leads to $6.94 higher incremental ROAS across channels. Our take: Despite lingering brand hesitancy to adopt Reddit as a core advertising channel, the platform is increasingly becoming a reliable source that promises high returns鈥攎aking it a key part of an effective campaign for advertisers who know how to navigate it.

The news: Gaming is becoming a powerful vehicle for delivering ads to engaged audiences, with gamers spending significant time gaming across platforms, per a study from Activision Blizzard Media. Seventy percent of gamers play or watch video games daily, while 95% play or watch weekly. Seventy-seven percent of weekly gamers play on mobile devices, while 52% play on console and 34% play on PC. Our take: In-game advertising provides reach that few other channels can match, connecting with an engaged, highly attentive, and diverse audience, making it a critical touchpoint鈥攂ut advertisers must understand what strategies work best.

Truist is making significant strides in optimizing its digital onboarding process, prioritizing increased personalization and a smoother customer journey to attract new clients. This multi-pronged strategy includes enabling mobile ID verification to boost conversion rates among younger generations, seamlessly integrating new clients with services like direct deposit and Zelle to establish Truist as their primary bank, and allowing personalized mobile app dashboards. These digital improvements, supported by AI for feedback aggregation, aim to offset the impact of branch closures and meet the demand for digital convenience, particularly from Gen Z. Truist should amplify marketing efforts to highlight the ease and speed of their fully digital onboarding, emphasizing that no in-person ID verification is required.

A recent study revealed that Gen Z is struggling with a desire for immediate summer fun with rising costs. Nearly half of Gen Z believes future planning is pointless, driving 37% to spend more on non-essentials and 32% to defer financial priorities until after summer. This presents a prime opportunity for financial institutions to engage Gen Z by framing budgeting as a tool for maximizing summer enjoyment rather than restricting it. Banks should offer intuitive, gamified budgeting tools with real-time insights and vibrant visuals. As summer ends, institutions need to be ready to help Gen Z transition back to financial planning with integrated tools, debt management workshops, and goal-setting features, cementing their role as a trusted partner.

The news: Snap announced its sixth-generation AR smart glasses at the 2025 Augmented World Expo (AWE). The wearables will be available to the public for the first time since 2016, potentially unlocking a new revenue stream beyond ads. The lightweight consumer smart glasses, called Specs, will launch in 2026 and include an 鈥渦ltra-powerful wearable computer.鈥� Our take: Snap鈥檚 next-gen smart glasses could diversify its revenue streams and show off its AR prowess. But unless the price tag is affordable and competitive, users may continue to just use Snapchat鈥檚 AR filters on their phones.

The news: Tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon are building tools that let brands bypass ad agencies entirely鈥攁utomating the creation, placement, and optimization of ads, per The Wall Street Journal. Yes, but: Strategy, storytelling, and brand stewardship can鈥檛 come from algorithms. Even with automation, brands need creative direction, long-term planning, and cross-channel cohesion鈥攔oles agencies are uniquely positioned to play. Our take: To stay relevant, agencies must move up the funnel. AI can optimize and target, but it can鈥檛 craft brand strategy or narrative. The edge belongs to firms that lead with insight, creativity, and cohesion.

The news: With scams on the rise, advertisers and brands need to be thoughtful with their communications to keep it out of junk folders. 96% of US adults get at least one scam email, phone call, or text message each week, per CNET. Our take: To stop volume fatigue, brands should avoid inundating users鈥� phones and inboxes with constant messaging. Social media could offer a less-saturated space where short-form content can exemplify brand personality and where users are more likely to expect engagement.

The trend: Retailers and brands are rapidly weaving generative AI (genAI) into their operations to boost efficiency and scale without adding significant headcount. The breadth of the initiatives signals an abrupt shift in many companies鈥� thinking about genAI from a useful tool to a potential core business driver. Our take: GenAI enables companies to do more with less鈥攁 crucial advantage at a time when macro uncertainty is making many firms wary of increasing their headcount. As early adopters scale their efforts and share results, momentum will grow鈥攑rompting others to follow out of necessity, not choice.