蘑菇AV

Black, Hispanic, and Asian consumers are younger and more digitally engaged than average. To build authentic relationships with them, brands and marketers need to understand their healthcare attitudes and behaviors, which have been shaped by inequities and biases.

B2B marketing data spending is rising as marketers prioritize strategies that improve ROI, enable AI, and fuel pipeline growth. Trusted data sources and integrated tools are helping teams optimize segmentation, compliance, and campaign performance.

The news: A majority of US adults are ready for AI to take their bosses鈥� jobs. 73% said they鈥檙e 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鈥檚 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.

Successful retail partnerships create value beyond what either brand could achieve alone. 鈥淥ne plus one makes three is the ideal situation, where both parties bring something to the table that the customer values and as a result, both businesses and brands benefit,鈥� said Brian Berger, founder and CEO of Mack Weldon, on a recent episode of 鈥淏ehind the Numbers.鈥�

US ad spend with financial media will reach over $600 millions this year, according to 蘑菇AV forecasts, but still represent a small fraction of the commerce media landscape. "This is a really nascent space. There aren't many players that make up this cohort of financial media networks (FMNs), and they represent a really diverse array of types of financial companies," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers."

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss what AI Overviews are doing to search behavior, some potential new business models for the internet, and how much 鈥淎I slop鈥� 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: Perplexity added a standalone subscription tier for its Comet agentic AI browser that will fund a $42.5 million publisher revenue-sharing program. Comet Plus costs $5 per month and gives users access to 鈥減remium content from a group of trusted publishers and journalists.鈥� The browser is included in Perplexity Pro and Max subscriptions. Our take: Brands should actively monitor how their content is used across AI platforms and consider usage-based deals for fair compensation, especially if content is regularly surfaced by AI tools. They should also examine the real revenue potential of partnerships like Comet Plus and scrutinize audience size, payout structures, and long-term sustainability before committing.

The news: Meta and Midjourney formed a partnership to bring more image-generation tools to Facebook and Instagram. Meta is licensing Midjourney鈥檚 鈥渁esthetic technology鈥� for users and brands, Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang posted on Threads. He implied that the agreement may go past licensing and involve collaboration with Meta鈥檚 research teams to integrate Midjourney into future models and products. Our take: Brands should experiment with Midjourney to streamline content creation for Meta campaigns. However, they should also monitor outputs carefully for quality and copyright issues, especially considering Midjourney has faced allegations of IP misuse. Fast creation is only an advantage if it doesn鈥檛 trigger legal or reputational backlash.

The news: Cohere launched Command A Reasoning, its first enterprise-tuned large language model (LLM). Designed for secure environments, the model handles agentic customer service, research, and automation tasks at scale. Its big-business focus is rooted in its ability to integrate with existing tools, support for on-premises deployment, and strict data controls. Our take: Enterprise AI is shifting from optional to operational. Vendors that deliver reliability, guardrails, and measurable value鈥攍ike Command A Reasoning and Agentforce鈥攚ill win long-term adoption over general-purpose models built for show, not scale.

The news: Netflix will open its first Netflix House location at King of Prussia Mall outside Philadelphia on November 12, with a second location at Galleria Dallas beginning business on December 12, per Variety. A third location is set to open next year in Las Vegas. Our take: The large entertainment-and-retail hubs will serve as experiential billboards for Netflix鈥檚 IP. By melding marketing with monetization, Netflix House should help the streamer keep its hits relevant and boost awareness of emerging titles, while also converting fandom into foot traffic and sales. If visitors find the spaces engaging, they should draw attention to Netflix IP at a time when streamers face intense competition for viewers, while also generating revenues from fans eager to step inside the worlds they watch on screen. That could create a virtuous loop as deeper engagement often drives greater loyalty to both the titles and to Netflix itself.

The news: Elon Musk tried to enlist Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a $97.4 billion takeover of OpenAI in February, per court filings in OpenAI鈥檚 ongoing countersuit against Musk. The failed bid was Musk鈥檚 response to OpenAI鈥檚 potential shift to a for-profit model, which he claims broke its founding mission. Our take: The initial phase of the AI boom, defined by research breakthroughs and experimentation, is giving way to a more aggressive era of market consolidation, legal entanglements, and power politics. Litigation is emerging as the last resort when innovation stalls or acquisition paths close鈥攁n indicator that the AI industry could be entering a defensive phase where court battles stand in for competitive breakthroughs.

Aldi will open a store in New York City鈥檚 Times Square next year as part of its aggressive expansion strategy, per media reports. The 25,000-square-foot shop will be located in The Ellery, a new luxury apartment building near the edge of the highly-trafficked neighborhood鈥攎aking clear the discount grocer鈥檚 intentions of wooing more affluent shoppers as it grows its presence in major US cities.

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.

The news: Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire JDE Peet鈥檚 for 鈧�15.7 billion ($18.4 billion) to revive its struggling coffee arm before splitting into two public companies. The deal will create a coffee powerhouse by merging KDP with JDE Peet鈥檚 global brands that include Peet鈥檚, L鈥橭R, Jacobs, and Douwe Egberts.

The news: Two months after its streaming-only release, Netflix鈥檚 鈥淜Pop Demon Hunters鈥� is thriving in a limited box office run鈥攅mphasizing the company鈥檚 evolving strategy as the streaming market becomes increasingly saturated. Our take: Netflix鈥檚 current box office success shows its evolution beyond a streaming platform and toward a broader entertainment brand. The company is placing its bet on diversification to drive sustained growth, hinting at a future that integrates a platform-agnostic approach with successful content distributed to wherever viewers are most likely to engage.

Temu parent PDD posted its slowest revenue growth in Q2 since the end of 2021, as it struggles to navigate a weak consumer environment in China and regulatory challenges in the US and other key markets. While PDD鈥檚 Q2 results beat expectations, they show how the company鈥檚 primary strategy of undercutting competitors with cheaper prices is becoming untenable in the current political and macroeconomic landscape.

Visa鈥檚 retreat reflects regulatory chaos and rising data access fees, signaling broader instability for fintechs and the future of 鈥渙pen鈥� banking in America.

This report analyzes how digital adoption and evolving consumer habits are reshaping South Korea鈥檚 retail, media, and payments landscape.

The news: Instagram introduced a linked Reels feature enabling creators to showcase short-form videos in a series for simpler storytelling, per an announcement on its Creators account. The feature follows a trend of creators making Reels series focused on specific storylines and themes, and will allow creators to link both new and previous content, excluding content exclusively shared with subscribers or close friends. Our take: Linked Reels unlocks more opportunities to convey messages with high-production value and an episodic narrative, transforming Reels into a media destination that keeps audiences returning instead of only offering one-off impressions.

Streaming accounts for almost half (45.3%) of total US time spent with ad-supported TV, according to a July report from Nielsen.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss our 鈥榲ery specific, but highly unlikely鈥� predictions for the future of digital in 2026 and beyond. Why browsers will become the new AI battleground, what does it mean if agentic AI doesn鈥檛 take over shopping, and can GenAI actually lead to more of the jobs it can easily destroy? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings, Jeremy Goldman, Principal Analyst, Sara Marzano, and Vice President of Content, Paul Verna. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Despite recent tariff challenges, Amazon continues to show impressive growth while experimenting with longer Prime Day events and exploring new AI ventures.