蘑菇AV

The news: Cannes Lions 2025 marked a shift in retail media strategy, with platforms like Pinterest and Reddit forging deeper ties with retailers. CVS announced a clean room data partnership with Reddit to allow targeting based on shared first-party data, launching a Sensodyne and Advil campaign this fall. Pinterest partnered with Instacart to enable shopping from pins and connect ad exposure to sales via closed-loop attribution. Our take: Social platforms are becoming full-funnel retail media environments. By fusing community context with purchase signals, these integrations aim to blend discovery and commerce in real time鈥攑aving the way for more data-rich, measurable campaigns.

Home Depot made a bid for GMS, a building products and tool supplier for both consumers and contractors, per The Wall Street Journal. Our take: Home Depot sees a significant opportunity to consolidate the fragmented construction supply and tool market鈥攁nd it's moving at a moment when the US housing shortfall could drive sustained demand for new construction and renovation.

The trend: Casual dining chains that lean into value are luring cost-conscious consumers, even as broader economic uncertainty tempers discretionary spending. Our take: Consumers haven鈥檛 stopped dining out, but they鈥檝e become more selective. They鈥檙e increasingly looking for value experiences that offer more for their money. That shift is pressuring some parts of the industry. Quick-service chains like McDonald鈥檚 and fine dining brands like Darden鈥檚 Ruth鈥檚 Chris and The Capital Grille are feeling the squeeze. But it鈥檚 providing an opportunity for casual dining chains that offer affordable indulgences. Their combination of sit-down service and budget-friendly pricing is hitting the mark.

The news: Temu鈥檚 foothold in the US is shrinking as the company pulls back sharply on advertising. Weekly sales slumped more than 25% YoY between May 11 and June 8, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Our take: Given the importance of the US market to Temu and its merchants, it鈥檚 possible that its current pause on US ad spending and shift to Europe is a temporary effort to regroup as it searches for a business model more resistant to tariffs and the end of de minimis. At the same time, the longer the pause goes on, the more ground it will cede to Shein and other competitors鈥攁nd the harder it will be to regain market share.

The news: Advertisers are prioritizing interactive video ads to capture users and boost engagement as social media and YouTube consume ad spend. 52% of advertisers expect to use interactive features in at least 26% of their ads this year, per Digiday and PadSquad鈥檚 2025 State of the Industry survey. Only 7% neither use and nor plan to use interactive video features in their ads. Our take: In a saturated media market, getting and keeping consumers鈥� attention is a difficult endeavor. Integrating gamified features and personalized media elements can help ensure that marketing campaigns are seen and not just scrolled past.

The trend: Healthcare advertising motivates consumers to go online to do more research, or talk to a medical professional鈥攂ut the majority of people have privacy concerns about personalized ads. Our take: Healthcare marketers are eager to use AI and targeting technology to make one-to-one connections with consumers. And it鈥檚 true that personalized ads can be more useful for people. However, marketers need to use transparent labeling, use conspicuous ad tags on social media, and preface targeted emails with explanations about why they鈥檙e being sent.

DoorDash is strengthening its media network through new ad products and the acquisition of tech company Symbiosys, aiming to help brands reach consumers both on and off its platform.

Housing hits more walls: Latest data show new signs of market weakening as builders pull back.

The news: YouTube Shorts now average 200 billion daily views, a 186% increase from 70 billion in 2024. The platform also sees 1 billion daily TV watch hours, leading Nielsen鈥檚 streaming rankings with 12.5% of total TV viewership, surpassing Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Our take: As audiences increasingly favor quick, viral videos, marketers have the opportunity to explore partnering with rising creators and scaling campaigns across mobile and CTV to maximize reach and impact.

The news: Gilead鈥檚 long-lasting injection for HIV prevention received FDA approval, but the breakthrough drug comes with a high price tag ($28,218 annual list price). The takeaway: Another breakthrough drug with a high price tag adds fuel to the long-held idea that pharma puts profits over patients. Drugmakers need to offer and advertise practical solutions, such as direct financial help, and will need to fund more nonprofit programs to change perceptions.

The news: The Trade Desk has partnered with Rembrand to bring AI-generated in-content product placements to its Kokai platform. Advertisers can now programmatically insert branded elements like packaging or signage into videos across the open internet and connected TV. Rembrand claims these placements increase unaided awareness by 1.5x and boost brand recall by up to 31%. TTD also added three AI creative partners: Nova, Spaceback, and Bunny Studio. Our take: This marks a shift toward immersive, scalable ad formats that don鈥檛 disrupt the viewer experience. The move strengthens TTD鈥檚 AI credentials while giving brands new ways to be seen鈥攚ithout being skipped.

The insight: The vast majority鈥�80%鈥攐f automakers鈥� $30 billion tariff costs next year will be passed along to the consumer, according to a report by AlixPartners. The consulting firm expects car prices to rise by $1,760 on average鈥攚hich will slash US auto sales by 1 million over the next three years. Our take: Cars are an essential expense for a majority of Americans. But as the cost of ownership (including insurance, maintenance, and gas) rises, more consumers will be forced to cut spending in other areas. Those pressures could be particularly acute for households that rushed to buy vehicles before tariffs kicked in and are now struggling with higher monthly payments they hadn鈥檛 fully planned for.

The news: X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino said the social media platform is exploring offering co-brand credit and debit cards during the Cannes Lions advertising festival, per a report by the Financial Times. Our take: X doesn鈥檛 wield the necessary characteristics to draw in a meaningful co-brand credit and debit card user base. The company, the social media platform, and Musk himself have been rocked by scandals, causing advertisers and users to flee in droves. If users already have misgivings about the safety of the platform, they may think twice before hitching their finances to the app.

The news: Early Warning Services partnered with Fiserv to expand Paze acceptance through its merchant network. Our take: Paze now needs to convince users to reflexively flip between two wallets for ecommerce and in-person transactions. Converting primary loyalty to either Apple Wallet鈥檚 18.1 million users or Google Wallet鈥檚 12.4 million users will be a tough consumer behavior to build. But as deals with its new expanded merchant network solidify, Paze is still primed for steady growth.

The news: Gen Z is preparing an ambitious lineup of summer fun鈥攊ncluding domestic and international travel, shopping and dining, and vacation upgrades鈥攖o a degree that outstrips millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers, per a study by Bread Financial. Our take: Gen Zers invest in work/life balance and are willing to spend to maximize their R&R experiences. Brands should meet this generation with luxury-first options and seamless experiences to maximize their return on investment for the younger cohort willing to spend to make a good time a great one.

96.3% of Gen Zers are digital video viewers, compared to 80.5% of the overall US population, per our May 2025 forecast.

The insight: Amazon is trying to figure out how it can benefit from the AI agentic boom without giving shopping agents unfettered access to its site, according to a report by The Information. Our take: While agentic commerce is far from the norm for the time being, retailers need to be prepared. That鈥檚 especially true for companies with retail media businesses, given the potential for AI agents to upend their ability to monetize their sites.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss the battle between linear TV and CTV, one mobile device metric that is going down, and a surprising finding about which age group uses YouTube the most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, and Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Get the correct answers to our Big Question quiz in the eMarketer Daily newsletter from Insider Intelligence.

Over 260 million people in the US鈥攎ore than 77% of the population鈥攚ill watch over-the-top (OTT) video this year, according to a March 蘑菇AV forecast. Of these, nearly all will be watching YouTube.

A new four-day format for Amazon鈥檚 tentpole event will shake up the playing field.

The news: US adults are increasingly dependent on digital platforms for news, with social media and video overtaking traditional news outlets for the first time. 54% of US adults get their news from social media, per the Reuters Institute鈥檚 2025 Digital News Report, compared with 50% from TV news and 48% from news websites and apps. Our take: Linear platforms could offer personalized news digests and mobile- and social- friendly content to reengage younger users, while advertisers should diversify their campaigns across social media platforms to follow fragmented user engagement.

The news: OpenAI is discounting enterprise ChatGPT subscriptions鈥攂ut only if customers agree to buy more AI products. Microsoft is unhappy, as it rarely offers discounts for its competing services aimed at enterprise users, per The Information. Key takeaway: Business leaders should anticipate potential shifts in AI pricing resulting from fraying alliances and increased competition between OpenAI and Microsoft. Lock in longer-term pricing and negotiate for essential services while pushing back on expensive add-ons. Diversifying AI vendors and solutions reduces reliance on single entities and provides opportunities for testing of models from different sources, some of which may be more easily customized for specific use cases.

The news: Walmart-owned Sam鈥檚 Club is raising prices on select products in response to cost pressures from the Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. Our take: Sam鈥檚 Club is on a roll. The retailer is generating record-high membership levels and plans to accelerate growth by opening about 15 new stores each year while remodeling existing locations. But how Sam鈥檚 Club handles tariff-driven price increases could determine whether its momentum continues鈥攐r stalls. The retailer faces a delicate balancing act in deciding when to absorb rising costs and when to pass them on. The stakes are high. A misstep could either erode profit margins or drive a decline in membership renewals鈥攂oth of which are essential to its business model.

E.l.f. SKIN is blending product marketing and comedy with 鈥淪unhinged,鈥� a comedy special that doubles as a PSA for sun protection.