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Netflix House shows the power of brand marketing: The streamer鈥檚 retail play capitalizes on cheap real estate and consumer demand for experiences.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss how retailers are approaching their DEI initiatives under the current administration, the impact of staying quiet this Pride Month, and where the discussion around DEI goes next. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, Analyst Paola Flores-Marquez, and Dr. Marcus Collins鈥攁uthor and Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

The news: Podcasts are becoming a popular way for brands to reach engaged audiences, with viewership mounting and new platforms throwing their hats in the ring. Podcast viewership is thriving, reaching over 140 million US listeners in 2025, according to our forecast. Listeners will surpass 150 million by 2027. Our take: Podcasts are shaping up to become a strong contender in media consumption, with nearly 70% of US adults ages 18 to 24 listening at least one per month, per our forecast. As platforms battle to be the leading home for podcasts, advertisers need to pay attention and tailor strategies.

The news: Despite reports that the CFPB plans to repeal Section 1033 of its Open Banking Rule due to legal challenges, financial institutions (FIs) shouldn鈥檛 abandon their open banking efforts. Citizens Bank, for instance, still intends to leverage open banking for secure data sharing and an improved customer experience, driven by market demand rather than regulatory requirements. Our take: Open banking is still the "next step in banking technology" and will continue to advance due to rising customer expectations around data sharing. FIs that retreat risk falling behind in a market that demands transparency, personalization, and interoperability.

The news: Prescription drug approval timelines will shrink under an FDA pilot program that will reduce the approval timelines from a typical 10 months to just 1 to 2 months. Our take: Speedier reviews and new AI programs for drug developers are good ideas, but pharma companies should remember the COVID-19 vaccines speed-to-market backlash and weigh the time benefit against whether their drugs will gain trust with physicians and patients.

The trend: Instagram is gaining momentum across Asia-Pacific, fueled by India鈥檚 2020 TikTok ban and a projected 10% user growth in that market for 2025. Japan鈥檚 forecast has also climbed, with 44.4 million users expected next year. Our take: Instagram鈥檚 rise isn鈥檛 just reactive鈥攊t鈥檚 a sign of strong localization and feature depth. With TikTok facing stricter laws in Australia and Southeast Asia, Instagram鈥檚 Reels and group-channel tools position it as the more stable, advertiser-friendly option. Brands targeting APAC should reevaluate platform strategies as Instagram captures more of the region鈥檚 fast-changing digital attention.

The insight: Walmart sees a (near) future where customers will shop directly from their smart TVs鈥攑referably one powered by Vizio, which the retailer purchased for $2.3 billion last year. Our take: Shoppers are gradually becoming more comfortable with the concept of shoppable TV. Whether those occasional behaviors become habit will depend on platforms鈥� ability to offer ads that are personalized and relevant. That puts Walmart at an advantage, given its troves of first-party data鈥攁lthough it faces tough competition from the likes of Amazon and Roku.

The news: Two recent surveys from Duke University and MarTech reveal a common theme regarding technology and AI adoption: Martech underperforms not because of weak tools, but because of weak infrastructure. Our take: The real competitive edge isn鈥檛 adoption speed, it鈥檚 integration depth. Marketers who lead data strategy and coordinate teams will win the future. Failure to integrate will result in marketers ending up with tools they can鈥檛 use.

In the first half of 2025, tariffs rattled retailers, consumer trust wavered in the face of muted DEI efforts, and fast-fashion platforms like Shein and Temu braced for policy whiplash. Meanwhile, private label products surged in popularity, and the retail world took a closer look at generative AI鈥攏ot just for buzz, but for tangible impact across the shopper journey. Here are the top stories from H1 2025 and why they matter for the rest of the year.

Believe it or not, the year is already halfway over. For advertisers, it's been a whirlwind with economic upheaval, massive AI adoption, Google upending search, and working hard to understand Gen Z. Oh, and remember when TikTok went dark for a weekend?

The situation: White-collar employment at US public companies has dropped 3.5% over the past three years, per Live Data Technologies data cited by The Wall Street Journal. The trend comes as companies face mounting pressure to cut overhead amid economic uncertainty鈥攑rompting executives to increasingly turn to automation to boost efficiency. Our take: White-collar job cuts, combined with rising tariffs and broader macroeconomic uncertainty, are creating an increasingly challenging environment for retailers heading into the second half of 2025鈥攁nd likely beyond.

The news: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said AI-driven efficiencies will reduce the company鈥檚 headcount. 鈥淎s we roll out more generative AI and agents 鈥�we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,鈥� Jassy said in a letter to employees. 鈥淚n the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce.鈥� Our take: Companies that pursue an AI-first mission by laying off employees risk lower team morale, a resistance to AI adoption among workers, and damaged consumer trust. Still, Amazon鈥檚 scale, deep pockets, and cloud infrastructure dominance may insulate it from backlash or major fallout.

The trend: Younger generations continue to prioritize wellness more than older consumers and are purchasing products across a range of health and well-being categories. Our take: Sharing practical tips and advice is helpful, but brands and marketers can further stand out on social platforms by replying to users鈥� comments and questions within a post. Building partnerships with wellness influencers is essential, and it鈥檚 important to find creators who have real-life experiences that are relatable to the targeted audience.

The news: Oura is partnering with Maven Clinic to integrate smart ring data with providers鈥� care and treatment plans. Our take: We think it will take a while for providers to incorporate device data into the decisions they make for patients, which are typically based on clinical research studies and medical literature. Oura shouldn鈥檛 bet too heavily on securing doctors鈥� trust, and instead home in on the recent advancements it鈥檚 making on using AI to drive a better consumer experience.

The news: Klarna will offer unlimited 5G data, talk, and text for $40/month with coverage on AT&T鈥檚 network in the US, per a press release, with plans to expand this deal to the UK and Germany soon. Our take: Klarna鈥檚 ambitions to be a BNPL provider, a mobile phone service, a neobank, and most recently鈥攁ccording to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski鈥斺�渁 digital financial assistant,鈥� per CNBC, signals the company鈥檚 voracious appetite to be everything at once.

The trend: Women see and hear more health-related information than men, especially when it comes to weight loss drugs and anti-aging treatments. Our take: Pharma and healthcare marketers need to more effectively reach women. Instead of marketing to all women, market to mindsets like self-care via social media influencers鈥� tips and advice, or motivations like caregiving and prevention by tapping into mammogram screening advocacy and resources that support overburdened women who care for loved ones.

The news: Apple鈥檚 iOS 26 update will let users store passports as Digital IDs in the Wallet app. Our take: iOS 26鈥檚 integration of digital US passports should draw more attention from users. While this update will not replace physical passports for international travel, it signals a major turning point for digital identity authentication on Apple鈥檚 platform given the scale of identity security a passport exudes.

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.

Led by retail media, commerce media is well on its way to becoming an essential component of many advertisers鈥� media budgets. But a rapidly diversifying field of competitors will change how advertisers approach the channel.

The news: Streaming and social media sites are the top beneficiaries of AI chatbot referral traffic. Out of 1.3 billion generative AI (genAI) search referrals in May, YouTube ranked first in traffic with nearly 40 million visits, per Similarweb. Our take: Focusing on what makes sites top the AI search results could help increase site visits. Expand knowledge-based articles, FAQs, and blog posts with educational and UGC content. Boost SEO with long-tail keywords that are likely to appear in prompts. Encourage inbound links since site authority is a factor in AI search results.

68% of US LGBTQ+ adults say all or most companies participate in Pride Month to boost business, while just 16% believe it鈥檚 driven by genuine support, per a January survey from Pew Research Center.

The news: Amazon announced its Prime Day event will run from July 8 at 12:01 a.m. PDT through July 11, starting eight days earlier than last year and lasting twice as long as previous events. Our take: Amazon recognizes that while consumers have grown more selective about when and where they spend, many will still jump at the chance to save if they find compelling offers. By extending Prime Day鈥檚 duration, adding tech-driven shopping tools, and broadening its footprint across countries and third-party sites, Amazon is turning the event into an inescapable, large-scale retail moment. Even in a margin-squeezed environment, the visibility and sales potential of Prime Day may be too significant for sellers to pass up.

Cannes Lions, an annual opportunity for advertisers to score accolades for their creativity, is refining its agenda to acknowledge how that work drives business.