蘑菇AV

The trend: A growing parade of retailers are front-loading July promotions to capture sales before the start of Amazon鈥檚 Prime Day event, which will run from July 8 at 12:01am PDT through July 11. Our take: There's a good reason that more retailers are joining Walmart and Target in attempting to get a head start on Prime Day. Amazon typically garners an outsized share of sales during its marquee event; we expect Amazon will account for 75% of US ecommerce sales during Prime Day this year.

The news: During a Congressional subcommittee hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out his vision for all Americans to use a wearable with health-tracking capabilities within four years. Our take: Marketers should use Kennedy鈥檚 enthusiasm for wearables to their advantage. They should get out in front of the government鈥檚 ad campaign by developing their own promotions that inform consumers of wearables鈥� evolved health-tracking features beyond just counting calories and steps. They could target people who aren鈥檛 as familiar or have never used a health wearable due to price concerns or lack of tech-savviness.

The news: The AR and VR headset market is rebounding, led by Meta鈥檚 success. Global headset shipments grew 18.1% YoY in Q1 2025, per the International Data Corporation鈥檚 (IDC) Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker. Meta held a 50.8% market share, up from 36.2% in Q1 2024, cementing its role as an industry leader but indicating the market could be reliant on a single player. Our take: Brands should make content that鈥檚 adaptable to both headsets and smart glasses to accommodate changing consumer interests. Investing in glasses-centric content can target consumers, while MR activations could be ideal for enterprise use cases such as training employees.

The news: Brazil鈥檚 central bank rolled out a recurring payments feature to the Pix instant payment system, according to a report from Reuters. Our take: Pix鈥檚 use likely can keep growing steadily if it can target new volume opportunities.

The news: Baidu has launched MuseSteamer, an enterprise-only AI tool that converts images into 10-second videos using three output modes鈥擳urbo, Pro, and Lite鈥攚hile upgrading its core search engine to support multimodal inputs. The tool targets businesses looking for scalable, automated creative output. Our take: With nearly half of marketers and creators now using AI for video daily, Baidu is doubling down on the enterprise market. MuseSteamer distinguishes itself from consumer-facing tools by offering speed, reliability, and tight workflow integration. As video becomes the default for content, the winners will be platforms that deliver pro-grade output without creative friction.

Tools like Smart+ and Content Suite help brands find trending creator content, predict ad success, and target more precisely.

New features let brands display shoppable feeds and target ads during key video moments, capitalizing on YouTube's rising share of streaming time.

Foot traffic to Target declined for the tenth straight week, according to Placer.ai. Visits to Target fell 7.9% the week of March 31, per the latest data. Walmart鈥檚 foot traffic has also fallen for 10 consecutive weeks, while visits to Best Buy are down from a slight rise in mid-March.

Experts at Publicis鈥� HealthFront event recommend partnering with influencers who have smaller followings: Brands and marketers must assess key factors such as target audience, budget, and alignment with a company鈥檚 mission.

The Ulta and Target partnership may not last: Ulta is pausing its expansion of Target shop-in-shops this year as it looks to 鈥渦nlock value鈥� from its existing locations.

Several weeks ago, Amazon announced Nova Act, an AI model that can search for products, add to cart, and make purchases on someone鈥檚 behalf without intervention. As AI agents like Nova Act become more popular, marketers will need to target not only people, but the machines operating on their behalf, using a strategy called machine-to-machine鈥攐r M2M鈥攎arketing.

Snapchat reimagines its Partner Program for SMBs: The changes will see the program split into two tiers, with features to help SMBs advertise.

Reddit courts SMBs with streamlined tools: A new Meta import feature and simplified setup options aim to reduce friction and boost campaign performance.

Consumers are fairly good at ignoring or tuning out ads. But they are very aware when ads target them based on their online activity. However, that knowledge does not automatically result in a more negative perception of the ads themselves.

E.l.f. Beauty has built its brand on democratizing access to beauty products by maintaining affordability in an increasingly expensive market, as well as creating a company culture that values diversity and disruption. This prioritization of diversity stands out as other brands like Target and Walmart roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Meta鈥檚 new Stories payout model drops view minimums, aiming to reengage influencers and win back young users.

Target isn鈥檛 sitting still amid challenges: It鈥檚 bringing back Target Circle Week to boost sales and memberships now while planning 300 store openings over the next decade.

FCC targets DEI in mergers: New Chairman Brendan Carr warns companies to scale back DEI policies or face blocked acquisitions.

Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Wayfair launch spring sales: Retailers are likely to lean on tentpole events to drive cost-conscious shoppers to spend.

Perplexity鈥檚 new ad makes Google a target: The company鈥檚 biggest ad yet, led by 鈥淪quid Game鈥� star Lee Jung-jae, could continue the push toward a more divided AI market.

Historically, brands used upper-funnel channels like connected TV (CTV) for brand awareness, while relying on lower-funnel tactics such as retail media to drive conversions. But with shoppable CTV ads, brands can do both, leveraging retail media network (RMN) data to target consumers across CTV platforms, connecting the moment of discovery directly to the point of purchase.