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On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the growing AI literacy gap, how to tell if your organization is ready for AI, and what not to do when it comes to AI adoption. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Gadjo Sevilla, and Professor and AI Advisor to the Deans at Rice Business School and Founder and CEO of AI company DemistifAI Kathleen Perley. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Streaming division: While YouTube is challenging streamers for video dominance, retiring its Trending pages runs counter to what streaming services are doing. Netflix, Max, and others all prominently display lists of what’s most popular in users’ regions, which can serve as social proof that a title is worth watching and help guide users through crowded content libraries.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss Every Man Jack’s performance vs. brand marketing priorities, the role of marketplaces for the company, and what tactics the brand uses to stand out from the pack. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, Senior Analyst Zak Stambor, and VP of Growth Marketing & E-Commerce at Every Man Jack Nick Hasselberg.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the second biggest digital ad player’s (Meta) vision for the future of ads, if it will lead to money saved or more commercials, and why the 30-second AI-made TV ad for Kalshi matters more than most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what area of people's lives artificial general intelligence (AGI) will change the most, the argument for AI developers asking permission from society to build these models, and when AGI might actually get here. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, and Analysts Jacob Bourne and Grace Harmon. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the ingredients of Walmart’s current recipe for success and the technology that’s most likely to propel them into the future. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Analyst Rachel Wolff.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the various definitions of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and try to come up with the best one we can. Then we look at how smart humans are compared to current AI models. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, and Analysts Jacob Bourne and Gadjo Sevilla. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen if Google preemptively broke itself into smaller pieces, if online shopping flatlined, and if the audio ad space doubled in size in short order. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Director of Reports Editing Rahul Chadha, and Senior Analysts Blake Droesch and Max Willens. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

The news: News publishers are investing in social media presence that may not be creating meaningful referral traffic. Although publishers are working to meet audiences where they are—on social and video platforms—their content is being watched, not clicked, per Digiday. Our take: Despite social media not converting engagement into referral traffic, news publishers have little option but to remain—leaving social platforms means losing user attention. Publishers may need to boost their efforts in community-driven channels like Substack and podcasts to foster engagement and reader loyalty.

On today’s 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.

The news: The banking sector is evolving towards embedded finance and enhanced data-sharing, allowing customers to access financial products and services from any provider, on any platform. This unbundling trend, driven by fintechs, could marginalize traditional banks. The article draws a parallel to the music industry's digital disruption, where unbundling (like iTunes) and streaming (like Spotify) fundamentally reshaped its value chain. This transformation, catalyzed by companies like Napster, created diverse new models. The opportunity: Similar to how streaming music providers anticipate continued growth, banking customers increasingly seek unbundled services, with fintechs outpacing traditional financial institutions in new checking account openings as consumers hold multiple accounts for specific needs.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss our unofficial list of the most unexpected retailer campaigns this year. This month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial themed list of the top eight retailers based on the most surprising marketing campaigns we've seen in the last six months. In this month's episode, Committee members Analysts Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen to the social media world if OpenAI bought Snap, what if Starbucks launched a Stablecoin, and why some companies might still want to buy linear networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Focusing solely on Spotify and similar youth-dominated platforms may mean missing older audiences who increasingly turn to digital audio. The next leap in podcast effectiveness won’t come from adding more spend—it will come from allocating it more intelligently.

On today’s 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—author and Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how anti-US sentiment, live tourism, and tariffs are all shaping people’s 2025 summer travel plans. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President of Research Jennifer Pearson and Analyst Rachel Wolff. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss whether advertisers can still create powerful brand narratives in such a fragmented media universe, the best piece of advice for advertisers trying to negotiate a minefield of tariff-related changes, and how AI will impact advertising and marketing over the next 12 months. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg, and Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.