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鈥淭hey鈥檙e ramping up their beauty event,鈥� said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not new, but they鈥檙e trying to elevate the beauty category at Walmart, which it鈥檚 not known for, through their marketplace.

Did a podcast host suggest something? Did an artist drop a new album spotlighting a trend or brand (looking at you Beyonc茅 with your 鈥淟EVII鈥橲 JEANS鈥� track)? What brands do their favorite influencers love? These insights are missed by optimizing for surface-level metrics rather than understanding the deeper forces driving consumer behavior.

Commerce media networks are expanding beyond retail into new verticals like travel and financial services, creating opportunities for targeted advertising using first-party purchase data. The key to growth will be achieving a delicate balance, and engaging鈥攔ather than alienating鈥攃onsumers.

CEO Christopher Ruddy criticized the inefficiencies of the cable bundle and framed Newsmax as a modernized platform with revenues from advertising, carriage fees, podcasts, and streaming. Why it matters: The rise of Newsmax reflects a broader recalibration among advertisers, who are increasingly willing to spend on conservative media outlets.

After 11 months of US ad declines, Standard Media's US Ad Market Tracker showed 2.5% growth in May, signaling a potential rebound. Even with mixed signals and uncertainties, there is at last a sign of hope, our analyst Paul Verna said on a recent episode of 鈥淏ehind the Numbers.鈥�

As penetration weakens and margins shrink, insurers across business lines will prioritize emerging growth areas in 2025鈥攊ncluding novel technologies鈥攕trategic marketing efforts, and leveraging favorable legislative changes.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss how marketers (and consumers) currently feel about brand safety, how publishers are trying to assuage brands鈥� concerns, and what comes after 鈥榖rand suitability鈥�. Tune in to the conversation with Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, our Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, Vice President Paul Verna, and co-founder and CEO of Mobian Jonah Goodhart. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

鈥淎s we're starting to see more AI-driven influencer identification tools emerge, it's going to be much easier for marketers to focus on things like engagement rates and creative alignment and use that to determine the creators and influencers that they work with,鈥� our analyst Jasmine Enberg said in an episode of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast.

鈥淭here's a big change in the luxury market. The consumers are still there, but they're being more selective about what they buy and when they buy it,鈥� our analyst Sky Canaves said on an episode of the 鈥淏ehind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail鈥� podcast. Expanding into new markets and raising prices isn鈥檛 always an option for luxury brands, but there are other areas of opportunity. Here are three ways luxury brands can fuel discovery, spark engagement, and develop loyalty.

Growth in Meta鈥檚 B2B ad revenues has slowed, but Meta will take nearly 17% of B2B digital ad spending in 2024, per our forecast. YouTube is a big player, too. YouTube offers free long-form content capabilities and is known to influence and inform B2B decision-makers. Podcasting is also integral to B2B, and YouTube is a major podcasting platform.

Reddit will end up with the third-fastest ad revenue growth globally, a well-timed result in a possible IPO year. Spotify will perform well as it tries to right the ship after mishandling various podcast investments. And Apple will quietly have another booming year in app store advertising, an aspect of its business that has become increasingly important given the saturated global smartphone market.

AI-driven efficiencies boosted profits, but maintaining growth may require more than automation and personalization to keep users engaged and willing to pay more.

Listen to the full podcast. This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

Axios reports that Spotify鈥檚 podcast division is 鈥渙nly now starting to become profitable,鈥� years after CEO Daniel Ek called it a $20 billion opportunity. Podcasts helped the company鈥檚 ad revenues rise 13% in Q2.

Growth is expected to accelerate until 2027, when US retail media ad spend is poised to reach $106.12 billion鈥攎ore than a quarter (26.9%) of US digital ad spend. Listen to the full podcast. This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

"There are basically two camps of consumers," said analyst Rachel Wolff on a recent 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast episode. "One camp is like, 'I need to get ahead of the tariffs. I need to buy my car now before it becomes exponentially more expensive. But then you have the other, saying, 'I'm going to hold my cards close to the chest and wait to see how bad things get.'".

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss why US workers鈥� adoption of AI might be slowing, how generative AI has helped companies and workers the most, how businesses can best quantify AI productivity gains, and how we expect the technology to help workers do their jobs better in 2025. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Vice President of Media, Content, and Strategy Henry Powderly and Vice President of Generative AI Dan Van Dyke.

A hurting US ad market is showing signs of recovery. Our forecast predicts 3.8% growth in overalUS media ad spend this year, for a total of $353.86 billion. Magna upped its US ad spend forecast for 2023 YoY growth from 4.2% to 5.2% in September. And in August, the US ad market achieved two consecutive months of growth for the first time since last June.

In addition to linear TV and video streaming services, podcasts, video games, out-of-home (OOH), and retail media networks (RMNs) all sell inventory upfront now. Upfront buying still offers advantages.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss why Omnicom and IPG are merging, and who will be most impacted as a result. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

Wonder acquires a media company, Unilever dedicates more spend to influencers, and Ulta launches a third-party marketplace. Here are the eight most interesting retailers and brands from last month, as ranked on our 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast.

Ad spending will rebound in 2024, as mobile formats continue to dominate and areas like connected TV and retail media drive renewed growth.