Brands and agencies are embracing generative AI (genAI) to create highly localized and personalized campaigns at scale. At a recent Automattic event, marketing leaders highlighted how new technology makes previously cost-prohibitive efforts feasible. The advertising industry has shifted from fear to fluency—recognizing that AI fills gaps and scales output but that people decide what resonates. While agencies two years ago feared AI would displace creative jobs, today, they see human craft as the element that gives AI-generated work meaning. For marketers, the strategy is to invest in AI tools but prioritize upskilling teams to direct them.
President Donald Trump is continuing his immigration crackdown with a signed proclamation that adds a $100,000 fee to all new applications for H-1B visas, potentially complicating and clamping down on the market for AI-skilled workers in the US. While intended to spur domestic hiring, the reality is that the US lacks sufficient AI training infrastructure to meet current demand. With a pre-existing lack of employer investment in workforce development to grow US employees’ AI skills, the policy risks shrinking the AI talent pool even more and slowing innovation.
EMARKETER recently published, “From guesswork to greatness: How marketers are redefining effective creative at scale in digital advertising.” The report, created in partnership with TripleLift, analyzes findings from a June 2025 survey of 164 US marketing professionals about their approaches to creative effectiveness in programmatic advertising. This FAQ explores some key questions addressed by the report.
While dynamic pricing has been around for decades, Delta Airlines has recently come under fire for announcing that it would increase its use of generative AI for flight pricing from 3% to 20% of domestic flights by year-end.
EMARKETER recently published, “Influencer Marketing Budgets Are Growing, But Brand Safety Measures Are Falling Behind.” The report, created in partnership with Viral Nation, analyzes survey responses from 117 US marketers and reveals gaps between influencer marketing investment and brand safety practices. This FAQ explores some key questions addressed by the report.
Early Warning Services, the company behind Zelle and Paze, submitted a five-point plan to US financial regulators to combat fraud. While a multi-sector approach could be a good idea in theory, it may also deflect from each financial player’s responsibility to secure every transaction. If FIs want customers to trust that their money is safe with them, they can’t blame their partners for fraudulent transactions that customers use their mobile banking apps to make. But clearly, the traditional siloed approach to combating fraud isn’t working against sophisticated criminal rings that operate across multiple platforms.
SoFi recently reported that its AI chatbot, Konecta, has helped make significant operational and customer service improvements since its 2023 launch, per Yahoo Finance. Banking customers have been experiencing chatbot fatigue when glitches and errors prevent them from getting meaningful solutions to their problems—or when they can’t reach a human. But the more empathetic, human models could undo some of the negative perception of these bots. By demonstrating tangible benefits, like faster service and fewer dropped chats, SoFi is directly addressing these customer pain points. This approach improves efficiency and builds a foundation of trust—particularly with self-service-leaning Gen Zers.
Despite economic uncertainty, 77% of consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season, but their shopping timelines and behaviors are shifting. Klaviyo’s 2025 BFCM Forecast shows why brands must rethink peak-season campaigns with omnichannel and AI-driven personalization.
Gen Zers care deeply about their credit scores—according to one survey, even more than their social media following. That’s because most Gen Zers believe it’s an important marker of their financial health. But Bloomberg recently reported that Gen Z’ credit scores have taken the biggest hit of any age group in 2025. As Gen Zers look to their credit scores as a measure of financial success, rapidly dropping scores may drastically alter their perceptions of their financial health. Paired with delinquencies and rising debt, many Gen Zers may be actively looking for help to turn their finances around.
10.7% of consumers with student loans were 90+ days delinquent in the last six months in April 2025, per a FICO report. Issuers should take note that 54% Gen Zers are already using credit products to navigate stress from student loan repayment, per FICO. If economic conditions worsen, credit card delinquencies could also begin to rise in tandem with student loan delinquencies.
Affirm partnered with ServiceTitan, bringing buy now, pay later (BNPL) financing to the trades, per a press release. Affirm is building out a strategy to capture mid-large tickets, where the need for flexible financing is most acute. Future partnerships with other essential goods or services providers—or even things like dental work—would also connect well with Affirm’s user bases.
Shein is giving fashion brands access to its apparel manufacturing network—in exchange for setting up shop on its marketplace, Bloomberg reported. Shein’s decision to monetize its manufacturing and fulfillment services is necessary as it looks for more sustainable models of growth. Its insistence on linking Xcelerator to selling on its marketplace could also be beneficial in the long run. More third-party sellers means more inventory as well as the potential for ad revenues, should Shein follow that path.
YouTube wants to be the home for both product discovery and ecommerce as it rolls out new shopping features across long-form videos and Shorts, per The Verge. Incoming additions include dynamic brand segments for swapping out sponsors, AI tagging of eligible products, and brand links in Shorts. YouTube is announcing new features—like shoppable masthead ads and text-to-video tools—at a breakneck pace, looking to capitalize on its growth across platforms. Brands should partner with both top creators and smaller influencers to boost discovery and purchases.
Google Chrome’s latest update embeds Gemini AI into the browser, giving users direct access to AI-powered research, automation, organization, and real-time security tools. Google is infusing its AI features into its most-used product a week after it avoided being forced to divest its browser. Imbuing Chrome with AI unlocks unprecedented volumes of user training data—an advantage no rival can replicate. This development, plus Gemini’s expansion into education, underscores a wider push to make Google’s AI as ubiquitous as its search engine.
With return volumes projected to climb 5.9% this year—pushing up costs—retailers are piling on restrictions to stem the flow. But those roadblocks carry risk since shoppers consider easy returns as table stakes and most will walk away if the process feels like a hassle.
MrBeast’s Feastables brand is under fire after the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) flagged multiple practices that may have misled children or mishandled their data. Concerns included undisclosed promotions in videos, a misleading “blind taste test” against European chocolates, sweepstakes that encouraged bulk purchases, and collection of under-13 data via pop-ups. The case signals a broader shift: influencer-led brands are now being held to the same advertising and disclosure standards as traditional advertisers, with potential regulatory and reputational risks for creators and partners alike.
Anthropic’s Claude AI is taking on competitors in a multimillion dollar ad campaign. The “Keep Thinking” campaign positions Claude as “the AI for problem solvers” and marks Anthropic’s first foray into brand marketing. The campaign is a necessary start to help Claude gain market share and boost its comparatively small user base, but it’s only the first step in a long journey ahead for Anthropic.
MoneyGram launched a mobile app that uses stablecoins to make cross-border payments easier and cheaper. Investment in crypto services can help MoneyGram secure loyal patrons as its rivals also offer stablecoin-backed cross border payments.