The news: Fiserv’s organic revenues grew 8% in Q2, per its earnings release. Our take: Fiserv’s Clover faces a stacked market with Shift4, Square, and Toast all offering competitive POS solutions for SMBs.
The news: New account openings were down 5% across Wells Fargo, Citi, Bank of America, and American Express during Q2 2025, per The Wall Street Journal. Our take: Issuers are going to chase opportunities to increase their payment volume, which explains targeted efforts to boost luxury travel and dining rewards. But looking long-term, banks need to think strategically about loosening their credit guidelines.
The news: Mastercard rolled out the AI Card Design Studio, which lets consumers and small businesses at participating banks personalize the front of their card, including with AI-generated images and designs. Our take: Mastercard offering a free, AI-based design feature lets businesses and customers maximize their design flexibility and the emotional impact of their products. (Remember customized checks with family photos?)
The trend: Hispanic and Black people are underrepresented in the clinician workforce compared to the broader US population, according to a KFF analysis of 2023 industry data. Our take: Diversity impacts where patients feel most comfortable seeking healthcare. Providers and marketers should invest in multilingual staff and partner with local community groups that have established relationships with diverse consumers.
The news: More than 90% of multicultural consumers use digital devices in their healthcare journeys, per a new Cadent Pharma Advertising Trends study. The takeaway: TV is still an important broad awareness media channel for pharma and healthcare companies. However, among growing diverse populations, digital and mobile advertising is more popular and spurs a desire for more information and purchasing. Marketers need to meet diverse audiences with educational and culturally relevant content.
The news: Meta is axing political ads in the EU as of October, citing an uncertain regulatory environment with “unworkable requirements.” The company stated in a blog post that the pullback will include ads related to political, electoral, or social issues, and specifically pointed to conflicts with the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation. Our take: Meta's decision signals how fast platforms can change ad policies and how little time marketers have to react. If labeling systems or ad review processes change for the EU—or broadly apply to topics adjacent to social issues—advertisers may need to recalibrate campaigns to avoid triggering enforcement.
EMARKETER
Deckers and Puma are proceeding with caution as tariffs complicate US operations and consumer sentiment. Of the two companies, Deckers is better equipped to manage the uncertain environment. It has considerably more pricing power than Puma, giving it more room to offset tariff costs. It also has significantly more runway to grow outside the US: International revenues surged 50% in Q1, while Puma is facing weakness in Asia and Europe in addition to North America.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how retail media is impacting traditional search marketing, and how marketers can best leverage themselves on the wave of new retail media network platforms. Then, we break down how AI tools will affect the future of paid search advertising. Join our conversation with guest host and Director of Reports Editing, Rahul Chadha, Principal Analyst, Sarah Marzano, and Senior Analyst, Max Willens. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
41% of US buy now, pay later (BNPL) users have bought clothing, shoes, and outfit accessories with the services, according to April data from LendingTree and QuestionPro.
The news: PayPal launched PayPal World, a global platform linking major international payment systems and digital wallets. Our take: While PayPal’s starting list of key partnerships represents Latin America, India, and China, the payment provider could penetrate further into European markets by tying up with the European Payments Initiative and the Wero wallet—as well as with top US wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay or the nascent Paze.
The news: Southwest Airlines made sweeping changes to its Chase co-branded credit cards, per a press release. Our take: Southwest cardholders are essentially earning back classic Southwest perks stripped from regular travelers. The airline likely could use the gains from higher fees on its credit cards: the budget airline sector stands to struggle as lower income Americans tighten their purse strings for personal travel—and Southwest earned 13% of its revenue from its co-brand cards Q3 2024.
As more consumers start GLP-1 treatments, some CPG brands must work harder to stay in shopping carts. As many GLP-1 users eat less and change their diets, it opens new challenges and opportunities for retailers and marketers.
The news: Prescription drugmakers can now apply for new Trump administration priority review vouchers that will cut drug approval times down from 10-12 months to just 1-2 months. Our take: Good faith commitments for US drug onshoring investments could translate to valuable advantages if those drugmakers can leverage those into a CNPV. But with so many pharma companies already in that pool, we expect this year’s winners to be drugmakers who can show real evidence of two, three or even all five priorities on the Trump administration list.
The news: Roche is considering a direct-to-patient (D2C) sales channel for its prescription drugs, CEO Thomas Schinecker said in its Q2 earnings call. Our take: The complex US healthcare PBM and insurance system can’t easily flip to a pure-play D2C prescription sales market. However, we think it will become a reliable channel, especially for self-pay patients. Pharma marketers can court them with special pricing deals, a la Lilly and Novo, but ensure they stay on the right side of regulators.
The news: Xfinity unveiled its StreamStore on Wednesday, raising the stakes in the connected TV (CTV) arms race by aggregating 450 apps and 200,000 titles with integrated billing. The one-stop interface turns Xfinity into a centralized gateway—less a cable provider, more a streaming superstore, per Variety. Our take: CTV consolidation will streamline ad strategies, surfacing opportunities to tap bundles like StreamSaver for targeted sponsorships, co-branded campaigns, and contextual placements. It will also engage viewers across multiple services while reducing subscription fatigue. Advertisers will likely scramble to secure premium placements and test integrated campaigns within StreamStore’s bundled ecosystem before competition intensifies.
LVMH’s sales fell more than expected in Q2 in yet another sign of trouble for the luxury industry. 2025 is shaping up to be another difficult year for the luxury industry—and not only because of tariffs. While the duties are certainly hitting consumer sentiment and buying power, limited innovation and a perceived lack of value are diminishing luxury’s appeal, even among shoppers who can afford it.
Q2 earnings revealed turbulence across the travel sector as American Airlines and Southwest reported lower net income and reduced their outlooks. With US airlines and hotels likely to face more headwinds amid uncertainty over tariffs and trade policy, companies need to adjust their strategies.
Almost half (49%) of worldwide marketers use AI daily for image and video generation, according to January data from Canva and Morning Consult.
In this podcast episode, we discuss Amazon’s yearly discount sales drive, Prime Day, and how it morphed into a 4-day shopping spree, the number of sales revealed on each day of shopping, how other retailers responded, and what should we expect when the holiday season approaches. Listen to the discussion with Analyst and guest host, Arielle Feger, Senior Analyst Zak Stambor, and Analyst Rachel Wolff.