Last week, Tesla and Rivian approved two of the most aggressive CEO compensation plans in history—Elon Musk’s potential $1 trillion payout and RJ Scaringe’s $4.6 billion plan. Both hinge on hitting decade-long performance and valuation targets tied to EV production, AI innovation, and market capitalization growth. Why it matters for brands and marketers: This compensation era spotlights the rise of the personality-driven company. Musk and Scaringe are seen not just as CEOs, but as brand assets whose visibility and vision influence valuation. For advertisers, the message is that leadership narratives can serve as marketing multipliers that help drive brand identity and, for better or worse, brand reputation.
"The magic where I see it is all that you have done through the year actually get puts into practice and see the result during the holiday season," said Minyi Su, marketing lead at Bluemercury, during a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers."
Foodmakers are relying on a combination of novelty, limited-edition releases, and pop culture tie-ins to keep shoppers interested in their wares. In recent weeks, Kraft released apple pie-flavored mac and cheese, Taco Bell introduced a Mountain Dew-flavored pie, and Hostess rolled out Wicked-themed cupcakes. Delivering a steady stream of fresh and unusual products is one way for food companies to keep private labels from further encroaching on their market share. It’s also an effective way to get the attention of younger consumers, whose desire for novelty and enthusiasm for limited-time offers helps spur impulse purchases.
Convenience continues to outweigh cost savings for many shoppers, driving strong growth across the grocery delivery market. Instacart led the sector in Q3 with a 14% increase in orders and a 10% rise in gross transaction value, while Uber and DoorDash also posted solid gains. As online grocery adoption accelerates, Instacart is doubling down on affordability through price parity and loyalty integrations to counter economic pressures. Convenience remains a powerful growth driver, but its durability will depend on how effectively delivery platforms balance ease with value as consumers grow more price-conscious.
Pfizer beat Novo Nordisk in the battle to acquire obesity drugmaker Metsera in a deal worth over $10 billion. Regulators will keep a close watch on mergers to ensure competition in the obesity drug category that could reach $150 billion within 10 years. Leading weight loss drug manufacturers Novo and Eli Lilly will have to lean further into organic development and seek additional clinical indications beyond obesity, while Big Pharmas without weight loss treatments and smaller players could be better off pursuing partnerships and M&As.
OpenAI may build its own consumer health tools, such as a personal health assistant or a product that aggregates users’ health data, per a Business Insider report. A range of healthcare and tech companies—from Verily to wearable makers like Oura and Fitbit—are developing AI-powered health coach and assistant tools. A comparable OpenAI product could immediately threaten existing solutions due to its massive scale, provided it gains access to patient data. However, makers of health-tracking devices and some digital health companies could also be strong partners for OpenAI in creating a product that combines advanced AI with user health data.
The US Senate is moving to end the government shutdown, but the compromise deal leaves out guarantees to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare tax credits. Without ACA subsidies, younger and healthier consumers will likely drop out of the insurance pool, leaving older and higher-risk enrollees behind. That would drive up premiums and further reduce plan enrollment, putting pressure on insurers and shrinking consumer choice.
The majority (86%) of healthcare professionals say AI affects their treatment decisions, although the degree ranges from significant to slight, per a recent DHC Group survey. Healthcare professionals are open to more AI use in medical practice, but they still prefer it as a support tool. Pharma companies should focus on advisory, not decision-making solutions that can help save physicians’ time and add clinical context.
The news: YouTube’s global reach is rewriting entertainment power dynamics. Creator-led channels now rival and surpass traditional studios, signaling a shift from centralized production to audience-driven storytelling. That dominance extends beyond mobile screens and into the living room. What this means for brands: Half of the top 10 YouTube channels cater to kids and families, offering reliable spaces for brand-safe storytelling and high retention, provided that compliance with child privacy rules is prioritized. Brands that treat creators as strategic media partners—not just influencers—will command trust, deeper engagement, and measurable ROI.
CNN is adding a short-form video feature to its app’s homepage in a bid to attract younger audiences and boost engagement amid declining linear TV viewership. The “Shorts” tab, which previously existed outside the homepage, includes clips from CNN stories in a vertical video format similar to Instagram Reels or TikTok, per The Verge. CMOs should explore how news-aligned short-form content can enhance credibility and trust in brand storytelling and monitor how legacy media brands experiment with short-form video to inform their own content strategies.
More QSRs are relying on outside expertise to stay relevant in China. Restaurant Brands International struck a joint-venture deal with CPE as it looks to more than triple Burger King’s China store footprint by 2035, following a similar move by Starbucks. Seeking local partners is a sound strategy for QSRs, given significant differences in culture and consumer preferences. While US consumers are moved by nostalgia, Chinese customers demand newness at a pace that American companies aren't accustomed to—making partnerships a necessity for brands looking to stay current.
Spending on martech tools will continue to grow over the next five years, but data silos, inefficient ROI measurement and training gaps could hold back the tools’ potential. 78% of B2C organizations increased their martech budgets over the last five years, and that pace isn’t slowing: 79% plan to raise them again by 2029, per McKinsey’s Rewiring Martech report, and 34% will boost it by at least 11%. Despite these aggressive investments, only 35% of organizations say their martech operations have reached a “transformational” level of maturity. CMOs should ensure teams are supplied with the technical skills to aid martech’s advancement and treat the tools as a part of operations across the board—not just an IT task. They should also connect martech success metrics directly to clear outcomes—like customer retention—to prove its value across the organization.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the main factors leading marketers to cut spending at the moment, how advertisers are adapting their approach to measurement, and what is happening in the industry as more marketers begin to embrace the opportunity to shift spend at a higher velocity. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Max Willens, Nielsen's Head of Performance Marketing Alison Gensheimer, and SVP and Head of Advertisers and Agencies Matthew Devitt. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
In recent regulatory filings, JPMorgan and Bank of America (BofA) said they’re responding to government requests related to policies and processes around “providing, maintaining, or discontinuing financial products or services to certain clients or potential clients.” The fire politicians are stoking introduces reputational and business risks for banks among customers as well as the risk of regulatory action by agencies that have traditionally demanded rigorous screening of current and prospective customers.
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Gen AI tools are making it easier to carry out ecommerce fraud. Bad actors are increasingly using genAI tools to trick moderation teams, Nicolas Waldmann, the head of external affairs for TikTok’s global governance and experience unit, told Business Insider. That includes creating more convincing listings for fake or counterfeit products, as well as fabricating brands. While AI slop is not unique to ecommerce marketplaces, the stakes are high—especially for emerging ones like TikTok Shop that are still trying to win consumers’ trust. Shoppers who lose money on products that don’t exist are unlikely to become loyal customers, and widespread fraud can deter consumers from purchasing in the first place.
Mercury—a fintech that serves startups, VC firms, and small businesses with banking products and services—announced $650 million in annualized revenue for 2025, up 30% from 2024’s year-end $500 million. Some banks have invested heavily in digital for business customers, betting that more sophisticated self-service will support market share growth. These investments mean that the business digital experience is increasingly a differentiator between banks. But it’s a half measure. This approach to growth is fighting the last war to avoid irrelevance—by catching up to where competitors are today.