The news: The P&C insurance industry posted a 96.6 combined ratio in 2024—its best in 10+ years—despite natural disaster losses. Major reserve boosts, surging premium growth, and smart underwriting (especially in personal auto and homeowners) drove this performance. GenAI adoption further enhanced claims processing and fraud detection. Strategic exits from high-risk areas also curbed losses. Our take: P&C insurers must double down on AI, automation, and risk analytics to sustain profitability amid growing climate volatility and economic headwinds. Innovation in underwriting and pricing, paired with disciplined risk management, will be key to staying resilient in an increasingly unpredictable risk environment.
The trend: Value-seeking behavior is on the rise, though not without some volatility, per Deloitte. Our take: Consumers’ growing focus on value doesn’t necessarily mean they want the cheapest option. In fact, up to 40% of how consumers evaluate value comes from nonprice factors, per a separate Deloitte study. That’s a critical distinction for brands. While it can be tempting to lean into discounts, a narrow focus on price cuts can hurt long-term brand equity. Brands that offer added value—through better quality, service, loyalty programs, or other innovations—are seeing stronger purchase intent and increasing consumer share.
The news: A proposed merger between Bank of New York Mellon and Northern Trust could create a "monster deal," significantly consolidating the custodial banking space. This large-scale move would pressure smaller competitors, potentially creating a powerhouse in institutional investing and setting new digital efficiency standards. The recent Capital One-Discover acquisition suggests a regulatory environment emboldening such rapid growth. Our take: While large mergers are gaining traction, they're not guaranteed solutions for competitiveness. Banks considering similar strategies must plan meticulously and engage stakeholders. Without careful execution, such integrations can lead to dissatisfied customers and attrition, despite the perceived benefits of scale and market dominance in a hyper-competitive environment.
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.
The news: Influencer marketing spending is increasing steadily in the US and worldwide, representing a key area of growth as audiences turn to the creators they trust for purchase decisions. In a conversation with EMARKTER, Arthur Leopold, head of the creator content ad platform Agentio, discussed why audiences are turning to influencers, how technology is changing the game, and where influencer marketing is heading. Our take: Influencer marketing continues to be a core focus for advertisers in a consumer landscape dominated by social media—but as more brands invest in influencers, advertisers need to keep key considerations in mind.
The news: Despite lower COVID-19 mortality rates, it remains the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. Lingering health impacts—like long COVID, delayed diagnoses, and worsening chronic conditions—continue to threaten life insurers’ claims experience and profitability. Pre-pandemic underwriting likely underestimated these risks. Our take: Life insurers must recalibrate actuarial and pricing models to account for persistent COVID-19 health risks. Incorporating new medical and mortality data into term life and other products will ensure premiums align with post-pandemic realities, protect margins, and improve risk modeling accuracy in an evolving health landscape.
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.
The rest of the year is top-of-mind for leaders in marketing and retail, which they expect to be challenging but riddled with opportunities to stand out from competition.
The news: AI-fueled résumés have pushed LinkedIn job applications up 45% YoY, overwhelming recruiters and upending hiring norms. Recruiters now face an avalanche of lookalike résumés and fake identities—some even auto-submitted by AI bots. Many are turning to AI-powered hiring platforms to fight fire with fire, per The New York Times. Our take:By relying on AI tools to chase efficiency, both sides could drive up skepticism and erode the core goal: finding the right person for the right role. Businesses with open roles should prioritize clarity, human relevance, and judicious restraint in their own use of AI.
The scene: When Cooper Flagg—the odds-on favorite to be the NBA Rookie of the Year next season—steps onto the court for the first time, he’ll be wearing New Balance basketball shoes. Our take: New Balance’s push to sign Flagg, along with its other star-powered ambassadors, underscores its clear ambition to break into the top tier of global sportswear brands. While Nike and Adidas still lead by a wide margin, New Balance has its sights set on Puma, which reported $9.5 billion in sales last year—well ahead of New Balance’s $7.8 billion. To close the gap, New Balance needs to turn its growing visibility into demand, which is far from a sure thing. From there, it must maintain that momentum with consistent sales across both its performance and lifestyle lines. If Flagg lives up to the hype and the brand finds ways to ride that momentum, New Balance could take a meaningful step up the sneaker hier
The trend: A perfect macroeconomic storm is causing younger consumers to cut back on spending. Our take: These pressures aren’t going away anytime soon. The Trump administration’s tariffs are leading retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Macy’s to raise prices—putting even more strain on young shoppers already feeling stretched. At the same time, job anxieties are growing. The white collar workforce is shrinking, and more companies are citing AI as a reason for layoffs. Put it all together, and it’s likely that younger consumers will remain cautious with their spending for some time, especially on nonessentials. Retailers that want to win over this group will need to focus on offering value such as high-quality, private label products.
Google AI Overviews could face aggressive regulatory measures in UK: A CMA investigation adds to a slew of regulatory challenges that are chipping away at Google’s dominance in search and advertising.
The news: Connected TV (CTV) commands higher attention metrics (AU) than online video (OLV) and display advertising thanks in part to its wide variety of interactive ad formats, per industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Our take: CTV's growing attention metrics reflects its shift toward becoming a performance marketing channel
The news: A federal judge gave Anthropic the green light this week to train its AI on millions of pirated books—declaring it “fair use”—even as the company used methods that resembled digital looting, per CNET. Our take: 24% of marketers say copyright concerns will be a big challenge for generative AI (genAI) in the next two years, per Econsultancy. To protect themselves, agencies need to pressure-test genAI vendors and ask tough questions about how models were trained—before the lawsuits land on their desks.
As marketing teams face higher expectations to prove campaign results, leaders expect data-driven work from every department. This means once siloed teams must find smarter ways to work together.
The news: Amazon plans to bring same- and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities by year’s end. Our take: Amazon’s growing focus on rural delivery is squarely aimed at deepening Prime’s value, driving higher engagement, and unlocking long-term loyalty in a market that still holds plenty of untapped potential.
The news: CI&T and Project Nemo have developed a prototype app called Nemo, Art of the Possible, designed to help adults with learning disabilities manage money independently and securely, per Stock Titan. The app includes calm mode, adaptive onboarding, emergency savings, and user-controlled support to promote financial inclusion. Our take: With one in five US adults experiencing learning or attention challenges, banks have a major opportunity to broaden access. By partnering with fintechs to deliver inclusive tech like Nemo, financial institutions can better serve underrepresented users and improve financial health, experience, and loyalty across their customer base.
The trend: At Cannes Lions 2025, Meta, TikTok, Google, and others made clear that AI-powered ad automation is no longer an experiment—it’s the plan. The news: Meta and TikTok each emphasized agency relationships, but both platforms expanded generative AI tools that let brands generate and manage campaigns without intermediaries. Amazon, Comcast, and Google are doing the same, pushing toward platform-native, self-serve ad models. Our take: As automation replaces traditional support services, agencies face existential pressure. To stay relevant, holding companies will need to prove they offer value that AI can’t replace—fast.
The news: Financial institutions (FIs) must prioritize generative engine optimization (GEO)—the evolution of SEO—or risk disappearing from AI-powered customer journeys, according to The Financial Brand. As tools like ChatGPT increasingly guide users in choosing financial products, FIs must ensure their content is optimized for visibility and relevance within these AI environments. Our take: Nearly 80 million Americans are already using generative AI search engines, and that number is growing. FIs that move early to optimize their content will increase visibility and credibility with AI-driven consumers, while those who delay risk losing brand presence altogether.
The news: Digital-first consumers now expect fast, zero-click access to information—meaning they often get answers from search engines or social platforms without clicking through, per CUInsight. To stay visible, FIs should optimize content for featured snippets, enhance their Google Business Profiles, and use tools like calculators that embed in search results. Our take: Zero-click marketing deserves its own strategy alongside SEO and generative optimization. Financial brands that adapt their content to meet users where they are—within snippets, tools, or knowledge panels—can build more visibility and trust than competitors who rely on traditional site traffic alone.