The news: Meta announced numerous updates to its messaging ad options, with a heavy focus on WhatsApp. Meta is expanding Ads Manager to include WhatsApp campaigns, centralizing multi-campaign management across its platforms. The feature allows businesses to upload subscriber lists to use Advantage+ to optimize ad budgets or manually choose messages for additional placements. Our take: The ongoing potential for divestiture could have significant implications for advertisers that rely on Meta’s ecosystem—but the new features will still make WhatsApp a more appealing option for those that haven’t considered it as a key ad channel.
The news: Baidu has launched MuseSteamer, an enterprise-only AI tool that converts images into 10-second videos using three output modes—Turbo, Pro, and Lite—while upgrading its core search engine to support multimodal inputs. The tool targets businesses looking for scalable, automated creative output. Our take: With nearly half of marketers and creators now using AI for video daily, Baidu is doubling down on the enterprise market. MuseSteamer distinguishes itself from consumer-facing tools by offering speed, reliability, and tight workflow integration. As video becomes the default for content, the winners will be platforms that deliver pro-grade output without creative friction.
The news: Meta, which recently assembled Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) as part of its AI acquisition spree, is staffing its new department with key figures from OpenAI and other AI startups. Meta has poached at least 11 OpenAI engineers, per Wired—including Jiahui Yu, Hongyu Ren, Jin Lin, and Shengjia Zhao, co-creators of OpenAI’s o3, o4-mini, GPT-4.1, and GPT-4o. Our take: Meta’s aggressive talent grab reveals the AI arms race is now a bidding war. If top researchers are increasingly swayed by compensation over mission, it raises tough questions for brands making long-term AI investments.
The news: AMC Entertainment’s stock plummeted 7.4% on Tuesday, per TipRanks, after the chain started running additional ads before screenings—building on AMC’s 27.8% YTD loss. AMC simultaneously announced a debt and financing agreement that included $223 million in new financing for debt maturing in 2026 and converting at least $143 million worth of existing debt into equity. Our take: Higher ad revenues for AMC could offset the chain’s financial difficulties, but its refinancing plan shows ads alone aren’t enough. Investors are seeking a clear path to consistent profitability.
Snap’s attention metric shows the measurement maturing: The platform aims to capitalize on advertiser demand for new ad effectiveness signals.
The news: Capital One, after acquiring Discover, plans to significantly expand its card businesses using Discover's network. This allows the bank to boost profitability and enhance offerings. CEO Richard Fairbank emphasized new services, including attractive rewards for debit cards and compelling credit card deals, funded by increased interchange revenues. Our take: Capital One's Discover acquisition maximizes its expanded infrastructure. Owning a payment network allows Capital One to capture more interchange revenue, reinvesting it into more competitive debit and credit card products. This approach will appeal to consumers facing financial uncertainty, promising better rates and rewards, strengthening Capital One's market position and ability to attract/retain customers.
The news: Valley Bank worked with Adrenaline to create digital signage at its Fifth Avenue NYC branch to boost brand recognition and customer engagement. Displays feature dynamic visuals of diverse eyes and motivational taglines, unified across large LED and supporting screens. This omnichannel approach also used QR codes to direct customers to digital platforms. Our take: This initiative effectively uses digital signage to increase foot traffic. Custom, human-centric content, not stock photos, resonates, especially with younger audiences. QR codes with product displays are smart, converting brand awareness into new banking relationships via strategic visual storytelling and direct engagement.
The news: Meta’s Threads is adding direct messaging (DM) and a “highlight” feature to show trending topics related to a user’s feed. Our take: DMs will allow consumers to interact directly with brands and could open up a new customer service channel, while brand social media accounts could become part of the narrative as new “highlight” trends arise. Marketers and social media managers should boost brand presence on Threads by engaging with followers and posting on relevant trending topics.
The news: Klarna is pivoting toward digital banking in the US, preparing for its IPO amid growing scrutiny of the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market. This includes launching US debit cards and expanded savings offerings, with Klarna rebranding itself as a neobank aiming for a "super app" experience. Our take: This signals a broader trend of fintechs evolving into banks, intensifying pressure on traditional financial institutions (FIs) to differentiate. FIs must clarify their niche, pursue strategic scale, and accelerate digital transformation. Despite Klarna's expansion, FIs retain a key advantage: their card-based installment plans still outperform BNPL in customer satisfaction.
The news: Despite its massive reach, gaming still accounts for less than 5% of worldwide media investment, per Dentsu’s 2025 Gaming Trends report—indicating a disparity between where audiences spend their time and where advertisers invest. Our take: Concerns about brand safety with in-game advertising linger, but brands that are willing to take the risk stand to gain through an approach that considers that simply investing in the format isn’t enough to drive results.
The news: Podcast ad spending intention will reach an 11-year high in 2025, and more advertisers are investing in the medium than ever, per a Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights report. Podcast ad spend intention reached 69% among agencies and advertisers surveyed, the highest in the eleven years tracked by Cumulus and Signal Hill. 78% are already investing in podcast advertising, five times higher than the amount investing in 2015. Our take: As listenership spikes, podcasts will continue being a key investment for savvy advertisers—and those who know how to maximize the medium’s potential will come out on top.
The news: Apple is in talks with OpenAI and Anthropic to power a revamped version of Siri, per Bloomberg. This follows internal delays and setbacks in launching the AI-enhanced Siri that was announced at WWDC in June 2024. Advertising repercussions: Advertisers and brands won’t just be contending with Apple’s ad systems and algorithms—they also need to consider third-party vendors’ ecosystems and how those preference ad placements. Our take: Apple settling for outside AI is a turning point for walled gardens. For advertisers, it’s both a risk—due to reduced predictability—and an opportunity to innovate within new conversational interfaces.
The news: Microsoft Advertising now enforces policy compliance at the asset level—ad headlines, descriptions, and images will be reviewed individually. If one element violates policy, the rest of the ad can stay live, as long as the minimum required approved assets remain, per MarTech. Key takeaway: Marketers should embrace modular creative strategies, ensuring each individual asset is in compliance. Build campaigns with redundancy in approved elements to maintain uptime, and monitor flagged assets to quickly respond and ensure ad integrity.
Our analysts took a look at the first half of this eventful year and provided their own very specific—albeit unlikely—predictions at what could happen in the second half of the year and beyond.
The situation: Low-income Americans are feeling squeezed by high prices, declining pay, and public assistance that doesn’t go far enough. Bottom line: Declining after-tax income and tariff-driven inflation mean relief for low-income Americans is unlikely anytime soon. Their budgets will tighten, shrinking grocery baskets and curbing discretionary spending. While Walmart, Dollar General, and other value retailers are currently propped up by higher-income shoppers, that cushion could quickly disappear if those customers expect tax-cut windfalls and return to old spending habits.
Showing commitment to Pride pays off: LGBTQ+ consumers, representing large portions of key demographics, are willing to reward brands who stay the course.
The news: The Trade Desk CRO Jed Dederick likened Amazon’s advertising approach to Google’s, accusing it of bundling and self-preferencing practices that threaten market competition. In an interview at Cannes Lions, Dederick urged Amazon to adopt a more open model like Meta’s, warning that closed systems could draw regulatory scrutiny. Our take: By framing Amazon as the next Google, The Trade Desk is angling to become the preferred neutral alternative for marketers. As Amazon expands in CTV and commerce media, regulatory pressure may follow. If it does, The Trade Desk is well-positioned to gain from any shift toward more transparent platforms.
The news: Google is bringing its generative AI (genAI) suite deeper into classrooms, launching Gemini and NotebookLM tools as part of Google Classroom for students under 18. It’s the first time NotebookLM—a research and note-taking AI—will be accessible to minors, per The Verge. Our take: Marketers and edtech players should align with Google’s expanding education stack. Building AI-integrated tools that plug into Google Classroom, optimizing content for Gemini-powered workflows, and creating solutions that run smoothly on Chromebooks can address the needs of a captive audience.
Our take: OpenAI’s first-mover advantage is under threat from all sides—vertically from specialized AI agents, horizontally from rival chatbots, and internally from talent wars and Microsoft. The news: OpenAI’s ChatGPT has rapidly become a mainstream AI tool, with new data showing that 34% of US adults have now used it—almost double the 2023 figures, per Pew Research Center. For CMOs and CTOs, this means betting on ChatGPT’s current dominance while preparing for a fragmented future where no single platform reigns supreme. Finding the right AI solutions for specific use cases is a smarter play than betting the farm on an all-in-one solutions provider.
As retail media networks expand, one of the biggest challenges facing marketers is measurement. In fact, 42% of US retail media buyers believe that more effective and accurate campaign measurement is the most important issue in retail media advertising today, according to March 2025 data from Koddi. To help advertisers better assess the effectiveness of their campaigns, Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) has introduced Omni-Impact—a new AI-powered measurement solution.