We attended Fierce Pharma Week, where speakers noted that AI insights that improve patient experiences and content are the next frontier.
A patented system favors natural pauses, though Xbox instability may keep brands cautious.
AI will touch every stage of marketing mix modeling (MMM), from cleaning data and building models to translating complex findings into plain English. But speed and automation alone won't make measurement more valuable. The bigger opportunity is using AI to help marketers get from measurement to decisions, and ultimately action, while keeping humans in the loop. ROI is one of the biggest reasons marketers turn to MMM. Focusing too narrowly on it obscures the rest of the value measurement provides.
Even AI enthusiasts, the early adopters, dedicate about 10% of their digital time to AI tools. The finding comes from Triton Digital's latest research on how AI is impacting consumer behavior and what it means for brand strategy, based on quantitative and qualitative studies across the US and UK.
New advertisers are starting small, while brand-awareness spending takes a larger role.
A ski trip planning session turned into a case study in how fast AI-driven discovery has taken hold, our chief content officer Vladimir Hanzlik told the audience at EMARKETER’s Future of Digital summit. Sitting around the table with friends and family, phones out on Gemini, his group booked resorts, hotels, and ski schools in a matter of hours. "What really struck me is that if you didn't turn up in those LLM recommendations, if you didn't show up in Claude or Gemini, there'll be literally zero chance that we will pick you," Hanzlik said, opening a conversation with VML's chief discoverability officer Heather Physioc on whether brands understand just how close that future already is.
Enclosed mail can convey credibility, but the mail still needs easy digital next steps.
US retail sales will surpass $1.4 trillion this holiday season, growing 4% over last year, per EMARKETER. That growth arrives under pressure: tariff refunds that major players like Walmart ($2.7 billion) are using to slash prices, rising consumer costs for gas and travel, and the unpredictable impact of AI on shopping behavior.
Commerce media has ambitions beyond the bottom of the funnel. But expanding into CTV, social, and the open web does not automatically make it a full-funnel channel. That was one of the central discussion topics at EMARKETER’s Future of Digital summit last week. Commerce signals can help advertisers understand and reach consumers well before they are ready to buy. But brands already have direct relationships with search engines, social platforms, video providers, and publishers. Commerce media networks need to prove what they add to those investments, particularly as they ask advertisers to accept more cost and complexity.
Nike topped EMARKETER’s apparel rankings in August as scale, publisher credibility, and wide assortments continued to favor legacy brands.
Partnerships with athletes can help the app capture sponsorship payouts and expand its reach.
What chatbots surface about a product can matter beyond the visibility brands pay for.
AI agents could weaken retail media data and ad exposure, pushing brands to rethink their Amazon strategies.
Dress-code changes and training investments are meant to improve service and support discovery.
Low admission pricing and promotions show retailers how to draw traffic without blanket discounts.
Employment and equality fears add baggage to AI messaging, making disclosure and performance testing critical.
Marketers should feed AI tools campaign goals, governance, and historical context alongside raw data to improve analysis.
Small advertisers are flooding connected TV (CTV). Media data shows brands spending under $1 million per year on CTV platforms are increasing, opening TV advertising to buyers who could never afford it. That shift is reshaping performance marketing as AI disrupts traditional channels like search and social media. "The environment is perfectly tailor-made for exactly this to happen," said Matt Collins, vice president of product marketing at MNTN, during EMARKETER's Future of Digital summit this week. "Digital infrastructure allows for precision of audience targeting and measurement, to be able to give advertisers a very clear read for budgets that are very deliberate."
The promise of agentic commerce is that AI will collapse the path to purchase, handling everything from product research to checkout on consumers’ behalf. Shoppers aren't ready to give up control, and AI may actually be adding complexity to their journeys, according to EMARKETER principal analyst Sky Canaves, speaking at the EMARKETER Future of Digital summit this week.
Cross-border transfers can deepen customer ties, but reach, speed, and pricing will matter.