Brand marketers have to be strategic as a challenging 2023 has taken its toll on marketing budgets. CMOs worldwide expect to spend 9.1% of company revenues on marketing compared with 9.5% in 2022, according to May data from Gartner. And considering revenues are also lower for many companies, that pie is getting even smaller.

Digitally native brands look for a new D2C playbook: Brands are embracing wholesale, physical retail, acquisitions, and even selling on Amazon to regain momentum and achieve profitability.

US consumers will open 5.2 million new bank accounts digitally this year. Our exclusive consumer survey data reveals which emerging mobile features banks should invest in to win over customers.

Visa may buy paytech Pismo, and Fiserv is exploring acquisitions. Other incumbents can take advantage of the weak funding climate.

The firm is going head-to-head with Amex and Chase ultra-premium cards and preparing to invigorate spending.

Planning before taking action and showing extra care in risky areas can help smooth out the merger.

Network International is mulling a $2.6B acquisition bid, which reflects the widespread payments digitization in the region.

Albertsons’ earnings beat expectations as debate over its acquisition by Kroger rages on: A wave of antitrust concerns from consumers, employees, suppliers, and government officials is putting the deal in doubt.

Friction developing between Microsoft and OpenAI: The tech companies compete for AI customers under a profit-sharing model that could undermine Microsoft’s cloud growth. An acquisition attempt is likely.

An ultimatum by the Biden administration gives ByteDance no recourse but to sell TikTok—which China’s government doesn’t seem likely to allow—or risk being banned.

The firm is reportedly in talks over a sale. We discuss why it could be an attractive acquisition and how likely a buyout is.

In the first week of the new year, US regulators came out swinging against Coinbase, Binance, FTX, and Celsius.

FTC’s biggest antitrust test: Successfully blocking Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard could define Lina Khan’s tenure in the FTC. A legal skirmish with Big Tech will be long and expensive.

Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to buy HSBC’s Canadian arm in a move to strengthen its domestic dominance.

Venture-capital-backed fintechs raised less cash in Q3, hitting a nine-quarter low.

Omnipresent Amazon craves omniscience: The company’s latest products show it wants to get even closer to customers in the real world. But with concerns over privacy and security, there could be trouble ahead.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss which four companies are shaping the connected fitness space, why there's so much at stake in commanding a leadership position, and what the lifestyle brand flywheel is. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top three most interesting acquisition possibilities in connected fitness. Join our analysts Blake Droesch and Andrew Lipsman.

The all-cash deal values Atlanta-based EVO Payments at $4B and can help Global Payments improve its B2B offerings.

On top of that, BMO Harris has been accused of deleting evidence. This could mark the end of the line for the deal.

Financial institutions raced to modernize digital channels at the pandemic’s onset. Now, an economic downturn puts the onus on CMOs to personalize messaging, products, and services to acquire, retain, and upsell customers more efficiently.