On today’s podcast episode, we present our “Unofficial Monthly Retailer Awards” (UMRAs) for May, including “Most Impactful Campaign,” “Best IRL Initiative,” and “Greatest Under-the-Radar Move.” Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, and Analysts Arielle Feger and Rachel Wolff.

On today’s podcast episode, we present our “Unofficial Monthly Retailer Awards,” or the UMRAs, for April, including “Most Impactful Campaign,” “Best IRL Initiative,” and “Greatest Under-the-Radar Move.” Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Senior Director of Content Becky Schilling, Senior Analyst Carina Perkins, and Principal Analyst Zak Stambor.

Allbirds’ AI gamble: Sneaker brand ditches D2C for GPU leasing, but hype can’t mask zero assets, customers, or edge in AI services.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why Starbucks just revamped its loyalty program, what the ideal loyalty program looks like, and how this revamp could tie into a broader strategy to bring customers back into stores and drive frequency if you were CEO of Starbucks for a day. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, and Analyst Arielle Feger.

CEO neutrality carries brand risk; OpenAI and Anthropic leaders’ cautious political responses are an illustration of how hedging on values can erode trust rather than protect it.

Super Bowl campaigns aren’t one-size-fits-all; brands are now splitting between full-scale TV buys and multi-channel activations that extend beyond the broadcast.

2025 marked an inflection point for agentic AI—autonomous systems that don’t just assist, but act. The year saw AI shift from text generators to decision-making collaborators embedded across business and creative workflows.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what makes Dollar General Media Network unique, how it's approaching measurement, and what it’s focusing on for next year. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano, and Vice President and General Manager of DG Media Network, Austin Leonard. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Swiss sneaker brand On Holding will skip holiday discounts to reinforce its premium positioning, co-founder Caspar Coppetti told CNBC. The strategy follows a strong Q3, with adjusted EPS up 300% YoY and revenue rising 24.9% to 794 million francs, beating expectations. While rivals like Nike and Hoka are cautious about global demand, On raised its full-year forecast for the third consecutive quarter. Positioned in the “accessible luxury” segment, On continues to benefit from affluent consumers’ spending power and consistent innovation, helping it sustain growth despite broader economic softness and market headwinds.

Influencer marketing is no longer optional—it’s a performance-driven growth engine. As consumer trust and expectations reshape engagement, brands must adapt their strategies to sustain returns in a fast-moving yet maturing channel.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of September, with a twist. This month ‘The Committee’ (Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Emmy Liederman) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight most interesting back-to-college campaigns and activations. In this month’s episode, Committee members Analyst, Arielle Feger and Senior Director of Content, Becky Schilling will defend their list against Analyst, Rachel Wolff and Senior Analyst, Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Amazon Ads has unveiled an agentic AI tool inside Creative Studio, designed to serve as a real-time creative partner for advertisers. Through a conversational interface, brands can brainstorm, storyboard, and generate professional-quality video and display ads in hours instead of weeks—at no extra cost. Powered by AWS models like Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude, the system combines retail insights with automation to democratize high-quality ad creation once limited to big-budget brands. Early testers, including Nestlé Health Science, praised its ability to surface new insights and scale campaigns, underscoring how platforms like Amazon, Meta, and Google are redefining advertising.

“Friday, Friday, Friday,” begins Amtrak’s recent viral social media video, in the retro style of monster truck ads. The content, which goes on to encourage train travel as summer begins (on Friday), has received over 500,000 shares across platforms, per Amtrak.

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

Black History Month marketing adapts as DEI commitments fade: With corporate DEI programs under political scrutiny, some brands are avoiding public campaigns.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how shopping will get even more social, how brands will be fighting their way into your messaging apps, and more. Tune in to the conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg and Senior Analyst Minda Smiley. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

CMOs and brand strategists are using generative AI-powered tools to enhance their advertising and media strategies. Marketing teams can harness this technology in six key ways to drive results.

TikTok's marketing influence grows: The platform is becoming pivotal in holiday campaigns and consumer engagement.

This report breaks down the essentials of B2B branding and provides best practices and case studies for B2B companies of any size, young and old, across sectors.