On today’s podcast episode, we discuss three big questions surrounding Spotify right now: Why has the audio giant’s ad revenue stalled? What would a Spotify lifestyle app look like? Has Spotify solved the AI problem by adding “Verified” badges to distinguish human artists from AI-generated ones? And more. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Editor of our Marketing and Advertising Briefing, Daniel Konstantinovic. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Meta right now: Why isn’t Wall Street satisfied with Meta’s seemingly incomprehensible growth? Where should Meta be focusing its AI efforts? And what happens when the company creates an AI version of CEO Mark Zuckerberg? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Emmy Liederman and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what if Apple delivers on its vision of Apple Intelligence? What if Abercrombie evolves beyond retail into a lifestyle brand? What if Google starts paying for the content its AI uses? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian, and Principal Analysts Nate Elliott and Yory Wurmser. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

AI is reshaping how consumers discover and choose products, creating a fast-growing new commerce channel with its own set of unique challenges.

On this episode, we explore how leading brands are implementing successful offsite strategies. Focuses include data partnerships and clean rooms, audience targeting off-platform, measuring offsite incrementality, and balancing scale with signal quality. EMARKETER Senior Analyst, Minda Smiley hosts Jason O’Toole, Head of Connected Commerce & Media at Gildan and Ryan Verklin, Paid Media & Retail Media Senior Lead at Bayer.

Its $100 million acquisition brings compliant conversations to life sciences CRM amid rising AI adoption.

But pharma companies are missing the mark with their digital UX—doctor’s satisfaction ratings are dropping as they use digital to reach pharma more.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss whether Coca-Cola’s AI holiday ad is a bold move forward or a soulless shortcut—and, when everything can be generated, whether authenticity becomes the new premium. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, and Analyst Arielle Feger.

As marketing becomes increasingly digital, one channel still stands out for creating real connections: the branded products people hold onto. New research from the Promotional Products Association International shows how merch turns everyday items into lasting brand loyalty.

The news: YouTube’s global reach is rewriting entertainment power dynamics. Creator-led channels now rival and surpass traditional studios, signaling a shift from centralized production to audience-driven storytelling. That dominance extends beyond mobile screens and into the living room. What this means for brands: Half of the top 10 YouTube channels cater to kids and families, offering reliable spaces for brand-safe storytelling and high retention, provided that compliance with child privacy rules is prioritized. Brands that treat creators as strategic media partners—not just influencers—will command trust, deeper engagement, and measurable ROI.

In this podcast episode, we discuss how do you decide when to lead with data versus when to trust your team’s creative instinct, how your brand can stand out on social media, how shopper expectations changed, and more. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and guest host, Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst, Sky Canaves, Chief Content Officer at The Lead, Sonal Gandhi, and SVP of Marketing at Lulu’s, Patrick Buchanan.

Google has officially eliminated its Privacy Sandbox and removed the remaining 10 Sandbox technologies that were still available, marking an end to its yearslong plan to pivot away from third-party cookies on Chrome. Even as giants like Google step away from first-party initiatives, advertisers should prepare for continued change as many are pushing forward with post-cookie ambitions. Cookies may linger for some time to come, but that doesn’t negate broader consumer sentiments that favor data transparency.

While marketers fixate on generative AI’s impact on search, the real risk is invisibility. AI crawler traffic jumped 96% YoY, with GPTBot’s share soaring from 5% to 30%, per Cloudflare, yet traditional search traffic flatlined. Thousands of AI crawls now yield only a handful of source links, making it urgent for marketers to optimize for AI bots, not just Google. Brands that address crawl inefficiencies now will gain search visibility, AI discoverability, and revenue edge over competitors that haven’t adjusted. Anticipating shifting search dynamics can help brands stay discoverable no matter how the algorithms evolve.

Klarna and Splitit are pursuing AI initiatives to keep their products top-of-mind for consumers, per press releases. Klarna partnered with Google Cloud to power AI-backed hyperpersonalized marketing campaigns. Splitit debuted its Agentic Commerce Partner Program, bringing card-linked buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans to agent-powered shopping. Replacing human created art with AI generated images is a risky play for marketing, but Splitit’s BNPL angle with agentic commerce may help it establish a foothold in the installment plan arena, especially when tied to shoppers’ preferred cards that they trust and earn rewards.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating AppLovin’s data-collection methods, per Bloomberg, sending the mobile ad tech company’s stock down 14% Monday and an additional 3% in pre-market trading Tuesday. AppLovin’s SEC outcome could redefine the balance between innovation and accountability, forcing ad tech firms to prove that smarter targeting doesn’t come at the cost of user trust. Brands relying on opaque data streams or third-party targeting tech may face similar scrutiny. For CMOs, it underscores the need to audit data pipelines and vet AI partners for regulatory resilience.

Two-thirds (67%) of people with chronic health conditions take action after seeing pharma advertising for treatments, per a recent Swoop survey. Patients are active, informed pharma consumers. But federal efforts to limit TV and social media ads could shrink drugmakers’ reach. Marketers should lean into lower-profile digital touchpoints—like search and brand websites—where our data shows patients most often begin their health journeys. Marketers and agencies also need to boost visibility in unpaid media. Partner with advocacy groups to engage patients both online and offline, and double down on support programs and online resources to build and maintain trusted relationships.

The news: ChatGPT’s referral traffic to websites plummeted 52% in a single month after a fundamental shift in how the AI model operates. OpenAI manually reweighted its system to prioritize sources that provide direct, helpful answers, per Search Engine Land. Our take: Declining web traffic means declining revenues. For marketers and publishers, the mandate is to adapt to GEO or risk invisibility in a world where AI answers, not clicks, dominate. Reshaping web content to be more answer oriented could help surface it in ChatGPT, but that’s easier said than done for publishers with legacy content. Companies that move early to understand and influence AI citation patterns will secure a competitive edge as this new content distribution landscape takes shape.

The strategy: Insurance Business Magazine analyzed the tactics behind recent successful insurance marketing campaigns. Our take: The most successful insurers aren't just selling a product; they’re telling a story that connects to people's lives and their need for security and peace of mind. In our report “Life Insurance Trends 2025,” we also explored marketing techniques to help customers—especially younger generations—see the value of insurance. We emphasized price transparency, value-adds, and education on what products entail. Insurance Business Magazine’s analysis backs this up: When insurers move beyond technical jargon and focus on tangible benefits of insurance, they build trust, create memorable campaigns, and ultimately drive greater interest and loyalty.

B2B social media has evolved from an awareness tool into a central part of how brands build trust, influence buying decisions, and drive business growth. AI, video, and influencer marketing are reshaping strategies and raising expectations for measurable impact.

AI is rapidly becoming foundational to marketing strategy, with 63% of teams now using it for planning—up from 28% in 2023, per Boathouse. Customer service and analytics have seen similarly sharp increases, supported by rising investments in CRM systems, CDPs, and automation tools, according to Twilio. As AI’s footprint grows, marketers are reallocating spend toward digital formats like social, CTV, and video, where AI can optimize targeting and performance. This trend reflects a broader shift: the most successful marketers are embedding AI into the fabric of their decision-making, not treating it as a plug-in. The gap is widening fast.