The number of US life insurance policyholders is set to decline in the next few years. Understanding roadblocks to coverage in untapped and growing markets can help insurers right the ship.

OpenAI’s Sora could be to video generation what ChatGPT has become to text generation—a user-friendly, scalable tool that creates human-quality work. Tyler Perry put an $800 million studio expansion on hold after seeing the tool in action. And creators with access to the tool have created impressive works, from surreal nature documentaries to underwater fashion shows.

Brands and marketers have an increasingly prominent presence at the annual technology, arts, and culture festival in Austin, Texas, which this year took place from March 8 to 16. We break down the key topics that drew the most attention from attendees.

Measuring creator marketing is tough. Affiliate links provide direct attribution, but many sales occur after consumers see creator content. Even MrBeast, the biggest individual creator on YouTube, sells his Feastables bars at retailers like Walmart, not just on social media. So how can advertisers using creator marketing measure the efficacy of creator campaigns?

“95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI,” said OpenAI founder Sam Altman. The prediction sent marketers into a frenzy. Altman’s statement may not be all hype, so it’s important marketers prepare rather than panic.

“Out-of-home (OOH) is cost-effective. It's measurable. It's targetable. You can be hyperlocal with it,” said founder and CEO at Quan Media Brian Rappaport. It’s also growing. US OOH ad spend will increase by 6.5% this year, reaching $9.51 billion dollars, according to our October 2023 forecast. But an added benefit is OOH’s potential to create organic impressions on social media.

“Most marketers want to be cutting-edge, and to be able to say that they’re exploring new technology,” Jack Johnston, associate director at Tinuiti, said about AI’s explosion into social media tools. “But our focus is not just being gimmicky and tapping into AI because it’s AI, but doing it because there’s a real business value and a positive impact that can come from it.”

Customer stories reveal why credit unions and community banks are outpacing their larger counterparts in key growth areas.

Brands need to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. AI can help. But the content needs to be personalized and trained on the brand's own data to avoid generic output. And brands need to be sure that source content has a clear voice and point of view.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of February. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against analysts Sky Canaves and Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what will influence digital ad spending this year, who's the "dark horse" ad player of 2024, and how the CMO role and marketing departments will change. "In Other News," we talk about what to make of Google's latest AI creation called Gemini and some research explaining how often AI chatbots make things up. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Yory Wurmser.

To out-influence Gen Zers’ favorite financial social media creators, banks should mimic certain finfluencer strategies.

While influencers bring authenticity and engaged audiences to partnerships,to create the best campaigns, brands need to uphold their side of influencer marketing relationships. “Affiliate creators want and desire deeper or more lasting, sustainable partnerships with brands,” Mike Balducci, general manager of affiliate, ecommerce, and payment solutions at CreatorIQ, said during a CreatorIQ and Ipsos webinar last week. “That’s actually really great news for brands because long-term partnerships, as we know, deliver a much better result over time.”

On today's podcast episode, we launch our inaugural 'The Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List' for January. Arielle, Becky, and Sara (a.k.a. The Committee) have put together a very unofficial list of 8 retailers they're watching right now, based on which retailers are making the most interesting moves this month. Who's launching new initiatives? What partnerships move the needle? What stand-out marketing campaigns are there? On future episodes, we’ll have analysts dispute this power rankings list, but on today's show we layout our top 8 for January. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Arielle Feger and director of content Becky Schilling.

AI is both part of the problem and part of the solution through new insurance products tailored to highly specialized needs.

Gen Zers’ habits diverge from other generations’ in the early stages of the customer journey. Our inaugural survey of banking consumers in Canada spotlights the differences to help banks drive conversions.

These self-aware young customers know that their mental health drives their financial behavior. They need help making better saving and spending decisions.

Pop-Tarts created one of the first memes of the year at the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl when it sent its mascot into a larger-than-life toaster, resulting in a giant edible Pop-Tart ripe for content creation. Cheez-It then pulled a similar stunt at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, describing its own mascot as “non-edible.”

31% of US B2B marketers are using AI for chatbots, coding, and design, according to an August 2023 survey from Sagefrog Marketing Group. Another 30% are using AI for content and presentations.