The news: The NBA held steady at 4,668 brand sponsors between 2023 and 2024, but total sponsorship revenues rose 8% to $1.62 billion, thanks to jersey patch deals, venue launches like the Intuit Dome, and record-breaking player endorsements. The Golden State Warriors alone brought in over $200 million, and rookie Jared McCain set a league record with 30 personal brand deals. Our take: The NBA is deepening its value to advertisers, not just expanding reach. With media rights deals and Amazon integration elevating its commercial footprint, the league is fast becoming one of the most lucrative platforms for modern marketers.

“There are lots of shiny new pennies in marketing, so it's very easy to get distracted,” said Nicklaus Hasselberg, VP of growth marketing and ecommerce at Every Man Jack, at The Lead Summit in New York City last week. “It’s about ‘What do we reasonably believe will have the biggest impact on our business?' And let’s do it as well as we can."

30% of employees use AI productivity tools secretly out of fear that their job might be reduced or cut, per a February Ivanti survey.

Choosing the right tech solutions can be like entering a long-term relationship with vendor partners. “There has to be a long-term gain more than just a nice-to-have quick incremental add,” said Ann Marie Ippoliti, vice president of ecommerce and marketing for Michael Kors at The Lead Summit in New York City earlier this week.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of May. 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 Analysts Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

President Trump’s volatile tariff policies have created uncertainty in the advertising market, with forecasters now projecting multiple scenarios for how the rest of 2025 might unfold.

On this special edition podcast, we examine practical ways to track commerce media ROI—covering KPI selection, attribution, and cross channel measurement. EMARKETER Principal Analyst, Sky Canaves talks with Maev’s Michael Campi, PepsiCo’s Mike Glaser, and LiveRamp’s Christine Grammier in this panel from the May 9th EMARKETER virtual summit, Commerce Media Trends 2025. Listen everywhere you find podcasts, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

“As retail media has grown, the landscape has become increasingly complex and fragmented, said EMARKETER principal analyst Sky Canaves during last week’s EMARKETER's summit on Commerce Media Trends 2025. “Comparisons are hard when standards vary across channels and platforms.”

As tariffs raise prices for many businesses, banks are finding solutions to keep their customers satisfied.

The payment services company hopes to win audiences connected to key international demographics.

“A good campaign probably has a little bit of risk,” said “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” star Charlie Day at this week’s OOH Media Con 25. “You’re much better off taking the risk and taking the swing on something that could be wildly successful.”

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why the new funnel begins at checkout, what kinds of offers customers are most receptive to when getting ready to click the buy button, and how to avoid showing someone something they already have. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Senior Vice President of Solutions and Operations at Rokt Jon Humphrey. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Despite small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) accounting for 44% of US GDP according to the US Small Business Administration, many marketers aren't allocating sufficient resources to reach this powerful segment.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how tariffs will impact private labels, if private label still a synonym for “affordable”, and some unofficial awards for the 5 most interesting private label players. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves and Analyst Arielle Feger.

Spotify’s play counts and YouTube’s two-person plan signal a fierce fight for viewers in the podcast space’s visual future.