Mother’s Day campaigns are shifting toward personal storytelling, creator partnerships, and emotionally resonant content to deepen consumer connection. For marketers, it’s a reminder that authenticity and brand values can drive both engagement and sales.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the main reasons YouTube is the most watched platform on TVs, how “Planet YouTube’s” gravitational pull is disrupting other media types, and what the biggest threat to its dominance is. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg, and Principal Analyst Bill Fisher for the conversation. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

E.l.f. Beauty has built its brand on democratizing access to beauty products by maintaining affordability in an increasingly expensive market, as well as creating a company culture that values diversity and disruption. This prioritization of diversity stands out as other brands like Target and Walmart roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

B2B marketers are increasing ad investments despite challenges with ad waste and targeting. In addition, the B2B buyer journey is evolving, requiring marketers to find new ways to connect with customers. To maximize ROI, B2B marketers should consider account-based marketing to improve targeting or leverage AI to optimize and personalize campaigns.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how to increase basket size, how to break out of category while staying true to brand identity, and how to respond to TikTok trends without seeming like a brand responding to a TikTok trend. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Vice President and Principal Analyst Suzy Davidkhanian and the CMO of True Religion Brand Jeans Kristen D’Arcy.

Brands are shifting away from traditional influencer marketing to tap into the power of everyday consumers sharing authentic content about products they genuinely use and love.

Social media success was once defined by public stamps of approval, but now brands are recognizing that in-feed engagement is both an inaccurate and incomplete approach to measuring impact. Reaching consumers within their DMs has emerged as a growing strategy for many marketers.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of March. 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 Senior Director of Content Becky Schilling and Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Principal Analyst Sky Canaves and Analyst Rachel Wolff, 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 how Walgreens went from “pharmacy behemoth to distressed retailer”, the biggest lesson from its downfall, and where the company goes from here. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, and Senior Analysts Rajiv Leventhal and Zak Stambor, for the conversation. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Last week, Best Buy Ads launched Social+, an offering that allows brands and agencies to leverage Best Buy’s first-party data for social media campaigns. The tool is currently only available for Meta campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, but will expand to other social media networks in the future, per a press release.

FCC targets DEI in mergers: New Chairman Brendan Carr warns companies to scale back DEI policies or face blocked acquisitions.

Partnerships between retail media networks (RMNs) and connected TV (CTV) platforms are giving brands access to better data, more shoppable ad options, and a full-funnel approach that drives results. These collaborations can make targeting smarter, shopping easier, and measurement clearer, helping advertisers prove their effectiveness.

This year’s festival highlighted a maturing creator economy, a reality check for AI, and bigger and bolder brand activations and marketing trends.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how Mint Mobile was able to stand out before a celebrity like Ryan Reynolds joined the team, how he helped them break the marketing mold, and lessons learned along the way to becoming a billion-dollar valued company. Tune in to the conversation with Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, our Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian, and Strategic Advisor to Mint Mobile Aron North. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Banks must help customers navigate growing economic uncertainty.

Influencer marketing spend will grow15% YoY, outpacing digital and social ad spending, and will reach $10.52 billion in 2025, EMARKETER forecasts. Despite its growth, influencer marketing has maintained a core communication issue—no one knows what to call the people who are doing the work.

In a competitive retail landscape, alcohol brands are turning to AI-powered image recognition to optimize in-store execution. This technology provides real-time insights on shelf conditions, helping brands keep products well-stocked, properly displayed, and positioned to capture shoppers’ attention—boosting visibility and sales.