Ralph Lauren is expanding its hospitality empire, with plans to open a new Polo Bar restaurant in London in 2028. That outpost will join others in New York, Milan, Chicago, Chengdu, and Paris. With luxury sales under pressure as aspirational customers pull back, hospitality concepts are an opportunity for brands to keep shoppers engaged and maintain heat. By deliberately courting social media attention, and using tactics like exclusive merchandise to build excitement, brands can create more opportunities for customers to spend time (and money) on their properties.
Meta will begin using conversations with its AI assistant to personalize ads and feeds across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp starting December 16. The change represents Meta’s most aggressive AI monetization effort to date, moving beyond likes and follows to conversational intent—a richer, real-time signal of consumer interest. Regulators are already raising alarms about surveillance and privacy. With 98% of Meta’s revenues tied to ads, even small gains could shift billions.
The smart home wars are shifting from hardware and voice assistants to AI strategy. In back-to-back announcements this week, Google and Amazon introduced the next phase of connected devices with AI front and center. Both companies are racing to turn smart speakers and displays into AI hubs and ad ecosystems. Marketers should start testing conversational ads, commerce integrations, and context-driven experiences on both platforms as usage scales and the next dominant household gatekeeper takes shape.
Half (50%) of Gen Z consumers have been driven to purchase by a social media ad, per an August YouGov report.
PayPal’s Honey browser extension will start recommending products based on users’ conversations with chatbots, per a press release. Relying on the Honey browser extension rather than striking individual partnerships with each major AI platform is a far more expedient pathway to broaden Honey’s reach across AI-based shopping. And by keeping the selection and checkout processes squarely in the province of the user, Honey gets to reap the benefits of the rise in AI-enabled product discovery without the associated risks of agentic commerce.
Bank of America introduced "Capital Markets Insights" on its CashPro® App for US-based clients, providing a centralized mobile view of market and investment-grade issuance data, per a press release. This aims to simplify debt issuance decisions for CFOs and treasurers. Moving all valuable information to one mobile app is a tried and true strategy for increasing mobile app engagement and improving customer retention—because those customers don’t need to go elsewhere to accomplish their banking tasks. This is an important step to retain and deepen relationships with corporate clients by integrating high-value, previously fragmented capital markets data directly into clients’ workflows.
Schwab is making a decisive move to serve ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, those with at least $30 million to invest, per Investopedia. To accomplish this in a segment traditionally dominated by larger competitors, the firm plans to open 16 new branches, expand or relocate 25 existing branches, and hire over 400 new branch staff. Schwab is covering its competitive bases by leveraging its existing robust digital platform with a newly enhanced network of high-end, strategically placed branches. With 43 million accounts across its brokerage and banking divisions, this strategy is designed to poach assets from competitors and seamlessly graduate non-UHNW clients into higher-end, enhanced service accounts.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) plans to grow its US banking operations by acquiring highly sought-after wealth-management firms, per Private Banker International. According to CEO Dave McKay, the bank wants advisers who can attract new clients as well as firms that bring in sweep deposits, which will strengthen RBC’s funding base. With this strategy, RBC intends to build, scale, and deepen client relationships quickly, leveraging existing capital strength. But because the US wealth market is very competitive, RBC must prioritize building its US brand recognition to bolster its chance of post-acquisition success.
Consumers are taking control of their shopping journeys and redefining brand engagement. Heidi Waldusky of Quad joins EMARKETER’s Arielle Feger to discuss how marketers can build trust, create cross-channel stories, and connect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Horizon Media and Havas are teaming up in a new $20 billion joint venture, Horizon Global, designed to add scale without a full merger. Headquartered in New York, the entity will focus on U.S.-centric global accounts while Horizon and Havas continue operating independently. Horizon Global unites Horizon’s Blu platform and Havas’ Converged.AI into a new system called BluConverged, billed as the first AI-native media network. The move comes as Omnicom and Interpublic finalize a $13.5 billion merger, intensifying competition across the agency sector. Horizon Global offers clients a more flexible, performance-based alternative to mega-holdcos weighed down by bureaucracy.
Whole Foods has cut prices on more than a quarter of its products in the past year, including over 1,000 private-label items, its chief merchandising and marketing officer said at Groceryshop, per Modern Retail. Weekly promotions and deals tied to specific days reinforce the value push. The retailer needs to prove that “premium” and “value” aren’t mutually exclusive. By doubling down on price investments, amplifying Prime-member discounts, and leaning into convenient, high-quality prepared foods, the grocer can reframe itself as both aspirational and accessible.
DoorDash unveiled a host of features designed to make its services stickier for both businesses and customers. DoorDash’s fulfillment updates position the platform as a stronger partner for the many retailers trying to keep pace with Amazon and Walmart on delivery speed. At the same time, the company’s latest features show the pressures of competing with Uber and Instacart, both of which are adding more retailers to their platforms while courting customers with broader perks.
Telehealth company LifeMD is partnering with Novo Nordisk to offer diabetes patients Ozempic for $499 per month. GLP-1 price wars are taking place between drugmakers and online healthcare companies still selling compounded weight loss medications. Novo’s and Lilly’s branded drugs have the stamp of FDA approval in their favor, but many cost-conscious consumers paying out of pocket will still opt for the cheaper compounded GLP-1s (~$200 per month) through telehealth platforms like Hims & Hers.
The Trump administration is rolling out its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) prescription drug website called TrumpRx.com for Americans to purchase some prescriptions at lower negotiated rates. It’s also inked a specific deal with Pfizer to cut many of its drug prices by 40% or more, and in turn, receive a three-year delay on tariffs. Pharma companies are technically meeting Trump demands with D2C announcements, but the initial moves may not be enough to satisfy policymakers or consumers.
The COVID-19 flexibilities that provided doctor reimbursement for virtual care expired on September 30. Healthcare providers and their marketers who deliver telehealth to Medicare members must keep their patients up to speed with how their care might be affected due to Congressional inaction. They should contact seniors by phone or text to confirm medication refill needs and be available for any additional questions. Practices could turn to social media platforms like Facebook for more general messaging, such as resources that connect seniors with low-cost transportation services or mobility assistance programs that may help folks get to a doctor’s office.
The FDA’s recent crackdown on pharma TV advertising could disproportionately affect Black, Hispanic, and Asian consumers, per a recent Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) report. President Trump recently directed federal health agencies to increase pharma TV advertising enforcement and to change rules to make drugmakers disclose every side effect. Pharma marketers would have to change the ads, spend extensive time and money to change them, or pull them off the air. Marketers and agencies need to think about shifting budgets to digital channels, especially social media and influencer marketing, which are also valuable information health sources for Black, Hispanic and Asian consumers.
Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) is becoming an increasingly important part of the connected TV (CTV) landscape as audience interest skyrockets, per a new Wurl study. Brands can view FAST as a core part of the CTV media mix, leveraging early-adopter advantages while continuing to invest in paid subscription services like Netflix that have lower churn rates.
Pause ads are proving their potential in the crowded connected TV (CTV) landscape after marketing service Wunderkind Ads saw massive success with a pause ad campaign for jewelry brand Zales. Pause ads are proving to be one of the most promising CTV innovations yet, and advertisers who haven’t experimented with the format should tap in—but must also understand what makes these ads work.
Bad Bunny will make history at Super Bowl LX as the first artist to perform a halftime show entirely in Spanish. The move comes as Hispanics emerge as the nation’s most engaged digital video audience, with 83.7% penetration and nearly 56 million monthly viewers. It also arrives at a politically charged moment: Bad Bunny has openly criticized Trump-era policies, endorsed Kamala Harris, and refused to tour the US over ICE concerns. For brands, his Spanish-only set underscores the growing importance of bilingual and Latino audiences in media and marketing.