59% of US teens ages 13-17 say they have used ChatGPT, meaning a majority of the next generation of consumers is already turning to AI chatbots, according to a December report from Pew Research Center.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how social platforms became such an important touchpoint for retail, what retailers have done to make social commerce feel like real retail, how creators are evolving from marketing vehicles into platform storefronts for brands, and more. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, and Senior Analysts Carina Lamb and Minda Smiley.
Instagram is reportedly expanding Meta's ecosystem with Instants, a Snapchat-style app that would add inventory and reach, reinforcing Meta’s ad dominance.
Roundel joins OpenAI’s pilot to capture high-intent AI shopping moments.
Amazon’s Twitch platform is testing pause ads as 51% of viewers act on them, betting on less intrusive formats to drive livestream reach.
Most AI users feel more productive, but faster cycles raise intensity, multitasking, and hidden strain.
Half its founding team is gone, raising doubts about Grok’s pace as rivals lock in enterprise AI deals.
Early ChatGPT ads favor learning over ROI; high CPMs and limited measurement skew participation toward brands buying influence and insight.
Hasbro shows the upside of franchise fit and timing as industry growth slows.
Henrique Braun wants faster, market-level launches to unlock new beverage growth.
Big linear TV won’t wow all viewers, but the massive reach can still drive research, provider talks, and care.
Record subscriptions and better-than-expected revenues boosted shares 15%, but users—not ads—are still doing the heavy lifting
Meta spent heavily on unskippable TV to sell teen safety, treating paid media as reputation risk management.
Racial representation in Super Bowl ads rose versus last year but lagged behind 2024, while celebrities skewed white and LGBTQ visibility fell again.
Allbirds and Warby Parker built their brands as digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs), cutting out the middleman to offer lower-priced products directly to consumers. Now, they’re confronting many of the same challenges as legacy brands: slowing ecommerce growth, rising customer acquisition costs, and an increasingly crowded competitive landscape.
Dollar General's retail media network DG Media Network is leveraging its massive physical footprint and growing digital capabilities to create a unique offering for advertisers seeking to reach rural and suburban America.
Fan remixes are turning into an attention engine, and brands that design for reinterpretation stand to win.
Algorithms now shape most ad spend: Decisioning is expanding beyond targeting, increasing scale while adding opacity across planning, execution, and measurement.