In today’s episode, we talk about how AI has changed finserv’s approach to advertising and which areas of bank marketing will be affected the most. Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development Rob Rubin, Analysts Lauren Ashcraft and Jacob Bourne.
The news: Fortnite-maker Epic Games settled its antitrust lawsuit against Samsung, ending claims that Samsung and Google blocked rival app stores, per Bloomberg. Epic had accused Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” of preventing third-party app store downloads, alleging collusion with Google. Samsung and Google previously denied wrongdoing, calling Epic’s claims “baseless” and “meritless.” Our take: With Epic’s continued disruption of app store ecosystems, marketers should prepare for a fragmented but freer market—alternative app stores allow more control over promotions, subscriptions, and bundled offerings.
The news: Bluesky added customizable notifications and activity alerts, helping users avoid notification fatigue and letting marketers reach more engaged audiences. Our take: If Bluesky continues building tools that prioritize user control and low-noise engagement, it could challenge X and Threads, especially among tech-savvy audiences who crave customization. Marketers should tailor content for small, more intentional user circles to increase the likelihood of notification subscriptions. This new feature highlights the importance of brand presence and engagement on Bluesky.
The news: Meta poached Apple’s top AI/ML engineer, Ruoming Pang, with a multimillion-dollar offer—marking another major hire for its fast-growing Superintelligence Labs (MSL), per Bloomberg. Our take: MSL’s AI breakthroughs will likely funnel into Meta’s core products—ads, targeting, automation, and content moderation. AI-powered Meta ads are already delivering almost 22% higher returns than average Meta ads, per The Drum. Advertisers should track how Meta’s talent advantage could enhance ad personalization and ROI. Start stress-testing campaigns with Meta’s AI tools now—before they evolve further—and align campaigns to AI-native ad products.
The news: Retail media infrastructure firm Topsort is helping major retailers like Woolworths, Kohl’s, and Magalu grow ad revenues by 60% in a single month, per CEO Regina Ye. Topsort’s Data Genie tool converts billions of data points into instant insights and replaces legacy analytics systems that delay campaign execution. Our take: With budget exhaustion, measurement complexity, and system fragmentation among top buyer complaints, retailers are eager to modernize. Topsort’s AI-powered tools offer transparency, speed, and flexibility—values that align closely with where the market is heading. The bigger question: Will fall product updates bring true interoperability or further entrench silos?
The situation: A cloud of uncertainty has hung over the US economy since the Trump administration’s April 9 pause of so-called reciprocal tariffs. That’s made it difficult for retailers and brands to plan for the short and medium term. The outlook is now poised to grow even murkier. President Donald Trump extended the pause period—originally set to expire on Wednesday—until August 1. At the same time, he announced new 25% tariffs on imports from South Korea and Japan, also taking effect August 1, along with steep additional levies on other countries. Our take: With companies planning to pass on about 70% of the cost of levies to consumers via higher prices, it’s no surprise that we expect tariffs to take a meaningful bite out of retail sales this year—whether we remain in the moderate scenario or shift into a heavier one. In such a dynamic environment, retailers and brands should rely on scenario modeling that accounts for a range of possible futures. They can hope for the best but plan for the worst to ensure they’re ready to adapt to whatever twists lie ahead.
The news: AI-powered search tools, including large-language models (LLMs) used by Perplexity and other AI companies, increasingly deliver unreliable data. Our take: Audit your AI stack. Don’t rely on outputs alone—verify the provenance of AI-generated data and prioritize tools trained on verified, high-integrity sources. Vet vendors based on transparency, update cycles, and data hygiene. If you’re using AI for decision-making, demand traceable accountability—because “good enough” answers can quickly become costly mistakes.
The news: AI-assisted content now dominates Google’s top search results, but pure AI rarely ranks No. 1, according to an Ahrefs analysis of 600,000 pages across 100,000 keywords. It found that most top-ranking content includes some AI input, but only 13.5% was purely human-written. Key takeaway: Google doesn’t care who wrote the content, only whether it’s of good quality. Marketers should use AI to move faster but rely on human oversight to ensure clarity, credibility, and connection. Optimizing content for authenticity, brand voice, and user engagement—as well as generative engine optimization (GEO)—could lead to higher rankings.
The news: TikTok is reportedly exploring a US-only version of the app amid ongoing discussions of a US ban and selloff, per The Information. The new app is said to align with the requirements of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Our take: A US-specific app would allow TikTok to potentially regain advertiser confidence in a critical market—but the new app’s success depends on how a new algorithm would impact the user experience.
The news: US ad employment continued its downward trend in June, with jobs in advertising, public relations, and related fields decreasing by 700 jobs, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. The decrease marks the seventh consecutive month of ad industry job losses, per Ad Age. Our take: Rather than a temporary slump, declining ad employment is marking a structural shift that risks prioritizing cost-cutting and short-term efficiency over human insight and brand-building expertise.
Over a third (34.5%) of US B2B enterprise marketers believe there will be greater pressure to prove every dollar’s ROI in real-time in the coming year, according to a March 2025 survey from EMARKETER and StackAdapt.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the second biggest digital ad player’s (Meta) vision for the future of ads, if it will lead to money saved or more commercials, and why the 30-second AI-made TV ad for Kalshi matters more than most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
A new framework for gaming ads from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) might finally help marketers take full advantage of the highly engaged gamer audience.
The news: Streaming has officially surpassed pay TV in the US, with 50.4% of households no longer subscribing to cable or satellite, per our forecast. But streaming’s ad experience still has work to do. Hub Research finds two-thirds of viewers prefer live TV ad breaks over those in on-demand streaming, and Gen Z remains the least likely to adopt ad-supported tiers. Our take: Streaming isn’t a free pass to interrupt. Gen Z demands relevance, brevity, and control—meaning streaming platforms must reengineer how, when, and where they serve ads. The format must evolve if AVOD is to survive the next wave of viewer expectations.
The opportunity: Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom are gaining ground while some of their luxury rivals stumble. Our take: Execution matters—especially in a luxury market where consumers are increasingly anxious about the economy. These shoppers have little tolerance for poor experiences, operational missteps, or inventory gaps. Retailers that deliver consistency, trust, and seamless service will be best positioned to retain loyalty and capture share.
The commerce media space is growing fast, and as it gets more crowded, it’s becoming harder to keep up with the retail media giants. But by teaming up, smaller players can more easily scale their networks to achieve the reach to stay competitive.
The news: Wegmans added Instacart’s Caper Carts—AI-powered smart carts—to a store in Syracuse, New York. Our take: Wegmans has staked its brand on exceptional customer service.
The news: Changes to Amex’s and Chase’s credit card welcome offers do away with guaranteed points for new cardholders, per CNET. Our take: Amex and Chase are trying to maximize their marketing appeal while also limiting their rewards costs.
The news: Credit card delinquencies have sunk to their lowest levels in two years, within striking distance of pre-pandemic levels, per data from VantageScore’s Credit Gauge. Our take: Fewer issuers are tightening their credit card lending standards, but those looking to gain sign ups face troubled waters—consumer demand for credit cards fell in April by the most since the early days of the pandemic, per the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Survey.
The news: Deutsche Bank plans to launch a digital asset custody service next year, which would allow clients to securely store cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets. It initially announced its custody plans in 2022. Our take: These two German banks’ announcements signal growing confidence among European financial institutions in embracing digital assets. We expect more of them to follow suit in the coming year.The trend could also pick up pace in the US amid a favorable environment: Several major US banks already offer crypto asset services, but recent developments like the withdrawal of previous cautionary guidance by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could spur more major US banks to jump in.