Marketing

AIG’s broad coverage gives it an edge, but bigger projects could test even its underwriting limits.

Lower thresholds widen discovery, giving brands another way to vet partners beyond follower counts.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three biggest questions surrounding Spotify right now: Why is there a disconnect between Spotify’s ad-supported revenue and its ad-supported users? Will podcast advertising provide another wave of growth? Can Spotify generate meaningful supplementary revenue from its new “Reserved” ticketing service in partnership with Live Nation? And more. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Editor Daniel Konstantinovic. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Bombas has distributed millions of pairs of socks through Soles4Souls' network since 2018, scaling fast without loosening its mission-driven commitments. Kelly Cobb, vice president of impact at Bombas, joined Teaster to discuss what separates enduring partnerships from one-off campaigns.

Gift-giving travelers are an increasingly captive audience for brands this upcoming holiday season. Watch and accessories brand Fossil tapped into this group successfully last year, and more brands will likely follow as travel media networks mature. US travel media ad spending is expected to reach $2.39 billion in 2026, up 22.9% YoY, according to EMARKETER's June forecast. While travel media’s share of commerce media is declining due to a concentration of endemic travel brands, according to EMARKETER analysis, Fossil’s positive results indicate that travelers are open to shopping, especially around the holidays and other high-volume travel periods. Reaching holiday travelers at major hubs In Q4 of last year, Fossil executed a travel media campaign in six major airport hubs, including New York (LaGuardia Airport), Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago. The mix included in-flight Wi-Fi on JetBlue and American Airlines, in-stream video at airports, and a “virtual holiday pop-up store.” Fossil also amplified the campaign on Instagram and TikTok. Digital Culture Group (DCG) managed multiple arms of the campaign, in collaboration with media agency Assembly and ReachTV.

As satisfaction falls, retailers that keep prices and experiences aligned can win shoppers back.

A playful campaign highlights the tradeoffs of bargain shopping, but stronger differentiation is needed to win back customers.

Protein-focused RXBAR and Quest top their category in EMARKETER’s inaugural US Food and Beverage AI Visibility Index, giving them an edge over general nutrition brands in a high-demand category.

Its airport lounge plan tests whether mobile-first customers value owned experiences enough to open accounts.

Reddit’s AI appeal creates a marketing trap: The tactics meant to earn LLM visibility could erode the human content that makes Reddit valuable.

AI ad tracking gets more transparent: A new Similarweb tool reveals ad context and competitors, which could help marketers make smarter budget decisions.

Retailer-native AI assistants will drive 54.1% of US AI-driven retail ecommerce sales in 2026, keeping retailers ahead of general-purpose AI platforms through 2030, according to a July report from EMARKETER.

Unwell joins other celebrity-backed brands that won attention but could not sustain sales.

Issuer FMNs have an opportunity to turn data insights into more personalized rewards.

Financial guidance starts on digital platforms, giving banks a chance to build credibility before decision-making.

Record results suggest its Latin America growth strategy can travel, priming it for US expansion.

The old athlete-brand relationship playbook is changing quickly as athletes become creators. Instead of waiting for networks or press offices to shape their narrative, athletes are building the studio themselves, streaming from on their smartphones, with no scripts in sight on platforms like Amazon’s live-streaming service Twitch. When WNBA stars Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman turned the 2026 All-Star Weekend into a 72-hour Twitch livestream with a peak audience of 36,000 concurrent viewers, or when former Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown processed a trade to the 76ers with nearly 30,000 viewers, they were doing more than traditional press hits. They were talking directly to their fandom and sponsors followed.

Despite early sales like June’s Amazon Prime Day, back-to-school is skewing later this year, making for an extended season. Less than half (48%) of planned spending was expected to wrap up by the end of July.

But unsuccessful efforts to apply the same playbook to Kate Spade challenge the company's long-term prospects.