The trend: People who actively use patient portals are less likely to skip an upcoming doctor’s appointment than those without portal accounts, according to recent research from Epic that analyzed 1.6 billion visits in 2024. Our take: Engaging with a patient portal is important, but it isn’t a major needle mover for appointment no-shows. Strategies such as helping coordinate transportation, sending text and email alerts, and communicating no-show fees could play a bigger role in eliminating costly no-shows.
The news: Abbott and Johnson & Johnson reported lower-than-expected costs from tariffs during Q2 earnings this week. Our take: It seemed like medical device companies would be the hardest hit by tariffs initially. So the positive spin from Abbott and J&J is encouraging. But tariffs are still costly. While device and diagnostic companies talk broadly about plans to mitigate tariff effects, raising prices for healthcare systems and consumers isn’t off the table.
The news: An FDA panel endorsed the removal of black box warnings on hormone therapies used for menopause. For context: Black box warnings are the strongest safety warning issued by the FDA for Rx drugs and highlight serious or life-threatening risks. Our take: Removing the black box warning could encourage pharma brands to not only develop more treatments but also market hormone therapy more. While personal risks and benefits still need to be weighed with a doctor, the change may result in more women on treatment.
The big idea: Pharma marketers should pivot away from TV advertising even if the government doesn’t implement a ban on D2C drug ads. Our take: Pharma is a unique industry that still benefits from linear TV. However, more drug brands should consider D2C online platforms that serve as quasi substitutes to TV commercials at a much lower cost, plus channels like influencer partnerships.
The news: YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok each offer unique advantages and drawbacks for gamer ad reach, per HypeAuditor’s 2025 State of Gaming report. Choosing the right platform depends on what kind of impact marketers want to make. Our take: Marketers should boost campaign performance with influencer partnerships on these platforms since creators often understand their audience better than companies do. Track success platform by platform to help tailor ad strategies, capitalize on UGC, and maximize return on investment.
The insights: Generation X leads in consumer spending, and tech industry marketers may be missing out on a key opportunity, especially this holiday season. Gen Xers worldwide will spend $15.2 trillion in 2025—more than any other generation—per NielsenIQ’s The X Factor report. 25% of UK Gen Xers plan to spend more than £500 ($639) on Christmas gifts this year, per Azerion, while only 1% of Gen Zers say they will spend that much. Our take: This is marketers’ cue to lean into smarter personalization, digital experiences, and loyalty programs that appeal to Gen X’s tech-savvy, open-minded style, and their outsized influence on household spending. Dedicated strategies to target Gen X now will drive growth while spending power is at its peak.
The news: Audioboom agreed to acquire Adelicious, potentially creating the UK’s largest homegrown podcast network with 125 million monthly downloads, per Podnews. The deal will cement Audioboom’s expansion and amplify its global reach through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major platforms. Our take: As podcasting shifts from a fragmented space to a few dominant networks, smaller creators risk losing ad revenue and visibility. Advertisers that balance buys across major platforms and independent shows will stretch their budgets further—and stay closer to engaged, loyal audiences.
The news: CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, an announcement the titular host made during taping for his Thursday show, sparking controversy and speculation. The move came days after Colbert criticized CBS parent company Paramount on air, saying it paid a “big fat bribe” when settling a lawsuit with Trump worth $16 million. Our take: Though politics and Paramount’s sink-or-swim pending merger may have influenced the swiftness of “The Late Show” cancellation, the ultimate cause likely boils down to the traditional TV model floundering.
The news: The connected TV (CTV) market is in flux as retail giants Amazon and Walmart escalate their fight for dominance—staking claims not just on content or devices, but on the operating systems themselves. Our take: Amazon and Walmart are racing to close the gap between attention and action. Controlling TV hardware and CTV operating systems while linking them to first-party retail data helps build seamless, closed-loop ad ecosystems where viewers can become buyers in a click. To stay competitive, marketers must optimize for closed-loop attribution, prioritize retail media integrations, and treat smart TVs as both screen and storefront as retail media and CTV ad spending surge.
In this podcast episode, we discuss the importance of physical touchpoints for brands and explore what attracts younger generations to in-store shopping experiences. We also examine the expectations consumers have for engaging in person experiences. Join our conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Chief Client Strategy & Integration; President of Quad Agency Services, Tim Maleeny, and Vice President of Content, Suzy Davidkhanian. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The split screen: There’s a growing divide between affluent consumers and everyone else. Our take: It’s tempting to look at top-line numbers—like June retail sales—and assume the economy is holding steady. But much of the resilience is concentrated at the top. Moody’s estimates the wealthiest 10% of households—those earning $250,000 or more—now account for half of all US consumer spending, up from about one-third in the early 1990s. That dynamic helps explain why luxury brands like Burberry and RH continue to post gains, while value-focused chains like McDonald’s are seeing signs of softening demand. As inequality widens and economic anxiety builds, especially amid persistent inflation and trade uncertainty, the US economy looks increasingly bifurcated.
The insight: Amazon’s decision to double the length of its Prime Day sale delivered significant rewards for its advertising business—as we said it would. The takeaway: The first four-day Prime Day was an important learning experience for brands. With the event unlikely to get any shorter, sellers will need to be more precise about their ad strategy—focusing spending on times of day when shoppers are more likely to buy, or saving the bulk of their budgets for end-of-sale urgency.
The news: Bank of America notched a record second quarter for revenues, per Bloomberg. Revenues totaled $26.61 billion, lower than analysts’ anticipated $26.72 billion. Our take: Bank of America’s tight underwriting standards—its average credit cardholder FICO score is 777—have created a strong stable of superprime cardholders to drive volume through tempting rewards offerings.
The news: Cash App rolled out an extra layer of protection for minors’ P2P payments, with automatic flagging for sponsors (parents or guardians) to approve risky requests. Our take: Attracting young users at the beginning of their financial lives can yield long-term loyalty to the app.
The news: US retail sales rose 0.6% MoM in June, per the Commerce Department, well ahead of the projected 0.1% increase. On a YoY basis, sales were up a healthy 3.9%, a sign of consumers’ resilience in the face of considerable uncertainty. Our take: June’s upbeat sales report underscores the volatility of the current retail landscape. While consumers may currently feel secure enough to manage rising prices, that could quickly change as tariff-related cost increases begin to hit more directly.
The news: Mastercard launched the World Legend Mastercard, a premium card for higher-spending customers, alongside an overhaul of rewards and perks across the entire Mastercard Collection. Our take: We anticipate that card networks will jockey for the most premium cards as issuers cater to wealthy consumers’ reward wish lists.
The news: We’ve covered the importance of life-stage banking, which demonstrates an understanding of customers’ most pressing needs and helps banks move past product-centricity. With its family-focused products, SoFi demonstrates what this strategy can look like in practice. Our take: SoFi is far from the only bank to have developed products aimed at solving target customers’ financial challenges. But its holistic approach to financial health could help it stand out when young parents are looking for the right fit for their families, especially considering its savings rate—which is well above many of its traditional competitors’. Customers' deposits are largely determined by banks’ rates, and are much more volatile than many banks assumed. Learn more by reading our article, “Customer deposits are more volatile than banks assumed: What banks can do to keep them.”
The news: Though it already offers software-as-a-service in the US, UK digital bank Starling has its sights set on a US expansion, per PYMNTS. Our take: Starling’s multi-pronged growth strategy is in line with its biggest digital competitors. We’ve recently covered multiple neobanks and fintechs pursuing or considering IPOs in the US, along with fintechs acquiring banks for licenses. But this isn't just about neobanks competing with other neobanks; it represents a direct strategic pivot by digital-native players to leverage their technology to rapidly modernize and capture customers from the traditional banking market. Such moves will inevitably intensify competitive pressure on US mid-tier and community banks, forcing them to seek fintech partnerships to avoid becoming acquisition targets themselves.
The news: Global influencer marketing is booming, with spending increasing over $8 billion this year to reach $32.55 billion, per a Later report—and smaller tier influencers are leading the charge. In an exclusive interview with EMARKETER, founder of creator company HYDP Thomas Markland discussed what trends are driving the shift and why smaller creators are making waves. Our take: As advertisers lose confidence in traditional media and creators proliferate across platforms, influencer marketing will continue making strides and driving the way forward for brands—especially those who are cost-conscious amid economic uncertainty.
The news: Most big banks reported better-than-expected profits for Q2 2025, per Reuters. Our take: These strong Q2 earnings show that big banks are capitalizing on opportunities—but they’re not letting their guard down. We’ll see that continue as banks tap new revenue streams given a relaxation of financial regulations, like JPMorgan charging fintechs for customer data. With risks like more tariffs, deficits, and geopolitical tensions looming, banks will likely stay disciplined on costs and risk exposure. To stay ahead, banks should double down on tech-driven efficiency and monetization strategies that can scale regardless of market headwinds.