Old Navy wants to stand out for consumers with convenience, now offering same-day delivery on items including jeans, beanies, and dress shoes through DoorDash. “It’s a classic win-win,” said Nishith Rastogi, founder and CEO of Locus, a logistics tech provider recently acquired by IKEA parent company Ingka Group. “The retailer gets speed, and the platform gets density and stronger utilization across its network.”

PNC’s redesigned app, launching in H1 2026, will include “incremental functionality.” The bank hinted at digital direct deposit switching and instant debit card issuance. The new app is a culmination of several years’ worth of work replatforming digital banking. PNC’s aggressive strategy for branch banking includes deploying $2 billion on more than 300 new or renovated branches through 2030 and hiring 2,000 people to support them. When executed well, branch investments should pay off with increased brand awareness and more sales across channels.

Bank of America (BofA) is recommending that clients allocate up to 4% of their portfolios to crypto, a more crypto-forward stance than previously and one that clicks with demographic trends. What seems like a minor change to investment policies further legitimizes crypto as a mainstream asset and will have a long-term positive impact for BofA. Other banks should be prepared to do the same: Crypto as an investment is no longer niche, and institutions that don’t adapt will be left behind.

Agencies tell Digiday that The Trade Desk (TTD) is softening its long-held stance on pricing, opening the door to fee negotiations as Amazon DSP gains traction with lower costs and competitive performance. Advertisers should revisit programmatic fee structures, elevate competitive benchmarking in annual planning, and negotiate for joint business plans that tie costs to incremental spend or measurable outcomes.

American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce campaigns helped get eyes on the brand but failed to deliver the sales lift analysts were expecting. The two campaigns combined generated over 44 billion impressions, but comparable sales for the American Eagle brand rose just 1% YoY in the quarter, missing expectations for 2.1% growth. Ultimately, American Eagle’s record Q3 revenues owed less to the high-visibility Sweeney ad and more to strong execution at its Aerie brand, where comparable sales rose 11%. While buzzy celebrity-led campaigns can help restore brand relevance, their impact will be fleeting if companies’ merchandising and product availability fall short.

Microsoft is lowering its expectations for enterprise AI revenues as customer spending proves more cautious than anticipated. It reduced its sales quotas for AI software after many reps missed sales growth goals for the fiscal year that ended in June, per The Information. The problem could stem from clients’ challenges in measuring ROI from AI initiatives and determining savings from automating tasks. Competition to prove product value is intensifying, and Microsoft’s softening expectations for sales suggest that AI isn’t a guaranteed revenue engine. This lowered forecast marks both cautious customer spending and a shift toward value-driven AI adoption over experimentation.

NBC News is introducing an ad-free, subscription-based streaming platform that consolidates its full lineup of content, spanning linear broadcasts, podcasts, live channels from NBC-owned stations, and original exclusive reports, into a single application, per Variety. Multiple platforms appeal to user preferences but cause more difficulties for advertisers who are struggling with an increasingly fragmented TV ecosystem.

Despite recent rumors and leaks, ChatGPT doesn’t run any ads today, not even for free users—but a viral Peloton “recommendation” sparked confusion and backlash while offering a possible preview of how OpenAI could eventually weave advertising into ChatGPT. The incident coincided with reports that OpenAI has been testing ad placements in its Android beta. The recent leaks, rumors, and glitches give advertisers—and competitors—insights on how ads are likely to appear in ChatGPT’s interface and competing AI chatbots. Understanding the context of AI chats and finding non-intrusive placements could require an entirely different toolset than existing ad models.

TikTok Shop’s US GMV exceeded $500 million from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, fueled by a nearly 50% jump in shoppers and rapid momentum in livestream commerce. Brands and sellers using livestreams saw 84% sales growth as viewers engaged with more than 760,000 sessions generating 1.6 billion views, a trend amplified by major influencers like Kim Kardashian. Other platforms, including Whatnot, also posted strong holiday results, signaling growing comfort with live buying. The data points to TikTok Shop’s accelerating scale and suggests it is well positioned to capture a larger share of holiday spending as more major brands join the platform.

San Francisco’s city attorney sued 10 major foodmakers, including Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, and Mondelez, over their production and marketing of ultraprocessed foods. This marks the first governmental lawsuit over ultraprocessed products, escalating the regulatory and public pressure food companies face to cut additives and make their assortments healthier. Foodmakers will need to change their manufacturing and marketing practices as public opinion turns against ultraprocessed foods and governments—both local and federal—begin to exert more pressure.

Midmarket department stores entered the holiday season with surprising momentum after strong Q3 results, prompting Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Dillard’s to raise their outlooks. But the improvement comes amid a strained consumer environment as low- and middle-income shoppers remain cautious. Softer Black Friday traffic and growing shifts toward off-price chains signal ongoing pressure. The results suggest that despite signs of progress, these retailers must sharpen their value proposition to compete more effectively for value-seeking consumers in the months ahead.

Svedka is planning an AI-forward ad for the 2026 Super Bowl as brands continue to test consumers’ appetite for AI-powered ad experiences. The alcohol company will use AI to portray its previously retired “Fembot” robot mascot, which the brand dropped 12 years ago, per The Wall Street Journal. Svedka’s and Coca-Cola’s AI-powered campaigns mark how quickly major brands are moving into AI despite mixed reactions to earlier tests. A Super Bowl ad is a high-stakes, high-cost, and high-scrutiny moment, and using AI in that space suggests brands believe consumer sentiment is turning in their favor.

Google is leaning hard into hyper-personalization as its key advantage in AI, and its secret weapon is decades of user data across Gmail, Maps, Photos, Chrome, YouTube, and Nest, per TechCrunch. Google Search vice president Robby Stein says advice-seeking queries are rising, and subjective questions benefit most from AI that “knows you.” Discovery is shifting from keyword inputs to content-rich multimodal signals, and brands can anticipate this by treating Gemini as one channel in a broader mix.

Among patients newly prescribed GLP-1s for obesity, 90% either never start therapy or discontinue within a year. Novo and Lilly are using their direct-to-consumer online pharmacies to improve adherence, giving them clearer insight into why patients don’t fill or refill prescriptions to offer targeted support. Beyond that, drugmakers should work with their telehealth partners and pharmacies to give patients resources on managing side effects, navigating insurance issues, and understanding why maintenance dosing remains important after achieving some weight loss.

US small businesses largely missed out on the record Big Five shopping, per a Fiserv press release. Issuers and payment providers should look to boost their local merchants’ sales and consumers’ spending by making it easier to shop small. Local neighborhood networks like Square Neighborhood and Bilt’s local deals can encourage SMB spending in consumers’ stomping grounds. Integrated BNPL offers may also entice spending from young consumers who are adverse to the perceived risks of revolving credit or are locked out from traditional lines.

Canada’s Laurentian Bank agreed to break apart and sell itself after years of lackluster performance. National Bank of Canada will buy Laurentian’s consumer and small business banking portfolios at book value. Laurentian struggled to differentiate itself favorably. And its lack of scale means it hasn’t had the resources to modernize its infrastructure and operations or grow beyond its home market of Quebec. With the breakup of banks, the list of large financial institutions in Canada is shrinking, and the largest are only getting bigger.

Exclusive survey findings benchmark retail media network structures, capabilities, and priorities as the landscape continues to take shape.​

YouTube and NBCUniversal are doubling down on creator-led Olympic storytelling for Milano Cortina 2026 after Paris proved how strongly younger viewers gravitate toward digital personalities. Top YouTubers will chronicle the journeys of 40 Team USA athletes, with unprecedented access inside trials, training environments, and even the Athlete Village. Nearly half of global sports fans—and 59% of adults ages 18 to 44—follow sports influencers, while YouTube captured 17% of all global Olympic engagement in 2024. For marketers, creators now sit at the center of Olympic discovery, highlights, and cultural relevance, making YouTube indispensable to Games-era planning.

Marketing professionals see AI leading to several shifts in consumer behavior that will greatly impact the fundamentals of digital advertising in the next 2 to 3 years, per a Funnel and Ravn Research study of in-house marketers and agency professionals. As AI reshapes digital and search advertising, the brands that thrive will be those who seize the opportunities presented by AI-driven changes.

Disney is moving toward a long-awaited CEO transition, aiming to name Bob Iger’s successor in early 2026 after years of instability. Top internal contenders Josh D’Amaro and Dana Walden have already presented long-range strategies, with the winner set to shadow Iger until his contract ends. The next chief will inherit rising streaming expectations, a $60 billion global parks expansion, and the challenge of reviving major film franchises while managing the decline of linear TV. EMARKETER data shows Disney+ and Hulu subscription revenues will keep rising through 2027, but with slowing growth—raising the stakes for a leader who can execute creatively and operationally.

This year’s standout merch campaigns show why branded products are having a moment, not as giveaways, but as attention engines. From pop culture sparks to sustainability and event-driven personalization, the examples demonstrate what makes merch work when digital noise is at its loudest.

More than half of US holiday shoppers (55%) plan to make purchases online, according to an October 2025 survey from the National Retail Federation.

Cyber Monday generated a record $14.25 billion in US online sales, rising 7.1% year over year and slightly surpassing expectations despite a Shopify outage. Strong momentum carried through the Cyber Five period, highlighted by a 9.1% Black Friday jump, while inflation steered shoppers toward categories like electronics, apparel, and furniture. BNPL usage hit an all-time high with $1.03 billion in spending, and mobile devices drove most purchases at 57.5%. The season’s performance underscores resilient demand but also a more price-sensitive consumer increasingly reliant on value and flexible payment options.