Wendy’s Hires McDonald’s Former CMO to Reverse a Sales Slide
Wendy’s poached Tariq Hassan from McDonald’s to fix a 7% sales drop. The real question is whether marketing can undo years of discounting.
Walmart Turns 38% Ad Growth Into Its Next Profit Engine
Walmart’s ad revenue jumped 38% and lifted its full-year outlook. Retail media is becoming the profit engine inside a thin-margin retailer, and advertisers should take note.
Jordan Brand Uses the Air Jordan 41 to Reclaim the Basketball Court
Jordan Brand’s revenue fell to $7.3 billion. The Air Jordan 41 is Nike’s answer, a performance shoe meant to prove the franchise can still win on the court.
Neutrogena’s Silence Becomes Its Loudest Statement After Hayden Panettiere’s Death
A 2015 endorsement that ended after Hayden Panettiere spoke about postpartum depression is now Neutrogena’s crisis. Its silence is not helping.
LiveRamp Shareholders Clear the Publicis Deal and Reject an $82.6 Million Payday
Ninety-two percent of LiveRamp shareholders backed the $2.2 billion Publicis takeover. They drew the line at the executives’ $82.6 million exit package.
Burger King Retook Second Place by Committing to One Idea
Burger King spent years winning trophies and losing customers. Then it stopped trying to be clever, and the sales followed.
Adidas Won the World Cup and Still Missed on Profit
Adidas sold 17 million jerseys and posted record sales off the World Cup. Then its stock fell 16%. The gap between the two is the real story.
Sephora Is Putting Another Retailer’s Name on Its Own Shelves
Sephora exited Korea in 2024. On August 20 it hands more than 500 US stores a Korean retailer’s curation, running under that retailer’s own name.
Miu Miu Still Owns the Culture and No Longer Owns the Growth
Miu Miu cast Hailey Bieber for fall in the same fortnight its sales growth came in at 2.5%. The campaign answers a problem the numbers had just posed.
Adidas Won the World Cup and Lost the Market
Adidas sold four times more jerseys than in Qatar and still watched its stock post the worst day in company history.
Musk Dropped the Ad Boycott Lawsuit After It Already Worked
X walked away from the case. GARM is still closed, the FTC is still investigating, and brand safety is now a solo decision.
Unilever Spent Its Way Back to Growth
Unilever’s best volume quarter since 2010 followed a decision to push marketing back to 16% of turnover. The market repriced the stock within hours.