Gadjo Sevilla

Gen X, the generation between baby boomers and millennials, leads all generations in global spending and household income, yet most brand messaging passes them by. As economic pressure constrains younger consumers' budgets, marketers are rediscovering the cohort with the most reliable purchasing power. This FAQ covers Gen X's spending power, digital behavior, and what authentic marketing to this generation looks like in 2026.

Article Aug 21, 2026 Microdramas, the serialized vertical videos with episodes of one to two minutes, have moved from a Chinese app phenomenon to a mainstream US media habit.

SMS marketing is permission-based brand communication sent by text message, spanning promotional alerts, restock and shipping notifications, loyalty updates, and conversational two-way messaging. It sits alongside email as a core owned channel, with newer messaging formats like RCS and WhatsApp extending the same playbook to richer interfaces. The channel's defining trait is immediacy: texts occupy the most personal inbox consumers have, which makes both the reach and the intrusion risk higher than any other owned channel. Because access depends entirely on opt-in consent, and in the US on compliance requirements such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), SMS programs live or die on the value exchange brands offer subscribers.

Lenovo's run as FIFA's official technology partner was more than a branding play, it was also a live demo of AI infrastructure and scale that the company can now bring straight into enterprise sales conversations, according to North America President Ryan McCurdy.

Mike and Ike will also be a presenting sponsor for a major Dignitas Fortnite tournament, “Flavor Brawl,” held in October. This tournament will be hosted by esports streamer AussieAntics on his Twitch channel. The broadcast will include custom Mike and Ike brand integration, according to the company.

TikTok Shop has graduated from a social commerce experiment into the top player in a space that stumped every other US social network, and its future is now settled under domestic ownership. For brands, the opportunity is real but the playbook is unfamiliar: creator-led content drives the sales, margins are thin, and the platform's biggest benefit often shows up off-platform. This FAQ covers TikTok Shop's scale, what sells, why creators are central, the profitability math, and how brands should approach it in 2026.

Retail security is in the middle of a quiet but fundamental shift. For decades, cameras and alarms told retailers what had already gone wrong. Now, AI can push that same infrastructure forward by telling retailers what is going wrong right now, while there's still time for them to act.

Article Aug 27, 2026 Lenovo's North America president, Ryan McCurdy, says the AI supply constraints squeezing the industry aren't a warning sign but proof the demand curve is real.

Signs point to the broader "touch grass" shifts elsewhere, from phone-free events to Gen Z's own efforts to cut screen time while engaging in phone-free concerts and venues.

For decades, brand visibility at the US Open tennis championship meant courtside signage, broadcast ads, and athlete endorsement deals. That formula is being rewritten to consider when and how creators enter the pictures, according to John Hu, co-founder of Stan, an agency that works with 90,000 creator entrepreneurs and influencers across verticals.