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Become a Client“If there’s one thing I want my team to get right, it’s the cohesion of messages,” said Minyi Su, head of marketing at Bluemercury. “While personalized messaging is important, we need to make sure that personalization all ladders up to the same theme.” Balancing broader brand identity with customized recommendations was one of many themes Su focused on at EMARKETER’s Future of Digital Summit on Tuesday.
Translation tools are collapsing language barriers in video. YouTube rolled out multi-language audio to all creators this week, enabling English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish translations. Meta added auto-dubbing for Instagram and Facebook Reels in August. Language is the next frontier in the fight for attention. For marketers, the risk isn’t bad dubbing—it’s ignoring the opportunity. Brands that limit content to one language risk ceding global watch time and ad revenues to competitors willing to meet audiences in their own tongue.
In today’s digital era, a bank’s internal culture is public-facing. Employee experiences quickly surface through reviews and social media, directly shaping customer trust and brand perception, per The Financial Brand. A stressed, disconnected, or toxic bank culture can undermine any marketing strategy, even if it’s creative and targeted at the right customers. Assessing and addressing culture issues should be a key step of looking holistically at customer acquisition and retention strategies. Anonymous employee polls can help banks identify potential risks to customer relationships.
Consumer prices in August rose at a faster pace than in July, while a weak jobs report showed rising unemployment, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This unsavory combination points to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its September meeting next week. For customers, this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, a rate cut could make borrowing more affordable, potentially lowering the cost of mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt. This could be a much-needed reprieve for households facing rising prices for everyday goods. On the other hand, savers would lower the interest they earn on savings accounts and certificates of deposit, and banks trying to offer the most competitive rates will be risking higher deposit costs. While lower rates might spur some demand for new loans, the primary impact will be a squeeze on banks’ profitability.
American Express and UPS partnered to help ease the cost of shipping for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), per a press release. Amex and UPS’ partnership can help SMBs save on shipping costs and could make UPS a more attractive logistics partner—especially as other mailing providers, such as Korea Post, Norway and Finland’s carriers, Deutsche Post, and DHL Parcel Germany plan to stop US-bound deliveries due to confusion over duty charges and required data submissions.
Klarna Started trading on the NYSE on Wednesday under the ticker symbol KLAR. Klarna’s stock opened at $52 per share—well above anticipated levels of $35-$37 per share—and closed at $48.82. By the end of the day, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) player was valued at $17.3 billion. Klarna’s IPO outperformance signals investor hunger for major tech listings, following Circle and Figma’s standout public offerings. As Klarna moves deeper into the US BNPL market, Siemiatkowski said that different use cases between the Affirm and Klarna Cards will determine the future of each fintech player.
Leaders in fintech gathered at Finovate Fall in New York City to discuss emerging trends facing the industry. The payments industry is experiencing multiple points of disruption with agentic AI, new modalities of payments, and regulatory changes all placing pressure on ecosystem participants. Players who understand how to leverage their value during this transition period will cement their relevancy in the coming years.
Hims & Hers is expanding into a new men's health category by offering treatments for low testosterone. But it will need to navigate strict FDA oversight. The FDA has previously warned companies against exaggerated claims, stating that these treatments are only approved for men with low testosterone caused by specific medical conditions—not for general symptoms like fatigue from normal aging. Marketers must educate consumers on the FDA-approved status of their products, make it clear that a blood test will determine eligibility for a subscription, and avoid generalized messaging about the treatments' benefits for low energy or tiredness.