At this point in the cannabis timeline, it’s simpler to count the number of U.S. states that haven’t legalized the plant–it’s 14, for the record–than to tally those that allow medical sales, recreational use or both. And with that broad reach came a record-shattering green rush over the past two years, spurred by the Covid-19…
What to Expect as CES Returns to Vegas as an In-Person Conference
After going virtual last year, the largest technology trade show in North America is making an in-person comeback. The 2022 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show is set to take place in Las Vegas from Jan. 5-7, ending a day earlier than originally planned. As the world continues to navigate the ongoing pandemic, the show…
Live Sports Don’t Just Keep Linear TV Afloat—They Boost Streaming, Too
Last year’s most significant TV transaction by far occurred in March, when the NFL completed eye-popping new rights deals for all of its TV packages, worth an estimated $10 billion annually over the next decade. Not only did the agreements keep the NFL games on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and ABC–ensuring that linear TV will…
Companies Are Betting on a New Form of Conversational Commerce
As ecommerce continues to soar amid a pandemic boom, some companies are betting the next venue for selling products will be in your text messages or DMs. Startups are increasingly experimenting with how sales interactions and transactions can be conducted entirely within chat windows. These efforts are made possible by advances in AI natural language…
To Find Growth on TikTok, Marketers Need to Think Granular and Niche
Over the past two years, TikTok has triggered a fundamental reinvention of both creator culture and the way people interact online. Originally a teen haven filled with dance videos and sound-based memes, the platform’s horizons have expanded, drawing in 1 billion monthly active users across a broad range of demographics, according to company data. Early…
What Will 2022 Bring? We Don’t Know, but Zoltar Does
In 2016, a strange machine began appearing on the sidewalks of Manhattan. It was a tall wooden cabinet with glass windows, and inside, wearing a red tie and orange toupee, was the All-Seeing Trump, an animatronic character that predicted America’s future in the form of “misfortunes.” “When I’m president,” the automaton crowed at passersby, “we’re…
How a University Counselor Landed at The Hershey Company
Whether it’s ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs or iPhone emojis, stained-glass windows in a medieval cathedral or ads in a glossy magazine, humans have a long history of producing artifacts designed to communicate. As an art history major, school counselor and now marketer at a Fortune 500 company, Ryan Riess’ diverse experiences have taught him that the…
Year 3 of Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher Program Presented by SAP Hits the Ice
The National Hockey League, the NHL Players’ Association and SAP teamed up with social impact education innovator EverFi on the third year of the Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher Program Presented by SAP. Fans can go to NHL.com/MVT through March 31 to choose their favorite out of 20 nominees for Most Valuable Teacher of the…
Tumblr Restricts Access to More Sensitive Content Via Its iOS App
Tumblr is restricting access to some content via its iOS application in order for the app to remain eligible for download via the Apple App Store. The changes affect specific types of sensitive content, including personal blogs that are self-flagged as “mature.” Tumblr said in a blog post last week, “We want to make sure…
AppLovin Closes $1.05B Acquisition of MoPub From Twitter
Twitter’s sale of its MoPub mobile monetization platform to mobile application developer and technology platform AppLovin, originally revealed last October, officially closed Monday. The tab for the transaction was $1.05 billion in cash, and the MoPub platform–including advanced bidding, MoPub Marketplace and network mediation–will sunset March 31, with the MoPub dashboard and reporting available through…