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MARCH 9, 2026 |
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In this edition: |
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TOP STORY |
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Gap Inc. is betting big on entertainment as a path to cultural relevance, creating a new chief entertainment officer role dedicated to what it calls "fashiontainment,” a strategy that blurs the lines between content creation and commerce through partnerships across music, film, sports, and gaming. |
"CEO Richard Dixon has been tasked with reinvigorating the Gap brand, as well as the other brands, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta," said our analyst Sky Canaves on a recent " Reimagining Retail" episode. The move follows Dixon's successful turnaround at Mattel, where the "Barbie" movie became a cultural phenomenon that drove brand affinity and sales. |
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IN THE NEWS |
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Off-price retailers go full steam ahead in 2026. Off-price retailers TJX, Ross Stores, and Burlington Stores are bullish about this year after strong performances in the holiday quarter. |
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Walmart, Amazon say AI boosts ecommerce sales. AI shopping assistants are driving ecommerce sales at Walmart and Amazon, according to executives from both retailers. |
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Holiday sales will underperform full-years results for a second straight year. We expect holiday sales growth to trail the broader market for the second straight year—an unusual pattern, as sales typically accelerate in the fourth quarter. |
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ANALYSIS |
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As more media dollars move into streaming, the gap between what connected TV (CTV) is supposed to deliver and what marketers can actually prove is becoming harder to ignore. Fragmentation, limited transparency, and inconsistent measurement are no longer theoretical challenges: They are the barriers slowing real budget shifts. |
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“The fragmentation that you see as a consumer, to lay that on a marketer from the other side of the equation makes it just as hard to understand,” said Mike Treon, head of CTV and video strategy at PMG, during Olyzon’s The Rise of TV Decisioning event last week. |
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QUIZ |
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How many sellers are currently offering $20-and-under products on Amazon Haul, Amazon’s direct-from-China competitor to Shein and Temu, according to Marketplace Pulse? |
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A) 459 B) 1,421 C) 3,287 D) 8,852 |
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