Midjourney is your new physician

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Coach Productions. 

If we weren’t already convinced that brands are the new media companies after GAP hired a Chief Entertainment Officer to drive its fashiontainment strategy, Coach is now building an entire content ecosystem around its Gen Z audience. 

&Coach is an “always-on content series” that Coach is co-creating with Gen Z communities, creators, and cultural voices. The brand has already launched dedicated TikTok and Instagram accounts, showing its commitment to creating a dedicated space for media and storytelling. 

United Talent Agency’s Next Gen Practice and creative agency Marcel had a hand in building &Coach, and they have already onboarded cultural voices like pop stars Charli XCX and PinkPantheress, activist Yasmin Finney, and NASCAR driver Toni Breidinger. &Coach will be the creative arm driving Coach’s marketing and campaign work, including its recent “Explore Your Story” campaign.

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What’s Good for the Pump is Good for the POS.

Gasoline prices have cooled, so consumers are heading to stores ahead of their summer plans. The latest round of Commerce Department data shows that retail sales rose 0.9%, up from a 0.4% gain in April. Excluding gas, sales for May rose 0.7%, with apparel, accessories, and furniture all seeing gains. Ecommerce increased 1.5%. Some economists believe it’s not just lower gas prices but the long-term benefit of higher tax refunds. That means the “sugar rush” will soon wear off, which leaves them cautiously optimistic.

Fox’s Big Streaming Play is in Hardware.

The Murdochs are no strangers to streaming, but their purchase of Roku is arguably their most aggressive move yet. The $22B cash-and-stock deal will give Fox Corp access to 100M households that have cut the cable cord and now rely on Roku’s platform for all things entertainment. While Fox currently owns an ecosystem of free and premium streaming apps, its $440M acquisition of Tubi was its most significant venture to date. Now, Fox is getting into both platforms and hardware, which will allow the company to put its ads and entertainment properties in front of even more eyes and influence which brands can show up. 

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Not the Cheapest Apple in the Bunch.

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that surging costs of memory and storage chips make “price increases unavoidable.” We’re already seeing ripple effects, with the cost of the Mac Mini increasing. However, consumers may be in for major sticker shock in the fall, when Apple is expected to reveal its iPhone 18 lineup, which may include a new foldable phone.

Uber Advertising Gets Omnimodal.

We’re big believers that cross-channel presence doesn’t mean anything if you’re not creating campaigns and moments that align with consumers’ contexts. Uber Advertising is applying this philosophy through a series of new solutions designed to engage people meaningfully through the Uber and Uber Eats apps. Destination Offers allow brands to deliver incentives that consumers can redeem in-store before they even arrive. Ride Offers on Journey pair messaging with a specific benefit, creating an incentive for consumers to engage with the ad on their ride. Advertisers can now also run Brand Takeovers on Uber Eats that align with major brand moments and spotlight an offer. 

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Scripted Series Come to the Grocery Aisle.

Scripted microdramas are the new hot media channel for brands. Crocs launched “Charmed to Meet You,” a short-form romantic series timed for Valentine’s Day. Maybelline brought the stars of rom-com “Hot Frosty” together for a culturally relevant yet nostalgic holiday-themed series. Combining the short-form dopamine rushes of scrollable social media with the high-impact plot development of streaming content is creating the ultimate engagement equation.

Procter & Gamble plans to bring the model to the grocery aisle. The CPG giant is partnering with Albertsons Media Collective on a new short-form series called “Rico’s Tacos.” The 60- to 120-second episodes will feature P&G products and be embedded into the app experience. The goal, according to Lela Coffey, P&G’s VP of User Growth Acceleration in North America, is: “If we can engage them in the store…they will go into the app and theoretically watch the episode and do their shopping.” It’s scripted content and retail media, converged. Everything is an advertising platform now.

A New (Mid)journey.

Midjourney is in the midst of an organizational evolution that brings it further into the medical field than any of its peers. While OpenAI, Claude, and Google have specialized solutions for medical professionals and everyday users, Midjourney is developing a water-based scanner device. When someone enters the scanner, sensors send ultrasonic sound waves that capture terabytes of data, which are then used to create a 3D visualization of your body. This is Midjourney Medical. 

It’s very Minority Report, but Midjourney’s goal is to make it mainstream. And it’s starting with a spa, opening in San Francisco next year. The scans will be a “side effect” of the experience, serving as an ever-present force as visitors enjoy hot tubs, saunas, cold plunges, and “cozy rooms.”

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There’s Only One Bird Now.

“People won’t even remember the shoes.” That’s what the new President and CEO, Nadia Carlsten, says about the brand formerly known as Allbirds. Because now, the shoes are gone, and Allbirds is an AI company. But wait, it’s not Allbirds now, it’s actually Smartbird. It’s a pivot that’s so aggressive it gave us vertigo, but apparently, there’s a vision for Smartbird as an AI infrastructure provider. The company will tap Carlsten’s technical and commercial expertise gained at companies such as DCAI and Sandbox AQ to create a managed service for enterprises that want to achieve production-scale AI deployment.