Consumer products (CP) brands are operating in a high‑pressure environment: costs are up, supply chains are stretched, and loyalty seems harder than ever to sustain. Their customers want real connections with brands, they expect more in exchange for their loyalty. Brands truly are entering The Engagement Era.

We teamed up with Deloitte to survey 2,000 general consumer respondents across the US as well as 150 senior marketers at US enterprise-level businesses. Our extensive research showcases how both consumers and brands are adapting to shifting paradigms and embracing engagement channels beyond traditional marketing and retail media.

For financial services company Ally, connecting with gen Zers — the increasingly influential cohort born between 1997 and 2012 — is a top priority. The brand’s TikTok page, for instance, has racked up nearly three million likes, with video content featuring how to avoid financial scammers, savings tips, and the “ 50/30/20 budget.” However, that’s just one way Ally is boosting its appeal to so-called “zoomers.”

The newsletter space is more competitive – and lucrative – than ever. And audience expectations have evolved in response. If you want to run a successful newsletter, you can’t just copy/paste your articles into your email platform, create a few demographic-based segments, and hope your audience sticks around for more.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to:

✅ Create dynamic newsletters customized to individual needs

Customer engagement strategies have evolved significantly. Traditional high-volume marketing is less effective today. Embrace new, engagement-driven methods to deepen relationships, boost sales, and secure a competitive advantage. Read the eBook, Loyalty Over Volume: Building an Engaged Customer Base for 2025 and Beyond, to master tactics for fostering loyalty in the future.

What makes content go viral? According to our latest research, the key lies in triggering specific emotions, publishing at the right time and telling stories that resonate. By understanding the emotional drivers behind viral content, brands can create campaigns that reach wider audiences and inspire real engagement.

The viral emotions driving brand engagement

Up to 70% of journalists say PR pros are important to the success of their jobs, yet 49% of journalists seldom or never respond to PR pitches, according to  Muck Rack’s State of Journalism 2024.

To succeed in the dog-eat-dog app world these days, it’s not enough to just create an impressive app with stellar functionalities and interface. Developing and launching an app and acquiring users are really just the beginning of the journey.

“But, what comes next then?” I hear you ask—well, user engagement… With millions of apps saturating the app market and with rising user acquisition costs, retaining and engaging your existing users has never been more important.

Marketers are increasingly turning to innovative, personalized solutions to meaningfully engage audiences and build lasting relationships. Interactive content that drives conversions is now essential to shorten the path to purchase. With the rise of platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, consumers are engaging with brands in new ways and brands need a new approach to advertising that fosters personalized, one-on-one engagement. 

Looking to grow an email list to capture leads or offer welcome incentives? These days, the default solution is to plaster a full-screen pop-up on your homepage. Full-screen pop-ups disrupt the shopping experience. They frustrate visitors by interrupting their browsing and increase bounce rates, driving 72% of customers away. It seems effective on the surface, collecting emails right off the bat, but dig deeper, and these pop-ups disrupt the shopping experience and skyrocket bounce rates—with 72% of customers exiting a website.