We often think of challenger brands as disruptors at heart, allowing them to be risk-takers while the rest of us go about our lives in the safety of traditional routines. However, just about any business can benefit from adopting a little bit of that challenger mindset.

Recent years have brought us constant innovation in the adult beverage category, offering consumers with a litany of options to choose from outside of the tried-and-true favorites. While that’s great news for those of us looking to test out tasty, new beverages, it presents an issue for brands: how do you stand out in a sea of clutter?

As more states move to legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana, consumer attitudes continue to evolve. In fact, 56% of Americans indicate that they’re in favor of legalization, while 16% admit to being cannabis consumers themselves. Of those who consume, we’re seeing increasing diversity; men, women, young, and old are all turning to cannabis as a means to reduce stress, ease aches and pains, and even diminish use of other substances like alcohol and tobacco. Here, we take a look at today’s cannabis consumer to understand who they are and what makes them tick.

With Father’s Day around the corner, consumers across the country are doing their last-minute shopping for the dads, grandfathers, husbands, and sons in their lives. This year, U.S. spending on the holiday is projected to reach an all-time high total of $16 billion, which represents a 4.6% increase from last year’s $15.3 billion and a 70% increase from just a decade ago.

Today’s consumers wield more purchasing power than ever, which means that growth is there for the taking for the most opportunistic of brands. However, consumers’ tastes are constantly evolving based on the world around them, which makes it all the more important for us, as marketers, to maintain a pulse on what matters most to them.

It’s official: influencer marketing has hit the mainstream. According to Social Media Today, influencer marketing is already estimated to be a $1.5 billion industry, with 84% of brands reporting that they plan to increase those expenditures in 2019. What used to be a murky field of marketing has now developed quite a bit of process, and marketers have gone from wondering what influencer marketing is to wondering how to optimize their efforts.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of tech-lovers and tech brands from around the world descend upon Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The annual event is a global stage on which next-generation consumer technologies are introduced to the marketplace. While some of these innovations are as simple as a voice-powered alarm clock for your bedroom, others are audacious, boundary-pushing technologies that could very well change the way the world works. With that, let’s take a look at some of the most innovative products that were introduced this year and evaluate what they mean for us going forward.

In the ten years since the United States emerged from the economic recession, the travel industry has experienced a prolonged period of growth. Want proof? Look no further than U.S. hotel bookings, which experienced a six percent compound annual growth rate between 2009 and 2017. This growth, however, was not limited to traditional hotels, as boutique options, as well as disruptors like Airbnb and its copycats, have entered the fray.

As marketers, we have a problem on our hands. Mothers make up one of the largest consumer groups out there, yet fewer than half of them feel understood by marketers. What gives? Despite how important moms are to brands – especially those brands in the CPG category – many marketers have failed to adapt their approach to this constantly evolving demographic.

Today’s businesses are under the constant threat of competition. Thanks to rapid advances in technology and continually evolving consumer behavior, brands know that they must continue to adapt their products and services in order to avoid disruption.