What’s new in the world of retail marketing? Here is our round-up of key insights from this week:

1. Grab a snack. Here’s your 2019 Super Bowl ad review.

“Brands steered clear of any controversial issues or potential political hot potatoes. Which is for the best: Why fumble when you can blitz with gags? Well, we’ll get to that. Anyway, we heard there was a game on, too.” Read the full article from AdAge here.

2. More digitally native brands getting in to retail.

“Target is stocking its shelves full of brands born on the internet in hopes of appealing to younger shoppers who don’t want the same Old Spice deodorant or Schick razor their parents use. The big-box retailer’s latest deal is with Flamingo, a women’s shaving brand launched late last year by men’s shaving start-up Harry’s, which is already being sold in Target stores.” Read the full article from CNBC here.

3. Amazon’s physical store sales fall 3%.

“Amazon on Thursday said that fourth quarter net sales rose 20% to $72.4 billion from $60.5 billion in the year-ago quarter; North America net sales rose 18% to $44.1 billion. Services sales rises overshadowed product net sales growth, as subscriptions rose 25% to $3.96 billion, ‘other’ (mostly advertising, according to executives) rose 95% to $3.39 billion and AWS cloud computing sales rose 45% to $7.43 billion.” Read the full article from Retail Dive here.

4. The running list of 2019 bankruptcy victims.

“During the fall of 2018, Retail Dive looked at data and FRISK scores from CreditRiskMonitor to predict which retailers could go bankrupt in 2019. Those stores at risk included J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and 99 Cents Only. But will the trend continue? Debtwire Senior Retail Analyst, Philip Emma, told Retail Dive in an earlier interview that bankruptcies will pull back in 2019, simply because so many have already folded.” Read the full article from Retail Dive here.

5. Top retail execs share insights and goals for 2019.

“When statements made at the 2019 National Retail Federation Big Show are examined, a number of themes emerge. Leaders in retail are reflecting on similar topics, including direct-to-consumer efforts, social responsibility, diversity, the convergence of online and brick-and-mortar shopping, and customer experience.” Read the full article from Retail Dive here.

That’s a wrap! What’s your big insight from this week? Let us know on Instagram or Twitter @BDSmktg. Have a phenomenal weekend! ✌🏻