Lily Allen’s new album has put non-monogamous relationships in the spotlight; author Juliet Rosenfeld believes it’s part of a broader rethink of what a “couple” means (China’s “marriage buddies” come to mind). But it’s about time we quantify the hype: 12% of US/UK consumers who plan to marry one day say they’d consideran open marriage, with men being over 4x more likely to say this than women.
Scroll down to read about champagne, cryptocurrency, and creators taking control.
Stats to power your week
🔋 France just switched on the first highway that charges electric vehicles as they drive - a potential game-changer for the sector. If rolled out more widely, it could ease one of consumers’ top concerns: 37% say the lack of charging stations is a main drawback to owning an EV, ahead of charging time and cost. GWI Automotive
💰 We now have a sense of how tariffs are affecting Americans’ financial mood. There’s been a 27% year-on-year rise in those expecting the US economy to worsen, yet their outlook on personal finances has barely shifted. For now, worries seem more abstract than immediate, possibly because businesses have absorbed a lot of the costs. GWI USA
🥂 Today, the “lipstick effect” is shorthand for any small luxury we turn to when life feels uncertain, and it’s bubbling over into flute glasses. Since 2022, there’s been a 20% rise in people saying they’ve bought champagne in the last month, something luxury goods conglomerate LVMH has also documented. GWI Core
🚀 US lawmakers passed the country’s first major cryptocurrency legislation in July, and it seems to be paying off. The share of Americans saying they own crypto is up 19% year-on-year. GWI USA
⚡ More Europeans say that having a range of plans (44%) is important when picking an energy supplier than a brand they trust (29%). And UK provider So Energy is leaning into this with So Unique - the very first “time-of-use tariff” that creates personalized pricing based on individual usage patterns. GWI Core Plus
The Maldives has made smoking history with a generational ban for anyone born after 2007 - a move Britain’s also trying to make, and one that could inspire other governments.
Etsy, Shopify, Walmart, and PayPal have announced plans to integrate their services into ChatGPT. It’s a smart move, but also a trade-off for retailers. The reward is access to new customers; the cost is losing out on the impulse purchases made and the valuable data collected when customers browse their websites.
There’s talk of the influencer–brand power dynamic changing. Creators now earn directly through tools like Substack and affiliate sales, making them less reliant on (and loyal to) partnerships. Could this be a wake-up call for brands?
Critics say that many Chinese degrees prioritize theory over practical experience and fail to prepare students for real-world employment. In other news, the UK has announced new “V-level” (vocational) qualifications.
Chart of the week
The industries most afraid of layoffs aren’t necessarily the ones hit hardest by them. Tech workers are the most likely of 12 sectors to say they’ve experienced redundancies. Yet they’re less worried about job security than those spaces like in media and entertainment.
In tech, layoffs have almost become part of the rhythm. Many have seen colleagues let go and rehired within months, a sign that their skills are transferable and in demand; whereas media and entertainment workers are dealing with unstable revenues and fewer alternative career paths.
The same contrast shows up between finance and retail. Finance workers often feel replaceable but employable, while retail workers face unpredictable hours, lower pay, and fewer safety nets. Understanding these differences is what’ll ultimately help businesses fine-tune their internal comms strategy.
🔥 Hot take
Punchy perspectives, with data that nudges the narrative
“Marketers talk about being data-driven - AI could make it true”
We recently surveyed US marketers and found a big gap between the value they place on data vs how often it’s used. While 73% say consumer insights are important for their content strategy, only 44% use them for that end.
Thanks to AI, more are starting to walk the walk: 56% of marketers who use consumer insights to make decisions say they get them from AI tools. The problem is, popular tools tend to surface what’s obvious or mainstream, leaving other perspectives out.
Luckily, agentic AI’s here to sort that out. It taps into company, public, or third-party data in real-time to tackle marketing tasks like answering briefs or coming up with new creative; and it relies on Model Context Protocols (MCPs) to let users access quick, customized insights within everyday chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude. So, marketers may not be as data-savvy as they claim, but they soon could be.
More from GWI
Your AI tools are fast, but are they accurate? Learn how to give them the context they may be missing in our webinar and check out our GWI Spark MCP
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