Consumer Trends Reporter Erika Wheless discusses the top factors that influence brand loyalty with Gen Z—including product quality, sustainability and customer service. Plus, the brands Gen Z considers luxury from Coach, Louis Vuitton and Gucci to Nike, Adidas, Lululemon, Amazon and Target. She breaks down tactics brands are using to translate product quality into marketing, brand missteps that have been called out by young consumers and tips for building brand loyalty with Gen Z.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~The data on how brands can build loyalty with Gen Z

~How brands have successfully implemented product quality messaging

~How rising gas prices are impacting brands

~Get tickets to Ad Age's Small Agency Conference

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Media Reporter Brandon Doerrer breaks down the trends defining this year's TV upfronts, including top questions to look out for from NBCUniversal, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and more. He discusses how factors from outcomes-based measurement to agentic AI buying tech and short-form video formats in streaming will play into negotiations. Plus, how CMOs can ensure transparency around principal media buying in dealmaking.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~2026 TV Upfronts calendar

~What agentic AI means for upfront negotiations

~TV measurement changes impacting the upfront

~Magnite's agentic media buying test with Disney

~What to ask about media transparency and the upfront

~Apply for the Ad Age Mid-Size Brand Leaders award

~Listen to the Marketer's Brief podcast

Senior Agency Reporter Lindsay Rittenhouse breaks down the complex entry-level job market, with examples of how agency leaders are rethinking junior work as AI automates tasks traditionally done by early-career hires. She digs into what skills recent grads need on their resume right now, the gap employers are finding in formal marketing education and how to stand out as the number of applicants far outweighs opportunities in the current market.

Plus, data that shows why the ad industry isn't struggling as much as Wall Street thinks it is, and how the CEO-CMO relationship has evolved.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~How agencies are reshaping junior-level roles and training in the AI era

~How to land a junior ad agency job—what leaders say works as roles change due to AI

~Listen to Ad Age Insider's 2025 episode on AI and entry-level roles to hear how much has changed

~Get tickets to Ad Age's Small Agency Conference

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast