The Indicator | June 27, 2025

The Indicator | June 27th, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead Men’s personal care brands are in the news this week as Unilever pays $1.5B for Dr Squatch and Dude Wipes gets strategic investment from TSG Consumer. Meanwhile sports partnerships continue to remain the key to growth as New Balance launches […]

The Indicator | June 20, 2025

The Indicator | June 20th, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead In this week’s news, toymakers are upping their partnership game in order to beat the tariff threat. Some are partnering with artists for higher-end collectibles while Mattel also announced a partnership with OpenAI. Meanwhile, investment in stores continues – H&M […]

The Indicator | June 13, 2025

The Indicator | June 13th, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead In this week’s news, consumers are moving up their back-to-school shopping to avoid higher prices in late summer, Dick’s is making sneakers available for delivery on Uber Eats and Shakira is the latest celebrity with a beauty line, Isima. ‘INNOVATION […]

The Indicator | June 6, 2025

The Indicator | June 6th, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead In this week’s highlights, Peloton has now launched its own secondary market place, Disney and Gap are partnering on loyalty rewards and perks, and Brooks Brothers has a new flagship store in NYC. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ Disney and Gap Inc. are deepening their partnership. […]

The Indicator | May 30, 2025

The Indicator | May 30th, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead Tariff whiplash continued this week as the fight moved to courts. Gap Inc. estimated the cost of tariffs to be $100M – $150M to the company’s balance sheet this year. Meanwhile, e.l.f. Cosmetics acquired rhode skin and Nuts.com moved into […]

The Indicator | May 23, 2025

The Indicator | May 23rd, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead Big M&A activity continued this week with Authentic Brands acquiring Dockers from Levi’s. Meanwhile, Nike is back at Amazon after six years and beauty brands are hoping to cash in on WNBAs popularity with a slew of partnerships. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ […]

The Indicator | May 15, 2025

The Indicator | May 16th, 2025 By Sonal GandhiChief Content Officer at The Lead M&A activity dominated the news this week with Dick’s Sporting Goods purchasing Foot Locker, Chobani buying Daily Harvest, Andie Swim buying Richer Poorer, and Church & Dwight buying hand sanitizer brand touchland. In other news, retailers restarted shipments from China due […]

The Indicator | May 9, 2025

The Indicator | May 9th, 2025 By Sonal GandhiChief Content Officer at The Lead A few big financial headlines this week starting with private equity firm 3G Capital buying Skechers and food delivery startup Wonder raising $600M in capital. Meanwhile, catering to a value-driven consumer in the coming months remains top of mind for services […]

The Indicator | May 2, 2025

The Indicator | May 2nd, 2025 By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead In an unexpected twist, Saks Fifth Avenue is opening a storefront on Amazon. In tariff related news, spring sales events are happening earlier than usual, de minimis loophole ends today and Prime Day is back on in July despite some […]

The Indicator | April 25, 2025

The Indicator | April 25th, 2025 By Sonal GandhiChief Content Officer at The Lead Zales is wooing Gen Z with a new campaign – “Own it” – encouraging them to wear fine jewelry every day. Target has another buzzworthy partnership, this time with DTC brand home brand, Parachute. Meanwhile, US port activity has declined, consumers […]