Weekly Report: How non-pet brands are chasing pet parent spending

Hertz, Subaru and Liquid Death are building pet-focused campaigns and products to tap into surging pet spending, but marketers warn against forcing the fit. Plus, Chemistry acquires design agency Colossus; Apple's iOS 27 update blocks The Trade Desk's ad tools on Safari; mid-size brands drop follower counts and reconsider linear TV; Herb Light launches ScareBnB, a Halloween contest for cannabis horror stories.

Host Parker Herren breaks down what each story means for marketers navigating category entry, independent agency consolidation, identity-free measurement and outdated metrics. Subscribe for weekly industry news roundups, plus biweekly deep-dive conversations with Ad Age reporters.

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

~2030 advertising predictions—tracking potential hits and misses, and what's too early to call

~How brands are winning over dog and cat lovers—even when they don't sell pet products

~Chemistry acquires Colossus in an expansion to Boston, which it sees as ripe for a challenger

~Apple blocks The Trade Desk—what marketers must know about renewed anti-tracking push

~Why mid-size brands are rethinking long-established marketing and media strategies

~Herb Light turns cannabis horror stories into 'ScareBnB' stays for Halloween