Consumer confidence rebounded slightly in July as Americans felt more optimistic about the future even as they continued to worry that tariffs would lead to higher prices. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by 2.0 points in July to 97.2 from 95.2 in June. The Present Situation Index — based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — fell 1.5 points to 131.5.  The Expectations Index — based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions — rose 4.5 points to 74.4.  “Consumer confidence has stabilized since May, rebounding from April’s plunge, but remains below last year’s heady levels,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, global indicators at The Conference Board. “In July, pessimism about the future receded somewhat, leading to a slight improvement in overall confidence.”

The U.S. ad market expanded for its 13th consecutive month in April, rising 9.1% over the same month in 2023, according to the latest installment of data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker. April also in the first month in quite some time to post an increase on top of a prior year increase, albeit a modest one: April 2023 was up 0.7% over April 2022. That said, the data indicates the U.S. ad market is well past its recessionary period and fully into an expansionary mode, with recent months rising at high single-digit increases or approach of surpassing double-digit ones.

Over the last few years, the concept of ‘brand voice’ has been construed to mean how your favorite potato chip company feels about the latest socio-political development. There are two main problems with this perspective. First, consumers are smarter than that. They recognize the inherently self-serving nature of that kind of commentary. Secondly, it narrows the scope of what brand voice actually means. Brand voice isn’t just about the copy on your website or in your emails, and it surely isn’t just a tagline – it is all forms of communication between your brand and consumers. From the literal copy to your packaging, voice is a manifestation of a brands mission, vision, values and story. It is something literal, yet ethereal, it should survive CMO changes, product alterations, and re-branding exercises. This isn’t to say it should stay the exact same, over the years it should evolve and grow but always remain a recognizable, human part of your brand and how you communicate. Let’s take a look at how three different brands are using their unique and authentic voices across a variety of mediums and touch points at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/brand-voice-its-more-than-a-tagline/