The Weekly 10: marketing, media and industry statistics to know now — July 31, 2024 edition

From the growth of the U.S. ad market to the percentage of consumers who plan to budget more for holiday gifts this year, these are the data points we’re paying attention to right now.

The share of U.S. consumers who say they plan to budget more for holiday gifts this year, according to a new report from Optimove Insights, per Chain Store Age. 

The percentage of men who use facial skincare products — a 68% increase from 2022 — according to data from Mintel, per Store Brands, which notes that Gen Z men are driving the growth. 

The approximate U.S. viewership of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on July 26 across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo — the highest since the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics — per Axios.

The percentage of business leaders who say that automating repetitive tasks using generative AI allows employees to focus on more “creative endeavors,” according to a report from Canva and Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. 

The share of Dr Pepper’s ad budget that the brand invested in TV across the first four months of 2024, according to a MediaRadar analysis, per Marketing Brew. Dr Pepper recently gained ground in the carbonated soft drink category, ranking second alongside Pepsi, while Coca-Cola remains the category leader. (See the June 5, 2024 edition of this column.) 

The monthly fee for an ad-free subscription to Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney’s newly launched cross-studio bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max — for savings of up to 38% over combined individual pricing for each streaming service — per CNN Business.  

The year-over-year growth of the U.S. ad market as of June, representing its 15th straight month of expansion, according to the just-updated U.S. Ad Market Tracker, per MediaPost. 

Total opening weekend domestic box office sales for Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” making it the sixth-best debut ever and surpassing 2016’s “Deadpool” ($133.7 million) as the biggest R-rated opening weekend of all time, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

The average increase in the price of a burger, fries and a soda across national and local restaurant chains in 50 of the largest U.S. cities since 2022, according to research from MonkeyGeek, per Food & Wine. 

The percentage of U.S. shoppers who use retail apps to get the best prices, according to data from SPAR Group, per eMarketer.