The Weekly 10: marketing, media and industry statistics to know now — September 10, 2025 edition

From Gen Z holiday shopping spending to broadcast ad sales for the 2025-2026 NFL season, these are the data points we're paying attention to right now.

23%

The projected decrease in holiday shopping spending among U.S. Gen Z consumers this year, according to a new PwC report. Across all cohorts, the report projects that seasonal spend will decline 5% compared to last year, the sharpest contraction since the pandemic in 2020.

58.2

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (MSCI) score in August, a decline of 3.5 points (5.7%) from July and down 9.7 points (14.3%) compared to August of last year.

$3.45 billion

The amount of the fine that Google was hit with on Friday by EU regulators for anti-competitive ad tech practices. In a separate U.S. antitrust ruling last week, a judge barred Google from striking or maintaining certain exclusive distribution deals that make its products (search, browser, assistant or AI tech) the default option for users.

14%

The share of leading U.S. online retailers that offer free shipping with no minimum order value, per new research from parcelLab and ShipStation. The study, which evaluated post-purchase flows for 57 of the National Retail Federation's Top 100 companies, also found that just under three-fifths (59%) include marketing messaging in shipping confirmation emails.

$5 and $8

The price for McDonald's new Extra Value breakfast and dinner meals, respectively. The brand's deep-discount menu, eliminated in 2019, is relaunching this month after CEO Chris Kempczinski said that double-digit prices on combo meals were "shaping value perceptions in a negative way" during a recent earnings call.

150

The number of Old Navy stores that will begin carrying beauty and personal care products this fall as part of a new Gap Inc. "test-and-learn" pilot program to explore entering the cosmetics space. (Gap Inc. is Old Navy's parent company.)

45%

The average estimated share of their critical data - defined as data used "to drive decisions" - that CMOs say is "incomplete, inaccurate or outdated," according to a new global survey of 200 industry leaders by the software firm Adverity.

11 minutes, 15 seconds

The combined duration of in-show branded segments during Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards telecast on CBS - up more than 30% from last year's show, Adweek reports.

90%

The share of NBCUniversal's 2025-2026 NFL game broadcast ad inventory that has already been sold, per an NBCU statement before the season-opener last Thursday. (That figure excludes ad units for Super Bowl LX next February, which the company says are already sold out.)

12,000

The approximate number of state residents that the California Milk Processor Board photographed during its recent deployment of a touring pop-up studio for the new "Got Milk?" campaign reboot, The Wall Street Journal reports. The industry group hopes to capitalize on shifting consumer sentiment around various plant-based milk alternatives, sales of which have flattened or declined since 2022, the Journal notes.