Brands should take the importance of sustainability measures to heart and weave their commitment to the environment into their messaging—but with care. Close to 90% of consumers feel that businesses should use their resources to improve society and the environment, but two out of three doubt that companies’ sustainability commitments are genuine. About three-quarters think that products and services labeled “green” are just a marketing ploy. 

Consumers want authenticity, with clear sustainability guidelines, actions and displays to show that companies’ interest in the environment goes beyond just profit. And more than half want to see images that show the consequences of inaction on environmental priorities—though 78% also want to see images showing how the environment is improving because of corporate, policy-driven and personal actions.

Getty recommends that companies use imagery to authentically show what they’re doing for the planet: real people, real initiatives, real consequences, and the actual communities that are impacted. While lower income and traditionally minority communities tend to be more directly impacted by climate change and pollution, many of the sustainability images seen by the general public often depict well-off white people. Brand messaging should indicate both an urgency to act on sustainability and actions people can take themselves. Sustainability also needs to be deeply integrated as a core corporate value, with products and services that highlight the environment—making it easy both for customers to make more sustainable choices, as well as clearly showing the consumer how that choice helps the planet.

While customers pay attention to what companies and brands do with their communication strategies, the rise of AI can pull their attention away from traditional browsing during e-commerce shopping. AI agents, which can take actions based on preferences “learned” from users, could make online shopping even more targeted. I talked to Adrien Menard, CEO and cofounder of SEO and GEO platform Botify, about how AI is changing e-commerce. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

We’re taking a summer break and will not be publishing Forbes CMO next week. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Wednesday, July 16.

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The movie’s fictional APXGP racing team has sponsorships from more than a dozen companies, including Mercedes, IWC, Geico, EA Sports and Expensify. And while it’s far too early to determine how successful the movie will be for the brands, Expensify is already seeing it pay off. The company-branded car has been in a number of music videos and appears in the EA Sports F1 video game. F1 star Damson Idris came to the Met Gala in May in the Expensify-branded car, wearing the Expensify-branded fire suit on the red carpet—causing a 400% increase in website traffic and product signups, according to CEO David Barrett. And when the F1 trailer was first released last July, CNBC’s Jim Cramer touted the stock potential of Expensify, causing a record 17.7 million trades of the stock in a single day. 

Amazon isn’t the only retailer with big sales next week. Walmart will have competing Walmart Deals events starting July 7 for Walmart+ members and July 8 for everyone else. Target is also holding a Circle Week sale from July 6 through July 12, though Target Circle 360 members will get access a day early on July 5. The sales at Walmart and Target will be available both in-store and online.

Prime Day is often a large driver of spending. Last year, all retailers saw a $14.2 billion increase in spending during the shopping event, with 60% of that being spent at Amazon. But considering customers’ current cautious spending, low consumer confidence and looming tariffs, there’s no guarantee that this year will be as successful, Danziger writes.

Prime Day isn’t the only way Amazon is trying to beat Walmart this summer. Last week, the online retail giant announced the expansion of same-day and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 small cities, towns and rural communities. But Danziger writes the new effort still won’t be able to beat Walmart. While Amazon is the leader in e-commerce, Walmart is the world’s biggest physical retailer, with more than 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart store. Walmart is easily able to deliver groceries, prescriptions and an array of merchandise from its stores to 93% of the U.S. population in three hours or less. And while Walmart’s e-commerce business has grown more than 20% annually for the last two years, it still makes the majority of its revenue in physical stores—an area where Amazon cannot even come close.

The partnership is a smart one for a variety of reasons. Women’s sports are getting more popular, especially the WNBA, which saw 54 million unique viewers tuning into games last year. Forbes estimates the Indiana Fever led the WNBA in revenue and attendance in 2024—even topping attendance for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. This week, the Fever won the Commissioner’s Cup at the WNBA’s in-season tournament. Sequel provides a product that all women need, and showcasing its performance for elite athletes helps build brand recognition and credibility.

Customer experience is key to making sales, but seeing your interface from the outside can be a challenge. Here are some ChatGPT prompts to help you get a new perspective and optimize the customer journey.