Generative AI was a big part of marketing discussions throughout 2024, as brands and agencies became eager to invest in AI tools to do everything from creating internal workflow efficiencies to producing consumer-facing ads. These discussions will continue into 2025, and a lot of the industry hype around the technology revolves around the potential for it to make marketers’ jobs easier, faster and more efficient. But some industry experts say there’s a risk of over-relying on automated ad creation.

Another factor in the AI picture that will carry into the new year is the prospect of AI-generated or altered content being labeled as such. Marketers are hesitant to see “made with AI” labels slapped across their creative campaigns, as such a label doesn’t differentiate between content completely generated by AI or content in which AI tools were simply used to help during the creation process — despite the fact that those are two different things.

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In the first installment of Digiday’s 2024 Subscription Index, we established that this year has been a volatile one for publishers of all types, thanks to everything from layoffs to Google’s change of heart in its plans for the future of third-party cookies.

Against this backdrop, the 2024 Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies across several different digital touch points to identify some common approaches and key tactics. This third installment of the research series looks at an editorially-selected group of the top lifestyle-focused publications in the U.S.

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