Dear founders and friends,

There’s a lot in the works at HQ, and we’ve been a bit busier than usual! Most excitingly, we’re proud to announce our first charitable donation to a cause that’s very close to us. Igloo has decided to support the GB Deaf Olympic Team by providing physio equipment for all the athletes competing in Tennis, Golf, Athletics, Swimming and Shooting at the 2025 Tokyo Deaf Olympics. The physio team will be led by sisters Bethany and Emily Brookes and will begin mid-November.

Nick Brookes (Chairman) and CEO Chris Ratcliffe have done an incredible job raising awareness and funds for UK Deaf Sport, so we’re excited to play even a small contribution to the team's efforts from across the world.

On the e-comm front, we are excited to announce our partnership with creative strategy software Upspring AI—an essential tool for our strategists and media buyers (see our “Tools that Rule” section). Q4 preparations are underway, so let’s dive right in.  

September news roundup:

💬 Texas's "Mini-TCPA" - ATTENTION ALL EMAIL MARKETERS
The new SB-140 law significantly changed SMS marketing regulations this month by expanding the definition of "telephone solicitation" to include text messages in the state of Texas. But is the sky really falling? See what you really need to know and what actions to take >>

📦 De Minimis No More
As of this month, the United States eliminated a tariff exemption that allowed imports worth $800 or less to enter the country tax-free. Depending on how your business operates, this is either a good thing or a bad thing. Tap through to how this change could impact your business >>

🪙 Record-High Gold Prices
The ongoing tariff war continues to impact all aspects of our lives, including the price of gold. While rising high prices are great if you’re investor, what does it mean if you’re a jeweler? This industry, and it’s consumers, continue to adapt as necessary >>

Venture capital spotlight: September 2025 - AI AI AI

A market dominated by AI investments continues…

Figure's $1+ billion Series C funding
This massive funding round highlights the intense investor interest and capital pouring into "physical AI” - will this shift continue >>

Groq's $750 million financing
AI chip startup Groq secured $750 million, boosting its valuation to $6.9 billion. This deal reflects the critical need for specialized hardware to meet the growing demand for AI computing. Just how much will this demand grow >>

Judi Health's $400 million investment
Formerly known as Capital Rx, the health benefits technology provider rebranded as Judi Health and secured $400 million in new investment. This deal demonstrates the continued appetite for healthtech companies using AI to manage benefits and control costs.

The Sydney Sweeney Effect?

All publicity is good publicity, right? Sydney Sweeney's most recent marketing stunt was for American Eagle a few months back, which sparked significant backlash for its tagline "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,". The controversy became a cultural debate about beauty standards and advertising, drawing comments from many political figures.

But despite the controversy, American Eagle's stock saw a significant increase, which the company attributed in part to the campaign's success in driving sales and customer acquisition. Are marketers feeling brave, and will we start to see brands make similar moves?

Tools that rule: Upspring.ai - Creative Intelligence

Upspring.ai is built from the ground up as an AI-first platform, designed to help modern marketers and creative teams unlock what actually works in their ads. Every creative is automatically analyzed and tagged by AI — no manual effort needed. Want to dig deeper? Use Super Segments to slice and segment your creative data using free text — type anything you can think of and instantly filter across your entire creative library, no setup required.

Go beyond surface metrics: Upspring.ai delivers both per-creative and account-level strategic insights that reveal what’s driving performance — from hooks and visuals to pacing and structure. It’s not just about what worked — we help you understand why. Stay ahead of the competition with our powerful, AI-powered research tool. Just type anything — a trend, feeling, product, moment, or even a wild idea — and instantly explore how brands are using it in their ads. And with Creative Spin, you can apply that ad concept to your next creative — all in one click. Start making ads with insight, not instinct.

Try Upspring.ai with an extended free trial and a dedicated success manager — exclusively for users from this email! Click here to explore the tool everyone’s about to be talking about →

Hear it from our Igloo brands - Pelvic people & the masterminds behind the viral ‘Kiwi’

“Working with the Igloo team has been great — they’re responsive, strategic, and super open to feedback, which made it easy to flex our ad spend as needed. Andrew is also a well-connected, learning-oriented leader, and regularly introduced creative ways to help my business grow” - Emily Sauer, Co-Founder of Pelvic People.

Visit the Pelvic people »

Would Miranda Priestly be out of a job in five years’ time?

"How good is AI at generating creative?" The answer might terrify every creative professional. When even Miranda Priestly's discerning eye could be replaced by algorithms that auto-generate campaigns from your site assets, it's time to ask: what happens to human creativity? Tap here to read more.

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