BRAND: Adidas' popularity with the fashion crowd in recent years appears to be trickling down to mall shoppers, as shoes like the Superstar and Stan Smith — in all their retro goodness — make a comeback. The company has pumped up its outlook no less than four times this year. Once considered something of a fading star in the U.S., adidas burst through to the top 10.

MEDIA: If you’re keeping track, that’s now... pretty much everyone who’s said they’re not interested in buying Twitter. Neither Google nor Disney plan to bid on Twitter, despite reports saying both were interested. Recode says that Apple is likely also out of the picture. And Verizon immediately dismissed speculation that it was considering a bid.

ECOMMERCE: Aggregation and integration are becoming the name of the game. Retailers can’t just live on their proprietary platforms and owned spaces anymore. They need to move beyond, into the experiences, aggregators, marketplaces and platforms that consumers live on. But what can these brands do to show up well in these places?

MEDIA: The streaming music app is in the middle of a roadshow across Madison Avenue where it is pitching agencies and brands on products including branded moments. Spotify argues that it has unique insights into what consumers are doing at any given time, especially when they click on a playlist marked for certain occasions, that make its ads more valuable to marketers. "A branded moment is more about reaching users in a specific context."

BRAND: And as the Dodgeville, WI-based seller of casual clothing searches for a new boss yet again (Lands’ End has had six CEOS since 2002!), this seems an opportune time to consider the state of the company. The Italian-born, New York-living, Marchionni caused a stir in the retail world by trying to make Lands’ End more attractive to younger, hipper and more affluent customers. 

ECOMMERCE: Shopify said over half merchant orders were made via mobile devices in the June quarter. It says its merchants will be able to accept Apple (AAPL) Pay purchases made on iPhones or iPads later this year. Amazon.com is another potential partner, says Garg." We believe Shopify is developing capabilities to enable merchants to sell on marketplaces such as Amazon. The added capability could attract more new customers," she wrote.

BRAND: Ralph Lauren's name is synonymous with iconic menswear. From the polo shirt seen on everyone at some point in history to his reinterpretation of military garb, to the iconic '90s designs that made him a symbol of street aspiration. Recently, he announced he would be stepping down as CEO of his namesake company, installing Stefan Larsson as the new man-in-charge. The Internet was unsure of what to make of the corporate shift, but Larsson's pedigree is an impressive one, and under him the Ralph Lauren brand hopes to flourish.

ECOMMERCE: A good conversion rate on an Amazon product detail page is widely considered 15%. That’s a huge number, often 3-5x that of other ecommerce sites. This is because Amazon product page traffic is already in the purchasing mindset. Of course, to make the most of the traffic Amazon drives to your product page, you must make sure that your listing is properly optimized — for search and Amazon marketing best practices. Here are the most critical elements of maximizing conversions on your Amazon listing.