Good morning. This is Megan Graham filling in for Nat Ives. Today, marketers are pushing for their brands to appear in more movies and TV shows; H&M's bids for sales growth are paying off and General Mills is trying to spur sales with inflation-weary customers.

Hollywood and Madison Avenue have entered into a new era of product placement, Katie Deighton reports.

Producers for decades have worked with corporations to feature brands in movies and TV shows, and large advertisers such as Tide-owner Procter & Gamble and Walmart over the years have sporadically developed their own original entertainment. But now the two sides are brokering deals akin to product placement on steroids, with brands coming aboard before shooting even begins, helping finance projects early on in the planning stages and collaborating more closely with talent, distributors and production companies.

“In the past two or three years, we’ve seen a real shift and a real commitment on behalf of big brands to take this much more seriously,” said David Anderson, partner and co-head of United Talent Agency’s entertainment marketing division. Before then, collaborating directly with the entertainment industry was often seen by brands more as a side project or experiment, he said.

Hennes & Mauritz’s earnings beat expectations, sending shares in the fast-fashion retailer higher as investors cheered its continuing restructuring and healthy demand for its clothes, Dominic Chopping reports.

H&M has been working to set itself up for sales growth as it faces increasing competition from low-cost online platforms such as Shein and Temu as well as its slightly higher-end rival, Zara owner Inditex.

Chief Executive Daniel Erver hopes that by investing in new product ranges, marketing campaigns to attract more customers and improving the buying experience through digital upgrades will all help boost sales. Other initiatives include moving the group from exclusively focusing on lower-cost fashion to offering products at a wider range of prices while also bringing more manufacturing closer to its major markets to smooth logistics and purchasing.

“Some measures have a faster impact than others, but the direction is clear and during the year we continue to implement improvements in other parts of the business,” Erver said Thursday.

General Mills expects organic sales to remain stagnant as inflation-weary consumers continue to prioritize value and limit discretionary spending, Connor Hart reports.

The maker of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and Bisquick pancake mix said Wednesday that its top priority in fiscal 2026 is to return to volume-driven organic sales growth. “To do that, we’ll invest further in consumer value, product news, innovation and brand building,” Chief Executive Jeff Harmening said.

The outlook came as the company logged lower profit and sales in its fiscal fourth quarter. General Mills plans to launch new products across all its major U.S. categories, emphasizing new package sizes designed to offer consumers more value.

The company said several new products will expand its protein offerings, capitalizing on current consumer trends. Its portfolio of protein cereals generates more than $100 million in annual sales, a figure it aims to boost with the launch of additional products in the same category in the coming year, Harmening said.

General Mills also wants to revive its struggling snack business. The company plans to introduce products with bold and spicy flavors, which are currently resonating with consumers, Dana McNabb, group president of General Mills’ North America retail and North America pet segments, said during a call with analysts.

“We expect to drive a 25% increase in sales from new products,” Harmening said.

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