You can help provide housing-related assistance to households affected by the deadly hurricane and flooding; 100% of your REALTORS® Relief Foundation donations go to disaster victims.

Mauro Porcini, senior vice president and chief design officer at PepsiCo, has overseen the redesigning of the Pepsi brand and believes having vision as a designer and reaching large audiences to create value is essential. "[AI] can enhance our capabilities, speed up processes and offer new perspectives. However, the human touch -- intuition and creativity -- is irreplaceable when turning those insights into real-world success," Porcini added.

Forty-three percent of Generation Z consumers and 41% of millennials will leave a brand if it becomes boring, according to an SAP Emarsys study that highlights the importance of innovative marketing strategies. Younger consumers are particularly attracted to creative marketing, memorable experiences and campaigns like Dunkin's Love Island and Taco Bell's Brat Summer, and SAP Emarsys marketing chief Sara Richter points out that AI-powered personalization is key to maintaining customer engagement.

Marketers and executives from Progressive, Pearpop and Microsoft talk about how marketers can build trust by partnering with the right creators who share their brand's values and can connect authentically with audiences. "It's doing your research, spending time being that detective, and making sure that you understand who you're partnering with because you're attaching your names," says Julia Fay, social and digital director at Progressive.

Ten NAR members who lead extraordinary volunteer efforts to improve their communities are vying to be named this year's winners of the Good Neighbor Awards. Which one is your favorite? Your votes will help the top three vote-getters earn bonus grant money for their cause. Vote for your Web Choice Favorite by Oct. 2.

"Functional elegance" is the new mantra in kitchen design.

Despite the recent Federal Reserve rate cut, elevated home prices mean that many consumers may continue to find financial benefits to renting. The gap between monthly rent and mortgage payments remains significant in many areas, with Nick Villa of Moody's saying mortgage rates would have to fall to around 5.25% to make ownership comparable to renting. Factors such as location, insurance costs and long-term plans play may also play crucial roles in the decision to rent or buy.

Apple is rumored to be launching a 15-inch iPad-like smart home display next year, featuring FaceTime integration and HomeKit control. This device could challenge Google and Amazon's lead in the smart-home market.

Despite the Federal Reserve's recent rate cut, which brought average 30-year mortgage rates down to just over 6%, high home prices continue to make homeownership unaffordable for many American renters. Economists suggest that rates would need to fall to about 5.25% for the monthly payment on a median-priced home to approach the average US rent. This disparity keeps many renters from buying, while homeowners with low mortgage rates are reluctant to sell, leading to a stagnant market.

The Federal Reserve should gradually cut interest rates after its larger-than-expected half-point cut this month, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem says. The economy could react "very vigorously" to the rate cut, increasing inflation. "For me, it's about easing off the brake at this stage," Musalem says. "It's about making policy gradually less restrictive."

Overall risks to the economy are increasing, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics, with 39% of economists viewing a Federal Reserve "monetary policy mistake" as the greatest downside risk to the economy during the next year. This concern outpaces others, including volatility concerning the presidential election and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East, which 23% of economists view as significant threats. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak today in Nashville, Tenn., and is expected to discuss the Fed's recent 50-basis-point interest-rate cut and the outlook for 2025.