Expedia Courts Non-Travel Brands With New Adtech Deal
Expedia Group has partnered with ad‑tech platform Magnite to monetize its vast first‑party data set. The deal gives brands and agencies access to roughly 200 petabytes of traveler data for targeting across streaming TV, video, display and audio. Expedia’s travel media network, Expedia Group Advertising, now extends to off‑site open‑web inventory for the first time. The move helped the company generate $758 million in advertising revenue in 2025, a 19% year‑over‑year increase.
How AI Is Democratizing Content and Creating Today’s ‘Access Era’
Higgsfield AI, described as an AI studio built by creators for creators, is democratizing multimedia content creation with a drag‑and‑drop platform that handles images, audio and video. Co‑founder Mahi de Silva highlighted a case where Eight Sleep reduced a three‑week, $30,000...
YouTuber Jesser Launches Parent Company, Preps Business Expansion
Jesse “Jesser” Riedel has created JesserCo, a parent company that will house his existing ventures, including Jesser Media and the basketball‑lifestyle apparel brand Bucketsquad. The 27‑year‑old will stay founder while Zach Miller, former Bucketsquad president, becomes JesserCo’s president. Jesser Media...
Marketers on the Move: Hires and Exits at Babylist, OpenAI, McDonald’s, and More
A wave of marketing leadership changes swept the industry this week. OpenAI’s chief marketing officer Kate Rouch stepped down to focus on health, while Babylist hired veteran Jill Cress as its first CMO after a 45% revenue surge to $750 million. Other...
Mastercard and PayPal Veteran Jill Cress Is Babylist’s First CMO
Babylist, the online baby‑registry platform, reported $750 million in revenue and 45% year‑over‑year growth, prompting the hire of veteran marketer Jill Cress as its first chief marketing officer. Cress, who previously led consumer strategy at Mastercard and marketing at National Geographic, PayPal,...
Real-Time AI Video Is Nvidia’s New Pitch to Agencies—And It’s Turning Creatives Into Curators
Nvidia is positioning its latest computing platform as a real‑time AI video engine for advertising and entertainment agencies. At Runway’s AI Summit, the chipmaker demonstrated how its hardware can power Runway’s models to generate and modify video scenes instantly, turning...
How Bayer Uses AI to Avoid Sending Customers to Its Competition
Bayer has deployed an AI‑powered platform from CreativeX to manage and localize its consumer‑health advertising across 80 countries. The tool automatically adapts creative assets into multiple languages, formats and lengths while preserving brand guidelines. By centralising oversight, Bayer ensures consistent...
YouTube Reveals Upfront Event Details, Including Trevor Noah and Chappell Roan
YouTube announced its Brandcast 2026 upfront event for May 13 at 5:30 p.m., hosted at Lincoln Center in New York City. Comedian Trevor Noah will serve as host while singer‑songwriter Chappell Roan headlines the musical segment. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Google Americas president...
2026 NFL Draft Ad Looks to Smash Expectations With 2 Steelers Legends
The NFL announced that the 2026 Draft will take place in Pittsburgh from April 23‑25, unveiling a new ad featuring Steelers icons Cam Heyward and Jerome Bettis wielding a sledgehammer to “smash the glass.” The campaign emphasizes the city’s deep...
Move Over, Sabrina Carpenter: Pringles Has a New Chip-Made Love Interest
Pringles has launched a new 60‑second commercial titled “Pringlelina: A Love Story,” a sequel to its Super Bowl ad featuring Sabrina Carpenter. The spot follows a male protagonist who assembles a female partner entirely from Pringles chips, continuing the brand’s...
EXCLUSIVE: Spotify Debuts Carousel Ads and Branded Playlist Takeovers
Spotify is introducing interactive carousel ads that let brands display up to six swipeable product cards within the Now Playing screen, with Priceline and GNC among early testers. The service also launches branded playlist takeovers on high‑traffic lists such as...
E.l.f. Beauty Says AI Answer Engines Are Already Changing How People Shop
At Shoptalk 2026, e.l.f. Beauty highlighted how AI answer engines are reshaping product discovery and purchase intent. ReFiBuy co‑founder and CEO Scot Wingo projected that 10% of commerce will be fully agentic by 2030, while retail‑media analyst Andrew Lipsman dismissed the notion as...
Uproxx Makes Play for TV Ad Spend With TikTok-Ready Shows
Uproxx TV debuted at NewFronts, positioning itself as a top‑10 entertainment property on connected TV with over 160 million monthly viewers, more than half of whom watch on traditional TV screens. The company is launching creator‑driven shows like “Love, Songs,” leveraging...
How an Air Force Stint in South Korea Helped Make Chuck Norris a Uniquely American Brand
Chuck Norris’s six‑year Air Force service in South Korea forged his martial‑arts expertise and introduced a disciplined, patriotic image that later defined his public persona. The experience gave him a black belt and authentic combat credibility, which propelled his transition...
Week of March 9 Evening News Ratings: Networks Have Week-to-Week Declines
All three major network evening newscasts posted week‑to‑week declines for the week of March 9, 2026. ABC World News Tonight remained the top‑rated program with 8.48 million total viewers, though down 5% from the prior week. NBC Nightly News held second place...
