Campbell’s Risa Cretella on Reinventing Iconic Brands and Winning in Commoditized Categories
Campbell’s executive vice president Risa Cretella explains how the company is reinventing its iconic brands by injecting an entrepreneurial mindset into a large organization. She emphasizes fast, data‑light decision‑making and empowering teams to act on clear consumer demand. The discussion highlights that private‑label growth often reflects brand stagnation, and that successful innovations simply formalize existing consumer habits. Aligning brand‑building with commercial outcomes is presented as the key to sustaining growth in commoditized categories.
5 Things CEO-Ready CMOs Know That Others Don’t
The article argues that CMOs who aspire to become CEOs must master five dimensions: owning brand trade‑offs, articulating a healthy growth algorithm, accounting for capital intensity, aligning marketing plans with operational capacity, and speaking the language of investors. By treating...
Inside WBD’s New Pitch to Advertisers Amid Paramount Shakeup
Warner Bros. Discovery is staging a May 13 upfront to reassure advertisers as it navigates a pending $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance. Ad‑sales chiefs Ryan Gould and Bobby Voltaggio highlighted the breadth of WBD’s portfolio—from news and sports to streaming and...
Maintaining Brand Safety and Integrity in the AI Slop Era
A recent AD Week House Possible panel, co‑hosted by Silverpush, highlighted the surge of low‑quality AI‑generated content—dubbed “AI slop”—and its threat to brand safety. Speakers from Silverpush, Best Friend Animal Society, and Crispin urged brands to create bespoke guardrails that define...
Using Agentic AI to Connect Across the Funnel
Top marketers gathered at Brandweek’s ADWEEK House Possible session, co‑hosted with Mutinex, to discuss how AI is moving from hype to daily workflow. Speakers from Hershey, PubMatic, Breeze Airways and Mutinex emphasized that a solid data infrastructure is the prerequisite...
5 Themes That Defined Possible 2026
Possible 2026 conference in Miami Beach showcased a more polished, self‑assured event. Attendance rose 38% to about 7,500 participants, reflecting growing industry interest. The festival expanded beyond the Fontainebleau into neighboring Eden Roc and Nobu hotels and added branded yachts...
Chess.com Surpassed 250 Million Users And Is Launching a New Advertising Gambit
Chess.com announced it has surpassed 250 million registered users, a landmark for the freemium platform. The company, which generates $150 million in annual revenue, said advertising now accounts for about 10% of that total and is being positioned for rapid expansion. With...
Three Takeaways From Meta and Google’s Earnings Calls
Meta and Alphabet (Google) disclosed massive AI‑infrastructure spending during their recent earnings calls, positioning AI as a core driver of future ad performance. Both firms reported mixed stock reactions—Alphabet surged 7% while Meta slipped 7%—reflecting investor split over short‑term cost...
X Revamps Its Ads Manager, Folding in New AI Performance Tools
X has overhauled its Ads Manager, embedding AI-driven contextual and semantic signals to improve ad targeting and delivery. The company touts the update as its most ambitious platform revamp in two decades. New tools automate campaign creation, audience segmentation, and...
Antonio Lucio Joins PayPal as CMO Amid Massive Restructure
PayPal has appointed Antonio Lucio as chief marketing and corporate affairs officer as part of a sweeping reorganization announced April 29. The restructure splits the company into three operating units—Checkout Solutions and PayPal, Consumer Financial Services and Venmo, and Payment...
NBC Races Into 100th Anniversary With Kentucky Derby-Bound Promo
NBC is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a 30‑second "Summer on NBC" promo aired during the Kentucky Derby on May 2. The spot highlights the network’s live, appointment‑viewing summer lineup, including America’s Got Talent, MLB, American Ninja Warrior, Macy’s fireworks and...
Supergoop Partners With Target and the PGA as It Chases Mass Appeal
Supergoop has named January Digital as its agency of record for media planning and buying, covering brand, performance and retail spend. The decision follows the hiring of former Peloton CMO Lauren Weinberg, who met January Digital founder Vic Drabicky early...
Dhar Mann Bets on Speed Dating to Fix Creator-Brand Matchmaking
Dhar Mann Studios launched a creator‑brand speed‑dating event in Los Angeles, pairing more than 50 influencers with marketers during its Creator Economy Summit. The participating creators collectively command over 650 million followers, spanning emerging talent and established names like Jordan Matter and Jena Frumes. The...
Hulu’s Get Real House Turns Brands Into Reality Stars in Its 2nd Year
Hulu’s Get Real House returns for a second year on April 22 at the Casa Lago estate in Beverly Hills, merging reality‑TV stars with brand activations. The live‑streamed event, hosted by Access Hollywood and Scott Evans, features personalities from American Idol, The Kardashians, Love...
At Vox Media, the Roll-Up Era Rewinds
Vox Media, the decade‑long editorial roll‑up, is preparing to dismantle its portfolio through sales, spin‑offs and divestitures. The company now generates roughly $400‑$500 million in revenue, down from about $600 million a year earlier, as traffic to its lifestyle brands has slumped...
PR Meets Influence: The New Engine of Brand Growth
On the latest Adspeak podcast, Dana Paolucci of Dove and Raven Walker of Collectively discuss how heritage brands can stay culturally relevant through creator‑led strategies. Dove has moved from one‑off influencer spots to community‑driven partnerships that produce authentic user‑generated content,...
Inside Paramount’s 2026 Upfront Dinners
Paramount’s 2026 upfront dinners are the first client events since the $8 billion Skydance‑Paramount merger closed last year. The intimate gatherings, held in Chicago and Los Angeles, mark a return to the dinner format after the company dropped traditional upfront week in...
Beats and Jennie Are Back Together With an Unreleased Song and New Headphones
Beats and K‑pop icon Jennie are releasing a new onyx‑black special‑edition headphone on April 24, paired with an exclusive, unreleased track. The design features attachable black bows, music‑inspired ear‑pad symbols, and a matching carrying case. A Seoul pop‑up will let fans...
After Building In-House Agencies for Brands, Jeffrey Gorder Is Back Leading One
Jeffrey Gorder has been reappointed CEO of MONO, the Stagwell‑owned creative boutique he helped build for over a decade. Gorder previously led the agency’s San Francisco office and served as chief growth officer before leaving in 2021 for the consultancy Oliver,...
Index Exchange Welcomes DSPs Into New Cloud Infra, Bringing Bidders Closer to Ad Inventory
Index Exchange has launched Index Cloud, a neutral, containerized compute environment that lets demand‑side platforms (DSPs) run bidding logic directly within the supply‑side platform. The move aims to cut latency in programmatic auctions and lower operational costs. Bedrock Platform, an...
3 Golden Insights From NBC Sports’ Social Strategy During the Milan Winter Olympics
NBC Sports leveraged its social platforms during the Milan‑Cortina Winter Olympics to treat the event as both sport and culture, targeting anyone with a smartphone. The team re‑imagined the 8 p.m. ET recap as a feature‑film‑style experience, extending conversation 24/7. Their...
Why the Inbox Is the New Algorithm
At Adweek’s Social Media Week 2026, brand leaders argued that newsletters are experiencing a renaissance as a reliable alternative to algorithm‑driven social feeds. Executives from Rare Beauty, Betches, and UTA highlighted that owned email lists give brands direct access to...
Calling All Soccer Fans: Axe Wants to See Your Craziest Game Day Outfits
Axe has launched a World Cup‑themed costume contest on TikTok, inviting fans to showcase their most over‑the‑top FIFA outfits for a chance to win 82 tickets to seven matches, including a quarter‑final in Miami. The promotion leverages Unilever’s tier‑one World...
The Critics Who Panned Justin Bieber’s Coachella Set Missed the Point
At Coachella, Justin Bieber opened a laptop and streamed his own YouTube videos, turning the performance into a live feed of his catalog rather than a conventional concert. The set reflects a broader shift toward platform‑first content, where creators prioritize...
Brita’s Unhinged Shark Reveals 4 Lessons About Winning Over Gen Z
Brita partnered with VaynerMedia to launch a surreal social campaign featuring a cartoon shark singing “At Least I’m Hydrated.” The chaotic, meme‑ready video went viral, capturing Gen Z attention and spilling over to older audiences. At AD Week, senior marketers outlined four...
Google Is Migrating Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max
Google is migrating its Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) into AI Max, the AI‑driven hub for Search advertising, and has taken AI Max out of beta for worldwide use. Voluntary migration begins this week, with an automatic upgrade of all DSA,...
Meta Has Made Child Exploitation a Cost of Doing Business
Meta faced two recent jury verdicts— a $375 million penalty in New Mexico for child‑exploitation violations and liability in Los Angeles for a woman’s mental‑health harms—yet advertisers have not altered spend. The article notes Meta’s history of large fines (FTC $5 billion, Ireland €1.2 billion≈$1.3 billion,...
Former Airbnb and 72andSunny Execs Team Up to Bridge the Brand-Business Divide
Former Airbnb marketing chief Musa Tariq and former 72andSunny creative lead Tim Jones have left stealth mode to launch Science x Story, a consultancy aimed at reconciling brand creativity with business strategy. The duo cites a chronic disconnect: agencies excel at storytelling...
JCPenney Brings Its Battle Against Fashion Elitism to Women’s Basketball
JCPenney has launched Inside Lane, a program that partners the retailer with five collegiate and professional women’s basketball athletes to showcase affordable, shoppable outfits. The looks are pulled from existing collections and offered in a wide range of sizes and price...
Nespresso’s Gen Z Glow-Up: Dua Lipa, Iced Drinks, and a Bold New Visual World
Nespresso is rolling out a new creative platform aimed at Gen Z, anchored by a partnership with pop star Dua Lipa. The campaign introduces a line of iced coffee beverages and a bold visual language that blends street‑style graphics with the...
AppLovin’s CEO Is No Longer Board Chair and Two Top Execs Are Stepping Down
AppLovin’s co‑founder and CEO Adam Foroughi relinquished his role as board chair, handing the position to Wynn Resorts chief executive Craig Billings. Foroughi will remain CEO and keep a board seat, emphasizing a focus on strategic execution. The company also...
Build Your First AI Agent at Social Media Week
At ADWEEK’s Social Media Week on March 15, Code and Theory will run a hands‑on workshop teaching marketers how to build their first AI agents. Attendees will leave with three functional agents—a Trend Pulse Report, a Partnership Evaluator, and an Analytics...
EXCLUSIVE: Intuit Is Shutting Down Its Ad Network for Small Businesses
Intuit announced it will shut down SMB MediaLabs, the ad network launched in 2023 to let advertisers reach QuickBooks users. The platform was intended to create a new revenue stream by leveraging small‑business data. The closure comes less than three...
Week of March 30 Evening News Ratings: NBC News and CBS News Grow
NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News both posted gains, moving into positive territory for total viewers and the key 25‑54 demo during the week of March 30, 2026. ABC World News Tonight’s demo lead narrowed to just 25,000 viewers, its smallest...
ADWEEK TV Advantage: Could Upfront Week Change Permanently?
Upfront week is returning with major players like Netflix, Disney, and Paramount showcasing ad inventory, but the format faces pressure from streaming entrants that have flooded the market with digital inventory. The traditional TV upfront, a fixture since the 1960s,...
Week of March 30 Morning News Ratings: Today Stays in Lead
NBC’s Today retained the top spot in the March 30‑week morning news ratings, drawing 2.963 million total viewers and 615,000 adults 25‑54. ABC’s Good Morning America slipped 1% week‑over‑week to 2.904 million viewers but was up 5% year‑over‑year in total audience. CBS Mornings lagged...
Jeff Shell Reportedly Out as Paramount President
Jeff Shell has been removed as president of Paramount Skydance after allegations and a legal dispute with crisis‑communication specialist RJ Cipriani over a claimed $150 million debt. This follows his 2023 ouster from NBCUniversal amid misconduct allegations. Shell was hired in...
MS NOW Names Executive Producers for 4 New Shows
MS NOW announced four new executive producers to lead its upcoming shows launching in June, part of a broader schedule revamp unveiled in March. Patrick McMenamin will helm Stephanie Ruhle's two‑hour morning block, while Rebekah Dryden follows Ali Velshi to...
The Publicis-Microsoft Deal Is Bigger Than You Think
Microsoft has appointed Publicis Groupe as its global media agency of record and simultaneously launched an AI partnership that will blend Microsoft’s tools, technology, and data with Publicis’s client capabilities. The agreement covers a media business segment valued at roughly $1.2 billion,...
Lippe Taylor and Twelvenote Rebrand as /Prompt, Betting on AI-Native Future
Lippe Taylor and its sister agency Twelvenote have unified under the single brand /prompt, discarding their legacy names. The AI‑focused joint venture launched in 2023 now becomes the agencies' sole identity, with CEO Paul Dyer remaining at the helm. Historically...
News Outlets Share Coverage Plans for Historic Artemis II Launch
NASA is set to launch Artemis II on April 1, 2024, sending a four‑person crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—on a ten‑day lunar orbit test flight. The mission will ride the Space Launch System (SLS) and...
Top Shelf: How Patrón Stays Premium With Craft and Conviction in a Digital World
Patrón Tequila, now under Bacardi, is defending its super‑premium status amid a wave of more than 700 new entrants since 2019. The brand doubles down on quality, transparency and craft, highlighted by its additive‑free campaign that spells out the simple...
Our Lego Agency’s Jennifer Berry on Building Connected Commerce Beyond Channels
Lego’s in‑house Our Lego Agency now unites commerce, creativity and retail under a single operating model, eliminating traditional channel silos. The agency focuses on delivering seamless, audience‑first experiences across direct‑to‑consumer (DTC), partner retailers and physical stores. AI tools are deployed...
Virtual Vanguard Recap: Jim Lecinski
The Virtual Vanguard recap with Northwestern professor Jim Lecinski highlighted that AI’s next wave in marketing hinges on intent, sequencing, and disciplined execution rather than merely adopting new tools. While a universal playbook remains elusive, CMOs are converging on emerging...
Week of March 16 Cable News Ratings: MS NOW Grows in Primetime and Total Day
In the Nielsen week of March 16, 2026, MS NOW was the only basic cable news network to increase total viewership in both primetime and total‑day, posting a 3% rise in each segment. Fox News remained the leader in absolute primetime viewers but...
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Pitchdeck Reveals Amazon’s Pitch to Get Advertisers on Rufus
Amazon is preparing to roll out Sponsored Ads on its AI‑driven shopping assistant Rufus, moving the feature from open beta to a general‑availability launch. The leaked pitch deck reveals that advertisers will be charged on a cost‑per‑click (CPC) basis and...
What the Netflix–Warner Music Deal Really Means for Artists and Brands
Warner Music Group has signed a multi‑year, first‑look agreement with Netflix, giving the streamer priority access to documentary series and films about WMG’s legendary and contemporary artists. The partnership taps Netflix’s growing reputation for premium music documentaries and provides Warner...
These 9 Shoptalk Conversations Are Shaping Commerce’s Future
Shoptalk in Las Vegas showcased the industry’s anxiety and optimism about commerce’s next evolution, from AI‑driven chatbots to search‑embedded shopping. Key conversations highlighted retailers such as Home Depot and technology firms like Stratacache grappling with omnichannel strategies. Google announced a partnership with...
Yahoo Wants to Turn Your Inbox and Search History Into an Advertiser’s Dream
Yahoo unveiled Yahoo Scout, an AI‑driven intelligence layer that fuses first‑party intent data from its search, mail and content properties, positioning the company as a cookieless advertising platform. At the 2026 NewFronts, it introduced Planner, an AI‑powered inbox feature that converts...
LG Makes Its Home Screen Premium Ad Real Estate at NewFronts
LG Ad Solutions and LG Electronics unveiled a suite of new advertising tools at the IAB NewFronts, featuring a seamless home‑screen experience that embeds full‑frame video directly into the TV interface. The company introduced programmatic home‑screen ad formats, live‑tune‑in previews,...