In 1971, 23-year-old Ilon Specht was a copywriter at McCann-Erickson, and one of still relatively few women on Madison Avenue. Surrounded by a cadre of male colleagues on the L’Oreal account, Specht defied the status quo when she wrote something different–iconic slogan “Because I’m worth it.” It’s been more than 50 years, and L’Oreal is…
Jess Lanzillo rolls deep with Dungeons & Dragons–and not just with her trusty D20 die. “I kind of backward engineered my way into D&D,” Lanzillo reveals to ADWEEK in her first interview as the new vp of franchise and product for the iconic strategy game, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Indiana-born gamer…
Last year, Simone Oppenheimer Mandel and Rachel Segall, co-founders of consultancy NBZ Partner, clandestinely began acting as agency search consultants and are now formally launching a new service offering, NBZ Match. The co-founders hope to evaluate a broader variety of agencies than many traditional search consultants and avoid overreliance on well-known shops. NBZ Partner searches…
CANNES, France–For the second year running, generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) was the hottest topic among the 15,000 delegates at Cannes Lions. However, in jury rooms, judges remained underwhelmed by the creative application of the technology. When asked during a press conference just how much discussion around AI had taken place in the jury room…
CANNES, France–The brightest young minds of the advertising world come together each year for the Cannes Young Lion Competition. This year, we asked the two participants representing Team USA, Rachel Findlay and Jessica Nugent, to share their experience. Day 1: We’re in Cannes Between the hot sun and the beauty of the Croisette, the Cannes…
State Farm’s long history of championing women’s sports goes beyond just advertising. In this episode of Yeah That’s Probably an Ad, ADWEEK chief experience officer Jenny Rooney sits down with our 2024 Champion of Change Kristyn Cook, the chief agency, sales and marketing officer at State Farm. Cook talks about the various ways State Farm…
Super Serious is coming up on its first anniversary. The bicoastal creative shop was co-founded in 2023 by Hollywood star Terry Crews alongside Wieden + Kennedy vet Matt O’Rourke based on the core belief that “everything is entertainment.” The business venture marks a reunion for Crews and O’Rourke, who worked on the memorable series of…
Starbucks is launching its own production studio, Starbucks Studios. The studio, according to a statement on the brand’s website, will “produce original entertainment and tell stories that deepen connections and spark conversations.” Starbucks is launching the studio in partnership with Sugar23, a media company founded by Oscar-winning producer Michael Sugar that specializes in connecting brands…
Dentsu Creative’s U.S. CEO Abbey Klaassen and Phil Gaughran, who leads global business strategy for Dentsu Creative and Dentsu Americas, are expanding their roles in the interest of creating a cohesive global brand. They aim to grow Dentsu Creative’s international creative products and offerings and attract more business, amid a recent winning streak that includes…
Two broods of cicadas are emerging this summer from their underground resting places for the first time since 1803–when Thomas Jefferson was president–unleashing their distinctive high-pitched cries across more than 17 American states. For people with entomophobia–the fear of insects–this is the ultimate creepy-crawly nightmare. For Orkin, it’s a reason to put on a show….
At 15 years old, Kickstarter has helped various projects and creators secure funding to get off the ground. Success stories include the Fidget Cube, “slow news” platform Tortoise and Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl series. To mark its anniversary and showcase its role in culture, the brand invested in its first out-of-home campaign designed to…
Citizens of earth, gather round for a bizarro bedtime story with a science-fiction flair that celebrates the Hong Kong Ballet’s 45th anniversary and the debut of its first dance school. The fantastical tale starts here: “One odd day, a UFO lands and an alien enters the classroom,” where the teacher starts a conversation through movement….
At the start of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Starbucks announced its summer release of new fruit drinks: bright blue Starbucks Refreshers with raspberry-flavored “pearls” at the bottom of the cup. The brand says it drew “inspiration from drinks around the world, especially East Asian beverages with boba or pearls that have been popular…
The advertising industry’s top award recognizing marketing effectiveness revealed its winners tonight. The Effie Awards U.S. handed out its Grand Effie to Tubi, while recognizing an array of companies including Molson Coors, McDonald’s, McCann Worldgroup and Mischief @ No Fixed Address for their effective work over the past year. Tubi scored the Grand Effie for…
Liquid Death is taking its patented outrageousness to new heights–literally–by launching a contest to give away a fighter jet nicknamed The Dehydrator worth about $400,000. The sweeps, where consumers can enter as many as 400 times, is aimed at whipping up a frenzy that will drive retail sales during the key summer season for the…
Natasha Leggero describes her period as “a brave-hearted warrior on the battlefield” and admits she once leaked in a wave pool at a water park–and blamed it on someone else. Her compadre X Mayo likens her monthly menses to “a serial killer who cannot be satisfied.” If you’re not up for this kind of real…
It’s well known that springing for a celebrity endorsement can do wonders for brand awareness. But beauty brand The Ordinary challenges this advertising truism in an intentionally star-free campaign. Opting for the minimalist route, The Ordinary launched a global out-of-home campaign by agency Uncommon Creative Studio. The billboards lean into the science behind its products…
Longtime friends and collaborators Martin Short and Steve Martin have earned multiple Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards nominations for playing perpetually bickering friends in Hulu series Only Murders in the Building. Now the duo brings the same dynamic to the first commercial work they’ve done together, in agency BBDO New York’s debut campaign for…
Selling creativity in large multinational companies can often be a laborious challenge. There is always pressure from the C-suite to maximize return on investment. And that’s before we even get to the age-old subjectivity challenge–everyone in the business feels entitled to an opinion when it comes to a piece of creative work, whereas they’d rarely…
Bumble has become the latest brand in the cluttered dating app landscape to get a makeover as it tries to reach generations fatigued with online dating. The dating app, which launched in 2014 with the distinguishing feature that only women users could make the first move with matches, has undergone a revamp with a refreshed…
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