Cookie-Alternative Fledge Testing Grows, But Not Among SSPs

Fledge, part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox suite of solutions intended to replace third-party cookies, is moving from a theoretical ad-tech framework to reality, according to new findings from demand-side platform RTB House. But encouraging all members of the media supply chain to test, especially in tough economic conditions, is limiting its adoption. Fledge, or first…

MikMak Goes Global With Acquisition of Swaven

MikMak is going global. The U.S.-based ecommerce platform, which revolutionized retail and recently secured a patented technology enabling the use of multi-retail selection and checkout within online video marketing campaigns, announced the acquisition of Swaven, a Paris-based ecommerce enablement and analytics software company that operates across EMEA, APAC and LATAM. “I think this acquisition for…

Google’s Latest Adjustments to Topics, Again, Favors Large Publishers

Privacy Sandbox proposal Topics is dealing another blow to smaller publishers. The Topics proposal suggests grouping users by interest-based cohorts based on browsing history, like auto or fitness, created by the browser and shared with a site–and its ad partners–when a user visits. In Google’s January quarterly progress report, to assuage European antitrust regulators, it…

Advertising Redefined 2023

Every Super Bowl 57 Ad in Under 2 Minutes

The venue and teams may change, but there is one constant when it comes to the Super Bowl – the commercials. Whether you tuned in for Rihanna’s half-time show or the epic back and forth battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, you were treated to a smorgasbord of creativity. Between the fan-favorite…

‘He Gets Us’ Is Bringing Jesus to the Super Bowl. Can It Convert Viewers to Followers?

Amid all the celebrity-filled brand spots, blockbuster movie trailers and beer ads, He Gets Us–a campaign to reintroduce Christianity to viewers–is a bit of an outlier. Rather than selling a brand or product, the $100 million campaign is running two Super Bowl ads that aim to “inspire those who may be skeptical of Christianity to…

Marketers Brace for an AI Arms Race in Search

The Big Tech arms race to own the next wave of language-based artificial intelligence heated up this week, as Google and Microsoft made dueling announcements that could change the way consumers access information on the internet. And that, in turn, is set to change the playbook of how marketers approach search. Microsoft said it would…

Snoop Dogg Slips Into Skechers’ Super Bowl Campaign

Skechers will run an ad during the fourth quarter featuring Snoop Dogg, who shows what he can do while wearing a pair of the brand’s hands-free slip-in sneakers. The 30-second “All Walks of Life” campaign, conceptualized by Snoop himself, features cameos from fellow brand ambassadors Howie Long and Tony Romo, as well as his close…

McDonald’s Delivery Campaign Features Doors Resembling Its Menu Items

In recent years, the iconic design of McDonald’s food and the brand furniture has become a focus for its advertising around the world, so familiar to the general consumer. In this latest campaign from McDonald’s France, created by TBWAParis, the brand has released three posters featuring different building doors, which are also reminiscent of a…

Workday’s Super Bowl Ad Wants Execs to Stop Calling Each Other ‘Rock Stars’

The adoption around the use of the description “rock star” in the business world has gone too far, according to enterprise software company Workday’s Super Bowl spot, which features actual rock stars to make its point. The 60-second ad from Ogilvy, which will run nationally during the third quarter of the game Feb. 12, features…

ESPN’s ‘This Is SportsCenter’ Spot With Olympian Sydney McLaughlin Is Pure Gold

Sports fans’ favorite campaign is back with a new ad–this time starring Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin and SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm. The latest spot in ESPN’s iconic “This Is SportsCenter” campaign, titled “Seconds,” will make its linear debut on Saturday on ESPN during the Duke and UNC men’s basketball game, tipping off at 6:30…

Scaling a Business With Betches Media

We all have those group chats with our close friends where we constantly share pictures, updates and memes. The best moments are when we find memes or videos that are so relatable that we feel seen. That’s exactly what the founders of media company Betches Media want to do through their various forms of content….

Marketing Morsels: M&M’s Become Ma&Ya’s, Twix’s Snowboard and More

Welcome to Marketing Morsels, Adweek’s weekly sampling of the most delectable brand stunts and campaigns we saw this week (but weren’t able to cover elsewhere). This week, discover offerings from M&M’s, Coca-Cola, Twix and more. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: Are Ma&Ya’s a Super Bowl stunt? Most of the internet will have heard or seen…

Getting Accurate Data on Creators Is About to Get Tougher

As the creator economy matures, more reliable metrics should emerge for marketers. But, marketers say, it’s still a challenge to make informed decisions when picking creators to work with. Data about whether a creator’s audience syncs with a brand’s customers, or whether the creator receives sufficient interactions on their posts, is hard to come by….

To Grow This Year, Data Clean Rooms Shoot for Interoperability

Data clean room companies, which help publishers securely match their audience’s first-party data with that of marketers, are aiming to capture more market share as the ad industry seeks more privacy-focused ways of targeting. Partly, this will come from offering more interoperability between players, as shown by the recent announcement from data clean room tech…

GroupM’s EMEA CEO Demet ?kiler Joins Publicis Groupe

Advertising agency network Publicis Groupe has named GroupM’s CEO for EMEA Demet ?kiler as its chief operating officer (COO) for EMEA. ?kiler, who was also the country chair for WPP in Turkey and a member of GroupM’s global leadership team, will join the rival agency network and be charged with scaling and delivering new cross-culture…

Marketers Welcome TikTok’s Transparency Play, Despite Political Tensions

TikTok’s attempt to increase transparency–and woo Washington lawmakers and civil society organizations to remain operating in the U.S.–has caught the attention of some marketers. But the platform’s audience growth and targeting capabilities will continue to be its selling point, rather than any outcomes of these political tensions. Still, more transparency in how its algorithm works…

Greenpeace Campaign Condemns Davos Delegates Private Jet Use

Ahead of the World Economic Forum at Davos taking place this year, environmental group Greenpeace released a visual campaign to highlight the hypocrisy it believes is taking place around discussions of the environment by people taking private planes to travel there. Each year, the Geneva, Switzerland-based event welcomes political, business and cultural leaders from around…

Following Arthur Sadoun’s Diagnosis, Publicis Launches Working With Cancer Pledge With Dozens of Global Partners

It started with a moment of boredom. While waiting for a lunch to begin, Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun put his hand on his chin and neck. There, he felt a bump. In a car ride afterward, he pointed it out to Carla Serrano, global CSO, and Michelle McGowan, evp, corporate communications in the U.S.,…

Marketing Morsels: The Brand That Made Fetch Happen and More

Welcome to Marketing Morsels, Adweek’s weekly sampling of the most delectable brand stunts and campaigns we saw this week (but weren’t able to cover elsewhere). This week, discover offerings from Fetch, Banza, Duolingo, Hardee’s and more. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: This brand made Fetch happen Regina George can shove it: Shopper rewards platform Fetch…