Spotify Revolutionized Podcasting. Can It Do the Same for Podcast Ads?

When Jemele Hill first launched her podcast exclusively on Spotify in April 2019, the moment marked a new chapter for both parties, though neither could have known it at the time. Just two months prior, Spotify had declared itself an audio company for the first time, officially expanding its mission beyond music and signaling its…

Infographic: An Inside Look at How Marketers Use Influencers

More than 50 million people consider themselves creators. That’s a lot of potential content partners for the 40% of marketers who plan to invest over half of their social media budgets on partnering with creators in the next six months. That number comes from social media management platform Sprout Social, which surveyed 516 U.S. marketers…

Inside AMC’s ‘Bittersweet’ Farewell to Better Call Saul

Mad Men helped define AMC as a premium cable force in 2007, but the original series that followed a year later–Breaking Bad–had an even greater long-term impact on the network. After Breaking Bad ended its acclaimed run in 2013 as one of TV’s all-time greatest series, it passed the baton to prequel show Better Call…

See All the 2022 Adweek Podcast of the Year Awards Winners

As substantial investments in the audio space continue, 2022 has seen a long list of innovative, exciting and informative new podcasts arrive on the scene. Adweek’s annual Podcast of the Year Awards recognize the best among them, featuring shows across categories aimed at all sorts of audiences. Selected from hundreds of entries by a jury…

How Maejor Frequency Made a Winning Podcast by Listening to the Universe

Jared Gutstadt was stressed. He had booked a retreat in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains to record the soundtrack that would form the sonic underpinnings of Maejor Frequency, a 10-part podcast hosted by musician and producer Maejor and produced exclusively for Amazon-owned podcast juggernaut Audible. Gutstadt had to make sure the days away from his home base…

Breakout Star Eva Reign Takes Her Cues From the Stars

Age: 26 Claim to fame: Eva Reign is the breakout star of Billy Porter’s directorial debut, Anything’s Possible, the coming-of-age story of a trans teenage girl, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Base: Brooklyn, New York Instagram: @msevareign What is the first form of media you consume in the morning? I start my days off…

Born 125 Years Ago, the Swiss Army Knife Remains a Staple

In September 1945, the U.S. armed forces commenced Operation Magic Carpet, the mass demobilization of American soldiers who’d fought in World War II. Some 20,000 troops a day boarded ships bound for home. In their rucksacks, many of the men carried souvenirs like battle flags, helmets and even grenades. Those who’d fought in Europe frequently…

Purpose Versus Performance: Major Food and Beverage Marketers Find the 2 Are Inextricably Linked

Talk to any brand executive from any type of company, and you’ll get the same answer: Successful companies have to focus on both branding and performance. But if you talk to these same leaders on background, they’ll admit it’s indeed tough to accomplish both when the economy–and along with it, consumer confidence–dips. As marketing budgets…

The Femtech Revolution Is Here, but Bias Threatens to Slow Its Growth

The film opens on a woman standing by herself in a room, but as the camera pans out, we see she isn’t alone. A group of women join in for a mesmerizing dance as a voiceover says: “This is a woman. She has a body. Her body has … never been studied properly, ever. Not…

Streamers Have Fallen for Digital Product Placement, but Buyers Aren’t Yet Sold

Traditional TV product placement takes months or even years to plan and execute. But with advancements in digital effects, almost anything is on the table–and Amazon is taking that sentiment literally. During its NewFronts presentation in May, Amazon showcased an example of M&M’s digitally appearing on a table in an episode of Prime Video’s series…

This Journalist Put Learning First to Become CMO of Canva

It’s a tale as old as startups: One day you’re going through the motions at work. The next, your company has run out of money and you’re left looking for a new job. That’s the position Zach Kitschke was in nine years ago. At the time, he was writing about technology and startups for From…

Infographic: How to Win Gen Z and Millennial Shoppers’ Loyalty

Amid decades-high inflation, all that matters is price, right? Well, not to millennials and Gen Z. Operations management software platform parcelLab surveyed more than 1,000 younger consumers in June and found that their focus on values and sustainability is still very much a factor when it comes to winning (and losing) brand loyalty. Overwhelmingly, these…

Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson Swings for the Fences in Her Return to TV

When Abbi Jacobson was developing Prime Video’s reboot of A League of Their Own, it would have been easy for her to simply re-create the classic moments from the beloved 1992 film about the 1940s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. But the actor, writer and comedian had loftier ambitions than a simple nostalgia trip: Her…

27 Professionals Profoundly Affecting Media, Marketing, Tech and the Creator Economy

Our annual Young Influentials list highlights individuals under 40 who are truly making an impact across media, marketing, tech and the creator economy. Every year, we’ve been introduced to countless young people who are making significant strides in these fields, and the best part is that there’s never a shortage of innovators. This year’s honorees…

Decentralize Your Agency With Pop-Up Offices

As leaders in the advertising and marketing space, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redefine work. While this is true of all workplace leaders, there is an urgency and salience for those of us who are influencers of cultural trends. Many of us quickly and successfully pivoted to working from home in March 2020 at…

How Igloo Got Its Cool Back

Four years ago, just before stepping into his new job as a CEO, Dave Allen took his family on a vacation. A few days in, one of Allen’s high school-age daughters asked him what company he’d be running. “Igloo,” he told her. Naturally, she took out her phone and looked it up. Allen still remembers…

Smart TVs Are Finally Catching Up to Roku and Fire TV

When smart TVs fully burst onto the scene in the early 2010s, they revolutionized how consumers watched content. Featuring crisp, sharp images, deep blacks and colors, and pristine sound quality, the sets changed the face of the television landscape. But when the biggest names in the industry built their smart TV businesses a decade ago,…

Once a Liability, the Rogue Social Media Manager Is Now an Advertising Strategy

A new class of social media managers is adopting a vernacular that diverges from the mother tongue of advertising: They’re snarky, making their jobs as corporate employees part of the bit and sometimes criticizing the brands they’re being paid to promote. Consider a few examples that have each been liked and viewed thousands of times…

‘You’re Probably Underpaid’: Creators Are Changing the Conversation About Salary

When Hannah Williams turned to TikTok to share how she jumped tech jobs and upped her salary from $40,000 in her first job to $115,000 in her current role, many of her followers didn’t believe her. She thought, “If all the data analysts in the country told you their pay, people would see that these…

Gaston Taratuta on Becoming an Entrepreneur ‘by Force’

Up against global competition–a finalist group of entrepreneurs representing 41 countries–Gaston Taratuta’s attitude was one of cool confidence: “You are the world champion of this story. Chin up and believe it, brother!” This mindset ultimately led to him winning the title of Ernst & Young’s World Entrepreneur of the Year during the June competition in…