Adweek August 8, 2022

All signs point to the global economy heading toward a recession that’s likely to continue into 2023. Looking to the 2009 downturn, however, the U.K.’s Institute for Practitioners in Advertising found brands that upped ad spend by 8% increased market share four times more during the recovery phase. For now, some of the world’s top spenders are leaning on marketing to see them through this time. Coca-Cola global CMO Manolo Arroyo said the brand’s developed a set of “best practices” for hyperinflationary environments and is thinking three to five years ahead. “The name of the game is about segmentation and adapting to ensure we maintain our customer base.” Unilever executives expressed similar confidence that marketing could help it come out the other side. As prices rose 11% in Q2, the Hellmann’s and Dove owner…

It’s once again time to assemble Adweek’s Hot List, which honors the best in TV, media, digital and tech, along with spotlighting a Media Visionary and leading creators and executives. The Hot List—which will be published Oct. 10—evolves every year to recognize emerging media trends, and 2022 is no exception. New categories this year include Hottest Measurement Company and Hottest in Sustainability. While submissions are not required for consideration, we welcome your suggestions. Please send us no more than 500 words on why your brand/outlet/show is hot by Aug. 17. For more information, the full list of categories and how to submit your entries, visit adweek.com.…

Long before he became chief marketing officer of radio and podcast network Audacy, Paul Suchman was torn between two worlds: a major in integrated marketing at the University of Southern California and a minor in ocean sciences driven by a fascination with sharks. Deep down, his plan was to graduate, attend the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and become an oceanographer. After graduating, Suchman took what was supposed to be a three-month surfing trip to Australia. That journey transformed into an 18-month stay in the Land Down Under. When he returned home, his parents told him he needed to find work. Facing a fork in the road between careers in oceanography and advertising, Suchman went with the latter. “I wasn’t built for Wall Street,” he said. “The thing that I really…

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 Saul, which debuted in 2015 and focused on the origins of Saul Goodman, the slick Breaking Bad lawyer played by Bob Odenkirk. “It’s impossible to overstate the importance of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul to this company,” said Dan McDermott, president entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks. For a decade and a half, the two shows burnished AMC’s reputation as the home of top-shelf content that could hold its own with anything on HBO,…

Eleven advertisers have been partners for all six seasons. Two dozen new advertisers bought inventory on the show this season across a broad range of categories, including rival TV and streaming outlets. CPMs were at an all-time high for the series. AMC Networks also saw strong demand for the three Saul-themed digital original short-form series from The Content Studio, AMC Networks’ branded content studio: animated Slippin’ Jimmy, Saul’s Employee Training videos and Emmy-nominated Cooper’s Bar, starring Seehorn.…

While diversity, equity and inclusion has become a major topic of discussion among advertisers in the last two years, communities with disabilities, especially those with hearing impediments, are often left out of the conversation. Making audio content consumable for those who are deaf or hard of hearing is still “not very good,” according to TEDx speaker and accessibility expert Meryl Evans, due in part to a lack of decipherable transcripts. “[Podcasts] almost never have a transcript,” Evans said. While it’s a growing priority—media companies like Crooked Media and Vox Media’s branded content studio Vox Creative have introduced tech to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing people through visualizations, text and a way for brands to tap into the audience—there are still hurdles for consumers with disabilities to access media, particularly audio. According to Insider Intelligence…