Adweek December 12, 2022

Nine months after it was first announced, Disney+’s ad-supported offering made its debut on Dec. 8, bringing on more than 100 partners “across every major holding company” and “every single major brand,” according to Disney ad sales chief Rita Ferro. While Ferro didn’t share subscriber expectations for the new tier, dubbed Disney+ Basic, a recent analysis by Kantar found that 1 in 4 Disney+ subscribers could trade down to the new AVOD tier, which is rolling out at $7.99 per month. Disney+ topped 164 million subscribers as of the fiscal fourth quarter. Disney+ Basic is debuting with mostly 15-and 30-second spots that will air in pre-and mid-roll ads, with advanced targeting capabilities and new formats coming later as the company continues to test. “At the end of the first quarter, we will…

Coca-Cola is branching into branded entertainment with a Christmas film series on Amazon Prime Video produced by Imagine Entertainment. The anthology is the first project from Coca-Cola’s new entertainment platform, Real Magic Presents, which will produce videos in various formats that “celebrate stories of human connection, told in magical ways,” according to Coca-Cola. OpenX, WPP’s bespoke team for Coca-Cola, developed the series with creative leadership from agency Grey. The films were shot by different up-and-coming directors and tell diverse stories across three continents.…

The past year has seen a number of defining moments for the ad industry, from grappling with measurement and privacy regulations to the meteoric rise (and unceremonious fall) of crypto. But if this year’s crop of beloved ads reflects any singular theme, it’s the willingness of brands and creatives to go out on a limb. Whether they played with tone, implemented cutting-edge tech, attempted to connect with Gen Z or convinced actors to act like total creepers at a nationally televised ball game, advertisers didn’t shy away from trying new things. And as viewers, we were luckier for it. To see all 30 of our favorite ads of 2022, visit adweek.com.…

Microsoft had a whole garage to begin its journey to greatness, but Michael Watts didn’t have that luxury. He founded his creative production agency Hook in a closet in his Michigan home—because the garage was already being used by his roommates. Now, Hook boasts more than 100 employees across San Francisco and other locations, and Watts is in the process of restoring a historic building in downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., that will become its new headquarters. Watts’ entrepreneurial journey began by helping his parents run a music production company. He started tinkering on their old Apple computer with Photoshop precursor, SuperPaint. When his parents decided in 1998 that they needed a website, they turned to their son. Since this was the pre-YouTube, early internet era, “I bought a book and figured it out…

We’ve somehow arrived at the end of another momentous year. You’re holding in your hands Adweek’s final magazine issue of 2022, and we’ve saved the best for last, spotlighting our annual Agency of the Year honorees. As is the case each year, this award recognizes the standout shops across a variety of categories. But our ace agencies editor Jameson Fleming (recently promoted to managing editor, marketing and agencies) and his team—alongside our creativity guru Shannon Miller (also newly promoted to managing editor, creativity, creator economy and DEI) and her team—made some key expansions and additions this year. For the first time, they created an open submission process and added three new categories to the AOY mix: small, midsize and multicultural agencies of the year alongside the returning U.S., global, breakthrough and…

In February 2021, a new restaurant appeared in Steubenville, Ohio. Its name: Wings on Wheels. The menu featured what you might expect: chicken wings, soft drinks, sides of ranch and blue cheese dressing. Everything was rather typical about the place, except for one thing: There were no booths or servers—let alone a building. Wings on Wheels, you see, was a virtual brand, meaning the only way customers could get food was to order it through an app or website, then wait for it to show up at their front door. The delivery-only concept did not sit well with some of the 116,000 people living in the Steubenville metropolitan area. Who, exactly, was doing this? And where? “The phone calls and the messages and the Facebook comments were very hectic to keep up with,” said…