Adweek January 2023

Disney acquires Twitter With the platform’s future looking uncertain, some see Disney CEO Bob Iger stepping in. “[Twitter] is going to be a fire sale soon,” said senior marketer Lou Paskalis. Iger almost bought Twitter in 2016 but was put off by “nastiness” on the platform. Safari takes market share Conversations in the Web Developer Forum community strongly suggest that Apple is making a tremendous effort to improve the developer experience for its web browser, Safari. However, there’s a big hurdle: Apple’s ATT Privacy efforts mean Safari users have lower CPM. Regulators come for Google The rising concern over data governance will make way for “an in-depth look at what amount advertisers pay for ads and where that money flows,” said Joshua Lowcock of UM Worldwide. Expect a crackdown on advertisers “who extract value from…

Twitter plans to lift its 2019 ban on political ads “in the coming weeks” and let marketers serve cause-based advertising, like ads that educate or encourage people to take action on social and economic topics. “We believe that cause-based advertising can facilitate a public conversation around important topics,” Twitter’s Safety account tweeted. Other platforms such as Facebook and YouTube allow paid political content. This policy reversal comes as 70% of advertisers have fled Twitter since Elon Musk bought the platform.…

Applications are now open for Adweek’s 2023 Media Agency of the Year award, which recognizes excellence across categories including Breakthrough, Global and U.S. Agencies had much to contend with this year. The media landscape became more fragmented, and many media shops expanded their creative work while others launched creative practices. Retail media and connected TV investments also ballooned. In 2023, Adweek will consider media agencies’ account wins and losses since December 2021, account expansions, revenue growth, strategic moves, level of commitment to expanding diversity, equity and inclusion, sustainability and the work itself. To fill out an application by Jan. 17, visit adweek.com.…

Music wasn’t something Steve Keller thought he could make a career out of. The self-proclaimed audio alchemist (official title: sonic strategy director) at SXM Media’s in-house creative agency Studio Resonate built up an encyclopedic knowledge of music as a young man but used it only as “a fairly effective dating tool.” “The plan was to go on to grad school and get a master’s or Ph.D. to work either in clinical or social psychology,” Keller said. After a year of saving up money, in part by playing guitar in coffee shops, Keller chose a new path, moving to Nashville in 1986. He would stay in Music City for 30 years, working with record labels of notable country singers like Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd and Neil Diamond to make dance remixes of their songs…

One perk of my job as chief content officer at Adweek is that I get a lot of face time with CMOs—whether that’s on stage at our events, for informal chats over coffee or via Zoom. I always enjoy talking with CMOs because they tend to be interesting and engaging people. Also, and perhaps most importantly, because CMOs are the central nervous system of their companies. While CMOs were once responsible for only creative and branding, today their remit includes the customer experience (CX), customer data and analytics, and business growth. As we turn our focus to 2023, it pains me that these same CMOs are facing immense pressure to justify their budgets, reduce spending and postpone big projects. Many are even fighting for their jobs. That’s why Adweek’s coverage of…

As 2023 kicks off, the marketing industry is on the cusp of several major tipping points that will begin to define its role in the climate crisis. Inflationary pressures are squeezing budgets. As a result, some experts report sustainability initiatives are stalled, while other industry leaders urge peers to keep climate top of mind. And as the industry struggles to agree on measurement standards and the scope of marketers’ responsibility when it comes to emissions, regulatory action will start to demand reporting on several climate measures. How the advertising industry responds to climate change this year will determine, to a large extent, whether or not it is actually serious about addressing the climate crisis. The existential question facing not just the marketing ecosystem, but also the broader economy, is if businesses can…