Adweek July 26, 2021

The Tokyo Olympics kicked off July 23, despite continued controversy in the midst of another Covid-19 surge in host country Japan. Top sponsor Toyota pulled its Olympics ads from Japanese TV days before the Games began, but NBCUniversal said all of its U.S. advertising partners, including Toyota, remained committed. As of press time, NBCU hadn’t released an updated ad revenue figure for the Tokyo Games, but the company previously said it was on par with the record $1.25 billion in sales it had announced in March 2020, shortly before the Games were postponed for a year due to the pandemic.…

The Olympics got an infusion of excitement with the inclusion of skateboarding—but will the sport catch the attention of mainstream brands? The skateboard market is projected to hit $2.4 billion by 2025, and emerging stars like Nyjah Huston and Sky Brown have broken the mold of the typical skateboarder. “If done authentically, [brands] will resonate,” said Bobby Gascon of Vans. But he cautions marketers to “park your egos, disregard any marketing award, listen to skateboarders and align with its culture.”…

With the explosion of streaming services in recent years, it’s been a race to distinguish themselves and give subscribers reasons to sign up and stick around. First was original programming, then children’s shows, and now: live sports. Streamers have been prominently included in several huge sports deals struck this year, including the NFL’s massive extension with its media partners, Disney’s expanded agreement with the MLB, and new NHL pacts with Disney and Turner Sports. But it’s not just the biggest leagues that they’re targeting; smaller properties like soccer, cricket and rugby that might not have found a home on linear have also been key. And streamers don’t have the capacity constraints of linear, either. “Global soccer is tailor made for the direct-to-consumer environment because there’s a lot of content [and] it’s growing…

A former brand manager of Clorox might not seem the likely choice to head up Crown Media Family Networks. But president and CEO Wonya Lucas worked her way from becoming a process engineer to heading up some of cable television’s most recognizable networks, with a particular focus on increasing diversity. “I describe myself as a process engineer, brand marketer. A brand builder,” Lucas said. “I think one of the things that distinguishes me as a marketer in entertainment in the media space is being able to sell processes that made us more efficient and enhanced collaboration.” Lucas spent five years as an engineer before pursuing her MBA, then worked her way from engineering to packaged goods to Coca-Cola. “I went back and forth between COO type of positions where I was leveraging a…

Creative and media didn’t talk nice for decades. However, the two disciplines are looking to reunite as the evolution of bundling and media strategy increasingly intermingle and jostle for relevance and priority. As the industry evens out following a tumultuous pandemic year, media agencies are teaming up with creative agencies once again. Case in point: media company MNTN’s recent acquisition of Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, not to mention Accenture’s 2019 acquisition of Droga5. And other agencies are making sure their media and creative teams share the same space and ideas so they can work seamlessly on integrated campaigns that tie in social, connected TV and other modern mediums that require quick turnaround times. One overarching hook is the cost-savings proposed to benefit both the agency partner and client. It remains to be…

Saturday Night Live serves as the inspiration behind Accenture Interactive’s transformation from a consultancy to an integrative media and creative agency, said Glen Hartman, president of Accenture Interactive, North America. Hartman was inspired by a story from Lorne Michaels, creator/producer of SNL. When talking to a friend about a recent episode, Michaels asked a friend for their thoughts around a skit, which his friend felt was an obvious miss. Michaels explained that after the creative output was done, it went to the actors and director for a table read while storyboards were created, the environment was designed and all the other things that went along with prepping a sketch. “Lorne said, ‘Yes, it was funny when we wrote it, but by the time all of the pieces came together in a live…