Adweek

The closure of BuzzFeed News last month marked the end of one of the most high-profile experiments in ad-supported digital newsgathering. But Jonah Peretti’s newsroom is just the most recent casualty. In the last year, BDG has shuttered Gawker and Input, while Axel Springer has issued cuts or closures at Insider, Morning Brew and Protocol. Monetizing newsrooms through advertising runs counter to decades of accrued wisdom: Both on television and in print, news has always been a loss leader, subsidized by other sectors but prized for its ability to attract attention and add reputational sheen, said Jon Miller of Integrated Media Co. If digital publishers once believed the Wild West of the open web would unlock new capabilities for financing the news, the opposite now appears increasingly true. Instead, the same bogeymen that have…

Bud Light. Dylan Mulvaney. “Responsibility to America.” You know the story. This marketing fiasco, according to creators and marketers, is a reminder that when working with trans talent, brands must recognize the prospect of backlash, while also considering whether their messaging will prevail—and what they’re prepared to do to protect their brand partners. “They want the benefit of this person’s audience and their influence,” said CMO adviser Lola Bakare, “but they don’t want any of the negativity that might surround that.” “Bud Light was just looking to put something out there and didn’t see [Mulvaney] as a strategic partner who is driving conversions, creative and community,” said Jazmin Griffith of La Marca Consulting. “When you work with creators, they are an extension of you.”…

When Cynthia Ángel first watched Silence of the Lambs, she was drawn to the 1991 horror film—but not for the reasons she first thought. “I wanted to be Clarice,” recalled Ángel, now co-owner of D L A Films, a full-service production company that creates branded content and commercials for Nike, Ikea and Amazon, and megastar talent like Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Janelle Monáe. “So I applied to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and I studied forensic psychology with a view to becoming an FBI agent.” During the soul-searching that often happens in the postsecondary education years, Ángel questioned her career path, especially after finding herself more empathetic to the victims and their stories. In the end, it was a drama class that shined a light on the real reason she…

What’s even harder than becoming a star? Remaining one. Fewer and fewer celebrities are able to parlay their success into decadeslong careers. These days, it’s nearly impossible to pull that off without reinventing oneself along the way—and often more than once. And that’s what Drew Barrymore has managed to do. Barrymore, our cover subject, first won our hearts as Gertie in the 1982 film E.T. And despite battling more than her share of demons over the years, she kept thriving as an actor. But Barrymore knew that she needed to start creating her own opportunities instead of just waiting for them to come her way, so she became a hit producer, branched into product lines, launched her own quarterly magazine and has now conquered daytime TV with The Drew Barrymore Show,…

It’s time again for upfront week, TV’s annual advertising showcase in which Madison Avenue descends on decked-out Manhattan venues. But ahead of this year’s week of presentations, which kick off May 15, many buyers are wondering whether the storied tradition—which returned last year in person following two years of pandemic shutdowns—is still necessary. “[Upfront week] used to feel much more valuable. And then quite honestly, to some extent, Covid made everyone realize that it’s a little bit silly,” one buyer said, speaking anonymously. “We don’t need to do the song and dance anymore, right?” The consensus among the buyers Adweek spoke to was that the upfront pageantry is more for the broader marketing community, junior personnel, the media and clients. But the value of big, flashy, star-studded presentations remains in question. “I can…

For Gigi Robinson, a health and wellness creator who works with brands such as Adobe and Shopify and has 178,000 followers on Snapchat, the lack of clarity around what to disclose for paid-for partnerships is adding more confusion to the marketplace. In early April, Robinson checked into a luxurious D.C. hotel. As part of a collaboration, she was asked to create content for the hotel—which she declined to name, to maintain her business relationship—in exchange for the property comping her stay. When she posted the content on Instagram, where she has nearly 40,000 followers, Robinson didn’t include the disclosure that it was a #sponsored or #ad post—a requirement that is usually mentioned by brands in their contracts. “The lines are murky with that because technically it’s a media stay,” said Robinson. “How…