Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Adweek

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) technology, which uses AI to answer search queries on-page, has sent publishers scrambling to prepare for a major disruption to their organic search traffic—their largest source of readership and, ultimately, revenue. When fully incorporated into search—which could happen as soon as this fall—SGE could reduce publishers’ organic search traffic anywhere from 20% to 80%. “Within months, across the web, you would see hundreds of smaller websites go out of business,” said Avram Piltch of Tom’s Hardware. “The effect on many parts of the internet would be apocalyptic.” SGE could also upend the affiliate marketing business by routing product queries through Google pipes. Legal and political considerations, including licensing deals for the use of publishers’ content, are in play. More practically, publishers are considering adjusting their…

For Pereira O’Dell chief growth officer Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, using her professional voice always felt more like an earned privilege than an inherent asset. When she tried to move forward on a project by presenting a list of opinions from people across the agency, her former boss paused and reminded her that she wasn’t being paid to deliver other people’s ideas. “She said, ‘I’m paying you to have an opinion and to move this business forward,’ and that was the first time anyone had ever said that to me,” said Munayyer Gonzalez, who has searched for a healthy balance between celebrating her readiness to listen and hiding behind it. Separating work and home She has since reflected on the roots of these tendencies, chalking much of it up to the…

This year’s Adweek Media All-Stars represent the variety of tasks media agencies are taking on in 2023. They’re navigating AI and its impact on media buying, and they’re mastering the constantly growing list of retail media networks. This is all while doing what media agencies do best: strategically planning and executing the most effective media buys. Adweek’s 2023 Media Executive of the Year, Stacy DeRiso, has guided Initiative toward one of the industry’s strongest offerings. And our Rising Star, Allison Wolf, is using her power as a media buyer to advocate for change and inclusivity. Read their stories, as well as those of 19 other Media All-Stars who are mastering their craft.…

An industry veteran of nearly a decade, Sanchez’s work has long centered on providing industry-first DEI solutions for clients. Starting his tenure at Publicis as director of strategy and investment at Starcom and quickly becoming the agency’s first official DEI lead, he developed a framework centered on “celebration versus minimization” that has been widely implemented by Publicis Media. In partnership with the agency’s Once & For All Coalition, Sanchez created the Inclusive Buying Protocol (IBP), offering media planners a guide for expanding their reach with diverse audiences. As a former chair of the Men of Color Alliance and current board member of Prismatic, a 501(c)(3) organization for career development, as well as an active participant in Publicis’ business resource group network, Sanchez’s efforts toward creating growth and equity in the…

Badler joined the Dotdash team in 2018 and immediately set a new standard for revenue practices. Badler’s focus on programmatic innovation led to successfully integrating the programmatic ad stack following the Dotdash Meredith merger in 2021, which created America’s largest print and digital publisher. When ad spend began to slow in 2022, a re-platforming approach under Badler’s leadership led to improvements in site speeds, content quality and traffic. Badler was part of the team that spearheaded Dotdash Meredith’s proprietary Intent Targeting advertising strategy in May, leading to increased audience reach and ad engagement. As a go-to expert in the programmatic industry, Badler’s best-in-class relationships, understanding of key partnerships and mastery of the client-to-audience journey ensure Dotdash Meredith will continue to lead the pack.…

Since joining NFA in 2021, Lee has transformed the once-nonexistent media discipline into a thriving department, closing 2022 with $37 million in billings and securing key clients such as Article furniture and WYNK seltzer. Her strategic instincts have led to impressive results for clients such as Alpha Foods, where she drove a 22% sales increase in a declining market, and for Undeniably Dairy, where she improved Gen Z’s perception of dairy products by 3% and drove $2.3 million in attributed sales in just one year. Not only are Lee’s strategies delivering results, but she’s also doing so against challenging market conditions. Beyond her professional accomplishments that combine empathy and intentionality with results, Lee gracefully navigates work-life balance challenges as a new mother.…

Lee-Miller, a 20-year veteran of the media industry, connects media investments to tangible business outcomes through datadriven storytelling. As a believer in the future of programmatic and audience-first media, Lee-Miller has helped clients integrate AI and machine learning across the media value chain. She has helped drive awareness and education on how clients can leverage machine learning to see results. Lee-Miller’s innovative AI/machine-learning application approach has led to client campaigns achieving 20 times more significant optimizations and an 81% improvement in cost per acquisition (CPA). At Good Apple specifically, she has doubled the core media team, created new revenue streams and expanded media capabilities. Lee-Miller’s passion for tying media to outcomes has resulted in award-winning, multichannel media strategies for clients. That same passion led to the founding of the Diversity…

Active listening has long been the key to Serra’s success, be that through conversation or by seeking to better understand an audience. After kicking off his career as a community project freelancer for Starbucks in 2014, Serra worked for The Sixth House Inc. and as a freelancer for Calywire Inc. before ultimately heading to Movers+Shakers in 2021. Target saw monumental gains with Serra in its corner, with the brand’s TikTok presence growing to 2.7 million followers via a mix of livestream shopping campaigns and metaverse integrations. For Serra, leading team-building sessions, helping to establish ERG The REAL Squad, and fostering a structure that offers consistent programming for employees around awareness holidays (e.g., Breast Cancer Awareness Month) is all part of building a good strategy for clients and employees alike. Adweek…

As a 16-year industry veteran and media strategist at Mediahub, McGowan redefining the media landscape through robust strategies and inspiring leadership. McGowan’s data-driven approach for brands such as Ulta Beauty and Celebrity Cruises has led to groundbreaking initiatives such as the Beauty School content hub, which catered to nuanced beauty needs for customers year-round. McGowan and her team also leveraged proprietary consumer research and experts in Black and Latinx beauty to help Ulta Beauty become a personalized beauty education and inspiration powerhouse. McGowan’s commitment to celebrating inclusivity and diverse cultures has resulted in a 40% increase in all spend dedicated to multicultural audiences for Ulta Beauty. Her unwavering dedication was on full display in an industry-first partnership between Ulta Beauty, Univision, EDO and datafuelX, which further elevated Ulta Beauty’s media…

Rubin’s visionary leadership has been pivotal for full-service media agency Wpromote. In 2021, Rubin launched the Wpromote media strategy team and pioneered a new approach to performance marketing, one that focused on integrated, fullfunnel media planning. After setting the new standard for her media team, Rubin has led cross-functional teams to overcome new challenges while highlighting Wpromote’s expertise in paid media and performance. Rubin’s leadership has driven impressive growth, including a 62% revenue increase year over year, a 160% net revenue retention and a 180% increase in RFP win rate. With more than $2 billion in media spend, Rubin and her team serve as the strategic lead for major clients including TransUnion, Shipt and Spanx. Rubin’s transformative vision and commitment to innovation have solidified Wpromote’s position as a category leader.…

In February of 1973, The New York Times reported a story out of Texas known as the “$13 war.” It pitted the magisterial Braniff International Airways against a scrappy upstart called Southwest. In essence, Braniff was ticked off because its fares were set by the Civil Aeronautics Board, whereas those of Southwest—which had three planes that flew only in Texas—were not. Braniff’s fare from Dallas to Houston was $26. Southwest charged $13. Southwest had perks, too: a free bottle of liquor for passengers who chose to pay the full $26 fare, for instance, and “love flights” crewed by young female attendants sporting tangerine hot pants. Say what you want, but this sort of maneuvering eventually paid off. Today, Southwest operates 4,000 flights a day to 121 cities and posted $23.8…

When NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement in May after 19 seasons in the league, he closed the chapter on a storied career. “Melo” amassed a trophy room full of honors: He’s a 10-time NBA All-Star, one of the league’s top 10 all-time scorers, the player with the most Olympic medals (three gold, one bronze) and the NBA’s first Social Justice Champion. But the 6’7” power forward—who, as a college freshman, gave the Syracuse Orange men’s team its first NCAA championship before becoming the No. 3 draft pick—has quietly been a key player in a whole other game. He has mostly eschewed the typical pro athlete path of collecting brand deals, in favor of pursuing ownership stakes. One of his first investments was in Mophie, a tech accessories company.…

When Initiative U.S. CEO Stacy DeRiso joined the IPG media agency in 2021, it was an “interesting time” to assume the role, she mused. The agency had just secured the T-Mobile business—a $1.2 billion account. Amid the “great resignation,” Initiative retained a surprising number of its employees. But as new business came in, many employees had to navigate account onboarding processes remotely. Meanwhile, DeRiso had to keep the proverbial plane flying and satisfy Initiative’s existing clients. Achieving this balance was the new CEO’s priority, and she succeeded. In 2022, Initiative retained all its clients. “What it made us think about was, what does partnership need to look like and feel like in our new normal, both professionally and personally? Because a lot of those [professional and personal] dynamics were really…

As one of Canvas’ first employees when the company opened its doors in 2016, Croddy taps into a well of pop culture knowledge to encourage his team to align projects with passions. He believes that his team’s excitement makes for a better final product, and he has made a name for himself by questioning industry assumptions. Croddy revamped SEO for the Hyundai Tucson and helped make the brand the first carmaker to sell new vehicles on Amazon. Additional efforts such as pushing BuzzFeed to create its first music tour in partnership with Hyundai (Kamp Kona) and working with the creators of The Walking Dead to turn a TV integration into a five-year partnership helped Hyundai’s retail sales grow 23% in 2022, resulting in the brand enjoying its best year on…

McKinney enjoyed the best media year in its 54-year history despite losing its biggest client, Crocs, in 2022. Patel, who has been with the agency for nearly 11 years, has overseen a 400% revenue growth in the media business, which added new clients including Shoe Show, Ripple, Neighborly, PulteGroup, Nikon, Flagstar Bank and Tanger Outlets. This pivot was advanced by Patel’s work on the 2020 launch of McKinney’s in-house trade desk, Blackwell Trading Company (BTco), which works to provide seamless communication between media and trading teams, allowing for greater transparency. Since its launch, BTco has managed nearly 300 campaigns for dozens of clients. “In today’s increasingly complex media landscape, our approach is simple enough for clients to get and, more importantly, appreciate,” said Patel.…

With a focus on campaign goal-setting and performance measurement, Finnegan has led a revolution at Cornett. In just one year, Finnegan transformed Cornett’s paid media department, overhauled the interactive and social divisions, and established a new internal content studio team. Finnegan applies his simplified view of the marketing funnel to clients including Legoland, Busch Light and the University of Kentucky. His establishment of a targeted analytics practice has been instrumental in reporting holistic success to clients. For instance, his paid-media campaigns for the University of Kentucky resulted in 569% more paid-search conversions, while Facebook and Instagram campaigns saw a 125% increase in clickthrough rates, exceeding the university’s enrollment goal by 12%. Finnegan’s approach to media strategy has fundamentally changed how Cornett measures and quantifies quality media for clients.…

From co-founding the New Jersey-based Paisley Athletic soccer team in 2021 to producing and co-hosting the Business of Women’s Sports Summit in 2023, Correnti has been a trailblazer and a champion for the change she hopes to see. During her tenure at Giant Spoon, the agency has worked with brands including Cole Haan, MassMutual, Yelp, GE and more. Correnti built and also oversees the agency’s media practice, which has led to the first branded podcast to reach No. 1 on Apple Podcasts, the first live TV ad on CNN and an audiozine with The New York Times. Her narrative-driven approach to media helped her broker a first-ever New York Times cover-to-cover ad for GE and secure the first-ever brand film on Peacock for HP. Correnti’s pioneering spirit and commitment to…

Working in media for more than 20 years means regularly adjusting to a seemingly constant stream of change, and it’s that solution-seeking adaptability that makes Driggs so valuable to the industry. Driggs is an expert in delivering creative solutions that go the extra mile, exemplifying FerebeeLane’s “all we can with all we have” spirit. As the director of media for the Greenville, S.C.-based agency, Driggs has doubled the media department’s size while executing strategies for brands like Ritz-Carlton, Blackberry Farm and JW Marriott. Driggs wears hats ranging from team-builder to market analyst to adjunct professor at Clemson University, where she teaches media planning and buying strategies. In an interview with Adweek in 2023, Driggs cited FerebeeLane’s internship partnership with Clemson as a way to strengthen the industry by helping it…

At Walker Stadium in Portland, Ore., keeping signs for Leatherman, Jacobsen Salt, Migration Brewing and Planned Parenthood surrounding the field is typically the only way Parker Huffman rounds the bases. But every so often, he stops driving in sponsors to take his own turn at bat. Huffman is the general manager for the Portland Pickles, a collegiate wood-bat team in the West Coast League that’s owned by creative agency Collide Sport. Huffman’s marketing degree from Oregon State University brought him to the agency to work with its Wild Wild West League during the pandemic, but being near the sport he’s loved “since I could pick up a bat” made him latch on to the Pickles. Huffman’s grandfather was a college player and high school coach, while his mother was a…

Everyone knows running or participating in reviews is costly. A single review’s collective expenses can reach $1.2 million, according to a report by the 4A’s, ANA and Advertiser Perceptions. Brands pay the higher cost, with an average of $408,500 to conduct an agency search. Agencies spend an average of $406,092. This expense reveals why 25% of agencies decline to defend the business during reviews. The strain put on incumbent agencies includes disruptions in daily tasks, delays and loss of revenue. Both parties, the research found, are wasting money on reviews that could be better allocated to relationship management tools. “Given the identified costs and potential damage to the relationship,” the report advises, “there are better ways to motivate your agency.”…

At the first patented drive-in theater in America, which opened in 1933 near Camden, N.J., guests paid $1 per carload for a lo-fi affair with speakers mounted to a 50-foot screen and an ad campaign that said, “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.” How times have changed, with the entertainment concept evolving from its bare-bones early days into a trendy—and thoroughly bougie—way for movie lovers to spend an evening After decades of falling out of favor, with the rise of real estate prices and the advent of multiplexes and VCRs, outdoor theaters had a resurgence during the 2020 pandemic. That popularity has grown as the drive-in events themselves have become more elaborate, with on-site amenities from craft cocktails and artisanal food to fireworks displays,…

Summer is synonymous with beach parties, cool breezes and lots of fun in the sun. For industries ranging from travel to automotive and fashion, the season is also prime for shopping, with Generation Z coming into focus as the most important and differentiated consumer cohort we’ve seen in decades. Our latest research shows Gen Z shopping behavior is based less on who’s buying—or what they’re buying—and more on why they’re shopping in the first place. Nowhere is this truer than in social commerce. As most know, Gen Z begins their shopping experience on social media. But it may be a surprise to learn that only 8% of adults 18 to 25 favor shopping as a social activity. In fact, the percentage of Gen Z who love shopping on social is…

With more than 15 years of experience in the industry, LGBTQ+ leader Vardon has long championed diversity and inclusion by starting at the ground level. After being appointed president of Havas Media Canada in 2021, Vardon steered the rollout of employee-friendly initiatives that have seen the company named as a Great Place to Work, a Best Place to Work for Mental Health and a Best Place to Work for Inclusion. Vardon’s ambition to build a more innovative, equitable media landscape through the company resulted in Havas Media Canada launching a Social Impact Marketplace in 2022. This organization vets and reports the carbon footprints and prescribed performance KPIs for all media accessible within the marketplace. Additionally, the company acquired a majority stake in Noise Digital in 2023 in an effort to…

In his more than 20 years in the industry, Brink has taken home awards ranging from One Show Pencils to Cannes Lions. Those accolades follow decades of providing strategic solutions to clients like Bloomin’ Brands, Citibank and Harley-Davidson. Today, Brink’s work informs his position as manager of Mediahub’s data sciences team, as well as the innovator of newer teams like data management and product development. Recently, despite declines in broadcast viewership, Brink created a digital playbook to bring audiences back to TV for the NBA’s 2021-2022 season. Shaking up the industry’s decades-old linear tune-in tactics, Brink accessed media KPIs like attention and Adelaide’s custom research studies to tap into a combination of metrics, partnerships and algorithms. This all led to the most-viewed season in four years, as well as Brink’s…

Tapping into experiences as president emeritus of New York’s Gotham Roller Derby might not be the obvious key to success for a media agency leader, but Sporkin has brought the inclusive strategies of roller derby to the media landscape with flare. While serving as chief product officer for Omnicom Media Group’s OMD USA, Sporkin became the strategic lead for creating data-driven, audience-first, full-funnel strategies for L’Oréal USA. The success of this endeavor quickly led to her advancement to president of OMG’s Beauty Co-Lab (BCL), a 250-plus person team of beauty industry professionals. With advocacy work including participation in organizations like Chief, the ForbesWomen Forum, Supermajority and Badass Lady Gang, Sporkin’s goal of exceeding industry benchmarks is rooted in involved, community-minded leadership. As she told her BCL team, “Every voice matters,…

Through GroupM, Chan is working to reshape how media companies reach audiences, and she has made stunning progress in a short time. She served as an instrumental voice for GroupM’s Continuous Play study with iSpot, which revealed that more than $1.9 billion in media dollars are wasted due to roughly 10% of CTV ads appearing when TVs are turned off. Chan also launched GroupM’s first internal wiki, an information repository accessed by more than 1,000 people, and she overhauled the company’s content for training new hires. Her advocacy work as a planning member of GroupM’s Asian ERG, API+, and her involvement with the She Runs It 2022 mentoring program show Chan’s dedication to pushing the industry forward for all.…