Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Adweek

INTRODUCING ADSPEAK Go beyond what’s reported with ADSPEAK by ADWEEK, your new essential weekly podcast debuting April 15. We’re bringing the drama of the newsroom directly to your ears to reveal the untold stories behind the headlines. Hosted by ADWEEK editor in chief Ryan Joe, each episode will cover how we landed some of our biggest stories, where the money is flowing, who’s gaining and losing, and the secrets of marketing. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. MEDIA PLAN OF THE YEAR ENTRIES DUE APRIL 21 Our annual celebration of the most creative media plans and executions from around the globe is back! Any domestic or foreign advertising agency, media buying service, or in-house advertising agency media department may enter. FOR MORE, VISIT ADWEEK.COM.…

BACK IN THE 2010s, Droga5 was flying high. The agency had risen to icon status with groundbreaking work for clients like Under Armour, The New York Times, Puma, and Microsoft, scooping countless awards at all the major ad festivals. Founder David Droga got his start in Australia’s ad scene and went on to become one of the most globally venerated creatives of the decade—possibly the 21st century. In 2019, that prestige paid off with a blockbuster $475 million acquisition by consulting giant Accenture, putting Droga5 at the center of a new marketing offering from one of the most deep-pocketed companies in the U.S. By 2020, ADWEEK named Droga5 its first Agency of the Decade. However, it has taken time for Droga5 to find its footing under its new owner. A…

WHETHER CLAMBERING INTO a sweaty mascot suit, trying to source an owl bust carved from watermelon, or recording 200 clips of armpit fart sounds for a Super Bowl commercial, there’s rarely a dull day for Duolingo’s marketing team. Just ask Zaria Parvez, the language learning app’s global head of social media. “This morning, I was putting a mustache on our CEO,” she told ADWEEK with a laugh. The reason for Luis von Ahn’s new facial hair? The boss was starring in a spoof of the Apple TV+ series Severance for Duolingo’s 16.8 million TikTok followers. “He was like, ‘I only have 30 minutes to do this because I have a meeting with our biggest investor,’ but he still prioritized it,” said Parvez. It might sound like merely an amusing anecdote, but…

MARKETING IS FIRMLY in its social-first era. No longer a media or performance buy, social platforms and creators are now essential for brands to connect with communities, drive engagement and deliver sales. ADWEEK’s inaugural Social Marketing Masters list honors the individuals, teams and campaigns cutting through the noise in the attention economy, translating clicks and impressions into business results. Selected by our editorial team, the 2025 class of Social Marketing Masters spotlights the brand team that turned a TikTok trend into a sales boost, agencies shaping culture through their work, and social media managers using absurdist humor to appeal to Gen Z. AGENCY SOCIAL TEAM: DENTSU CREATIVE FOR NUTTER BUTTER Dentsu’s absurdist takeover of Nutter Butter’s social channels—meme-centric creative seemingly rendered by a team of hamsters strung out on psychedelics—has fans scratching…

Duo is brash in the way cartoon birds can be. The lurid green owl crashed Charli XCX’s 2024 Brat tour. After Super Bowl 59, he weighed in on the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef (one guess whose side he took). When TikTok was almost banned in January, he unmasked himself, revealing the human behind the suit. “We were kind of worried that would ruin the Disney magic of it all,” said Parvez, “but it’s built into lore now.” The man inside the suit was originally marketing manager Mark Pavic, who at 5’7” is the perfect height to wear the costume. The brand has also hired dancers and other actors to fill Duo’s boots. Parvez assures ADWEEK it’s dry cleaned between activations: “It gets hot in there. It is a sweaty mascot suit.”…

A GRINNING, LIFE-SIZED Pop-Tart is lowered into a giant toaster on a football field, holding a sign that reads: “Dreams really do come true!” Duolingo’s cheeky green owl, Duo, goes viral after faking its own death. Scrub Daddy’s smiling yellow sponge drops a music video on YouTube, racking up thousands of views. No, this isn’t a fever dream. We’re living in the era of the unhinged brand mascot. From the M&M’s spokescandies to Planters’ Mr. Peanut to Frosted Flakes’ Tony the Tiger, mascots have been advertising staples as far back as the 1880s. However, their role has evolved in recent years from traditional brand ambassadors to social media celebrities. Why? Because brands are using mascots to lean into the absurdist humor popular with Gen Z. These characters can quickly capitalize…

Artificial intelligence is transforming every facet of modern life, from the way we work to how we communicate. ADWEEK’s inaugural AI Trailblazers Power 100, curated in partnership with AI Trailblazers, highlights the people at the forefront of this technological leap. “We created the AI Trailblazers Power 100 to spotlight the visionaries, brand leaders, and brilliant minds driving AI’s transformation of marketing and media,” said Greg Kahn, CEO of GK Digital Ventures and co-founder of AI Trailblazers. Adam Buhler EVP, Creative Technology Digitas Adam Evans EVP & GM, Salesforce AI Platform Salesforce Alison Wagonfeld VP Marketing, Google Cloud Google Andrea Zaretsky Chief Marketing Officer, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Morgan Stanley Arpit Jain Global President, Marcel Publicis Groupe Ashok Kalidas Chief AI Scientist Kantar Asmita Dubey Chief Digital and Marketing Officer L’Oréal…

EXPO WEST, the annual natural foods extravaganza spanning 3,200 exhibitors, got brands and retailers talking about more than trendy products this year. As a cultural barometer of broader social issues, the convention was abuzz about the still-amorphous goals of the new presidential administration’s Make America Healthy Again platform, along with the onagain, off-again trade tariffs. “It was the first political Expo West,” said Jennifer Stojkovic, founder of the influential Vegan Women Summit. “The natural food movement has been largely ignored for years by presidential administrations on both sides. This is the first to take it seriously.” Wherever politics may be headed, Americans will keep eating. We’ve rounded up five major takeaways from Expo West 2025. LONG LIVE THE COW! While that statement may seem anathema at a convention known for…