Adweek September 2025

INTRODUCING: THE ADWEEK TECH STACK AWARDS This new program honors the companies behind 2025’s most groundbreaking product and platform launches that have driven proven revenue impact in marketing, advertising, and media. From strategic uses of agentic AI to next-gen creative tools to cutting-edge measurement solutions, these awards recognize the products redefining how brands connect, engage, and grow. Awards span more than 20 product categories and four company honors; enter by Sept. 19. 2025 AGENCY OF THE YEAR FINAL DEADLINE Each year, ADWEEK recognizes the most outstanding agencies setting the standard of excellence. This year, we’ve added five new categories: Independent, Agency Network, Social/Influencer, B2B and Innovation. Enter by Sept. 19. FOR THIS AND MORE, HEAD TO ADWEEK.COM.…

AS SEARCH AND social algorithms change, two major affiliate marketing platforms, LTK and ShopMy, aim to become one-stop shopping and social destinations. This summer, LTK rolled out new features to its platform including public profiles for consumers and upgraded AIpowered search. LTK also plans to launch a two-way messaging feature between creators and consumers. Similarly, ShopMy recently revamped its platform with features like consumer profiles, follows, likes, a consolidated section for creators’ ShopMy links across social media platforms, and AIpowered search for consumers. Both companies’ main business is connecting brands with creators. But they both see a bigger role to play as social platforms for consumers to find and buy products. LTK and ShopMy’s recent moves show how influencer marketing tech companies are evolving into social shopping platforms. Emarketer expects…

AS THE 2025 upfront season comes to a close, Nielsen remains the industry leader in measurement. But amid a messy ongoing war over counting viewers, competitors aren’t backing down. And why should they? Earlier this summer, Comscore, iSpot, and VideoAmp all received a special nod from the U.S. Joint Industry Committee (JIC), which certified the three as currencies of record ahead of the 2025-2026 broadcast TV season. A currency is the unit of value that ad buyers and ad sellers use to transact across the multibillion-dollar TV advertising industry. For years, Nielsen’s C3 and C7 panel ratings—which measure commercial viewership over three- and seven-day periods—were the industry standard. The JIC certification comes as industry giant Nielsen is uniquely vulnerable while trying to reinvent its currency for the future. The company’s new…

WHEN WNBA PLAYERS say they want a greater percentage of growing league revenue, a portion of that comes from sponsorship deals that have increased 52% since 2022. In its first-ever WNBA Partnerships Report, sports and entertainment data platform SponsorUnited placed the value of WNBA sponsorships at the end of 2024 at $76 million. Its teams averaged more than 44 sponsor deals apiece, but that number is expanding rapidly as the 2025 season approaches its finale this month. The report noted that in 2024 alone, sponsorship deals increased 17%, league attendance was up 48%, ESPN viewership jumped 170%, and merchandise sales rose by 600%. SponsorUnited founder and CEO Bob Lynch sees both seasoned sports sponsors and brands that haven’t traditionally gravitated toward the space drawn to the “29-year-old startup” of the…

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST sporting event of 2026 will be a home game for U.S. marketers. The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in June across 11 U.S. cities—among them Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, and Miami—plus locations in Canada and Mexico. With more nations (48, up from 32) and more games (104, up from 64) than the last time the tournament was played in 2022, it will be the largest and most global World Cup ever. For marketers, this is a rare opportunity not just to reach massive audiences, but to fuel U.S. soccer’s next big jump in participation and popularity. The 2026 World Cup offers a scale and diversity of engagement no other sports or pop culture event can match—if marketers are willing to embrace the sport’s nuances and…

WORKERS UNDER 25 are at their lowest level since 2020, according to U.S. labor data. Plenty of factors, from industry consolidation to economic uncertainty and the rise of AI, are driving this change. Figures from the federal government show employees aged 20-24 occupied 6.5% of all jobs in advertising, public relations, and other related services last year. In 2019, just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the same demographic represented 10.5% of the industry. The downward trend aligns with struggles young educated people are facing throughout the job market. In recent years, the unemployment rate among college graduates aged 22-27 has inched higher than jobless levels for all workers. This is a new development: Young degree holders have consistently experienced lower unemployment than the general public going back to at…