Month: February 2025

Marketers are integrating creators into their Super Bowl plans not just during the Big Game but in the run-up and after this year. Last year, creators like Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio, broke into the Super Bowl by appearing in Big Game ads. This year, creators are hosting live events, rallying fans online and staying at creator-only houses to make content and attract brand deals.

Super Bowl LIX is not only a competitive night for the teams — the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will face off Feb. 9 on Fox at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans — but for advertisers. A 30-second ad can now top some $8 million in 2025 — surpassing $7 million for the same type of spot in 2024.

Creators and brands have to find more ways to stand out in a period of content overload and ensure their investments still pay off. It’s a difficult task in a more fragmented digital landscape and an important moment for creators as the continuously-looming TikTok ban continues to change the creator economy.

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President Donald Trump’s second presidential term — from the TikTok back-and-forth, to the placement of Big Tech execs both at his inauguration and in the Oval Office — has already been notable. Here’s where the ad industry stands with all of this (so far).

In
Big Tech engineering free speech with government support
Out 
Big Tech defending free speech amid government pressure

In
FTC going after Big Tech’s censorship cartel 
Out
FTC going after Big Tech’s surveillance capitalism

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In case you have been hiding under a rock for the past week, DeepSeek’s emergence (seemingly out of nowhere) has underlined the geopolitical aspect of one of the most disruptive forces in economic history.

A key question facing the $225 billion-plus U.S. digital media sector is, how will its key players respond?

Developments last week hint at such players adopting an open-source approach in a rapidly evolving industry landscape. Meanwhile, Digiday’s ad tech sources noted that, while DeepSeek poses a credible alternative to Big Tech, clients are in a cautious mood, particularly around privacy.

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Target’s decision to retool its diversity, equity and inclusion measures has sparked backlash as activists are now calling for a nationwide boycott of the retailer. In response, Black-owned brands that the store carried or carries are asking consumers to reconsider, pointing out that the dismantling of DE&I measures is complicated.

Target is one of several companies that have recently retooled their DE&I policies in light of mounting pressure from conservative activists and most recently, the White House, where President Donald Trump signed an executive order taking aim at DE&I programs on a federal level. Others like Walmart, Amazon and McDonald’s have also rolled back their diversity initiatives. (Target did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.)

It’s a tricky issue for these large corporations to navigate, according to the six cultural marketing executives Digiday spoke with for this piece, and for the Black-owned brand founders themselves. Amidst the changes, Black-owned brands like The Lip Bar lipstick, The Honey Pot feminine care brand and Tabitha Brown, a social media personality with several brands at Target, are caught in the crosshairs — all of which have taken to social media to express disappointment with the changes to DEI policy while trying to convince shoppers that things aren’t as black and white as they seem. (The Lip Bar, The Honey Pot and Tabitha Brown all declined to make a spokesperson available for comment.)

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Consolidation may be happening at the holding company level, between Omnicom’s planned purchase of IPG, and Publicis’ latest acquisition wave (just last week it moved to buy Australian/New Zealand agency Atomic 212). But it’s also happening at a level that plans to take advantage of the thousands of midsized marketers that will be overlooked by the new class of media agency behemoths.

Digiday has learned that PlusMedia, a direct response agency, and Cage Point, an omnichannel media agency, are merging to form Mile Marker, a media agency that specializes in middle-market brands that are looking to grow. 

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Move over, Taylor Swift. The DunKings are back for Super Bowl 59. Dunkin’ announced its return to the Big Game during the Grammy Awards on Sunday evening, with an ad that reveals the next chapter of The DunKings–a fictional boy band, fronted by actor Ben Affleck. This time, Affleck has enlisted his brother, Casey Affleck,…

Total domestic box-office revenues are now up 14% vs. a year ago — to $612.7 million, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

Female artists including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter will be in the spotlight at the 2025 Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 2). Amid this celebration of female talent, Eli Lilly is looking to reach women with an urgent message about early breast cancer detection. The pharmaceutical company will…