The numbers $4.4 billion -- Global ad revenue from 2024, up 27% year-over-year. Global advertising revenue increased 29% year-over-year during the fourth quarter specifically. $180.6 billion -- Revenue during the fourth quarter, up 4.1% year-over-year. $681 billion -- Revenue for 2024, up 5.1% year-over-year. 16% -- Year-over-year growth in global ecommerce sales. The water cooler...

Move over, Coca-Cola and Pepsi--the next soft drink duo duking it out to win market share are prebiotic soda makers Poppi and Olipop. The two brands recently ended up in a social media scuffle when Poppi sent 32 full-sized vending machines to big influencers to promote its $8 million Super Bowl ad. Backlash was swift,...

At $8 million for 30-seconds, brands shell out big money for Super Bowl ads. And for those that want to show off longer 60-second and 90-second ads, the stakes can be higher. The payoff can be big if the ad hits, but brands also risk losing consumers' attention if the story isn't compelling. Here are...

THE AD: Rewards app Fetch is running a Super Bowl ad attached to a $1.2 million sweepstakes to promote the app. Consumers with the Fetch app can open it during the last two minutes of the game for the chance to win $10,000 from an in-app livestream. All told, 120 people will win money. MY...

Fetch is hoping to become a mainstream name with its first Super Bowl ad. The 30-second ad, called "The Big Reward," stars CEO and founder Wes Schroll pitching Fetch as "America's rewards app" before explaining why the company is running a Super Bowl ad: Fetch is giving away $10,000 every second during the last two...

THE AD: Hellmann's enlisted Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan to revive their roles as Harry Burns and Sally Albright in the 1989 rom-com When Harry Met Sally. But Sydney Sweeney delivers the famous line at the end, bringing Gen Z in on the pop culture reference that's well before their time. MY HOT TAKE: Hellmann's...

Hellmann's is drumming up nostalgia around (and introducing younger generations to) the 1989 rom-com classic When Harry Met Sally, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. The mayo brand put a twist on the iconic scene that takes place in New York's Katz's Deli, where Ryan's character Sally fakes an orgasm while eating a sandwich. But...

Instacart's first Super Bowl ad is a who's who of mascots. The 30-second, called "We're Here," features nine mascots, from Mr. Clean to the Duracell Bunny, racing to deliver a groceries to a family. It wouldn't be surprising if Instacart's business development team spent hundreds of hours trying to nail down the rights and intellectual...

THE AD: Instacart assembled a cast of famous mascots like the Kool-Aid Man and Mr. Clean to be the stars of its first Super Bowl ad. The spot follows the mascots on a race to deliver an order to a family making breakfast--only to realize that they forgot the milk. MY TAKE: Instacart's Super Bowl...

President Donald Trump is the first U.S. sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. And the United States Secret Service is trying to make a splash around his attendance by kicking off a new recruitment effort. A 60-second video titled "A History of Protection" pieces together scenes like John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech from 1961,...

THE AD: T-Mobile announced a new beta program with Elon Musk-owned Starling that will use satellites to map dead zones of the U.S. MY TAKE: T-Mobile's Super Bowl ads in recent years have been chock-full of celebrities. The telco even spoofs itself with its love of celebrities. Last year's ad showed audition tapes of celebs...

T-Mobile is traveling to space in its Super Bowl 59 ad. The wireless carrier's 60-second Super Bowl ad, called "A New Era in Connectivity," will air during the first quarter. The spot promotes its partnership with Elon Musk's Starlink on a new service that allows people in unreachable places to access cell phone towers. Starlink,...

The numbers $56.2 billion -- Amazon's 2024 ad revenue in net sales. $17.3 billion -- The amount Amazon made from net sales of its advertising services during the fourth quarter of 2024, a 18% year-over-year increase. $69 billion -- Amazon's run rate for its advertising business. $638 billion -- Overall net sales in 2024, a...

Agency holding companies have been on a tear to acquire commerce shops. Just this week, Havas said it plans to acquire Channel Bakers. Publicis Groupe has spent big on companies including Mars Commerce and CitrusAd. And Omnicom's acquisition of Flywheel Digital last year for $835 million was the holding company's largest deal to date. The...

A flurry of recent deals and investments show how technology firms that specialize in performance advertising are leading the next wave of influencer marketing. Despite ongoing uncertainty about TikTok's future, recent deals signal that investors are making big bets on the $9.3 billion that U.S. advertisers will spend on influencer marketing this year, according to...

Havas is acquiring a commerce agency that bought some of the first ads for consumer electronics brands to run on Amazon. The French agency holding company has agreed to buy the commerce agency Channel Bakers in an effort to grow its retail media expertise. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Channel Bakers is...

Getting the backing of a major celebrity is a tried-and-true way to break through at the Super Bowl. But instead of A-listers, Instacart is betting on the endorsement of some of America's most iconic mascots for its Super Bowl debut. The grocery delivery service's 30-second spot features nine recognizable mascots from well-known CPG brands, including...

Dash Social, a 10-year-old company that helps brands manage their social media, wants a cut of creator budgets. Dash Social, formerly known as Dash Hudson, is launching a platform for brands to find and work with creators. Dash Social also sells social media technology that brands like Amazon, Estee Lauder, and Unilever use to schedule...

For Instacart's first Super Bowl ad, the grocery-delivery company is enlisting the help of mascots. The 30-second trailer shows a few famous mascots prepping for an upcoming ad campaign. The ad takes place on the set of a shoot for an Instacart commercial. First, we see a white horse that appears to be a nod...

Dentsu has hired Jeffrey Bustos to build out the agency's analytics practice for retail media. Bustos is joining as SVP of retail media analytics, a role that sits within customer experience agency Merkle, and is also part of Dentsu's cross-agency retail media team. Dentsu's retail media team is led by Brian Monahan, global client president...