ADWEEK

Your work life and professional life aren't separate. As AG1's Kat Cole explained at last year's Brandweek, your personal life and background impact your decision making in your professional life and beyond. Join us at Brandweek September 15-17 for more insight from a growing lineup of speakers 👉 https://adweek.it/4fK52wx

Ad experts are taking measure of Nielsen’s $2.15 billion merger with DoubleVerify. On Aug. 6, measurement giant Nielsen announced it was looking to acquire ad verification company DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction worth more than $2 billion. The deal, which is expected to close by the first quarter of 2027, takes DoubleVerify private and gives Nielsen more tools in the digital media space, uniting traditional linear TV ratings with DoubleVerify’s digital ad verification. In a statement, Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen, noted that the combined company would be “a truly independent, end-to-end partner that connects trusted audience intelligence with verified media delivery.” To understand the impact on the ad industry and the big questions that remain, ADWEEK reached out to industry experts in media buying, marketing, measurement, and beyond.

Reminiscing on Brandweek 2025 with Brandweek 2026 right around the corner. ✨ This year is your chance to see what the brands building for tomorrow are doing differently right now. Join leaders and teams who are turning disruption into real competitive advantage and leave with fresh ideas, practical takeaways, and the connections to put them into action. See you at Brandweek 2026 👉 https://adweek.it/4ootE1N

With the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game complete, football is officially back. ESPN is marking the start of the season with a new promo campaign, “Football’s On,” spotlighting its National Football League (NFL) programming and content through February. Launching during Hall of Fame weekend on Saturday, August 8, the campaign features comedian and football superfan Stavros “Stavvy” Halkias, a devoted Baltimore Ravens fan, diving into everything ESPN has to offer. Read more 👉 https://adweek.it/4cu1ayL

Cardi B is clocking in and the denim is clocking out. Cardi heads up an all-star lineup featuring Quenlin Blackwell, Paloma Elsesser, Brooks Nader, Haley Baylee, and Wisdom Kaye for Old Navy’s new campaign. In the high-energy short, Cardi swoops onto a film set and flips the whole shoot into her own denim playground, taking control of the scene as the backdrops shift and the looks keep coming.

Traffic is falling across the digital media industry, and executives say AI-driven changes to search and discovery are a major cause—a theme running through recent Q2 earnings from The New York Times, News Corp, USA TODAY Co., Inc., and PEOPLE Magazine | PEOPLE.com. In response, publishers are following a similar playbook: license content to AI companies where possible, sue or block where not, and focus on extracting more revenue from existing readers. People Inc. reported some of the sharpest impacts, with core sessions down 22% and Google Workspace dropping to about 21% of traffic, as CEO Neil Vogel said the company is still working through the decline.

Marketing disruption used to give enterprise leaders years to react. That luxury is gone. On this episode of Marketing Vanguard Live at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, host Jenny Rooney sits down with Mark Kirkham, Chief Marketing Officer at PepsiCo Beverages US, to break down why executive decision-making speed must adapt immediately. The core takeaway: marketing used to change on 5- to 10-year timelines. Today, entire capabilities rewrite themselves every 5 to 10 months. Annual industry check-ins will leave your brand behind. CMOs need real-time peer pressure-testing to survive rapid market shifts. Listen here: Apple: https://adweek.it/4yYZA1L Spotify: https://adweek.it/4pZr1nL YouTube: https://adweek.it/4xoh3Pj

The beauty market is flooded with new launches and celebrity-backed brands. Therefore, few manage to break through with both cultural credibility and real business results. Yet PATTERN Beauty, founded by Tracee Ellis Ross after a decade of rejected pitches, is one of them. Recorded live at Brandweek, in this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Imani Ellis speaks with Christiane Pendarvis, co-CEO at Pattern Beauty, and Kristen King, EVP and managing director of ATTN:. They discuss how a challenger beauty brand leveraged culture, comedy, and community insight to achieve 50 million impressions and drive 200% growth in customer site traffic.

Omnicom will be the agency-of-record to manage Novo Nordisk’s U.S. media planning and buying, a spokesperson for the Danish pharmaceutical company confirmed to ADWEEK. Novo Nordisk is known for manufacturing GLP-1 medications Ozempic and Wegovy. “We look forward to working with the Omnicom team as we continue to scale consumer-focused strategies and connect with patients through emerging channels and technologies, helping bring even greater awareness of our medicines to people living with chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes,” the spokesperson said. The global account is valued at $618 million, with the U.S. account valued at $520 million, according to data from COMvergence. According to sources, Omnicom beat out incumbent WPP Media, which had served as Novo Nordisk’s media agency of record since 2020. In that time, the holdco helped buy the pharmaceutical maker its first Super Bowl spot to promote Wegovy’s new pill form.

CEO Jeff Green acknowledged the company’s lackluster financial performance during the earnings call with investors. “Our revenue growth is below our expectations and below the standard we hold ourselves to,” he said. “These numbers are not a reflection of our company or the long-term opportunity in front of us. We underperformed our own expectations.” Green attributed the sluggish growth to two key factors: macroeconomic hurdles including tariff headwinds, inflation, and weaker consumer conditions; and issues with The Trade Desk’s own execution. “Some brands are falling prey to low-cost, low-decisioning methods like programmatic guaranteed, and fixed-price [buying],” he said, suggesting that the company has not been able to capture enough of the dollars that have shifted to cheaper buying methods.