In 2021, Amazon formally launched a program called that helped match up advertisers with tech firms and agencies that manage ad spend. Now, some of those tech firms and agencies see signs that Amazon is pulling away from third parties to instead work directly with advertisers.

If you need us, we'll be binging On Brand over the holiday break.

AI dominated 2025's TV upfront presentations. As the year wraps up, ADWEEK asked ad sales chiefs and senior media executives how AI will transform the TV and media landscape in 2026. https://bit.ly/45daH9O

In 2025, the TV ad market transformed as streaming viewership surpassed linear TV for the first time, with streaming capturing 44.8% of total TV usage in May. https://bit.ly/48Q1ZAK

2025 saw a wave of CMO exits, arrivals, and shake-ups that kept the advertising world buzzing. With that in mind, ADWEEK is spotlighting 10 CMOs worth watching in 2026. https://bit.ly/4p7Vi1K

Not all if this year’s logo updates were flops. As 2025 draws to a close, ADWEEK selected five noteworthy logo overhauls of the last 12 months.

On December 13, CNBC unveiled a refreshed logo as part of its separation from NBCUniversal News Group, dropping the Peacock branding. CNBC's head of creative, Robert Poulton, emphasized their commitment to preserving the clarity and recognition that have long defined the brand.

2026 is poised to become another record-smashing year for M&A in tech, media, and advertising, following 2025's landmark deals like Omnicom's $13.5 billion IPG acquisition and Paramount's $8 billion Skydance merger.

2025 was another busy year for the ad industry, marked by the second Trump administration and AI's emergence as an economic force. Check out ADWEEK's year in review stories below.

Across interviews with senior executives at 10 premium publishers, the same themes surfaced repeatedly: artificial intelligence restructured workflows and revenue models, search traffic declined, events surged, creators professionalized, and commerce media continued its expansion.

Between 2018 and 2023, private equity firm The Chernin Group (TCG) invested hundreds of millions into a "content-to-commerce" strategy, backing media companies like The Pro's Closet, Hodinkee, and Food52 that combined editorial content with e-commerce.

Kenvue has selected WPP and Publicis Groupe as its global agency partners after a competitive review. WPP will lead creative and production for all brands except Neutrogena, while Publicis will handle media, commerce, healthcare, and technology for all brands, plus creative for Neutrogena.

If you’re struggling to keep pace with all the CMO shifts over the past year, we've rounded up some of 2025’s biggest CMO firsts, exits, and shuffles.

ADWEEK’s top commerce stories of 2025 highlight big, industry-moving news, our scoops, and our analysis. Readers flocked to stories about new products from Amazon, a leaked pitch deck from The Trade Desk, and Meta’s quiet bet on retailers. Recap the year in commerce with us below 👇

For the week of December 8, Good Morning America remained the most-watched morning news show for the second consecutive week, narrowly edging out Today by just 50,000 total viewers.

For the week of December 8, all three evening newscasts declined in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. https://bit.ly/3LcnGlk

CNN posted the week's strongest gains with double-digit primetime growth in Adults 25-54. Fox News remained the most-watched cable network for the 49th straight week but saw no primetime viewer growth. MS NOW was the only network with declines in both primetime and total day Adults 25-54.

VOICE | "The most helpful leadership idea I heard this year wasn’t from a LinkedIn guru or a best-selling management book, but from Chinese Astrology. It turns out that 2025 was the Year of the Wood Snake—in other words, the year of shedding," writes Sarah Watson.

In September, Swiss running brand On hired Thiago Cruz as global head of brand and creative. The Brazilian-born Cruz, formerly CCO at Grey New York, now leads On's internal creative studio from Switzerland, overseeing campaign development and reporting to CMO Alex Griffin.

Say hello to the latest face of Chase Sapphire Reserve: Dwyane Wade

🧵 Just over a year into his role as CEO, Elliott Hill said Nike is “in the middle innings of our comeback.” Though Nike’s results were “slightly better than we had anticipated 90 days ago,” Hill said the company is “nowhere near our potential. Here are the latest earnings numbers:

In this week's "On Background," ADWEEK's Mark Stenberg reports that after a year of reacting to AI-driven disruption and shifting advertiser demands, media executives expect 2026 to focus on sorting what works.

McCann New York has been named U.S. creative agency of record for four Reckitt Essential Home brands—Woolite, Resolve, Rid-X, and Easy-Off—following an eight-week review.

EXCLUSIVE | Mediaocean, an omnichannel adtech platform managing over $200 billion in annual spend, has named media dealmaker Michael Kassan as vice chairman of its board. https://bit.ly/3MBm9Wz

Esi Eggleston Bracey, Unilever's chief marketing and growth officer, will leave in January 2026 after two years in the role. The CMGO position will not be replaced; instead, Leandro Barreto, CMO of Unilever Beauty and Wellbeing, will expand his remit to include enterprise marketing.

Glow has developed an AI-powered platform called CreatorView that vets creators for brand safety and alignment. After operating in private beta and using the tool internally, Glow is now preparing to take CreatorView to market as a commercial offering. https://bit.ly/3YGbJHD

EXCLUSIVE | Dow Jones has hired M. Scott Havens as its first chief growth officer and global head of consumer, a newly created role that underscores the company’s push to accelerate subscription growth and expand consumer revenue across its portfolio of business publications.

Charisse Hughes joined Kellanova in 2020 as global CMO, expanding her role to chief brand and advanced analytics officer and chief growth officer. Here are her biggest accomplishments during her tenure in the Kellanova C-suite.

R/GA has won Levi's digital redesign work after a competitive pitch, starting with the brand's website and app as an "innovation partner."

And the Oscars go to… YouTube. YouTube has secured exclusive global rights to broadcast the Oscars from 2029 to 2033, beginning with the 101st Academy Awards.

Tracksuit has analyzed 10,000 brands to identify which ones grew most in Gen Z awareness in 2025.

Tracksuit has analyzed 10,000 brands to identify which ones grew most in Gen Z awareness in 2025.

Ahead of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, NBCUniversal is showcasing its new AI-powered ad offerings, including AI-powered Contextual Targeting in Live, Live Total Impact, and Performance Insight Hub, each with its own unique set of capabilities.

Austin-based creative agency Callen has brought on strategy vet David Terry to lead the department as the agency’s first-ever chief strength officer. He will work closely with Quality Meats and BBH vet Paola Ortega, who also joins Callen as strategy director.

PepsiCo confirmed that three brands, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Poppi, and Lay’s, will appear in ads in Super Bowl 60. ADWEEK learned each brand will have its own in-game creative; however, PepsiCo wouldn’t share further details.

EXCLUSIVE | The Trade Desk cut dozens of employees on Tuesday, spanning multiple teams including sales and client services. The Trade Desk confirmed the staff cuts in an email with ADWEEK.

Still need to do your holiday shopping? Might we suggest... a pet rock? 🪨 Senior Editor Robert Klara gives a brief history of the must-have gift 50 years ago, which was developed by Gary Dahl who—guess what—worked in advertising.

Cable networks rebounded strongly post-Thanksgiving with double-digit primetime gains in total viewers and A25-54 demo. Fox News and MS Now maintained momentum in total day viewership. CNN saw modest total viewer growth but declined in the key demo.

2025 has been a landmark year for advertising dealmaking, highlighted by Omnicom's $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group in November—the largest deal in advertising history.

Senior Media Reporter Mark Stenberg spoke with five people familiar with Anastasia Nyrkovskaya's sudden departure from Fortune and revealed that there was a clash with Victor Pang, a lawyer representing the company's billionaire CEO Chatchaval Jiaravanon. Full story 👉 https://bit.ly/44o54FD

The ad industry faces holiday tension as Nielsen and VAB clash over big data + panel. The Video Advertising Bureau released a report calling Nielsen's BD+P product "unstable, inconsistent, and destabilizing," while Nielsen calls the analysis "seriously flawed and manipulated."

🚨🚨The ADWEEK Creative 100, now in its 12th year, is open for submissions. 🚨🚨 The Creative 100 honors individuals who shaped culture through their work in advertising, brand marketing, social media, TV, streaming, film, visual art, and beyond. Submit your nomination now!

The American Advertising Federation has announced its 2026 Advertising Hall of Fame class to celebrate the program's 75th anniversary. This distinguished class honors six industry leaders, American Express as corporate honoree, and Barry Manilow and Marlo Thomas as President's Award recipients.

IAB CEO David Cohen predicts traditional search will fade by 2026 as AI reshapes how brands reach consumers, shifting the battle for visibility from search rankings to AI's "latent space" where LLMs organize information.

Top agencies now create holiday cards that entertain and engage rather than just send greetings. ADWEEK has highlightsed seven standout examples from analog crafts and puppets to AI quests and family gathering escape routes.

The ad verification and measurement firm Integral Ad Science (IAS) is adding an AI agent to its platform to help advertisers optimize campaigns.

EXCLUSIVE | Kellanova chief growth officer Charisse Hughes will leave the company on December 24 following Mars’ acquisition of Kellanova. https://bit.ly/3KJAxLN

Albertsons is rolling out a beta program for a new offsite ad format called “Add-It” that lets consumers add the products promoted to a shopping cart. The ad copy reads “save to cart,” and clicking on the unit drops the product into an online shopping cart.

Grey New York has won the global creative account for Mary Kay. Agnes Fischer, CEO of Grey New York, says the scrutiny around Mary Kay’s business model did not influence Grey’s desire to pitch for the business: “This brand was born out of women empowering women." https://bit.ly/3Mnixr4

While many might see the return of a retired mascot as a backwards step, Mark Ritson feels that Svedka bringing back the cyborg for its first-ever Super Bowl ad is actually a smart tactical move that will shore up the impact of an enormous investment.