Adweek August 2025

INTRODUCING: THE DISRUPTOR AWARDS When marketing and tech executives break loose from conventional industry norms, magic happens. Our first-ever Disruptor Awards will honor 50 pioneers crafting new ways of working and moving the industry into the future. This award honors those who prove that disruption means growth, progress, and a relentless drive to create a better, more inclusive advertising ecosystem. Entries are free, and must be in by Aug. 22. EXPERIENTIAL AWARDS OPEN FOR ENTRIES As AI continues to creep further into digital advertising, we’ve seen more interest—and budget—move toward experiential events. Now in its seventh year, ADWEEK’s 2025 Experiential Awards will highlight the activations that dazzle with interactive elements, deliver aweinspiring experiences, and find creative ways to educate consumers. Enter by Aug. 26. FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT ADWEEK.COM.…

THE INDUSTRY’S LEADING awards festival is introducing new global integrity standards following a wave of scrutiny over manipulated case studies and unverifiable claims that cast a shadow over the 2025 Cannes Lions. The framework, which will apply to all 2026 submissions, aims to “provide a renewed model of accountability, rigor, and trust for creative excellence,” according to Cannes Lions CEO Simon Cook. “Creativity is only valuable if it’s credible,” Cook said. “And credibility must be earned, not assumed.” The standards include enhanced factchecking, mandatory senior sign-offs on entries from both agency and client, clear rules around synthetic media, and a new Integrity Council to oversee escalated cases. Agencies found to have submitted deliberately misleading work may face a ban of up to three years. MARRED BY CONTROVERSY The move follows…

WITH HIS VILLA on the island of Mauritius, a collection of more than 200 classic cars, and a penchant for skewering companies that fail to deliver the results he expects, British investor Terry Smith is no stranger to making the news. But earlier this year, Smith—often called “the British Warren Buffett”—turned more heads than usual when he announced that his company Fundsmith was dumping all its stock in Diageo, maker of Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. “We suspect the entire drinks sector is in the early stages of being impacted negatively by weight-loss drugs,” he told investors. The billionaire stock picker was talking about medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, GLP-1s for short. Initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes, the drugs have more recently demonstrated a capacity…

LINDA YACCARINO’S SUDDEN exit as CEO of X in July has left advertisers cautious amid persistent brand safety concerns and lingering doubts about the platform’s future as a dependable advertising venue. A media buyer at a digital agency, who wasn’t authorized to speak to media, said only one of their clients has consistently advertised on X, primarily to reach politically active audiences. “It didn’t seem like [Yaccarino] was actually doing the job she had hoped to: make [brands] feel more comfortable with X,” the buyer said. Following her departure, the agency has advised clients to pull back spending—especially those relying on leftover budgets, called slush funds, to test the platform. Amber Tinker, paid social and influencer director at PMG, said X’s sales team under Yaccarino was responsive and offered significant…

IN A STUDY of 184 economies around the world, only one country is expected to see a decline in tourism revenue from international travelers this year: the United States. The World Travel & Tourism Council forecasts that visitors will spend around $169 billion in the U.S. throughout 2025, down from $181 billion last year amid heightened scrutiny of international travelers and tariff-fueled trade wars by the Trump administration. Consider America’s northern neighbor, a major source of revenue for U.S. hotels, restaurants, and theme parks. The number of Canadians returning home via automobile after staying at least one night in the U.S. was down nearly 30% in June compared to the same time in 2024. Even Americans are curtailing their domestic travel this summer. May and June spending on lodging, airlines,…

THE UNITED STATES spent $271.2 billion on digital advertising in 2024, more than any other country, yet fraud still affects 16.73% of ad transactions. In Australia, the problem is even worse at 18.76%. Europe follows at 19.51%, with Asia averaging 21.89%. Globally, nearly $100 billion is lost to ad fraud annually. Here’s the uncomfortable truth the industry doesn’t want to acknowledge: This isn’t happening for lack of technology. It’s happening because the incentives are broken. SCALE OVER SCRUTINY The 2024 data reveals a troubling pattern that has persisted for over a decade. Adtech platforms are not incentivized to eliminate fraud, only to manage it just enough to stay in business. In an industry where traffic volume equals revenue, both supply-side platforms (ad networks, ad exchanges) and demand-side platforms are structurally…