MediaPost.com: social

Martini Taps Actor Jonathan Bailey To Revamp 'Martini Man'

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:56:39 -0400

The new campaign kicks off with a short film that takes place on a sun-drenched coast just outside Venice.

Pepsi Pounces On Knicks Euphoria

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:43:27 -0400

The soft drink brand is turning crazed fans into emotionally overloaded OOH ads.

LinkedIn Launches Its First Creator Marketplace

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:38:24 -0400

LinkedIn is launching its first native Creator Marketplace to help brands find and work with relevant creators, and to discover both organic and sponsored content that features their brand.

Snapchat Plans Digital, IRL World Cup Fan Experiences

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:55:40 -0400

For the next month, Snapchat will attempt to engage sports and soccer fans with content and features dedicated to the 2026 World Cup, planning real-time on-the-ground creator coverage, player partnerships, themed Lenses, and in-person events at stadiums across the United States.

Bayne, Henne Add Creative Muscle To Tombras

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

The Knoxville, Tennesse agency hires top talent to bolster capabilities.

Agencies Are No Longer Buying Capabilities - They're Buying Time

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:17:30 -0400

Publicis acquired LiveRamp. Ogilvy invested in sports and creator-focused agency Article 41. Earlier this month, Accenture Song acquired creator and social agency Whalar.

At first glance, these transactions appear unrelated.

In fact, many industry observers might view them as duplicative. Why acquire a creator agency when you already have creator capabilities? Why buy another data company when you already have data expertise? Why invest in a specialty firm when you already operate in that market?

The answer may be that we’re evaluating today’s acquisitions using yesterday’s M&A playbook.

Viewed collectively, these transactions suggest the agency industry may be entering a new era of M&A.

Historically, agency acquisitions have followed a relatively predictable evolution.

The first was the Scale Era.

For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, acquisitions were primarily about becoming bigger. Holding companies expanded geographically, added clients, increased billings, and consolidated operations. The rationale was straightforward: scale created competitive advantage.

Then came the Capability Era.

As digital transformation accelerated, agencies found themselves needing expertise they didn’t possess. Social media, CRM, analytics, commerce, performance marketing, and digital experience design became essential capabilities. Acquisitions became the fastest path to modernization.

Today, however, a new dynamic is emerging.

Welcome to the Speed Era.

The most important question driving acquisitions is no longer, “How do we become bigger?” Nor is it simply, “What capability do we need?”

Instead, it is:

“What strategic objective do we need to achieve, and how quickly can we get there?”

That distinction fundamentally changes how acquisitions should be evaluated.

One of the most common criticisms of agency acquisitions is that they appear duplicative. But that criticism assumes acquisitions are intended to fill capability gaps.

Increasingly, they are not.

They are being used to eliminate growth bottlenecks.

A capability may already exist within the acquiring organization. What may not exist is the market position, geographic footprint, reputation, client access, talent network, or speed required to achieve strategic objectives.

In the Scale Era, overlap was viewed as inefficiency.

In the Speed Era, overlap can be acceleration.

Consider Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp. Publicis already possessed significant data and technology capabilities. The acquisition wasn’t about checking a capability box. It accelerated access to identity resolution, data infrastructure, and the foundation increasingly required to compete in an AI-driven marketing ecosystem.

The same logic applies to creator-focused acquisitions. Accenture Song’s interest in Whalar and Ogilvy’s investment in Article 41 are not evidence that either organization suddenly discovered the importance of creators, social media, or influence. Rather, they represent a faster path to talent, relationships, cultural relevance, market position, and credibility in rapidly growing segments of the industry.

The same dynamic extends beyond the industry’s largest players.

We recently advised on the acquisition of BARÚ Advertising by Fors Marsh, one of the leading independent research and communications firms in the public sector market. Fors Marsh did not need additional communications capabilities. What the acquisition accelerated was access to California’s state government market—one of the largest, most competitive, and most relationship-driven communications markets in the country.

That’s what makes these transactions so interesting. The assets being acquired are different. Data infrastructure. Creator ecosystems. Sports and NIL relationships. Market access. Industry reputation. Client relationships.

But the objective is often the same: accelerating a strategic outcome that would take years to build organically. Many of the most valuable assets in today’s agency landscape cannot simply be hired or built. They must be earned. Trusted relationships. Market credibility. Geographic presence. Industry expertise. Access to high-growth sectors.

These advantages often require years—or even decades—to develop organically. Acquisition compresses that timeline.

As AI continues to reshape the competitive landscape, that compression is becoming increasingly valuable. Organizations no longer feel they have five or ten years to establish a position in an emerging market, build credibility in a new sector, or develop differentiated advantages. Competitive windows are shrinking. Market shifts happen faster. The cost of waiting is rising.

That reality is changing how leaders think about growth. The next wave of agency M&A may not be defined by who acquires the most revenue or even the most capabilities. It may be defined by who most effectively identifies the bottlenecks standing between where they are today and where they need to be tomorrow.

The most successful acquirers won’t necessarily be buying companies. They’ll be buying time.

And in today’s market, time may be the ultimate competitive advantage.

Jeep Enlists Iliza Shlesinger For World Cup Effort

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0400

"We are trying to be fun... and it's not about we win or we don't win, it's about generating conversation," says Stellantis' Francois.

NBA Finals Game 3 Soars To 23.8M Viewers

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:21:02 -0400

In the strongest result for an NBA Finals Game 3 since 1998, with a peak audience of 26.3 million for the closing minutes - up 159% vs. Game 3 a year ago. Game 3 is also the highest-rated TV program since the Super Bowl LX in February.

Shaq Reveals Zepbound Use -- For Sleep Apnea

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:40:07 -0400

Llly launched a multichannel Zepbound campaign featuring O'Neal during game four of the NBA Finals.

Judge Rejects Meta And Google Bid To Overturn 'Addiction' Verdict

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:41:22 -0400

A judge rejected requests by Meta and Google's YouTube to overturn a verdict finding the companies liable for harming a young woman's health by designing their services to be addictive.

Comedian Jake Shane Brings The Chaos To Panera's Mix & Match Campaign

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:43:32 -0400

In one video Shane disrupts the process, eating the Caesar Salad Stuffer that was a prop and taking personal calls while the camera rolls.

Pinterest Integration Links To Creator Storefronts On Amazon

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:39:36 -0400

Pinterest will allow creators to connect their Amazon Storefronts directly to their Pinterest accounts. By automatically applying their Amazon affiliate link to any eligible Amazon product they tag, creators will make a portion of the profit.

MLB Players Launch Content Platform

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:09:54 -0400

Original programming will be distributed across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok via MLB Players and athlete-owned channels.

News Industry Has A Strategy Gap, AI Gap - And Several Other Gaps

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:00:54 -0400

Newsroom leaders say they want stronger audience relationships, but their production systems still behave as though homepage traffic circa 2012 is about to make a triumphant comeback.

Interior Design's New Look: Email Works Better Than Social

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:00:50 -0400

Sidemark offers automated service to help designers build an email list.

Live Inside A Giant Liver: Madrigal Pharma's Awareness Initiative

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:02:00 -0400

Madrigal is unveiling a model of a giant liver in various cities to help raise public awareness of fatty liver disease.

When AI Does The Shortlisting, B2B Narrative Control Gets Harder

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:24:24 -0400

Winning the shortlist means treating discoverability as a strategic capability that sits at the intersection of marketing, product and technology.

Anomaly Positions Fox One As The Go-To World Cup Experience

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:16:27 -0400

"The FIFA World Cup Comes First" campaign celebrates fanatical fandom.

Lenovo, Ritual Labs Position AI As Creative Partner For World Cup

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

The ad shows AI powering smarter tournament operations and more immersive fan experiences.

AI Finding Its Citation Hierarchy Across Applications

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:43:08 -0400

Understanding where a brand appears, and why, has become essential as AI and agentic services reshape search. Brand and company citations have become increasingly important in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.

Dentsu Revives 360i As U.S. Social-First Solution

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:55:00 -0400

The solution - Dentsu stressed it is not a full-blown agency - will be comprised of a small team led by Christine Cotter, most recently president of social innovation at WPP's Ogilvy. Earlier she was a social media executive at Amazon.

HelloFresh Gets Cheeky With Pride Month

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:32:35 -0400

As of Monday night, nearly 106.9k liked the suggestive Insta post. But some say it was unnecessarily sexually explicit.

NAD Refers Kalshi To FTC Over Influencer Ads

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:35:53 -0400

The NAD says online prediction platform Kalshi failed to participate in a review of ads posted to social media by influencers.

Kalshi Asked Paid Influencers To Remove Posts Suggesting Election Fraud

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:33:04 -0400

Kalshi asked paid political influencers to remove posts from X that questioned the integrity of the Los Angeles mayoral election with regard to the promotion of odds on the popular online prediction market platform.

FIFA, Roblox Partner For 6-Game World Cup Event Hub

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:23:31 -0400

The "Super Soccer" Roblox hub for FIFA is launching official events celebrating the 2026 World Cup and all 48 participating national teams, with playable experiences extended to five additional games on the social gaming platform.