🗓️ Top Headlines You Need To Know About

• 5/12 US & China Trade Deal: US & China agreed to a 90 day pause on tariffs. While the chaos and volatility around the state of the economy and consumers will continue, it will be important to watch if this temporarily improves consumer confidence to begin spending again. This deal is likely just a band aid solution and tomorrow could be revoked so this is more of an FYI of short term but here’s hoping tariffs BS calms down so we can all go back to focusing on CPM rates.

• (5/9) Groupm Restructure: Groupm layoffs already started and NYC office was hit pretty heavily. One interesting note however in the article was from the GroupM spokesperson Adweek connected with that stated the 40%-45% figure “does not refer to people who are departing the business” but “is in reference to how we’re bringing teams together.” Am sure layoffs will continue over 2025, however the headlines is a bit misleading and it’s not that half of the workforce is getting the boot. But it’s definitely still unsettling and having to operate everyday knowing your job could change or be eliminated isn’t fun. Tough year for GroupM employees- Would recommend keeping your options open with freelance clients on the side or polishing up the resume.

• (5/8) Carvana Stock Continue To Defy Expectations: In the 2008 financial crisis in addition to subprime mortgages, auto loans were also a problem. 6.6% of of subprime auto borrowers were at least 60 days past due on their loans as of January 2025. In marketing and advertising our jobs are heavily dependent on consumer spending, so seeing a company like Carvana that relies on used cars and discretionary spending is crazy. Either people are having the revenge spending and don’t care about their debt or somehow people are figuring out how to buy cars without giving it a second thought. Maybe I’m overacting but would encourage you to keep tabs on consumer debt.

• UPFRONT WEEK: Attended the Amazon Upfront event at Beacon Theatre that included an insane celebrity lineup and the highlight was Jamie Lee Curtis kissing Arnold Schwarzenegger on stage. More to come this week- Email [email protected] if you have any good Upfront photos to share!

Key News Stories To Watch Thursday:👀👀

🚀 Top Advertising Industry News Of The Week

• Doordash Agrees To Acquire Deliveroo: Deliveroo is a British multinational online food delivery service. It operates in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar. These delivery companies help small businesses and now the expansion will open this company up to become a massive media entity in addition to just a delivery service.

• 40% of CMOs Plan To Make Agency Budget Cuts This Year: CMOs are under pressure right now to reign in costs. Non-working agency costs or excessive creative development might be impacted or delayed in 2025 given the level of uncertainty right now. Will be curious if news of major clients leaving or slashing non-working costs to retain clients becomes a broader trends this year.

• Nielsen Data Glitches Occur With Upfronts: As if linear tv needed anything else to hurt it’s declining share of advertising dollars this story breaks; Nielsen’s transition to a new TV trading currency is hitting some bumps as the upfront gets underway, with the company scrambling to correct faulty data in a tool used to plan upfront buys and catch up with late delivery of TV ratings in dozens of local markets.

• UPFRONT WEEK: Amazon was yesterday unveiling an insane lineup of celebrity fire power, highlight was Jamie Lee Curtis KISSING Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Costco Partnership With Affirm

Costco announced last week it had entered into a partnership with Affirm. This allows customers to shop on Costco.com and use the installment payments. Last month i was Coachella, as consumers paid for concert tickets with money they didn’t have, and Now Costco.

All of these conflict which illustrates that like us regular people, companies are in limbo. Time will tell but still too early to call. Trade Desk stock and big walled gardens will be the first tell tale sign things budgets are getting slashed but so far so good (See above earnings bullets).

🦄 Mike Cessario Comment On Branding:

Mike Cessario started liquid death and has become somewhat of Elvis Presley of advertising as he brought the spotlight back on the power of branding. There have been some reactions on Reddit about Liquid Death soda products adding Stevia as an ingredient. In response a lot of consumers felt betrayed that the company founded on “Death to plastic” would want to include an artificial sweetener like Stevia. However most consumers love sweet tasting drinks (Cough Poppi getting for billions by Pepsi).

Below was a response Mike had on LinkedIn. One thing you can’t deny is his brutal honesty and transparency with consumers on why they switched. which anyone should respect him for. Basically was so popular because it called out the agency for holding their senior leaders accountable. Look if you’re making a ton in the c-suite with options, profit sharing etc. and the company isn’t doing well you own it. Don’t feel bad for them one bit. Hope more employees feel empowered to post about this and think Gen Z will change this for the better to be honest.

The image is linked below if you want to check out the additional posts about it:

🔥 In Case You Missed It…

Google Updates It’s “G” Logo For The First Time In A Decade: Google is introducing a redesigned version of its iconic ‘G’ logo, marking the first major update in nearly a decade. The new design moves away from the solid four-color blocks - red, yellow, green, and blue and replaces them with a gradient effect that seamlessly transitions between the colors. This subtle shift aims to give the icon a fresher, more contemporary appearance, which reflects Google's ongoing focus on AI.

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