Wendy’s Hires McDonald’s Former CMO to Reverse a Sales Slide
Wendy’s poached Tariq Hassan from McDonald’s to fix a 7% sales drop. The real question is whether marketing can undo years of discounting.
Oura Sells Recovery Over Triumph in Its First US Open Campaign
Oura’s first US Open campaign never shows Fritz or Gauff playing tennis. That is the point, and a claim on recovery as marketing territory.
Amazon Gives Alexa+ Away on Fire TV to Win the Living Room
Amazon is putting Alexa+ on Fire TV free, no Prime required. Giving away its AI assistant is a distribution play for the living room and an on-ramp to shopping and ads.
Converse Turns to K-Pop’s Karina to Reclaim Cultural Relevance
Converse named aespa’s Karina its global face as sales slide under Nike. The signing is a move to buy back cultural relevance, but relevance still has to convert to revenue.
Walmart Turns 38% Ad Growth Into Its Next Profit Engine
Walmart’s ad revenue jumped 38% and lifted its full-year outlook. Retail media is becoming the profit engine inside a thin-margin retailer, and advertisers should take note.
Jordan Brand Uses the Air Jordan 41 to Reclaim the Basketball Court
Jordan Brand’s revenue fell to $7.3 billion. The Air Jordan 41 is Nike’s answer, a performance shoe meant to prove the franchise can still win on the court.
The Trade Desk Kills Its Periodic Table and Rebuilds Media Buying Around AI Agents
The Trade Desk is scrapping the interface it was known for and handing media buying to AI agents. It is a defensive move by a leader losing ground to Amazon.
The NFL Turns Touchdown Celebrations Into Its Kickoff Stage
The NFL’s 2026 kickoff campaign turns touchdown celebrations into its brand platform, building a fictional Celly Studio and a creator series to sell personality, not the game.
Fanta Builds a Horror Cinematic Universe to Own Halloween
Fanta enlisted Universal and Blumhouse to turn Halloween into an owned franchise, with horror icons on cans and QR codes as the funnel. Packaging becomes media.
Nike Brings the One Piece Universe to the Air Max Plus
Nike rebuilt three Air Max Plus around One Piece’s Devil Fruits. The manga collab is less a logo drop than a test of how far design can carry fandom.
Media Ad Sellers Spend Most of Their Week Not Selling, and AI Is Moving In
Media ad sellers spend 71% of the week on everything but selling. A new Salesforce report shows AI agents and usage-based pricing rewriting the job.
Liquid Death and Garage Beer Turn Data Center Backlash Into a Song About Pee
Jason Kelce wants your urine shipped to a data center. The real story is how two challenger brands turned AI’s water problem into content people share.