Advertising in Five

WPP, Omnicom named first OpenAI ad partners. OpenAI has brought WPP and Omnicom on as first agency partners, but a reported self-serve Ads Manager could let advertisers buy the same inventory directly. (storyboard18.com, The Times of India, NewsDrum)

Meta removes advertiser control over ad placements. Marketing Dive reports Meta will automate placement selection, ending brands' ability to exclude specific apps from their campaigns. (Marketing Dive)

The Trade Desk positions Zuma as Kokai successor. Zuma is described as the next version of The Trade Desk's programmatic platform, putting buying teams through a second transition in three years. (Digiday, AdExchanger, Adweek)

Dentsu consolidates commerce and retail media units. Digiday reports Dentsu is expanding and combining its commerce and retail media offering under new leadership as both channels keep growing. (Digiday, Digiday)

Also moving today:

Digest: New Support for ASA Awareness Campaign; TikTok Settles Children's Privacy Case for $400m (exchangewire.com)

The Largest Shopping Mall Operator Has Its Own Retail Media Network (AdExchanger, Adweek)

Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda (The Guardian, ynetnews, Greatreporter.com)

Claudia Johnson named chief solutions officer, integrated commerce at Omnicom Media (Indian Television Dot Com)

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OpenAI begins showing ads in ChatGPT across Europe. OpenAI says ads started appearing in ChatGPT in France and 30 other European countries on Monday, opening a new consumer surface for media buyers. (FashionNetwork.com)

Agency data tracks AI search impact on 50-plus advertisers. Digiday reports on one agency's roster-wide data on how AI search is affecting web traffic and conversions, a rare cross-account read for planners. (Digiday)

WPP asks court to seal ex-executive's amended complaint. WPP's lawyers filed Thursday to strike allegations by a former executive from the public record, arguing they are immaterial to the wrongful-termination case. (The Media Leader - News analysis, opinion and insight for media and advertising professionals)

Wendy's names Tariq Hassan chief marketing officer. Adweek reports Wendy's CEO Bob Wright publicly set out three marketing problems before the former McDonald's marketer took the role. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

Mycar drops TBWA Sydney after seven years in favour of Do Agency (Mumbrella)

10,000 Marketing Jobs Are Gone And AI Agents Took Them (Forbes)

Ad-Supported Streaming Keeps Growing While Broadcast Falls (Adweek)

2 Weeks, 4 Brand Apologies. Will Any of Them Make a Difference? (Adweek)

5 Marketer Moves to Know This Week: Klarna, Microsoft, and Gap (Adweek)

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Publicis launches NIL venture with Kelce, 3 Arts Sports. Publicis is forming a joint venture called Tekta to run college-athlete marketing deals, per Marketing Dive, a bid to consolidate a channel that has largely operated deal-by-deal. (Marketing Dive)

Digiday asks whether WPP legal exposure reaches client ties. Digiday reports WPP is facing pressure on several legal fronts and questions whether clients will factor it into their agency relationships, the answer sets how buyers price holdco reputational risk. (Digiday, Digiday)

Report: microdrama app advertisers up 132% in first half. A report cited by Marketing Dive says active advertisers on microdrama apps rose 132% in H1, positioning the category as an emerging mobile inventory pool for buyers. (Marketing Dive)

Wendy's names ex-McDonald's CMO Tariq Hassan to marketing role. Wendy's has appointed Tariq Hassan as chief marketing and customer growth officer, per Marketing Dive and Adweek, resetting marketing leadership mid-turnaround. (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

Also moving today:

Why Nuuly is betting on a microdrama for its social-first fall campaign (Marketing Dive)

Eli Lilly Debuts Advertisement Selling GLP-1s to Medicare Enrollees (Adweek)

Policybazaar hands Rs 200-250 crore media mandate to Havas Media (Indian Television Dot Com)

Why The Arena Group Has, Implausibly, Rebranded Into an AI Company (Adweek)

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WPP Seeks Seal On Foster Lawsuit Records. MediaPost reports WPP is fighting to keep details of a former GroupM executive's wrongful-termination claim sealed, a ruling that decides how much agency billing and audit practice becomes public. (MediaPost, DNyuz, Business Insider)

Omnicom Moves Omni AI Staff To Endava. Adweek reports more than 460 Omni platform employees have been transferred to outsourcing partner Endava, shifting the staffing behind Omnicom's stated AI centrepiece to an outside vendor. (storyboard18.com)

Mumbrella Reports Deep Discounting Across Australian Media. A Mumbrella investigation finds heavily discounted rates, not audience decline, are the pressure point on Australian media-owner margins. (Mumbrella)

Singapore Experts Warn On Generative AI Ad Quality. Marketing practitioners tell CNA that generative-AI ads are flooding the Singapore market faster than quality control can keep up, putting review burden back on brands and agencies. (CNA)

Also moving today:

Clemenger BBDO calls time on standalone media unit (Mumbrella)

Amazon parts ways with Droga5 ANZ (Mumbrella)

Netflix Nearly Doubles Ad Sales Commitments Again While Closing Upfront (Adweek)

Dubai advertising deals hit $408m as 683 assets tendered and Metro naming rights expand: Mada Media - Arabian Business: Latest News on the Middle East, Real Estate, Finance, and More (ArabianBusiness.com, UrduPoint, Emirates24|7)

Generation Partners announces sale of Captivate Network to National CineMedia (NASDAQ: NCMI) (Generation Partners)

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Omnicom Moves AI Platform Staff to Endava. Adweek reports Omnicom is outsourcing hundreds of the engineers and product staff behind its AI platform to IT firm Endava, a test of whether an in-house AI build is an asset or a cost line. (Adweek)

Dentsu Weighs Cutting Up to 160 Overseas Entities. Marketing Magazine Asia reports Dentsu is considering eliminating as many as 160 additional international entities by 2028, signalling how far network consolidation may run. (Marketing Magazine Asia)

OpenAI to Serve ChatGPT Ads in 31 European Markets. Digiday reports OpenAI will begin showing ads to ChatGPT users across 31 European markets on August 24, giving buyers a first read on chat-assistant ad inventory under EU rules. (Digiday, Digiday, Digiday)

Australia Passes Law Requiring Platforms to Pay for News. Australia has passed legislation requiring Meta, Google and other large tech companies to strike deals with local publishers or face a levy, a precedent agencies will track for media economics. (Tribune Online, Yahoo! Finance, International Business Times, Singapore Edition)

Also moving today:

Lawsuit alleges Sony investigated WPP's media operation and said it ran a 'global crime scheme' (DNyuz, Business Insider, Adweek)

Novo Nordisk Appoints Omnicom For GLP-1 Medication Awareness (healthcare-digital.com)

Kopp, Parkinson Propel Brand Growth For Ogilvy Group (MediaPost)

Lily Collins Signs on as Face and Shareholder of IM8, Rethinking the Celebrity Deal (Adweek)

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Accenture and Whalar frame creator work for CEOs. Executives from both firms tell Digiday creator marketing is a C-suite conversation, a framing that would move budgets toward consultancy-led remits. (Digiday)

NBA union presses for athlete input on brand deals. Digiday reports the NBA players' union is seeking a bigger say for players in brand deals, pushing sponsorship closer to creator-marketing norms. (Digiday)

Cannes Film Grand Prix goes to ad-free AI ad. A businessline column notes this year's Film Grand Prix went to an ad for Anthropic's Claude, an assistant that promises not to show ads. (@businessline)

Shashi Sinha exits Omnicom Media India after integration. Campaign India reports Sinha has departed following the Omnicom Media, IPG Mediabrands integration he helped steer, with succession still unsettled. (Campaign India)

Publicis Groupe ANZ finance director Karen Colin-Thome dies. Publicis Groupe ANZ has announced the death of its long-serving finance director, who spent more than 35 years with the company. (Mumbrella, adnews.com.au)

Also moving today:

Under Armour teams with ‘Heated Rivalry’ star for new campaign (Marketing Dive)

Digiday+ Research: The 2026 guide to holiday marketing strategies, including A-Frame Brands, Mastercard and Ritual (Digiday)

D+ Research: Brands expand creator marketing strategies (Digiday)

Media Briefing: ‘Surveillance pricing’ laws are coming for dynamic subscription strategies (Digiday)

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Avatar co-CCO Ngubane resigns after Cannes video. The Citizen and IOL report Veli Ngubane stepped down days after a video of him rating women circulated, putting agency conduct standards in front of clients. (The Citizen, IOL)

Leigh Terry joins Nine board after Mediabrands exit. Mumbrella and AdNews report the former IPG Mediabrands Asia Pacific CEO has joined Nine's board eight months after the Omnicom acquisition displaced him. (Mumbrella, adnews.com.au)

Gap casts 'Obsession' star in fall denim campaign. Marketing Dive and Adweek report Gap's fall ads pair actor Inde Navarrette with musician Malcolm Todd, extending the retailer's music-and-dance formula. (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

Mod Op builds its own AI infrastructure, Digiday reports. Digiday reports the independent agency is betting proprietary AI infrastructure will return more value than licensing off-the-shelf tools. (Digiday)

Also moving today:

Disney Continues Marketing Moves, Joss Hastings to Lead Consumer Products Marketing (Adweek)

Disney, TikTok strike deal to let creators use Disney characters in videos (gorgenewscenter.com, RocketNews | Top News Stories From Around the Globe, MediaPost)

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WPP targets £500m savings to fund AI shift. WPP is targeting £500 million in gross annualized cost savings by 2028 and over £200 million in asset sales during 2026, per Pulse 2.0, a cost baseline rivals and clients may read as the holding-company template. (Pulse 2.0)

Marketers pushed toward AI without training, research finds. New ADWEEK and NewtonX research reports marketers are falling behind on AI training, locating the adoption bottleneck in enablement budgets rather than tooling. (Adweek)

S4 and Monks weigh rising AI token costs. Digiday reports S4 and Monks are working to get ahead of "exploding" AI token use, raising pricing and margin questions for agencies quoting fixed fees. (Digiday)

Also moving today:

The great advertising divorce (The Media Online)

P&G’s Always Discreet fights incontinence stigma with NFL campaign (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

CeraVe tackles tanmaxxing in social series to pitch Gen Z on SPF (Marketing Dive, Adweek)

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OpenAI adds product carousels to ChatGPT ads. Digiday reports OpenAI is bringing a shopping-feed carousel format to ChatGPT ahead of Q4, giving performance buyers a new placement to test. (Digiday)

Dentsu retains WBSC commercial rights through 2036. Sportcal reports the World Baseball Softball Confederation has extended its commercial rights deal with Dentsu for another decade, locking in recurring sports revenue. (sportcal.com)

Lilly runs WNBA on Prime spot with Amazon Ads. Marketing Dive reports Eli Lilly partnered with Amazon Ads on a campaign starring Candace Parker, extending pharma spending into women's sports inventory. (Marketing Dive)

Bayer and Zoom marketers describe recent AI results. Adweek reports senior marketers at Bayer, Zoom and a health tech firm detailing what AI has delivered so far and what they plan next quarter. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

The case for and against agencies betting on tokens the way they bet on media (Digiday)

Dentsu CEO Pay: Hiroshi Igarashi Earned $1.8M Running a $9.3B Company (everything-pr.com)

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WPP reports narrower revenue declines, new-business wins. WPP says its streamlined strategy is landing new business as revenue declines ease, while CEO Cindy Rose flags AI as a possible drag on agency pricing. (Marketing Dive, More About Advertising, Seeking Alpha)

Novo Nordisk moves US media buying to Omnicom. Novo Nordisk has named Omnicom its US media agency of record, ending a six-year relationship with WPP's Wavemaker. (FiercePharma, Bizcommunity.com, MediaPost)

Survey finds AI skills gap widest among CMOs. A NewtonX and ADWEEK survey of 500 marketers reports CMOs rank as the least AI-proficient group in the marketing organization. (Adweek)

Also moving today:

Future of Marketing Briefing: Creator agencies are becoming entertainment studios, brands are footing the bill (Digiday, Digiday)

By the numbers: How marketers are building the infrastructure for AI search (Digiday)

Why brands like Gap Inc. and Staples are inviting their employees to be creators (Digiday, Marketing Dive)

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