The advertising industry is undergoing dynamic shifts this week, marked by significant growth in digital channels, new strategic partnerships, and adaptive responses from leading brands to both economic and technological challenges.
Over the last year, US digital video ad spend grew 18 percent to reach 64 billion dollars, with projections of 72 billion dollars for 2025. This growth is two to three times faster than total media ad spend. Eighty-six percent of digital video ad buyers are using or planning to use generative AI for ad creation, signaling a pivotal transformation in campaign production. Connected TV and social video remain the top channels for advertisers, with live content migration to streaming platforms raising expectations for outcomes and partnership quality. In the Asia-Pacific region, Connected TV ad spend is expected to grow 14 percent year over year, emphasizing a global push toward digital and programmatic strategies driven by precision targeting and performance measurement[1].
A major deal this week is the programmatic advertising partnership between VIOOH and Vengo, expanding access to over 65,000 digital screens across the United States and generating 13 billion monthly impressions. This represents 9 percent of the US digital out-of-home market, supporting brands seeking broad, yet targeted, consumer reach in high-traffic environments including grocery stores, gyms, bars, and malls. The deal highlights further automation and flexibility in the buying process, providing advertisers with substantial scale and efficiency[2].
Emerging competitors are also stepping forward. Fanatics, a global sports platform, launched its own advertising division on August 26th, aiming to capitalize on its digital ecosystem and fan engagement capability, with leadership from industry veteran Jeremi Gorman[5].
Brand leaders are investing in visible refreshes and multi-channel campaigns to stay relevant. BetMGM, for example, unveiled a comprehensive rebranding initiative led by celebrity ambassador Jon Hamm, leveraging television, digital, and social platforms for maximum reach and storytelling impact[4].
In terms of consumer trends, brands and agencies report a sharp focus on performance metrics and tighter spending as economic pressures, including tariffs, force marketers to maximize efficiency and justify ad spend. For instance, Walmart noted a 46 percent jump in ad revenue year-over-year by strengthening its in-house advertising strategy as a buffer against higher operational costs[3].
Comparing with previous periods, the pace of AI adoption and digital video growth has noticeably accelerated, with increasing emphasis on biddable inventory, outcome-driven deals, and rapid experimentation across new channels to meet changing consumer behaviors.
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