The Upfront Isn't Dead Yet

Marc Pritchard made waves on Wednesday when he said P&G, the world's largest advertiser, will no longer participate in the TV Upfronts, declaring them "antiquated." Often, when P&G changes course, the industry follows, and in this case, upfront spending was already projected to decline by 27% for the 2020-2021 season.

Analysis: Advertisers we spoke to still find some value in the upfronts, but they provided several ways the event needs to change in order to eliminate an "information asymmetry."

While San Francisco agencies take great pride in the strides they've made in LGBTQ inclusion, the agency experience for Black professionals is vastly different. Adweek's reporting has uncovered a number of incidents across agencies in the city. Here's a few:

What agencies are doing about it: Adweek agency reporter Erik Oster spoke with a number of prominent San Francisco agencies about the problem and their solutions.

In June, hours after Aunt Jemima said it would retire the mascot, Cream of Wheat's owners, B&G Foods said, "We understand there are concerns regarding the chef image, and we are committed to evaluating our packaging and will proactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism."

The result of that review? The chef will be removed.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but South by Southwest was actually the first major American event to be canceled because of the pandemic. Now, SXSW faces an uncertain future for 2021. It revealed digital plans for next year's festival earlier this week, but the IRL portion of the event is TBD.

So what does that mean for marketers? Thinking outside the box could pay dividends as brands still have six months to prepare for the event.

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AlmapBBDO did 'extensive consulting' to get the tone and details right

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The professional network also rolled out Stories and updates to search, messaging.

Parent company Pernod Ricard is giving all U.S. employees the day off on Election Day.

New 10.10 Shopping Festival and Amazon Prime Day seek to encourage early buying.

Developer fosters connections with players, streamers and influencers inside and outside of its games.

Plus, creator Noah Hawley talks expanding the FX series' audience on Hulu.

The network, whose emblem dated to 1999, says it was high time for a refresh.