ADWEEK

?? The March issue of ADWEEK is here. ?? Major League Baseball enters its 2025 season with the winds of change firmly at its back after two straight years of increased attendance, TV viewership, and media visibility. More than 71.3 million fans went to MLB games in 2024, an 11% increase over 2022. Viewership at home is way up as well: Fox’s 2024 World Series broadcast averaged 15.8 million viewers, the highest since 2017. The 2025 season will start with a two-game Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19. It will be the biggest standalone international event the league has ever put on, and mark MLB’s return to Japan after six years with several home-grown superstars on both teams. And if you really want proof that it’s a new era in baseball, New York Yankees players are finally allowed to have facial hair again for the 2025 season after a 49-year ban. Read more — https://adweek.it/43zaC07

Mother has overhauled its global leadership team ahead of its 30th anniversary. Felix Richter, previously chief creative officer of Mother London, has been named global chief creative officer. Teri Miller, formerly chief executive officer of Mother in the U.S., takes on the role of global chief client officer. Katie Mackay-Sinclair, who was a partner at Mother London, assumes the role of global chief brand officer, and Chris Gallery, also a former partner at Mother London, has been appointed global chief strategy officer. https://adweek.it/4j16ifj

In case you missed it, here are the five most eyebrow-raising details from ADWEEK’s investigation into Madwell’s cultural and financial health under the leadership of CEO Chris Sojka. https://adweek.it/3FK2lwM

At Men's Wearhouse, a new ad campaign takes a humorous approach to men's fashion struggles. The story follows Zach, a self-admitted fashion novice, facing a series of dressy social events without knowing what to wear. In a comedic twist, he drives to the store in his underwear – a scenario the company presents as still better than facing his sister's disapproval for wearing shabby clothes to her 40th birthday. https://adweek.it/41MZXOm

Band-Aid is debuting a new collection that will feature Hokusai’s Great Wave and other artworks faithfully reproduced on its adhesive bandages. With guidance from The Met curators, the brand chose three of Hokusai’s pieces to use. https://adweek.it/3DUZ8tG

It’s official—#ADWEEKHOUSE Las Vegas was a hit! Shout out to everyone who dropped by, and huge thank you to our partners for making it possible Fetch Infinite Reality Kantar SmartCommerce https://adweek.it/41KLz99

New for ADWEEK: MAGNA Global released its spring update to its U.S. Ad Forecast report for 2025, and the results focus on what the market looks like during an uncertain time. Magna found that U.S. ad sales reached $380 billion in 2024, as fourth-quarter earnings were strong across the board. However, Magna, which already expected a down year in 2025, is reducing that forecast even more. Some of the biggest takeaways from the report are that lack of visibility could slow down the ad market; traditional media owners are the most vulnerable; and despite uncertain times, the economy is healthy. https://lnkd.in/eR3DaMai

In this episode of TechMagic, Cathy Hackl and Lee Kebler break down the latest in AI, VR, and digital transformation! ?? They explore how AI is revolutionizing fast-food drive-throughs with automation and multilingual ordering. ?? They dive into Spain’s AI content labeling law and its $38.2M penalty for non-compliance. ?? They discuss how Gen Alpha is redefining dating through gaming platforms like Roblox. ?? Plus, insights on VR’s shift beyond gaming into social hubs and fitness spaces! ?? Tune in for tech trends, bold predictions, and all the magic of innovation! ??? Listen now: Apple Podcasts: https://adweek.it/4c5v372 Spotify: https://adweek.it/4iDOUfU

It's Major League Baseball (MLB) Opening Day, which naturally has this ADWEEK reporter's thoughts turning to late-night viewings of Adult Swim and Toonami and waiting days for Goku to power up to Super Saiyan levels and exact revenge upon Earth's enemies. In its latest campaign with creative partners Wieden + Kennedy, MLB called in PASSION PICTURES and Echelle animation and made an anime that had the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani blasting baseballs into orbit from beneath swaying cherry blossoms; Pittsburgh Pirates pitch Paul Skenes throwing dragon spheres of his own, the New York Yankees's Aaron Judge shattering idols with the force of the gods; and the New York Mets Juan Soto waiting his pitch on a comet. The commercial will receive out-of-home showings in Times Square, Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing, London’s Flannels Flagship Store, and Mexico City’s Museo Soumaya. The league is also developing films for additional players that will piece together anime and live-action game clips and run on MLB social channels throughout the season. There are a few million reasons this is a great idea for MLB, which may have taken a few ideas home from its recent Tokyo Series. According to?Parrot Analytics, anime generated $19.8 billion in total global revenue in 2023, the last year for which complete data was available. That includes $5.5 billion from streaming and $14.3 billion from merchandising sales, with MLB markets in North America and Asia accounting for 72% of that revenue. The manga comic book series that often drive anime storylines have a similarly robust presence in the U.S., with Circana BookScan seeing U.S. sales increase from 5.52 million copies in 2018 to 28.4 million in 2022, before leveling off at 17.8 million in 2023. Most importantly, MLB players and fans love it: With the Yankees' Jazz Chisholm wearing a One Piece chain and the San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis sporting Dragon Ball cleats. “It is important for us to reach a younger sports fan and bring our baseball players to life in a way that really connects with them in a genre that they understand,” said MLB's Steven T. “One of the insights we’ve had from early on is that anime fans are rabid, just like baseball fans. And we know that anime content performs really well on social, so we’re super excited to share this on social and give fans the opportunity to talk about their favorite players.” Story: https://lnkd.in/eN4Rw7x7

The way we watch, play, and engage with sports is changing fast. On The Speed of Culture Podcast, Overtime CEO Dan Porter breaks down: ?? Why Gen Z skips full games—but is more obsessed with athletes than ever ?? How Overtime built a billion-dollar business on short-form sports content ?? What brands need to know about the rise of athlete-driven media Listen now: ??? Apple Podcasts: https://adweek.it/3E6tGse ?? Spotify: https://adweek.it/41IBJ7M Suzy