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

Perplexity has no reported agreement in place to buy TikTok— but that didn’t stop the AI-powered search engine from sharing its plans for the embattled video-sharing app in a blog post Friday. https://adweek.it/4bRAlDp

To create meaningful connections with today’s consumer, marketers must go beyond simply capturing attention and look to add real value. But traditional methods of marketing often fall flat, failing to meet today’s expectations for personalized and relevant experiences. Join ADWEEK Editor-in-Chief Ryan Joe in conversation with DoorDash VP of Ads A. Toby Espinosa as they discuss how to integrate customer centricity across marketing efforts. ?? Register here: https://lnkd.in/eyQ4hrQK

Come up to the Penthouse at the Four Seasons Hotel for ADWEEK House Las Vegas! On March 25, you can meet with commerce icons during Open Doors networking starting at 9AM. There’s still time to register your interest and participate in Group Chat discussions on AI shopper tools, evolving consumer trends and much more. https://adweek.it/4bK0Udr

Apple TV+ recently debuted its animated musical comedy series BE@RBRICK, which was developed with dentsu and DreamWorks Animation, and features original music by Timbaland. Studios adapting popular toy products into a film or show isn’t a new concept. Lego and Mattel, Inc.’s Barbie are just some of the recent successes of toys turned into entertainment content. For ADWEEK, I spoke with showrunner Meghan McCarthy about the pitfalls to avoid when developing shows from brands.

?? GroupM has made an unusual bet in the generative AI space. The media network is integrating DeepSeek’s R1 model to help brands target Chinese consumers more efficiently. I have the details

GroupM has announced an unusual partnership in the generative AI space. The holding company’s data and insights arm, choreograph, is tapping DeepSeek AI—China’s answer to OpenAI—to sharpen its Audience Translator tool, which matches brands with target audiences across ad platforms. https://adweek.it/4ixUeSj

With NCAA March Madness already in motion, ADWEEK is hustling to keep up with the brands in the game. This year, ADWEEK Media Editor William Bradley and I have compiled a March Madness ad roundup to track the brands, commercials, campaigns, and activations making their way through the tournament. While admittedly not a complete listing yet, this updating tracker already includes entries from NCAA Corporate Champions The Coca-Cola Company, Capital One, and AT&T; NCAA partners including Intuit TurboTax, Nissan Motor Corporation, Marriott Hotels, Great Clips Inc. and Pizza Hut; and party crashers from Adidas and State Farm to NYX Professional Makeup and SC Johnson. Don't see your brand's campaign in the mix? Contact me and I'll add it to the lineup.

Some Friday afternoon fun read: The DOJ's proposed antitrust remedies for Google’s Search trial could force the tech giant to crack open its walled garden and give buyers more data on where their ads run. Of course, this is not the first time that buyers have clamored for more visibility over where their ads show up. Like a lot of topics legal and adtech-related, it can get wonky. So here’s the run-down of what buyers currently get, what they want, and whether they can actually get it.

The Justice Department's antitrust case against Google could force the tech giant to provide advertisers with more transparency about ad placements and performance data, potentially transforming how digital advertising operates. https://adweek.it/4kGBxNT