Omnicom and IPG fret for their future, trust, transformation and the Twinkies rebrand

Issue #36 | Weekly Exhale

Brands became powerful when television—the first screen—entered our homes in the middle of the last century, and modern advertising was born. The moving picture, in colour no less, was revolutionary, and the artistry required to use it is still revered today. Advertising agencies rose to prominence, forming Don Draper-led conglomerates that shaped our culture and filled our shopping baskets. Fast forward to today: the industry buzzed with news that Omnicom plans to acquire IPG, creating the largest advertising holding group ever.

Ad folk are confused about their size. They bristle at the necessity for public companies to grow endlessly but still think of their work as the ‘big stuff.’ Here’s the reality: even this newly minted giant would represent less than 2% of Meta’s market cap. I hope Omnicom shareholders get their reward when the deal goes through (though the uncertainty has already shaved $1.5 billion off its value).

Dick Van Dyke was born in the same year as the first advertising conglomerate—1925. A big screen hero, now 99 years old, he carries a grounded sense of his achievements and place in the world. He’s the star of a new Coldplay music video, directed by Spike Jonze. Now, I’m not the biggest Coldplay fan. Their music is like hummus to me—pasty, worthy, and somehow unavoidable. But this music video? It's a masterpiece.

Jonze captures Dick’s reflections with a tenderness that feels rare today. He speaks about love, about his daughter visiting him in dreams to comfort him. He dances. He plays and acts silly, something he’s grateful to have done for a living—much like how advertising creatives once saw their craft.

Surrounded by his sprawling family, he offers wisdom with the simplicity only age can bring:

“I’m acutely aware that I could go any day now. But I don’t know why, it doesn’t concern me—I have this feeling that I’m going to be alright.”

And there it is. While media conglomerates scale in a fiction conjured by numbers and markets, Dick reminds us that what truly grows are the bonds we form, the stories we share, and the love we give. Those are the roots that hold firm, even as everything else shifts and fades.

And hey, a little musical hummus every now and then? Not so bad after all.

Let’s rise together with every issue. ?

Market Movements

UK economy unexpectedly shrinks by 01% | FT

'I'm more confident' despite rise in US inflation | BBC

Fed on track to cut rates in December; after that is anyone's guess | CNBC

Brand Beat

UnitedHealthcare CEO shot dead in NYC. Why? | The Independent

Omnicom and IPG staff fret for their future after $13bn mega-merger | CItyAM

Who are the winners and losers of Omnicom's proposed acquisition | Digiday

Advertising to hit $1 trillion, dominated by the new 'big 5' | Investors Business Daily

Sky Kids and Paloma Faith reimagine 'Silent Night' with inclusive twist | Marketing Beat

These are the 66 brands that mattered in 2024 | Fast Company

How Liquid Death turned plain water into a $1.4 billion brand | The Wall Street Journal

Aldi kicks off Christmas dinner wars with offer to feed six for less than ￡12 | The Grocer

Advertising's social impact problem and how to solve it | The Drum

Five ways financial brands are connecting with Gen Z | AdAge

Where is the creator economy headed in 2025 | Forbes

Why Matthieu Blazy is the man for the Chanel job | Vogue Business

How beauty brands and agencies are preparing for a possible TikTok ban | Glossy

Coca-Cola's Mattias Blume on marketing food & beverage brands | Marketech

Nostalgia-washing: How brands can look back | Marketing Dive

What Nouveau Nihilism can teach brands about consumer indulgence | Marketing Week

Launching a DTV startup in 2025 | Growth Waves

Trust as the next great commodity | Kyla Scanlon

Barbour outdoor clothing is System1's ad of the week | System1

OpenAI launches 12 days of Christmas campaign | OpenAI

Starting Up

The perfect friend or just plain weird? New AI friend app | Maddyness

Replacing job titles with impact ratings at ElevenLabs | Sifted

Meet the speakers of the "Evolution of Femtech" at the EU-Startups Summit | EU Startups

Why politicians shouldn't view public services as startups | The Guardian

Tech Tidbits

Harvard releases free AI training dataset funded by OpenAI | Wired

The mystery of why ChatGPT couldn't say the name 'David Mayer' | The Wall Street Journal

Elon Musk is turning Space X's Starbase into an incorporated Texas city | Fortune

A new $25m fund aims to give UK mental health startups a shot in the arm | TechCrunch

Another Google breakthrough brings quantum computing closer to reality | New York Times

Venture Vibes

Walgreens is in talks to sell itself to private equity | The Wall Street Journal

Europe's top VCs bet on Berlin's sexy startup scene | Forbes

Has Sequoia Capital outgrown its business model? | The Economist

What Forerunner and Bain secretly told their LPs this fall | Newcomer

Design Driven

The Twinkies rebrand is all about the modern sweet tooth | Fast Company

Unfurling the creative details in Monument Valley 3 | It's Nice That

New fashion-forward identity for Faulty AI | Creative Review

Hello, Happiness

Why emotional intelligence is the best defence against GenAI threats | The Big Think

How digital life threatens our capacity for awe | Aeon

Spike Jonze x Dick Van Dyke deliver a masterpiece on happiness | YouTube

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