Mega Deals and Mad Money

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Good morning,

The holiday countdown is here.

ADWEEK is continuing our end-of-year coverage today, with a look at 2025's biggest M&A in advertising, media, and technology. We also talked to top creatives about the ads they wish they made this year.

Elsewhere, we go behind JCPenney’s marketing turnaround under CMO Marisa Thalberg. And the Video Advertising Bureau goes after Nielsen’s data.

Let’s jump in.

1. 2025: The Year AI, Mega-Mergers, and Mad Money Shook Media and Advertising

2025 was a banner year for advertising, media, and marketing dealmaking.

From Omnicom’s mega acquisition of IPG to smaller deals like The Trade Desk buying metadata firm Sincera, 465 deals took place this year, Kendra Barnett reports.

Check out our massive chart for a play-by-play of this year’s M&A.

Read more

2. Can Buzzy Marketing Bring Back JCPenney? CMO Marisa Thalberg Is Betting on It

There are early signs that JCPenney’s much-needed revamp is working under CMO Marisa Thalberg, reports Robert Klara.

A year into Thalberg's role, Robert looked at how JCPenney’s new marketing campaigns, agency partnership, and slogan are revitalizing the department store chain.

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3. 15 Ads That Made Creatives Jealous in 2025

It’s an ADWEEK tradition to ask creatives which ads they wish they'd made.

Creativity editor Brittaney Kiefer polled top creatives from Wieden+Kennedy, Deutsch, VML, and others about which ads make them burn with envy this year.

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4. IAS Moves Beyond Verification With New AI Agent for Ad Campaign Optimizations

Adtech firm Integral Ad Science is moving beyond ad verification tools.

IAS has rolled out an AI agent aimed at optimizing ad campaigns, helping advertisers target and automate campaigns as opposed to tracking where ads ran after the fact. The agent equips marketers with data signals to apply brand-safety settings and context controls.

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5. Nielsen Hits Back After VAB Says Big Data + Panel Has Gone 'Worst-Case-Scenario'

Cue up the popcorn.

Trade organization the Video Advertising Bureau claims in a new report that Nielsen’s big data + panel product is “unstable, inconsistent, and destabilizing,” writes Bill Bradley. VAB claims that audience data across 33 networks found discrepancies between Nielsen’s big data + panel—the offering the company endorses for use as a currency—and its panel-only data.

Nielsen, for its part, claims that the report is “seriously flawed and manipulated.”

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• How Therabody diversified its products, (ADWEEK). 
  
  
• Calvin Klein opens New York flagship, (Retail Dive). 
  
  
• CBS Sports’ Thanksgiving Day airing of the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys game was the top broadcast telecast of November, according to Nielsen, (ADWEEK).
  
  
• Advertisers spent $1.47 billion on holiday TV ads, (Wall Street Journal). 
  
  
• Cable news ratings swing back from Thanksgiving drop, (ADWEEK). 
  
  
• Instagram tests a TV app, (CNBC).
  
  
• Dolphin rolls out Dolphin Intelligence, (Dolphin). 

• Inside Johnnie Walker’s next chapter of ‘Keep Walking,’ (From ADWEEK Branded with Johnnie Walker).

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• Grey U.S. changes leadership team, (Marketing Communication News).
  
  
• Crossmedia names Anne Bologna as president, (Crossmedia).
  
  
• R/GA hires Vanessa Lai as group creative director, intelligent systems, (Little Black Book). 

Rebecca Stewart will be back tomorrow.