ADWEEK

What are you working on—personally and professionally? For ADWEEK's On the Clock Off the Clock, Tefi Pessoa shared what she's been up to in work and in life: being concise, scrolling less, and baking more.

In 2020, Molly McPherson got many calls from leaders asking her for "help with DEI." As she says, if you're calling a crisis manager to help with DEI, then you don't understand DEI. As we see rollbacks, reduced funding, and more, she stressed why it's so important to not only talk the talk when it comes to DEI, but to walk the walk.

This week has been another revolving door of chief marketing officer (CMO) hires and departures. 👉 OpenAI hired ServiceNow’s Colin Fleming as CMO for its business unit, signaling a deepening enterprise marketing focus as it looks to expand beyond its core AI products. 👉 CNN is uniting its brand marketing and growth marketing capabilities into a single organization, naming Anna Frost as the new head of marketing for CNN Worldwide. 👉 Tovala appointed Scott Braun as CMO. 👉 French fashion house Chloé appointed Valerie Leberichel as CMO. 👉 Zendesk appointed Tifenn Dano Kwan as CMO, and led its go-to-market transition into an AI-native analytics platform. 👉 Digital bank Monzo promoted AJ Coyne to a newly created CMO role.

From BTS' Jung Kook's CalvinKlein capsule collection to Kimora Lee Simmons and Betsey Johnson’s Y2K revival, these AAPI Month campaigns didn’t just show up, they set the pace. This year’s best work centered AAPI talent and culture with a real point of view, not performative nods, proving the most impactful marketing is the kind that actually listens.

Axios Local paused expansion in spring 2023 after racing to 30 markets but missing revenue goals and failing to turn a profit; three years later, it’s growing again and expects to reach 43 markets by year’s end on the way to 100. The unit now brings in “tens of millions” in revenue, has multiple profitable markets, and recently hit its first-half goal as Axios overall logged a fourth straight year of double-digit growth and remained profitable. The company credits its niche, professional-audience strategy built on newsletters, direct ad sales, thought leadership, and a growing events business while Axios Local’s next phase is fueled by an expanded OpenAI partnership and new AI tools that help smaller, one-reporter markets scale through regional “supersystems,” even as critics question whether the model meaningfully addresses the local news crisis.

Food becomes “native” through migration—pizza, bagels, curry, and the bodega all began as immigrant staples before turning into everyday culture. Now Asian retail, much of it Chinese, is having its own moment, but with a faster, corporate-backed playbook: chains like H Mart and 99 Ranch Market and entrants like Urban Revivo, Luckin Coffee, and heytea are using New York as the launchpad for national expansion, bringing app-first, social-driven growth that legacy U.S. brands aren’t used to. Read more 👉 https://adweek.it/4eVhMS6

In 2022, Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old YouTube creator behind Kane Pixels, accidentally pioneered a new way to roll out a film by releasing free Backrooms episodes over several years, building a massive audience and expanding the story world ahead of A24’s feature film, which premieres today. In an exclusive interview with ADWEEK's Mark Stenberg, Parsons talks about the series’ runaway success, how YouTube served as a long-tail launchpad for the feature, and what he learned about building a world and a fanbase in public before Hollywood ever called. Read more 👉 https://adweek.it/4nDAKiu

CBS News has named Nick Bilton executive producer of 60 Minutes, tapping the New York Times bestselling author, former The New York Times columnist and Vanity Fair special correspondent, and filmmaker behind the 2021 documentary Fake Famous. The move coincides with outgoing EP Tanya Simon departure, as editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski said they’re “thrilled” for Bilton to lead the show’s next chapter and expand it beyond the one-hour broadcast while upholding its ambition, fairness, and fearlessness. Read more 👉 https://adweek.it/4vegtmb

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has evolved over 70+ years from honoring quirky advertising films to rewarding creativity that also drives real-world commerce. In the past two decades it’s become a full-scale industry takeover of the Croisette, where tech platforms, adtech firms, publishers, agencies, and brands compete with ever-bigger beach activations that can cost up to $1.6 million. But showing up isn’t just a budget question: brands face French permitting, design approvals months in advance, contract and language hurdles, and the practical realities of building on sand while tides, wind, and heat constantly reshape the plan.

TV marketing is not the same as it was in the pre-social media era. The Daily Show team knows that many people discover their show through social algorithms. Ramin Hedayati, co-executive producer, discussed how the team sees social discovery as an avenue for millions to be introduced to The Daily Show.