As the Trump administration continues to target DEI efforts across the country, at least two major advertising holding companies have quietly dialed back some of their DEI pledges.

In recent months, both WPP and IPG have removed language on their websites emphasizing diversity, according to website captures from the Wayback Machine reviewed by Marketing Brew. WPP removed a paragraph on its “Belonging” webpage, which had previously emphasized its “aim to build a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve.” The now-deleted paragraph also mentioned the company’s commitment to “actively promoting gender balance and racial equity” and its continuous effort “ to create opportunities for underrepresented groups.”

The change was made sometime since November (the Wayback Machine does not consistently capture every page on the web, so Marketing Brew could not determine the exact date of the change).

IPG, which Omnicom announced plans to acquire in a deal that is being reviewed by the FTC, removed a paragraph from the “Diversity and Inclusion” portion of its website that detailed that CEO compensation across the holding company would be tied to broader diversity goals. “A portion of each of our major companies’ CEOs’ performance objectives is tied directly to diversity,” the page previously read, according to Wayback Machine captures. “If a given company’s diversity goals are not met, that CEO’s incentive pay is adversely affected.”

That change was made sometime between February 20 and March 31, Marketing Brew determined, based on Wayback Machine captures.

Continue reading here.—JS

Between legacy brands like Gatorade and new entrants like Alex Cooper’s Unwell Hydration, competition in the sports-drink category is as stiff as ever. Coca-Cola’s BodyArmor is suiting up.

On Thursday, the brand announced a new look, marking its first rebrand in the company’s history, as well as an accompanying campaign featuring some of the biggest stars on its roster of athletes. The refresh is meant to help BodyArmor stand out both visually and in terms of its product attributes, CMO Tom Gargiulo said.

“We just felt like it was a good time for us to take a step back, look at how we’ve executed the brand, [and] identify opportunities for us to really enhance the branding, to really elevate what makes us different and unique versus the competition,” he told Marketing Brew.

To stand out on shelves shared with competitors, Gargiulo said his team wanted to “make sure that you can see BodyArmor from afar,” so the new packaging, which started rolling out in stores this month, features bolder typefaces meant to “modernize the wordmark.”

One of the other changes the team implemented during the rebranding process was to move the list of key product benefits from the back or side of the BodyArmor bottle to the front of the label, Gargiulo said. The fruit imagery featured on the bottles also got an update, he said.

“There was a lot going on on the packaging, and we wanted consumers to really walk away understanding clearly what the flavor was and what fruit was actually in the product,” Gargiulo said.

Gargiulo said his team sees the refresh and campaign as more of a new era for the brand as opposed to a full overhaul.

“It’s not necessarily like we’re starting over again,” he said. “We’re calling a new play. It’s a natural evolution.”

Read more here about the rebrand and the campaign accompanying it.—AM

Digital advertisers did well in 2024. Like, really well.

Last year, digital advertising revenue hit $258.6 billion, representing growth of 15% year over year, according to a report conducted by PwC and published Thursday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

It’s the most growth the category has seen since 2021, when the pandemic prompted advertising budgets to shift into digital and streaming platforms. In 2023, the industry grew by 7.3%.

It helped that both a US presidential election and the Olympics provided “meaningful tailwinds” for digital ad spend overall, IAB CEO David Cohen said in a press release about the findings.

What else? Digital video was the fast-growing channel for ad spend in 2024, growing 19.2% year over year to $62.1 billion and accounting for 24% of total digital ad revenue, surprising absolutely nobody.

• Search advertising, a category that could soon face massive AI upheaval, grew 15.9% to $102.9 billion, accounting for 39.8% of total digital ad revenue;
• Retail media networks saw revenue jump 23% in 2024, reaching $53.7 billion;
• And social media saw revenue jump 36.7%, totaling $88.7 billion last year.

Continue reading here.—RB

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