This week marked seismic shifts across media, advertising, and technology. From the largest streaming acquisition in history to the aftermath of advertising’s biggest merger, the industry is being fundamentally reshaped. Here’s what you need to know.
Record-Breaking Holiday Sales Signal Consumer Resilience
The 2025 holiday shopping season delivered historic results. Adobe Analytics reported that Cyber Monday hit a record $14.25 billion in online spending, up 7.1% year-over-year. Black Friday wasn’t far behind, generating $11.8 billion—a 9.1% increase from 2024.
Perhaps more notable: this marked the first time consumers spent over $1 billion using Buy Now, Pay Later options in a single day. Mobile shopping also crossed a milestone, with 61.6% of Thanksgiving purchases made on phones.
The full Cyber Week period (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) totaled $44.2 billion, setting the stage for Adobe’s forecast of $253.4 billion in total holiday online spending.
Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery: The $82.7 Billion Deal That Changes Everything
Netflix announced it will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studios division in an $82.7 billion deal that reshapes the entertainment landscape. The acquisition brings Batman, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and HBO under Netflix’s roof.
As Marketing Brew noted, this consolidation comes amid broader media uncertainty, including TikTok’s December 16 deadline for a US sale and Australia’s new under-16 social media ban taking effect December 10.
For marketers, the deal signals continued streaming consolidation and potential new advertising inventory as Netflix expands its content empire.
Omnicom-IPG Merger Fallout: 4,000 Jobs Cut, Legacy Networks Retired
The advertising industry’s biggest merger is now reshaping the competitive landscape. Ad Age reported that Omnicom completed its IPG acquisition on November 26, creating the world’s largest ad holding company with over $25 billion in combined revenue.
The integration is proving disruptive: approximately 4,000 positions are being eliminated worldwide, with legacy networks FCB, DDB, and MullenLowe being retired. Their staff and clients are being absorbed into BBDO and TBWA.
Omnicom emphasized AI as a key merger benefit, claiming all teams will now have access to advanced AI tools through its Omni platform.
AI Confusion Runs Deep Among Programmatic Marketers
Despite AI dominating industry conversations, practitioners are struggling to keep up. Digiday’s coverage from this week’s Programmatic Marketing Summit revealed a critical paradox: “Everyone’s talking about AI, yet few feel equipped to shape what comes next.”
The real bottleneck isn’t technology—it’s structural readiness. As one executive noted: “My team doesn’t feel comfortable enough to know when it [AI] is wrong. They need to know enough to question it.”
Meanwhile, AdExchanger warned that generative AI is expanding the made-for-advertising (MFA) problem from traditional web into social platforms like Meta and TikTok, creating new brand safety challenges.
Campaigns Worth Watching
Adweek highlighted several standout campaigns this week:
- Spotify Wrapped: After last year’s AI backlash, the streaming platform returned to a human-centered approach, driving 200 million engaged users—a 19% year-over-year increase.
- Apple’s “I’m Not Remarkable”: An accessibility-focused campus musical featuring disabled students.
- McDonald’s “Ruin the Season”: A holiday campaign featuring the Grinch, created by Wieden+Kennedy.
Ad Age’s Best Ads of 2025 list emphasized humor, heart, and world-building as the year’s dominant creative themes—with brands opting for “storytelling over domination.”
The Bottom Line
This week crystallized 2025’s defining tensions: consolidation vs. competition, AI promise vs. AI readiness, and growth vs. uncertainty. As one industry leader summarized at Digiday’s summit: “We’re pursuing multiple futures simultaneously without clarity on what actually needs rebuilding first.”
For marketers navigating 2026 planning, the message is clear: structural readiness matters more than shiny new tools.
Sources
- Adobe: Cyber Monday Hits Record $14.25 Billion (December 2, 2025)
- Netflix: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. (December 5, 2025)
- Ad Age: Industry Reacts to Omnicom Reorganization (December 2025)
- Digiday: AI Confuses Marketers (December 5, 2025)
- AdExchanger: AI Is Bringing MFA to Social Media (December 8, 2025)
- Adweek: Ads of the Week (December 5, 2025)
- Ad Age: Best Ads of 2025 (December 1, 2025)
- Marketing Brew: Social Media Bans Update (December 3, 2025)