This week we’re diving into financial ad spend as February marks the return of this sector.

What's 🔥 Right Now

The Financial Return

• VanEck ran a HPTO across WSJ this week, driving awareness to their CLO ETF funds.

• Papaya Global is running ads across WSJ this week, promoting general brand awareness paired with Super Bowl themed messaging.

• Algorand is running ads across Bloomberg this week, driving general brand awareness around Blockchain and use cases under Algorand.

• HSBC is running ads across Axios, promoting their dedicated sector to fuel your businesses’ growth.

• Wells Fargo is running a HPTO across Bloomberg this week, driving to a studio piece on their involvement in leveraging technology and blockchain.

Newsletter Rundown

• JPMorganChase ran in Monday’s Axios AM, driving awareness to how they invest in communities—with the landing page being a branded content piece on this topic.

• Goldman Sachs ran in Monday’s Axios AI+, driving to their podcast episode on AI’s impact on geopolitics along with Puck’s Dry Powder this week, driving awareness to their 2025 insights.

• Apollo Global Management is sponsoring Axios Markets and Punchbowl News AM this week, driving awareness to their flexible solutions to support long term capital.

• Standard Bank is sponsoring Semafor Africa this week, driving to their report on Africa’s Trade Barometer.

• Citizens is sponsoring CFO Dive this week, driving to their 2025 M&A outlook.

The thought: after finance took a beat in January, February is shaping up for their return. Messaging leans heavily into financial solutions for businesses, as seen from Apollo Global Management to HSBC. Notably, this messaging differs from the start of last year when companies were pushing their individual financial advisor support.   

Ads across the web this week

• Tech: Intuit (NYTimes), Google (WSJ, WaPo), Papaya Global (WSJ), Oracle (WSJ), ServiceNow (Forbes), Amazon (Bloomberg), Meta (Politico, WaPo)

• Aerospace/Defense: Boeing (Politico)

• Business/Finance: VanEck (WSJ), Papaya Global (WSJ), Algorand (Bloomberg), BCG (Axios), HSBC (Axios), KPMG (WSJ)

• Healthcare: Evernorth Health Services (Axios)

• Real-estate: Cushman & Wakefield (WSJ)

• Non-Profit: Healthcare Education Project (Politico)

• E-Commerce/Retail: Vacheron Constantin (NYTimes, WSJ), Richard Mille (Air Mail), La Prairie (NYTimes), Veronica Beard (NYTimes)

• Entertainment: Mubi Awards (Puck), The Brutalist (NYTimes), New York City Ballet (NYTimes), I’m Still Here (Vox, The New Yorker), Universal Pictures (Puck), NBC (The New Yorker), Max (The New Yorker)

Notable Campaigns 

Mubi Awards ran a HPTO across Puck from 2/3, 2/4, and 2/6, driving awareness to The Substance film under FYC messaging.

VanEck ran a HPTO across WSJ on 2/3, promoting their CLO ETF’s.

Richard Mille is running a week-long HPTO across Air Mail, promoting RM 16-02, their new automatic winding watch.

Healthcare Education Project ran a HPTO across Politico on 2/5, calling on the public to sign on to protect Medicaid against federal cuts.

Amazon ran a HPTO across Bloomberg on 2/5, driving awareness to their built-for-business selection of products and tech.

Meta is running a HPTO across Politico and WaPo today, 2/6, promoting Llama, their open source AI.

Vacheron Constantin is running a HPTO across WSJ today, 2/6, promoting their 270th anniversary.

Wells Fargo is running a HPTO across Bloomberg today, 2/6, driving to their studio piece on how Franklin Templeton is leveraging innovation in technology and blockchain.

Evernorth Health Services ran a HPTO across Axios today, 2/6, promoting their affordable out-of-pocket cost sharing.

Newsletter Tracker

Here's a link to the full newsletter list

Across the newsletter tracker, this week has a STR of 42%, 27% down from last week💰

New Branded Content

• Forbes: SAP 

• Politico: BP

• WSJ: Infosys, NTT Data

• WaPo: BASF, Visit Florida, UNICEF

• Fortune: Target

• Morning Brew: Bloomreach

• NYTimes: Carnegie Mellon University

Here's a link to the full branded content list

Industry News + Product Launches

• More media companies eye the Middle East as an expansion opportunity, which we’ve seen from Bloomberg events & Semafor Gulf expansion

• Breaker Media launched as a scooped filled company looking at media, culture, and power

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