Spark Foundry

Adweek Names 2026 Media Plan of the Year Winners

Adweek published its 2026 Media Plan of the Year awards, recognizing media agencies and brand-side planners across 22 categories for campaigns that shifted cultural conversations and delivered measurable results. Winners highlighted creative, cross-channel executions — from Kleenex partnering with PHD UK and artist Mr Doodle to drive sales, to Humana and Spark Foundry building an AI-driven system in the Microsoft Bing ecosystem to boost Medicare enrollments. Campaigns included experiential activations (Oscar Mayer’s Wienie 500), social-first debunking (Unilever’s Vaseline Verified), streamer-driven public safety (Havas Play France and Sapeurs‑Pompiers de France), and inclusive cause marketing (GMF with Havas Play France). The feature lists performance metrics and outcomes for featured campaigns and agencies, illustrating diverse tactics across OOH, streaming, AI, social, experiential, and insight-led work.

PIA Media hires Robin Jansen as Chief Growth Officer

PIA Media has appointed Robin Jansen as its new Chief Growth Officer following a management buyout completed in late April that left Axel Schönau and Sebastian Sommerer as managing partners. Jansen brings about 15 years of experience from international media networks, most recently serving as Chief Client Officer Media for Dentsu in the DACH region and previously spending nearly a decade at Publicis-group agencies (notably Spark Foundry) and WPP agencies. PIA Media says it is focusing on three growth areas — The Modern Journey, Data, AI & agentic technologies (marketed via its floak brand), and Brand, Strategy, Content & Creation (via Nordpol) — and operates from Hamburg plus Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Belgrade.

Viant-TVision Deal Fuels Call for Unified CTV Measurement

An ADWEEK House Possible panel co-hosted with Viant explored measurement, transparency and buying practices in Connected TV (CTV). Viant’s Chris Vanderhook said marketers want a unified, independent CTV measurement system and noted Viant recently acquired TVision, a company that uses cameras and eye-tracking to measure in-room audience counts and attention. Panelists including TVision CEO Yan Liu, agency and brand leaders from Spark Foundry, Marriott International, Molson Coors and Chobani discussed inventory transparency, the need for clearer supply data in programmatic buys and the continuing importance of creative to capture distracted viewers. The discussion highlighted app- and show-level placement opacity and urged both buyers and publishers to improve supply transparency to scale CTV effectively.