Welcome in, today is Wednesday, July twenty-second, and we start with a holding company digging in to keep one of its biggest clients. Omnicom Media has retained Uber as its global agency of record across most major markets, according to a press release reported by Adweek. The account is worth roughly eight hundred million dollars. Omnicom will keep handling media planning and buying for Uber across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, with PHD as the core agency on the business. But the renewed deal does more than hold serve. It expands Omnicom's remit in Brazil, and it folds Uber's sports marketing business into the holding company's scope. That widening is the real tell in a cycle where incumbents are working hard to defend flagship accounts. The review ran throughout the second quarter, and both Omnicom and WPP pitched. WPP did not walk away empty-handed. It keeps Uber's media business across Asia-Pacific, a market where Uber spends about one hundred thirty-six million dollars on advertising each year, according to COMvergence data. So the world's rideshare leader splits its map between two holding companies, with Omnicom taking the larger share, and adding new ground on the way. Now, a closer look at where marketing dollars are flowing, and whether they actually land. A new Kantar study, part of its BrandZ 2026 report, finds that only twenty-seven percent of influencer-generated content meaningfully strengthens the brands paying for it. That figure lands against a market still expanding fast. Kantar projects the creator economy could surpass three hundred fifty billion dollars by 2030, and it reports that sixty-one percent of marketers plan to raise their influencer budgets this year. The gap between that spend and the proof of impact is the story. Kantar attributes much of the shortfall to campaigns chasing views and virality over differentiation, trust, and emotional relevance. Among practitioners, the findings read as a measurement problem. Engagement metrics have long justified these budgets, yet the study suggests engagement and real brand impact have drifted apart. Kantar also warns that AI-generated content is deepening saturation, making narrative quality, in its telling, matter more than sheer volume. Staying with Omnicom, the holding company is consolidating two of its media brands. Omnicom is merging Mediahub and Hearts and Science across its global network, with Hearts and Science chief executive Garrett O'Reilly leading the combined business, according to AdNews. It is the latest in a run of brand consolidations across the holding-company world, though the operational weight of this one is still to be seen. An Omnicom spokesperson told AdNews the merger will not change how either agency runs in Australia, where both will continue to operate independently under the company's local model. The spokesperson said the only local change is a rebrand, with Hearts and Science adopting a new identity next month. Beyond that, the spokesperson said, clients will be served by the same teams, leadership, and capabilities. Omnicom framed the arrangement as balancing a global restructure with Australia's existing market model, and has not signaled any changes to Australian leadership or client accounts. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Kraft Heinz and Disney have struck a long-term strategic marketing partnership, spanning campaigns and branded content across Disney's media outlets, cruise line, parks, and events, per Marketing Dive. Digiday reports the ad industry is pressing for more from its AI spend, with adoption running well ahead of measurable proof of value. Also per Digiday, Omnicom Media is rethinking the agency model as AI absorbs routine media work, betting its future on strategy, data, and capability over scale. In India, Nikhil Kamath's WTF has acquired creative agency By The Gram, a second creative buy that points to more investor-led consolidation, according to Indian Television Dot Com. Liberty Mutual is turning a viral moment into owned IP, building a recurring puppet character, Liberty Biberty, from a mispronunciation in a 2019 spot, per Marketing Dive. And finally, Zevia has tapped Cardi B for what it calls its biggest campaign yet, leaning on unfiltered real talk to reinforce its refreshingly real positioning, per Marketing Dive.