• Twitter Inc. is reportedly considering charging brands a $1,000 monthly fee to keep gold verification badges, the latest potential course change in the platform’s Blue for Business product, which has alienated advertisers since an initial rollout late last year. (The Information) Meanwhile, owner Elon Musk said Twitter will now share revenue from ads that appear in the reply threads of creators who are subscribed to Blue, its $8 per month premium offering. (The Verge) 
• Dell Inc. plans to lay off 6,650 employees, or 5% of its workforce, as the computer manufacturer faces falling global demand for laptops and PCs. In a memo, Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said the company’s previous cost-cutting efforts, which included hiring and travel freezes, are no longer enough amid market conditions that “continue to erode with an uncertain future.” (Bloomberg) 
• The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly planning to file an antitrust lawsuit targeting multiple facets of Amazon.com Inc.’s business, such as its Prime subscription service bundling and its treatment of outside sellers. The timing of any case remains unclear, but if legal action is taken, it would represent a significant acceleration in the trend of U.S. antitrust regulators going after major technology companies. (The Wall Street Journal)

Snacks Reign Supreme: Super Bowl LVII Advertisers, Ranked by Favorability

Morning Consult

Ad Employment Gained 1,400 Jobs in January, Rebounding From Late 2022 Losses

Bradley Johnson, Ad Age

Overall U.S. hiring surged, and the unemployment rate has not been below its current level since 1953.

How Ad Revenue Covertly Shaped Amazon And Apple’s Q4 Earnings

James Hercher, AdExchanger

The Q4 online advertising rout hit Snap, Meta, Alphabet and others, but Amazon and Apple continue to gain ground.

How Amazon is leveraging AWS to accelerate its courtship of Madison Avenue

Ronan Shields, Digiday

Amazon’s ascendancy on Madison Avenue has been clear for some time. Still, the extent of its ambitions was laid bare when it started to explicitly state its media revenues last year.

National Enquirer sold to group that includes indicted ex-MoviePass chairman

Mike Calia, CNBC

The National Enquirer, the tabloid at the center of many controversies involving former President Donald Trump, will be sold to a joint venture involving Theodore Farnsworth, the former MoviePass chairman who has been criminally charged with securities fraud.

Sports Illustrated Publisher Taps AI to Generate Articles, Story Ideas

Alexandra Bruell, The Wall Street Journal 

The publisher of Sports Illustrated and other outlets is using artificial intelligence to help produce articles and pitch journalists potential topics to follow, the latest example of a media company investing in the emerging technology. 

Disney Explores the Sale of More Films and TV Series to Rivals

Thomas Buckley and Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg

Walt Disney Co. is exploring more licensing of its films and television series to rival media outlets as pressure grows to curb the losses in its streaming TV business.

Marie Kondo is messy now—and it’s actually expanding her brand

Rob Walker, Fast Company

Admitting her flaws endeared Kondo to fans, and made her brand about more than cleanliness.

‘Knock at the Cabin’ Knocks Down ‘Avatar 2’ at Box Office, ‘80 for Brady’ Touches Down in Second Place

Rebecca Rubin, Variety

M. Night Shyamalan’s horror film “Knock at the Cabin” collected $14.2 million in its opening weekend, enough to top box office charts and dethrone “Avatar: The Way of Water” after spending seven weeks at No. 1.

Ticketmaster braces for Beyoncé‘s ‘Renaissance’ tour amid fears of Taylor Swift-level demand

Stefan Sykes, CNBC

Ticketmaster is gearing up for what’s expected to be high demand for tickets to Beyoncé’s upcoming “Renaissance World Tour,” as the ticketing giant continues to face criticism over the botched presale for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour last year.

Paramount Reveals Plan to Remake Showtime in the Image of ‘Yellowstone’

John Jurgensen, The Wall Street Journal

Premium cable network overhauls slate around franchises after merger with streamer Paramount+.

Google invests $300mn in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic

Richard Waters and Kadhim Shubber, Financial Times

Cash-for-computing deal shows how large tech groups are investing in companies at the vanguard of generative AI.

Apply Pay gets the green light to launch its service in South Korea

Kate Park, TechCrunch

A South Korean financial regulator said on Friday that the country had approved the Apply Pay launch to allow local credit card firms to introduce the Apple Pay service.

Elon Musk and Tesla Beat Investor Lawsuit Over “Funding Secured” Tweets

Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter

The case revolved around whether the mogul misled investors when he tweeted in 2018 that he was going to take Tesla private.

Google tries to reassure investors on AI progress as ChatGPT breathes down its neck

Aisha Malik, TechCrunch

Google worked to reassure investors and analysts on Thursday during its quarterly earnings call that it’s still a leader in developing AI. The company’s Q4 2022 results were highly anticipated as investors and the tech industry awaited Google’s response to the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has the potential to threaten its core business.

Tech giants rush to put chatbot to work

Scott Rosenberg, Axios

The explosion of interest in ChatGPT and generative AI has tech giants scrambling to rethink and rewrite their product plans to capitalize on the trend.

Intuit, NFL team up for concert on Roblox with Saweetie

Sara Karlovitch, Marketing Dive

The concert, which will premiere Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. EST, will feature Saweetie and the Warner Music Group’s Rhythm City will serve as the virtual venue. The concert will repeat every hour on the hour until Feb. 12, the day of the big game.

Serena Williams to Star in Rémy Martin’s Super Bowl Spot

Jon Springer, Ad Age

High-end cognac brand to highlight teamwork in ‘Inch by Inch.’

Adidas’ Head of Global Marketing Vicky Free Departs

Rebecca Stewart, Adweek

The marketer rebooted ‘Impossible is Nothing’ and steered brand through Kanye West controversy.

Elf Cosmetics primes itself for its TV debut in Super Bowl LVII

Audrey Kemp, The Drum

Elf Cosmetics is taking its top-selling makeup primer to primetime at Super Bowl LVII with White Lotus filmmaker Mike White.

How QR Codes Could Flood Super Bowl 2023 Marketing

Asa Hiken, Ad Age

One year after Coinbase went viral in the Big Game, more brands are using barcodes to catch viewers’ attention.

Southwest faces Senate hearing following holiday meltdown

Leslie Josephs, CNBC

Southwest Airlines’ chief operating officer, Andrew Watterson, will face questions from a Senate panel Thursday about the carrier’s holiday meltdown that stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Amy Schumer, Doja Cat and Giannis Antetokounmpo Need Some Photo Help in Google’s Super Bowl Ad

Stephen Lepitak, Adweek

The 90-second film will promote the features of its Pixel 7 smartphones.

Activision Blizzard to Pay $35M to Settle Workplace Charges

Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter

The SEC investigation found that the video gaming company did not properly assess employee complaints about the workplace and had violated whistleblower protection rules.

What the YouTube strike means for Big Tech’s return to office plans

Michelle Cheng, Quartz

Tech companies, once at the forefront of remote work, are asking workers to come back to the office.

It’s nothing personal: On Wall Street, layoffs are a way of life

David Gura, NPR News

Getting cut is part of an understood but unwritten rule, according to Wall Street employees: The pay is high — a first-year associate at Goldman, for instance, makes more than $150,000 a year, not including a bonus — but with that compensation, comes the understanding that getting cut is an ever present risk.