- The Hidden Gems: Uncovered
- Posts
- Free AWNY Tix | Failed Rebrands | Coolest 2025 AI | Robots Save Us All
Free AWNY Tix | Failed Rebrands | Coolest 2025 AI | Robots Save Us All
The Hidden Gems: Uncovered
David Drexler
October 06, 2025
Welcome to The Hidden Gems Monthly Randomly timed Newsletter: #4
For more information on what The Hidden Gems is: Either click here to unveil the person behind it, reply to this email with 80 Gem Emojis đź’Ž, or scroll to the bottom of this email. If you work in advertising, production, marketing, creative, media, experiential, digital, or some funky combination - we welcome you to stick around.
What’s (un)covered in this newsletter?
Marketing & Advertising Industry news
Why so many fails in just the past few months?
New brands served since last edition
A new philosophical musing, as always.
Advertising Week NY has commencted. Did you get your free Tix? Scroll to the bottom for link or reply to this email.
Now, on with the show
Advertising Industry News
So many lambasted rebrands and campaigns! American Eagle, Pizza Hut. But most interesting is Cracker Barrel.
The saga that keeps unraveling: Cracker Barrel did a redesign, received major backlash, walked back the redesign. And now we find out that much of the backlash was fueled by bots.
Target is facing an “identity crisis.” Typically this would elicit a rebrand, but considering the success rate of others these days, they best be careful.
Gap’s campaign has people grooving to the classic “Milkshake” song with dance group Katseye, a poignant contrast to American Eagle’s divisive campaign with Sydney Sweeney. Who won the battle? From an objective standpoint, Gap’s sales grew more. Where do you stand?
SNL debuts new season with Bad Bunny and Doja Cat. What’s interesting to note for marketers - SNL intentionally stocked up on new cast members with significant followings. ~3.5million aggregate followers across Instagram and TikTok. Further signalling serious acknowledgement of the power in the creator economy by traditional media.
Havas and Horizon create a joint venture alliance. A clear response to the merges and consolidations happening in the agency world. After so many insiders report losing out on wins simply due to “media rates” … this should be a major boon for the newly married couple… we’ll see.
Oh right and WPP has a new CEO as of September. Welcome Cindy Rose from Microsoft!
New Work by some Hidden Gems (since last episode)
Adrenaline Interactive - Beautifully redone site, UX, and platform back end. Oh and if you’re in media you need to check them out - “VPP IG” is the hottest new craze (and buzzword) in Gaming Media.
Are you in a sucky, obstructed seat while trying to enjoy your favorite baseball team? Coors has the solution for you. If this isn’t the Coolest AI in Experiential & Creative for 2025, I don’t know what is. Brilliant campaign utilizing AI for a massive Earned Media win.
Weetos Enters the Metaverse. Yes, in Partnership with Fandom, Post Cereal brand Weetos has entered the Metaverse… FINALLY our prayers have been answered!
A new Pet Insurance brand is launching - Adoro! A HEFTY technical development endeavor, not to mention creative, design… and beyond. You’ll see much more in the coming months. Sign up if you’re a pet owner!
New Robotics Tech company “The Guild” steps in to save humanity. Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is out and ready to be played. Stellar and cryptic creative as always.
Plenty more work, but we just have to be a bit more secretive 🤫: Danone, E.L.F. Cosmetics, 7-Eleven, Netflix, Salvation Army, Waymo, SeatGeek, Visit Anaheim, and more.
Note: This only showcases creative-led work (Content, Experiential, Design) since it’s the most visibly flashy, but much much more goes on here. Curious about the teams behind any piece of work? The cost, timeline? Just ask!
Philosophical Musing
Boredom is… good? Yes it is. It’s healthy for our mind and soul.
Ever wonder why you get a rush of new ideas and thoughts in the shower? Heck, there’s even a Reddit dedicated to the phenomenom. Truth is, when we allow ourselves to not indulge in constant stimulus, wonderful thoughts can occur.
Advertising Week New York
Free Tickets to Advertising Week NY, which starts TODAY. Need Tix? No problem. There’s some fun ancillary events you ought to know about too (the unofficial stuff is always the best)
What the heck is “The Hidden Gems”?
The Hidden Gems was founded by David Drexler to solve for the frequent inefficiencies in the Advertising Agency & Production landscape. We believe that smaller is often better, and the most optimal partners have yet to be discovered.
We are THE Agency & Production Matchmaker. The secret weapon of many marketers, creatives, experientialists, innovators, and producers. When they seek recommendations on which external partners to consider for engagement… we provide them with incredible Hidden Gems worth considering, that are otherwise flying under their radar. Literally that simple. No paperwork nor transactions ever needed with The Hidden Gems itself.
We find that great work and results best manifest with partners that have top notch process, people, and prices. Reach out to us at any time for questions, needs, inspiration, gutchecks… or a laugh.