Good morning. Today, ChatGPT will take TV’s biggest stage once again; a Nielsen competitor’s marketing chief exits; protestors try to pressure Minneapolis-based Target; and Netflix goes global with its technically challenging events strategy.

OpenAI is expected to air a Super Bowl ad for the second straight year, people familiar with the matter tell The Journal’s Suzanne Vranica.

The 60-second commercial next month will be the latest piece of a costly marketing offensive that began in last year’s Super Bowl.

An AI version of the Cola Wars is just getting started, but the various chatbot makers have more than each other to worry about.

Half of U.S. adults were more concerned than excited about AI in a spring survey by Pew, Suzanne points out. Only 10% said excitement tops worry.

While OpenAI’s first Super Bowl ad cast ChatGPT as the next big advance in human innovation, recent ads position it as a tool for relatable projects.

Anthropic ads have been positioning Claude as a partner for problem solvers, using the tagline “Keep Thinking.” The strategy stems from research showing a growing fear that leaning on AI might enable cognitive decline.

More Super Bowl: Anheuser-Busch will run 2.5 minutes of ads during the Super Bowl to hype Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra. [Adweek]

The WSJ Leadership Institute’s Patrick Coffee writes for the newsletter about another change at a would-be rival to Nielsen, the ratings power:

The chief marketing officer at VideoAmp, one of the most prominent firms trying to chip away at Nielsen’s decadeslong dominance of audience measurement, is preparing to leave her position.

Jenny Wall this quarter will move into a sales advisory role following just under three years as CMO, a VideoAmp spokeswoman said.

The news continues a somewhat tumultuous period for VideoAmp, which late last month said CEO Peter Liguori would step down after less than six months in the role. President Tony Fagan was promoted to succeed him.

VideoAmp doesn’t plan to hire a new CMO, the spokeswoman said.

The company, which has worked to differentiate itself from other audience-measurement firms by focusing on digital video, will invest in AI tools to provide so-called advanced audience-targeting options to advertisers and help them measure the outcomes of their campaigns, she said.

Wall had been hired to pitch VideoAmp’s products to other CMOs as a Nielsen alternative and represented the company at events like the upfronts.

She told Variety on a podcast late last year that her goal was not to put Nielsen out of business but to tell marketers that they have options. She leaves the CMO post with the measurement battle somewhat static—and Nielsen still the undisputed pack leader.

The political winds buffeting brands are relentless.

The immigration crackdown in Minnesota has descended on the stores and parking lots of hometown retailer Target, Sarah Nassauer and Hanna Krueger write.

After federal officials last week detained two store employees in Richfield, Minn., after what appeared to be some verbal sparring in the parking lot, demonstrators gathered outside the location on Saturday to demand a response from Target and new worker training.

Target has issued no public statement on that incident or other scenes at stores caught on video. In one, immigration officials exit a Target bathroom as shoppers and activists with whistles yell at them to leave the store.

Hilton’s quick removal last week of a location allegedly refusing ICE agents followed a crisis playbook meant to defuse any anger before it becomes entrenched. But Target is in a particular situation.

As a Minneapolis-based business, “it’s odd for them at this moment, when Minnesota is under sort of occupation, that they are silent,” said Ben Whalen, a former Richfield City Council member and part of a group that helped organize the protest.

The Trump administration has meanwhile put pressure on companies to refrain from impeding immigration officials’ work.

Netflix plans an international push in live TV, starting this month with a televised climb up a Taipei skyscraper, as it strives to stay ahead of the pack.

“In the history of entertainment, there’s never been more options for your time or consumption,” Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president for nonfiction series and sports, told the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Isabelle Bousquette. “We need stuff that really cuts through.”

That blueprint has put Netflix delivery technology to the test, particularly at the glitchy Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing card in November 2024.

While engineers worked on a better system for next time, Riegg had to smooth things over with NFL executives suddenly anxious about Netflix’s new deal to carry two Christmas Day games. “You have my word nothing is going to go wrong on this,” Riegg recalled telling antsy NFL execs.

And nothing did—that first Christmas. A year later, the 2025 Christmas Day NFL games did leave some viewers grumbling over buffering and poor resolution, although Netflix said they didn’t report any outages.

More TV news: Paramount Skydance plans to launch a proxy fight for board seats at Warner Bros. Discovery as it continues pushing its hostile bid for the company despite the Netflix deal in place. [WSJ]

The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.

Tap into the connections and WSJ intelligence that move careers forward and separate the prepared from the scrambling.

Request Information

Delta Air Lines expects high-earning flyers who shell out for premium amenities to boost its profits this year. [WSJ]

A TikTok user’s viral, unsolicited Dr Pepper “theme song” shows that brands need a crisis communications playbook for good news, too. [Ad Age] 

Chipotle Chief Brand Officer Chris Brandt has left the company, effective immediately, after almost eight years in the post. The company said it has hired an executive search firm to help find a successor. [Restaurant Business] 

Rivian named former Kohl’s and Best Buy marketing chief Greg Revelle its new chief customer officer. [Auto Remarketing]

Urban Outfitters said it notched record holiday sales. [WSJ]

Whole Foods has Walmart’s move into groceries to thank for finding its own core customer, co-founder John Mackey said. [BI]

LeBron James is wearing single-use jersey patches commemorating his record 23rd season in the NBA for Topps to later sell in trading cards. [Front Office Sports] 

The PGA Tour welcomed back Brooks Koepka after he quit LIV Golf and said other stars who defected could return as well—subject to certain terms and conditions. [WSJ]