Happy Monday!

It’s that time of the year again, when ADWEEK’s editors gather to debate and decide who should be honored as our Agency of the Year winners. Today, we can reveal the shortlist for 2026. Congratulations to all those in contention for the top prize.

In other news, yesterday was the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and after a brief hiatus a few years ago, the event is evolving with consumer media habits and beauty standards. We take a look at how this year’s approach contributes to the retailer's turnaround strategy.

Elsewhere, Jeffrey Katzenberg-backed Netomi has expanded its leadership team as AI reshapes website functionality, and Target wants more brands to use incrementality as the key metric for retail media performance.

Let’s get into it.

Alison Weissbrot, executive editor

Must Reads

1. ADWEEK Reveals the 2026 Agency of the Year Shortlist

Drumroll, please… ADWEEK’S 2026 Agency of the Year shortlist has been revealed!

These finalists will compete for a chance to win Gold, Silver, and Bronze across categories spanning creative, media, influencer marketing, innovation, and more.

Check back on December 8 for the big winner reveal.

2. Amid Turnaround, Victoria’s Secret Turns Its Fashion Show Into a Fan Movement

Millennials remember growing up watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, where Angels like Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum were minted as runway royalty. But the show took a hiatus in 2019 as women pushed for more realistic beauty standards, and the brand took a hit as a result.

Just off the heels of its third revamped show since 2024, chief marketing officer Elizabeth Preis sat down with Brittaney Kiefer to discuss how the format has become more inclusive and collaborative with fans.

Katzenberg-Backed Netomi Expands Leadership as It Bets on AI-Tailored Websites

Netomi, the AI startup backed by Jeffrey Katzenberg’s venture firm WNDR, has expanded its leadership team as AI moves from the chatbox to be more integrated into websites. The new hires come on board after a $100 million fundraising round in April, through which Katzenberg joined Netomi’s board, Mark Stenberg reports.

Target Is Pitching an Ad Metric to Drive Sales, But Most Brands Aren't Fully On Board, Exec Says

Target wants more brands to measure their retail media campaigns based on incrementality, but adoption is slow.

At an event for advertisers in New York last week, the retailer shared that only 8% of brands on its Roundel platform use incrementality as their primary performance metric, even though 66% cite growing sales as their top reason to invest. Our senior commerce reporter Mitchell Parton was listening in and has more.

The Round Up

A Meta-morphosis: Frontier foray and TikTok block, (ADWEEK)

Katie Zacharia is out after 5 days as White House press secretary, (CNBC)

$137 million in A.I.-generated ads flood the midterms, (NYT)

NBC News’ Dateline heads north of the border, (ADWEEK)

Brands say they’re pouring tariff refunds into marketing, (WSJ)

AI personal shoppers are transforming brand discovery and marketing, (ctrl+A with InMobi).

Revolving Door

Parade founder Cami Tellez taps UTA exec, (ADWEEK)

USGA selects Gupta Media as its paid media AOR, (MediaPost)

Ads of the Week

A big ass bag from Chipotle, a Pringles can that doubles as an urn, and dancing hands for Oura top our ads of the week list.

That's all from me, we'll see you tomorrow!

1. ADWEEK Reveals the 2026 Agency of the Year Shortlist

2. Amid Turnaround, Victoria’s Secret Turns Its Fashion Show Into a Fan Movement

3. Katzenberg-Backed Netomi Expands Leadership as It Bets on AI-Tailored Websites

4. Target Is Pitching an Ad Metric to Drive Sales, But Most Brands Aren't Fully On Board, Exec Says