Advertising Week New York kicks off Monday, Oct. 5 at the Penn District in midtown Manhattan and runs through Oct. 8. The event traditionally served ad agencies on their Madison Avenue home turf, but it has been courting brand-side marketers such as CMOs. This year, a challenge to generate $100 million in creator-brand deals over four days is the centerpiece.
Global president Ruth Mortimer said the show is built around marketers because they are ultimately the budget holders, and a show aligned with them is one every other audience segment needs to attend. The deepest investment this year is in creators: about 1,000 creators attended as delegates last year, and Mortimer expects that to more than double. The event broadened its creator tracks, and entrepreneur Dhar Mann, chief creator officer, gives the opening keynote. Mann's concept with Old Navy at last year's show became a real campaign, and the event is trying to replicate that at scale by actively matchmaking marketers who have set creator budgets.
This is the first Advertising Week since owner Emerald was acquired by Apollo Global Management in July and merged with Questex to form Forge. The same week, Lions hosts the newly merged VidCon x Lions Creators showcase in Denver, and the brand-new Jupiter Festival focuses on media, entertainment and sports. Open Influence's Tommy Johnson worries that adding more conferences could become too much in a couple of years, but welcomes a 20-year-old show adapting. Mortimer expects attendance to top last year's 20,000-plus marketers.
The IAB forecasts U.S. creator economy ad spend rising nearly 19% to $44 billion in 2026 and now treats it as a core media channel rather than an add-on. Johnson called that a good sign the industry is not going anywhere. A closed-door CMO experience for a few dozen executives returns, and the Questex merger brings more healthcare and wellness content.
Where events point, budgets follow. Brands planning creator budgets should design matching, contracting and measurement as one flow, and decide on attending events only when the deals and contacts are clear. For the Korean-market shift toward creator-led selling, see Shoppers Follow People, Not Search: Creators Are Becoming the Seller in Korean Commerce. If you are planning creator partnerships, our services page is a good starting point.
It starts Monday, Oct. 5 and runs through Oct. 8 at the Penn District in midtown Manhattan.
An attempt to generate $100 million in creator-brand deals over four days, with organizers matchmaking marketers who know their creator budgets.
The IAB forecasts U.S. creator economy ad spend rising nearly 19% to $44 billion in 2026.
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