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☆ Copilot dreams and nightmares: Microsoft insiders share what they really think about the company's AI future.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

"Customers trust Microsoft more than OpenAI since they already buy Microsoft's ecosystem," a Microsoft AI researcher told BI. "Almost everyone I know is working on Copilot to a certain extent," the Microsoft AI researcher told BI. "It's too premature to assume this is going to be a race to the bottom on price," another Microsoft executive said. Some Microsoft employees work so closely with OpenAI that they have badges to get into OpenAI's offices, and some OpenAI employees can badge into Microsoft locations. Mistral models will be offered to Microsoft customers along with about 1,600 other models including Cohere and Meta's Llama.

Persons: there's, Morgan Stanley, Satya Nadella, they've, they're, Frank Shaw, Shaw, That's, OpenAI, JPMorgan Chase, It's, Dentsu, Shiva Vannavada, Vannavada, Eric Boyd, Scott, John Montgomery, Asha Sharma, Ashley Stewart Organizations: Microsoft, Business, Enterprise, Walmart, JPMorgan, BI, Google, Dentsu, Product, Technology, Employees, Nvidia, DA Davidson, AI Services, AI Bot, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, Mistral

☆ Microsoft introduces Copilot AI chatbot for finance workers in Excel and Outlook
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft on Thursday announced that it will release a Copilot chatbot that can perform key tasks for people working in finance. The software company will first offer the tool in public preview. The Copilot for finance will initially run a variance analysis, reconcile data in Excel and speed up the collections process in Outlook. Additional features will come to the finance Copilot later this year, Lamanna said. The Japanese advertising agency Dentsu will use the Copilot for finance tasks, Lamanna said.

Persons: Charles Lamanna, Lamanna, it's, Cory Hrncirik, Hrncirik Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC, Wednesday, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics Locations: San Francisco

☆ How Overtime is turning high school sports leagues into a $100 million business
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Lucia Moses | Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This year, Overtime is on track to make $100 million based on deals that are locked in, a 30% year-over-year increase. Amazon pays Overtime to stream its Overtime Elite basketball league, which pays its teen players upwards of $100,000 annually plus bonuses. Advertisement"We have three-year sponsorship deals with major brands," Porter said, referring to Overtime's league deals. For example, GMC and C4 Energy drink pay Overtime to sponsor its Overtime Elite practice courts and Overtime Boxing ring, respectively. Its young audience also poses some limitations.

Persons: —, Dan Porter, CRO Rich Calacci, Porter, it's, that's, Megan Marks, Zack Weiner, It's, Breanna Stewart who's Organizations: Service, GMC, State, Adidas, Amazon Prime, Elite, Business, NBA, C4 Energy, Dentsu Media, millennials, NFL, Endeavor, Liberty Media Corp, Netflix Locations: America

☆ The pioneering influencer firm Gleam Futures is shutting down its talent-management arm
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Marta Biino | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's the end of an era: the pioneering influencer agency Gleam Futures has sunset its talent-management arm, the company confirmed to Business Insider. Ad giant Dentsu Aegis acquired a majority stake in Gleam in 2017 and took over as sole owner in 2020. On the talent side, Gleam Futures had been undergoing changes for some time. In 2023, Gleam Futures managers slowly began an exodus toward other UK talent firms, including InterTalent, Insanity, and HLD, bringing their talent with them. The company's website went from showing a roster of over 60 talent in 2022 to just 20 in late 2023.

Persons: Gleam, Dom Smales, Zoe Sugg, Tanya Burr, Melanie Kentish, Gleam's, Julie Chadwick Organizations: Gleam, Business, Gleam Futures, Studios, Dentsu Locations: Gleam

TOKYO (AP) — The bid-rigging trial around the Tokyo Olympics played out Tuesday in a Japanese courtroom — more than two years after the Games closed — with advertising giant Dentsu and five other companies facing criminal charges. Executives or management-level officials at each of the accused companies, and Tokyo Olympic organizing committee official Yasuo Mori, have been charged with violating anti-monopoly laws. Speaking in Tokyo district court, he said no bid process was ever decided upon or set up by the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee. Once the Olympics landed in Tokyo, Dentsu became the chief marketing arm of the Games and raised a record $3.3 billion in local sponsorship. Takahashi was a member of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and wielded powerful influence over the Olympic business.

Persons: Koji Henmi, Yasuo Mori, Cerespo, Dentsu, Sebastian Coe, Thomas Bach, Genta Yoshino, Henmi, ” Yoshino, Yoshino, Yoshiro Mori, Toshiro Muto, Tsunekazu Takeda, Haruyuki Takahashi, Takahashi Organizations: TOKYO, Tokyo Olympics, Tokyo Olympic, Tokyu Agency, Olympic Committee, IOC, Bank of Japan, Tokyo, Japanese Olympic Committee, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Olympic, Aoki Holdings, Paris Locations: Tokyo, Dentsu, Switzerland, Japan, Sapporo, French, Salt Lake City, Osaka, paris

☆ Advertisers pumped up to 90% of their Google ad spend into its AI tool, and some are now questioning whether it's actually performing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Performance Max also drove retailers' spend with Google's shopping ad products up 16% year-over-year, according to Tinuiti. Digital agency Arm Candy said that 45% of retailers' Google spend is handled with Performance Max. Specifically, the source said that the return on ad spend of Performance Max campaigns started slowing down this summer. Brand search campaigns are when companies buy search ads against their own brand names, like Hershey's buying "Hershey's" keywords, for example. Advertisers that like Google's AI say it helps them find new customersGoogle has tried to address advertisers' concerns about what Performance Max buys.

Persons: Max, Belardi Wong, Candy, Max proliferates, Zach Thompson, Thomas, We've, Merkle, Brendon Kraham, Brand, Google's Kraham, Calla Murphy Organizations: Google, YouTube, Max Locations: ROAS

Two years ago, it started building a new tech platform called Convert, and officially launched it this year. Convert helps retailers who sell ads ensure their inventory is available to as many advertisers as possible. This provides more competition for ad slots, so retailers get a fair price for their inventory. PubMatic's technology also helps retailers sell to smaller advertisers as well. PubMatic's Convert provides a portal for those smaller advertisers to log on and manage their retail media buys.

Persons: PubMatic, Rajeev Goel PubMatic, IPG, Peter Barry Organizations: Lyft Media Locations: Spanish

☆ Insiders question WPP CEO Mark Read's bounceback plan after chaotic period of mergers, account losses, and a stock market slump
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"OMD and Publicis are winning all the meaningful pitches," said a former WPP agency executive, referring to competitors Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. Further, GroupM is just one of the many parts of WPP's business that Read needs to fix. Insiders describe a whirlwind of change but confusion about the bigger visionA current WPP agency executive said they were frustrated by what they described as a vacuum of information about the bigger strategy for WPP. Getty Images"It feels like something bigger has to happen now," said a current WPP agency executive. The ongoing pitch for Volkswagen's $4 billion global media business underscores the tremendous amount of resources needed to win the proposal, and the huge prize at stake.

Persons: Christian Juhl, San, GroupM, Publicis, Kirk McDonald, McDonald didn't, Ogilvy, it's, Thomas Singlehurst, Juhl, Mark Read's, It's, Read, Martin Sorrell, AKQA, Sard, Wunderman Thompson, J.Walter Thompson, Joanne Wilson, Andrew Scott, Roberto Quarta, Angela Ahrendts, Craig Barritt, —, haven't, Clark, Arthur Sadoun, WPP's Read, Michael Farmer Organizations: WPP, Publicis, L'Oreal, Omnicom Media Group, Pfizer, North, GroupM, Verizon, Discovery, Adobe, Citigroup, Shanghai, reined, AKQA Group, Finsbury Glover, Partners, Young, Rubicam, London Stock Exchange, Brexit, Getty, Burberry, Apple, The New School Industry, VW, Groupe, Epsilon Locations: San Francisco, China, EssenceMediaCom, Kansas, Kansas City, New York, Mayfair , London, New York City

TOKYO (AP) — An executive at Japanese publishing house Kadokawa was found guilty Tuesday of bribing a former Tokyo Olympics organizing committee member. Toshiyuki Yoshihara, charged with paying 69 million yen ($463,000) to Haruyuki Takahashi, was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for four years. The punishment was suspended because Yoshihara had expressed remorse, and his wife had promised to watch over him, Nakao said. At the center of the scandal is Takahashi, a former executive at advertising company Dentsu, who joined the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee in 2014, and had great influence in arranging sponsorships for the Games. Maniwa, accused of depositing the money to Takahashi’s account, was given a suspended sentence in June.

Persons: Toshiyuki Yoshihara, Haruyuki Takahashi, Yoshihisa Nakao, Yoshihara, Kadokawa, ” Nakao, Nakao, “, ”, denting, Yasuhiro Yamashita, Takahashi, Sun, Kyoji Maniwa, Maniwa, Hironori Aoki, Shinichi Ueno, Yuri Kageyama Organizations: TOKYO, Kadokawa, Tokyo Olympics, Tokyo Games, Kadokawa Group, Japanese Olympic, Tokyo Olympic, Games, Aoki Holdings, Daiko, Inc, Paris Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Sapporo, paris

☆ Roblox is leaning into advertising and just made a big hire from Meta to get closer to marketers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Roblox introduced Immersive Ads earlier this year with two initial formats. Image Ads are non-clickable static images that appear within a Roblox experience, while Portal Ads are images with a door that teleport users to other Roblox experiences and games. Roblox developers earn a portion of the revenue generated by Immersive Ads in the form of Robux, Roblox's in-game currency. Roblox has said it plans to open up the Immersive Ads self-service ad platform to more advertisers later this year. Alongside Immersive Ads, marketers can work with Roblox to create their own virtual experiences in the platform.

Persons: Stephanie Latham, Latham, Christina Wootton, Wootton, Roblox, Uber, Brent Koning, Nilesh Ashra, You've Organizations: NARS, Spotify, Nascar, Gucci, Brands, Netflix Locations: Meta, North America, Roblox's, Roblox, Sunsilk City

☆ Programmatic buying and social commerce are key trends in the advertising space: Dentsu APAC CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailProgrammatic buying and social commerce are key trends in the advertising space: Dentsu APAC CEODespite global macro headwinds, Rob Gilby of Dentsu continues to see opportunities in APAC, especially in China and India.

Persons: Rob Gilby, Dentsu Locations: APAC, China, India

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery is making a big shake-up to its ad sales org. Read how its sales chief explained the changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Discovery is shaking up its ad sales organization. It's also expected to make further staff reductions in ad sales as part of the restructure. Discovery is shaking up its ad sales organization and structure. EVP Jim Keller, who was key to bringing a digital approach to the merged company's newly combined sales team, left, along with Scott Kohn, EVP of national ad sales, and John Dailey, SVP of ad sales. Based on the learnings and successes we've experienced in the past year, this morning we are announcing a new sales structure and strategy.

Persons: It's, Marybeth Strobel, Greg Regis, Regis, Strobel, Ryan Gould, Jon Diament, Sheereen Russell, WBD, Jon Steinlauf, Jim Keller, Scott Kohn, John Dailey, David Zaslav, we've, AE's, Lucia Moses, lmoses Organizations: Warner Bros, WBD, Max, CNN, NBA, NCAA, MLB, NHL

☆ Ad giant IPG's data arm Kinesso has gone through an executive exodus, and the unit faces an uncertain future
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ad giant IPG is shaking up its data and tech arm Kinesso, and many of the unit's top execs have left. The move comes as IPG looks to cut costs from specialty services like data, a source said. Several top executives at ad agency holding group Interpublic Group's data and technology arm Kinesso have left, and now the unit faces an uncertain future, Insider has learned. IPG launched Kinesso in 2019 as a big bet on pitching marketers additional services that go beyond making and buying ads. Acxiom will remain a standalone unit that will provide data products and services to all of IPG's agencies, the source added.

Persons: IPG, Kinesso, Acxiom, Arun Kumar, Ian Johnson, Kimber Robbins, Nancy Hall, Hall, Philippe Krakowsky, Krakowsky, IPG's, they've, Dentsu, Merkle Organizations: Global, WPP, Mindshare, Reprise, UM, Agency, Epsilon Locations: Mediabrands

☆ Paris Olympic headquarters searched as part of corruption investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Julien Pretot | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] The logo of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Games is seen on the Pulse building, the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizing committee, as a police search is currently underway, in Saint-Denis near Paris, France, June 20, 2023. The national financial prosecutor's office (PNF) said the Paris 2024 headquarters were raided amid a preliminary investigation launched in 2017 into contracts made by the Summer Games' organising committee. "A search is currently under way at the headquarters of the Organising Committee," Paris 2024 said in a statement. "We are aware that there has been a search by police of the Paris 2024 headquarters today," an IOC spokesperson said. "We have been informed by Paris 2024 that they are cooperating fully with the authorities in this matter."

Persons: Denis, Stephanie Lecocq PARIS, Tony Estanguet, Dentsu, Julien Pretot, Karolos Grohmann, Alex Richardson, Alison Williams Organizations: Paralympics, REUTERS, Summer Games, Olympic, Paralympic, Corruption Agency, Paris, Dentsu, Tokyo, Tokyo Games, Thomson Locations: Saint, Paris, France, SOLIDEO, French, Saint Denis

Musk revealed those plans on Tuesday at the company's annual meeting, an about-face for the celebrity executive who recently acquired social media platform Twitter. Musk told CNBC he did not yet have a "fully formed strategy" for Tesla advertising. Tesla spent $151,947 on advertising in the U.S. in 2022, according to advertising intelligence firm Vivvix, which measured ads across places including TV, social media, Web banners and billboards. Diaz-Ortiz is a former Twitter manager who has written books about the social media company. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Globalt Investments, sees Musk's embrace of advertising as a positive.

☆ Japan authorities seek criminal charges against Dentsu, others over Olympics contracts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Fair Trade Commission said on Tuesday it filed criminal complaints against Dentsu (4324.T) and five other firms as well as seven individuals over alleged bid-rigging on contracts for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The complaint marks the latest development in months of investigations into alleged corruption in the planning and sponsorship of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games, held in 2021 after a pandemic-driven postponement. Tokyo prosecutors are planning to the bring the charges on Tuesday, Kyodo News agency said. Dentsu, Cerespo and Fuji Creative have already been barred from bidding for contracts at the industry, foreign and education ministries for nine months. Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Kantaro Komiya, Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft and Google will duke it out over Silicon Valley's true financial driver: ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google search dominated, but Microsoft's AI-powered Bing is emerging as a credible challenger. Google has dominated search and the search ad market for the almost 25 years since its inception. The company has around 90% of the search market, according to data firm Stat Counter. Microsoft's share of the search ad market is small: it made nearly $18 billion in ad revenue last year, far smaller than the $224 billion Google made in gross ad revenue last year, the analysts wrote. Declining ads market will spark fiercer competitionThe fight coincides with a slump in ad sales, upping the pressure on Google is the dominant player.

☆ Ex-Tokyo Olympics official, ad execs arrested in bid-rigging scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japanese prosecutors arrested on Wednesday a former Tokyo Olympics organising committee official and executives at three advertising agencies on suspected bid-rigging of test events for the Games, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said. The media reports later said the prosecutors also arrested three executives at advertising and event-planning firms Dentsu Inc (4324.T), Cerespo Co (9625.T) and Fuji Creative Corporation, a subsidiary of Fuji Media Holdings Inc (4676.T). Dentsu said in a statement that a former employee, who currently works at a group firm in Japan, was arrested. The bid-rigging investigation comes after a bribery scandal, in which Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board and before that a Dentsu executive, was arrested in August on suspicion of receiving bribes from Olympic sponsors. Executives from ADK, suits retailer Aoki Holdings (8214.T) and publishing firm Kadokawa (9468.T) have also been arrested in connection with the bribery scandal.

☆ One of Twitter's landlords has sued the company, saying it owes $136,000 in unpaid rent for an office in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

One of Twitter's landlords has sued the company over unpaid rent for an office in San Francisco. The landlord is claiming $136,260 in unpaid rent, plus costs. The lawsuit relates to Twitter's office at the Hartford Building, near Chinatown. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, relates to Twitter's office at the Hartford Building, rather than its headquarters on San Francisco's Market Street. Twitter's office at the Hartford Building comprises the entire 30th floor of the 34-story tower and covers about 15,500 square feet, per court documents.

☆ From Amazon to The Trade Desk, experts predict these companies will be the most active acquirers of advertising businesses next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

There's a strong interest from acquirers in hot trends like commerce media and data consultancy. Experts predicted the companies most likely to be acquirers of advertising businesses in 2023. Many industry observers expect advertising industry M&A deal volume and value to be down next year due to volatile macroeconomic conditions. Experts across the advertising industry — from consultants, to agency executives, analysts, investors, and adtech leaders — named the companies likely to be active in the advertising M&A market in 2023 and why. Apple could make an under-the-radar adtech acquisition for its sleeping giant advertising businessIndustry insiders predict Apple has big plans for its $5 billion-and-growing advertising business next year.

☆ Check out the pitch deck the Y Combinator alum SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million from investors like SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The marketing startup SilkChart seeks to help businesses better understand their advertising data. It was in Y Combinator's spring 2022 class and says it was able to grow revenue during the program. Now, SilkChart has raised $5.2 million in funding to scale its data-analytics business. Investors include Y Combinator, SoftBank, the ad agency Dentsu, Harlem Capital, and Global Founders Capital. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck that the founders of SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million in funding:

☆ Prosecutors raid Dentsu over suspected bid-rigging for Olympics test events -media
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Tokyo prosecutors raided the headquarters of ad agency Dentsu Inc and an events company on Friday on suspicion of rigging bids for Tokyo Olympics test events, public broadcaster NHK and other domestic media reported on Friday. Shares in its parent company Dentsu Group Inc (4324.T) slumped 4% on the news. The move marks a widening of scandal over the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that also saw Dentsu Inc offices raided earlier this year. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission declined to comment on the reports of suspected bid-rigging. Prosecutors have also searched the home of a Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee executive who was suspected of having handled the project orders for the test events, Kyodo news agency reported.

☆ OpenWeb, Which Helps Publishers Target Readers With Ads, Raises $170 Million
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Open Web Technologies Ltd., which helps publishers engage readers and target them with ads, raised $170 million in a Series F round led by Canadian venture firm Georgian Partners, the company said. The new round values OpenWeb at $1.5 billion, up from $1 billion in its previous round, according to the company. It later expanded its services to include live-blogging, polling and data-management tools, as well as the placement of ads across publishers’ sites. OpenWeb counts more than 1,000 publishers as clients, most of which are based in North America, Mr. Shoval said. The company also focuses on content-moderation services to help protect both publishers and readers from harassment, hate speech and offensive content.

☆ Disney and Netflix are battling to sell ads on their cheaper versions, but Disney's pricing and seasoned sales teams are winning with brands
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Netflix is launching a tier with ads Nov. 3, with Disney+ following with a similar offering Dec. 8. Evercore estimated two-thirds of Disney+ subscribers would switch to the ad tier but the uptake remains a question. To be sure, many initial commitments to Disney+ Basic were negotiated as part of the larger TV upfront deals and ranged based on agencies' total spend. If Disney+ Basic underdelivers for advertisers, those buyers also have the assurance that Disney can fill the gaps with other parts of its video business. Disney+ has 152 million subscribers, including 45 million in the US, with a goal of hitting up to 165 million by the end of 2024.

☆ How GM plans to convince consumers to make the switch to electric vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Scott Mlyn | CNBCWhen people think of electric vehicles, their minds typically jump to Tesla. GM plans to sell up to 175,000 electric vehicles to Hertz Global by 2027 – rentals are a key method to introduce more people to EVs without having to commit to a purchase. Over the years, GM has created other virtual showrooms like Chevy MyWay and Cadillac Live, but GM EV Live is the first EV-only showroom being offered by GM. Focus on all the in-car technology, not just EV technology GM is focused on advancing technology to create better and safer driving experiences along with sleeker models for EVs. Maintain core principles through EVs Wahl said one thing that has not changed is the underlying principles of marketing.

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