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☆ Ad insiders are buzzing about industry power broker Michael Kassan's messy split with UTA and what it means for the future of MediaLink
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

After falling out with Kassan, UTA may think twice about buying another agency. The media and ad industry will be watching to see what, if any, leadership changes UTA makes at MediaLink. The end of the ad industry schmoozefest? One industry veteran said they saw Kassan's exit as an opportunity to change how ad industry consultants operate and charge for services. At the center of the dispute between UTA and Kassan is the MediaLink founder's $950,000 annual expense account.

Persons: Michael Kassan, MediaLink, Kassan, Jeremy Zimmer, Kassan wasn't, Vianney Tisseau, headhunting, Jon Miller, Sanford Michelman, Michelman, Robinson, Ethan Miller, Julian Jacobs, David Anderson, WME, Kassan's, Wenda Harris Millard, wasn't, what's, There's, Lou Paskalis, Marc Sternberg's, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Tom Brady, Rob Norman, WPP's Organizations: UTA, Cannes Lions, Consumer, Business, Los Angeles Superior Court, Los, Judicial, Mediation Services, Variety Cannes Lions Studio, Integrated Media, Getty, Talent, Accenture, General Motors, Netflix, JUV Consulting, Madison, Endeavor, Writers Guild of America, Zimmer, Western Initiative Media Worldwide, Interpublic Group, Bank of America, AJL, Marc Sternberg's Brand, Kassan, Southwest, NFL Locations: MediaLink, Cannes, France, Madison, Droga5, Hollywood, Kassan, California, South, Austin

☆ Why Netflix, Disney, and other Hollywood companies are flocking to CES this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Advertising and marketing pros made up 7% of CES' attendees in 2023, per CES. Look for topics like the creator economy and the rise of artificial intelligence to dominate the conversation for advertisers, Kassan added. And Roku, which is closing in on its search for a new ad sales head, is sending a large contingent. The cost advertisers pay for streaming ads is expected to decline as platforms release more inventory, particularly with Amazon unleashing ads on Prime Video. Advertisers also have more options with the fast-growing FASTs (free, ad-supported streaming TV channels), which primarily offer older TV shows and movies.

Persons: David Benioff, Weiss, Alexander Woo, Amy Reinhard, execs, It's, who'll, Patrick Pannett, Michael Kassan, Evan Spiegel, Kassan, — that's, Rita Ferro, NBCUniversal's Mark Marshall, NBCU's Peacock, NBCUniversal, Peacock, NBCU, Tanner Elton, Amy McDevitt, Ludacris, Jon Steinlauf, GroupM Organizations: Netflix, CES, Business, Consumer Technology Association, Madison Avenue, Walmart, Disney, Nexstar Media Group, Nvidia, Paramount, CTA, Tech, NBC, Bravo, Amazon Ads, Warner Bros, Magna, CTV, Hulu, Intelligence, Prime Video Locations: Las Vegas, Peacock

☆ Layoffs keep hitting Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, and more entertainment companies — here's the list of those with recent cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Lucia Moses | Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Netflix missed their numbers, and Wall Street woke up," said Paul Hardart, director of NYU Stern's entertainment, media and technology program. A wide range of companies and employees were impacted, from entertainment giants to independent production companies to Hollywood talent agencies. More consolidation among the legacy media companies and independent production companies is widely expected, which often entails job cuts. Entertainment companies will get back to staffing up, but the jobs will be in stronger growth areas like gaming, streaming, and advertising, more than in filmed entertainment programming. Here are the Hollywood companies, listed alphabetically, that have made layoffs since the summer.

Persons: Paul Hardart, Bob Iger, Joanna Sucherman, Fox, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nadia Sinh, Companywide, Rami Malek, Mr, Dawn Olmstead, Heather McCauley, YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS, Oscar, Severance, Roku, Alison Levin, NBCUniversal, Curtis Brown, James, Jennifer Coolidge Organizations: Netflix, Disney, Business, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, NYU, Warner Bros, NBC, JLS Media, Entertainment, Hollywood, Amazon Studios, Studios, Talent, Variety, CAA, ICM Partners, DreamWorks Animation, Apple, NETFLIX, Nasdaq, TechCrunch, Starz, CNBC, Lionsgate, LIonsgate, UTA, Hollywood Reporter, Fletcher & Company, Co, HBO Locations: Hollywood, Australia

☆ Cannes Lions 2023: The state of the ad market
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCannes Lions 2023: The state of the ad marketCNBC's Julia Boorstin sits down with MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan from the annual Cannes Lions advertising festival to discuss the state of the industry and how it is being impacted by the rise of streaming and AI.

Persons: Julia Boorstin, Michael Kassan Organizations: Cannes, Cannes Lions

☆ Brands like Sony and Chipotle want to make Hollywood-style content for film and TV, and these advertising pioneers have built a startup to get their messages out
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That belief has taken him from famed ad agency Wieden + Kennedy to talent agency CAA, where he set up its first marketing consultancy. The firm pitches itself as part management consultancy, part brand entertainment production company, and part consumer brand accelerator. "If a great sports movie happens to come from Nike, it's still great entertainment," Goodman said. "If a great sports movie happens to come from Nike, it's still great entertainment," Goodman said. One thing Goodman and Kaplan are not trying to do is compete with brands' ad agency budgets.

Persons: Jae Goodman, John Kaplan, It's, Gibson, Kennedy, Goodman, Chipotle, Stephanie Perdue, Jay, Kaplan, —, Michael Kassan's, Anheuser, it's, Superconnector, it'll Organizations: Superconnector Studios, Sony, CAA, Observatory, Entertainment, Hollywood, HBO Max, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, Imagine Entertainment, Delirio Studios, MTV Documentary, Paramount, HBO, Apple, Management, Sony Pictures Television, McKinsey, Accenture —, Anheuser Busch, InBev, Gibson, Nike, Talent Locations: LA

☆ From right-wing backlash to Apple's TV play — these 3 big questions will dominate conversations at the Cannes Lions.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This year's Cannes Lions ad festival is taking place as advertisers are reeling from major shifts. The Cannes Lions organizers said that none of the three execs have been confirmed as speakers. Generative AI must boost creativity without stealing jobsThe rapid rise of generative AI took the advertising and media worlds by storm. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hobnob with the company that kicked off the generative AI storm last November. Simon Cook, Cannes Lions CEO, told Insider that top executives from ChatGPT developer OpenAI like chief operating officer Brad Lightcap will attend the festival.

Persons: Twitter's Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Oliver Schusser, Michael Kassan, he's, execs, Bud Light, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud, Busch, Fura, Leslie Klein, Sir Martin Sorrell, David Droga, Nick Law, Simon Cook, Brad Lightcap, Huge's, Elon Musk, Ben Hovaness, They've, Jon Williams, Akram Chetibi, Craig Atkinson Organizations: Cannes Lions, Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Hollywood, UTA, Target, Bud Light, Anheuser, Busch, Accenture, Cannes, Apple News, Carlton Hotel, Omnicom Media, Amazon Web Locations: Cannes

☆ A new PR tech company just launched that uses ChatGPT to write press releases and lets companies distribute them at very low cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company uses ChatGPT and its own algorithm to automatically write press releases. PR tech startup EZ Newswire launched in beta on Wednesday to remove these challenges and give smaller businesses the ability to cheaply write and distribute press releases. ChatGPT alone isn't good enough to write press releases in its own yet, said Klein. At launch, EZ Newswire hosts the press releases on its own site, and has a partnership with the Associated Press to distribute them. In making press release generation and distribution accessible to both big and small businesses, EZ Newswire hopes to blow wide the market around press release distribution.

☆ A new PR tech company just launched that uses OpenAI to write press releases and lets companies distribute them at very low cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

EZ Newswire hopes to disrupt press release distribution, dominated by PR Newswire and Business Wire. The company uses OpenAI and its own algorithm to automatically write press releases. ChatGPT alone isn't good enough to write press releases in its own yet, said Klein. At launch, EZ Newswire hosts the press releases on its own site, and has a partnership with the Associated Press to distribute them. In making press release generation and distribution accessible to both big and small businesses, EZ Newswire hopes to blow wide the market around press release distribution.

☆ Pitch Decks That Advertising Tech Startups Used to Raise Millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Business Insider | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Check out these pitch decks that they've used to sell their vision and raise millions from private equity and VC investors. Blocking ad fraudAdtech startup Lunio, announced a $15 million Series A funding round in September 2022. In May 2022, the software-as-a-service startup raised a $30 million Series B round, led by Insight Partners. Marketing in the metaverseAnima, an augmented-reality startup, raised a $3 million funding round from investors in Janury. He raised $50 million in Series D after closing a $34 million Series C last year, bringing its total raised to $100 million.

☆ Why Hollywood talent agency UTA bought a $125 million media consultancy 'to build a really wide and strong bridge' between stars and brands
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-24 | by ( Natalie Jarvey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Hollywood agency UTA bought media consultancy MediaLink for $125 million in DecemberThe companies' presence at Cannes Lions signaled how entertainment's ties to brand marketing are deepening. Six months after UTA's $125 million acquisition of MediaLink, the combined company had a debut moment of sorts at the Cannes Lions marketing festival this week. At a large beachside cabana space along the Croisette, signs for "MediaLink, a UTA company" were hard to miss. Inside, reps for both businesses held meetings with a bevy of entertainment, media, technology, and consumer goods brands. Erica Berenstein for InsiderSince joining UTA, MediaLink has absorbed the talent agency's marketing team, and they're finding other synergies.

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