DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Mark Penn's Stagwell Group is on the hunt for adtech as the ad company continues its acquisition spree
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Stagwell Group, the advertising agency holding group operated by Mark Penn, a former advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, is actively looking to buy adtech companies as it continues to grow through acquisitions. Penn's theory is that by bringing such adtech in-house, Stagwell can offer more self-service software to advertisers who want it while also shrinking those clients' ad prices and expanding its own margins. Challenger brand Stagwell is competing for bigger contractsPenn founded Stagwell Group in 2015 with $250 million in funding from investors, including former Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. Stagwell recently made a near-$700-million bid for S4 Capital, another challenger ad company founded by longtime WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, The Wall Street Journal reported. Publicis Groupe has the biggest market capitalization of the largest holding companies, at $28.2 billion, while Stagwell is trading at around $1.6 billion.

Persons: Mark Penn, Bill, Hillary Clinton, Penn, we're, Stagwell, Penn didn't, Ana Milicevic, Milicevic, Brian Wieser, Wieser, Steve Ballmer, Sunny, GALE, Allison, Martin Sorrell, they're Organizations: Stagwell, Penn, Business, Google, Harris Poll, Next Partners, Sparrow, Madison, Challenger, Stagwell Group, Microsoft, MDC Partners, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Veritas, S4 Capital, Street Journal, S4, EMEA Locations: adtech, London

☆ Ad giant Publicis paying $350 million to settle U.S. opioid crisis claims
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The health-care division of French ad giant Publicis agreed to pay $350 million to settle claims that its past marketing efforts for drugmakers helped fuel America's opioid crisis, U.S. state attorneys general announced Thursday. Publicis Health said it will distribute $343 million of its total charge among all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories. "The full settlement amount should quickly and directly contribute to the States' opioid relief effort," Publicis Health said in a statement. "The fight against the opioid crisis in the United States requires collaboration across industries, lawmakers, and communities, and we are committed to playing our part," the statement said. Publicis Health noted that $130 million of its payment to the states has been compensated by its insurers.

Organizations: Publicis Groupe SA, Health, D.C Locations: Paris, France, U.S, Washington, United States

It is the first advertising company to reach a major settlement over the toll of opioids in the U.S. It faced a lawsuit in at least Massachusetts but settled with most states before they made court claims against it. James' office said the materials played up the abuse-deterrent properties of OxyContin and promoted increasing patients' doses. As part of the settlement, Publicis agreed to release internal documents detailing its work for Purdue and other companies that made opioids. The first began after OxyContin hit the market in 1996 and was linked mostly to prescription opioids, many of them generics.

Persons: Letitia James, Publicis, James, Bob Ferguson, Rosetta, ” Publicis, Sackler, OxyContin Organizations: Publicis, Publicis Groupe, New York, Purdue Pharma, Washington, Purdue, State Pharmacy, U.S, Supreme Locations: Paris, U.S, Massachusetts, Connecticut

☆ Roku is set to announce Publicis exec Jay Askinasi as its next ad-sales boss
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Roku is set to announce Jay Askinasi as its new ad-sales boss, sources say. Askinasi will join from PMX, a division of the ad giant Publicis Groupe. Askinasi fills the role left vacant by Alison Levin, who left for NBCUniversal last year. AdvertisementThe streaming and smart-TV company Roku is set to announce that it has hired Jay Askinasi, a senior exec at the ad giant Publicis Groupe, to lead its global media revenue business, according to sources familiar with the matter. Askinasi would fill the role left vacant by Alison Levin, who left the streamer in November to join NBCUniversal as president of its ad-sales unit.

Persons: Jay Askinasi, Alison Levin, —, Charlie Collier, Roku Organizations: Groupe, Askinasi, NBCUniversal, Service, Business Locations: PMX

☆ Publicis just laid down the gauntlet on the ad industry by pledging to invest more than $300 million in AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In an hour long video presentation, Publicis execs laid down the AI gauntlet to its competitors as Madison Avenue reckons with how AI technology will transform — and challenge — the ad business. It bought first-party data platform Epsilon in a $4.4 billion 2019 acquisition. "We're in such a fantastic position to leverage AI better than our competition," said Carla Serrano, Publicis Groupe global chief strategy officer in an interview. "There's no such thing as AI without great data and we have connected, proprietary data, and we're a platform company," she added. Publicis said it plans to invest 100 million euros, around $109 million, in building the AI platform in 2024.

Persons: Groupe, execs, Publicis, CoreAI, Sapient, Carla Serrano, Serrano, Michael Farmer Organizations: Business, Madison, reckons, Microsoft, Labs, Epsilon, WPP, Havas, Publicis Groupe, Google, Tech

☆ Inside WPP's multiyear plan to transform its giant media buying business GroupM
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

While GroupM always had country-level P&Ls, it previously let its individual agencies — EssenceMediaCom, Wavemaker, MSix&Partners, and Mindshare — be responsible for their own budgets. This move is the latest in Juhl's plan to make these different media agencies follow similar business practices across all of the markets in which GroupM operates. Under Juhl, GroupM centralized media delivery within a unit called Nexus and centralized all of GroupM's data and technology within a unit called Choreograph. Juhl said that despite the push to streamline its business, GroupM's individual agency brands will continue to operate as separate entities rather than a homogenous media group. WPP said last month it will reveal more details about its plans to simplify GroupM at its Capital Markets Day in January.

Persons: Christian Juhl, GroupM, Juhl, —, Publicis, EssenceMediaCom, Mindshare, Kirk McDonald Organizations: Business, Ls, MSix, Partners, Groupe, Unilever, North America, WPP Locations: GroupM, China

☆ ‘Disappointed Again’: Ad Companies Suffer as Tech Firms Clip Spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ad agency holding companies say they are being hurt by more cautious technology advertising. At Meta Platforms, for instance, outlays for marketing and sales decreased 24% in the third quarter. Photo: kena betancur/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSome of the major advertising holding companies are still feeling the impact of lower spending from technology clients—with some hit harder than others. Recent quarterly results from Interpublic Group , Omnicom Group , WPP and Publicis Groupe showed that many of their units are seeing more caution from some advertisers, slower project work, delayed starts of new business or other signs of a pullback.

Persons: kena Organizations: Agence France, Interpublic, Omnicom, WPP, Publicis Groupe

☆ 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

☆ Morgan Stanley names cash-rich global stocks with 'better downside protection'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Morgan Stanley named a raft of European stocks with strong balance sheets, lots of cash or high shareholder returns. High cash flow and shareholder returns The bank also screened for companies with "resilient high free cash flow." "Self-financing companies should be better able to weather any prolonged macroeconomic weakness, deploying capital effectively and seizing opportunities that come along the way," Morgan Stanley said. "Cash-rich companies with high free cash flow yields should also have better downside protection, while providing upside potential if management is able to deploy its cash effectively," the bank said. Those firms also have "positive free cash flow and net income growth expected over the next 2 years," the bank said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Burberry, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: CNBC, JD Sports, Sanofi, Airbus, MTU Aero Engines, SAP, WPP, Publicis Groupe, InterContinental Locations: Europe

☆ The advertising winter may finally be starting to thaw
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The long advertising winter could be coming to an end in the second half of this year. There are tentative signs that the advertising winter is starting to thaw. Meta, which derives more than 98% of its revenue from advertising, reported revenue well ahead of analysts' estimates for the second quarter. To be sure, some pure-play advertising companies remain challenged. Indeed, on Thursday, the US Commerce Department said the US economy grew by 2.4% in the second quarter, which was up from 2% in the first quarter.

Persons: spenders, Kimberly, Clark, Brian Wieser, Groupe, IPG, Arthur Sadoun, It's, they're Organizations: Companies, Meta, Google, PepsiCo, Wall, Tech, Microsoft, US Commerce Department Locations: Madison

☆ How the generative A.I. boom could forever change online advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Meta, Alphabet and Amazon , the leaders in online advertising, are all betting generative AI will eventually be core to their businesses. In May, Meta announced its AI Sandbox testing suite for companies to more easily use generative AI software to create background images and experiment with different advertising copy. However, Shaked said he's "not sold on the creative piece yet," regarding Meta's nascent foray into providing generative AI tools for advertisers. Jay Pattisall, an analyst at Forrester, said several major hurdles prevent generative AI from having a major immediate impact on the online ad industry. Stacy Reed, an online advertising and Facebook ads consultant, is currently incorporating generative AI into her daily work.

Persons: Sebastien Bozon, ChatGPT, Shane Rasnak, Rasnak, Cristina Lawrence, Lawrence, Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Yarden Shaked, Shaked, Jay Pattisall, Forrester, Pattisall, Reddit, Scott McKelvey, OpenAI, McKelvey, that's, Meta, Stacy Reed, it's, Reed, they've, Ryan Reynolds Organizations: AFP, Getty, Facebook, Twitter, CNBC, Meta, Meta's, Georgetown University, Bloomberg News, Mint Mobile, Social Locations: Utah, San Francisco, Washington

☆ I'm an American millennial who quit a rewarding career to join a French company that offers great work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Madison Taylor is a millennial living in Las Vegas and working in marketing. She works for a French company because she prefers its policies on travel, education, and time off. Her boss' support of work-life balance was something she'd never experienced before. Taylor said she appreciates its "French policies" and the ability to work from home. My boss's support of work-life balance was something I'd never experiencedTaylor says the company support has improved her mental health.

Persons: Madison Taylor, she'd, —, Taylor, I'd, I've, We're, It's, we're Organizations: Service, Publicis Groupe Locations: Las Vegas, Paris, France, Chicago, Canada

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.

This year, advertisers and ad agencies may well use the strike as a bargaining tool, said Erin Firneno, vice president of business intelligence for researcher Advertiser Perceptions. The writers’ strike, which has entered its third week, is also injecting a new element of uncertainty for ad buyers, at a time when television viewership is declining and the possibility of recession looms. While the TV networks have long contended with splintered viewership amid the rise of social media and streaming, the writers' strike puts content production at risk, said Rishad Tobaccowala, a former executive at advertising and public relations giant Publicis Groupe and advisor on business transformation. Last year, NBC’s upfront presentation emphasized star power as the network returned to a live event after a COVID-19-imposed hiatus. Ahead of the upfront presentations, media executives sought to reassure investors about the strike’s impact.

☆ The CEOs of the world's biggest advertising companies just outlined how AI is about to transform their businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advertising agency CEOs are eager to signal their companies' AI expertise to Wall Street. Speaking on this quarter's earnings calls, executives at the world's largest advertising agency groups also outlined some of their recent AI client projects and technology task forces. "What's changed over the last six months is the application of AI through generative AI into the creative process," Read said. Omnicom is running more than 20 projects where it combines Omnicom's historical data with GPT's automation technology, Wren said, though he didn't specify exactly how it was being deployed. That will require more creative assets, Sadoun said on the Publicis earnings call.

☆ Publicis Posts Better-Than-Expected Organic Growth as Ad Industry Appears Resilient
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Publicis Groupe SA expects to hit organic growth this year in the top half of its previously stated range of 3% to 5%. Photo: BENOIT TESSIER/REUTERSPublicis Groupe SA reported higher-than-expected organic growth of 7.1% in the first quarter, and the advertising holding company said demand for its services continues despite the choppy macroeconomic environment. Analysts expected 5.89% growth in the quarter, according to FactSet .

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter takeover has been 'painful' but the company is now 'roughly breakeven'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk Twitter account seen on Mobile with Elon Musk in the background on screen, seen in this photo illustration. Elon Musk says that Twitter is close to becoming cash-flow positive after making sharp layoffs and working to lure advertisers back to the platform. "I'd say we're roughly breakeven at this point," Musk said Wednesday, during a live interview with the BBC recorded on Twitter Spaces. Musk said that Twitter will start removing blue checks from accounts without a subscription to the company's paid Twitter Blue service next week. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late October after a drawn-out legal battle with the company.

☆ As competition for the $45 billion retail media market heats up, one of its biggest players is expanding beyond advertising to stay on top
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Retail firm Pacvue is expanding beyond advertising. The firm made its name in e-commerce advertising but will now pitch advertisers on retail tech used to manage sales. Retail adtech firm Pacvue is moving beyond retail advertising, an industry that will be worth $45 billion in the US this year, according to Insider Intelligence, Insider's sister companyFour-year-old Pacvue is one of the biggest players in this space, handling $150 billion in gross merchandise value for retailers. At the same time, traditional adtech firms like Pubmatic, Magnite, and The Trade Desk are rolling out retail media products, creating even more retail media tools that brands must navigate. Pacvue is also expanding beyond retail media because it recognizes that there is a ceiling on how much brands will spend on retail advertising.

☆ WPP, Like Ad-Company Rivals, Says It Expects 2023 Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

WPP PLC is the latest major advertising holding company to say it expects continued growth in 2023 as clients keep spending on its services. PREVIEWWPP said like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs increased 6.9% in 2022 and 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Total revenue in 2022 was £14.4 billion, equivalent to about $17.3 billion, while revenue less pass-through costs was £11.8 billion. Chief Executive Mark Read said that consumers have continued to spend, and clients have continued to invest in their brands. Omnicom Group Inc. and Publicis Groupe SA both said they expect organic revenue growth this year of 3% to 5%.

☆ 6 ways shopping sites trick you into buying more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Online retailers use psychological tricks and tools to get consumers to make purchases. But we're shopping online now more than ever before, and these subtle nudges are starting to feel more widespread. Buy online, pick up in storeBuy online, pick up instore was all the rage during the pandemic. So much of how we shop and make purchase decisions is subconscious, he said, and while you may rationally know that scarcity is a marketing tactic, your subconscious doesn't. Tips for avoiding retailers' marketing tricksJust being aware of these marketing tactics isn't enough to protect you from them, Goldberg said.

☆ IPG Posts 3.8% Organic-Revenue Growth, Flags Tech-Sector Challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Interpublic Group of Cos. reported organic-net-revenue growth of 3.8% for the fourth quarter, saying that growth continued—albeit at a slower pace—despite a more cautious marketing and media environment due to macroeconomic and geopolitical factors worldwide. Net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $2.55 billion, relatively flat when compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. For all of 2022, IPG reported organic-net-revenue growth of 7%. “As expected, growth slowed in the fourth quarter, consistent with global macroeconomic and geopolitical crosswinds which we are all aware of,” Chief Executive Philippe Krakowsky said on the company’s earnings call Thursday. Earlier this week, IPG competitor Omnicom Group Inc. reported organic-revenue growth of 7.2% for the fourth quarter.

☆ Omnicom CEO Wants to Embrace Generative AI as Quickly as Possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The company reported organic revenue growth of 7.2% in the fourth quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of 3.7% organic revenue growth, according to FactSet. Organic revenue growth was 9.4% for the full year, the company said, beating the average analyst estimate of 8.4%. The company said it is forecasting organic revenue growth this year of 3% to 5%. Organic revenue growth is a metric that removes the effects of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals. Reported total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased 0.3% to $3.87 billion versus a year earlier.

☆ Publicis Reports 9.4% Organic Revenue Growth for Fourth Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Publicis Groupe SA said Thursday that organic revenue grew 9.4% in the fourth quarter as its data and technology services continued to capture a shift in client spending. The growth in the quarter ending Dec. 31 brought Publicis’s full-year 2022 organic revenue growth to 10.1%. The results beat the average analyst estimate of 5.3% growth for the quarter and 8.8% for the year, according to FactSet. Publicis said it expects organic revenue growth of 3% to 5% in 2023. Organic growth refers to the change in net revenue excluding the impacts of acquisitions, disposals and currency fluctuations.

☆ How shopping sites are using psychology to trick you into spending more — and 3 ways to avoid them
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Online retailers use psychological tricks and tools to get consumers to make purchases. Offering incentives for adding more items to online carts like free shipping is another example of the psychological tricks a retailer can play. Buy online, pick up in storeBuy online, pick up instore was all the rage during the pandemic. So much of how we shop and make purchase decisions is subconscious, he said, and while you may rationally know that scarcity is a marketing tactic, your subconscious doesn't. Tips for avoiding retailers' marketing tricksJust being aware of these marketing tactics isn't enough to protect you from them, Goldberg said.

☆ Publicis Groupe's Lévy: The EU is stronger than ever despite the UK's exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | 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 EmailPublicis Groupe's Lévy: The EU is stronger than ever despite the UK's exitMaurice Lévy, chairman of the supervisory board of Publicis Groupe, says Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin have "done a very good job" of getting the solidarity of the Europeans.

Search resuls for: "Publicis Groupe"

25 mentions found