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☆ AI Is Set to Dominate Cannes Lions Ad Festival This Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewArtificial intelligence is expected to be the topic du jour at Cannes Lions this week, when the ad industry descends on the French Riviera for its annual shindig in the sun. Businesses are exploring how they can use AI to perform tasks like copywriting, research, and automating their ad campaigns. A Cannes Lions spokesperson said the festival is expecting 12,000 delegates, though many more ad execs and vendors forgo the official festivities to hobnob at the fringe events. Cannes Lions has set its own rules around AI. "Those who will win will figure out the right mix of AI plus the right influencers plus the right concepts," MediaLink's Wagman said.

Persons: —, there's, Klarna, Wayne Levings, Mark Wagman, Wagman, Jessica Apotheker, Apotheker, Scarlett Johansson, David Droga, Mira Murati, Vidhya Srinivasan, Alexander Chen, Greg James, Publicis, Anthony Yell, Razorfish, Yell, BCG's Apotheker, Queen Latifah, Lando Norris, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Deepak Chopra, Jason, Travis Kelce, Lenny Kravitz, Janelle Monáe, MediaLink's Wagman Organizations: Service, Cannes Lions, Lions, Business, Cannes, United Talent Agency, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Boston Consulting Group, Palais, Accenture, OpenAI, Google Creative, North America, Publicis Groupe, influencers Locations: Americas, MediaLink, Cannes

☆ Shein's U.S. charm offensive and IPO could hinge on NRF membership. So far, it's been rejected
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Open to allIt's unclear why the NRF rejected Shein's membership application, but according to one of the people familiar, someone with sway is strongly against the company's admittance. The NRF's board has a leadership team and an executive committee. An NRF membership application form that can be found online states: "Companies principally engaged in retailing are eligible for membership in the Federation." Two of the board members said they weren't aware of any instances where the NRF denied a retailer membership. "I don't think they are in the business of turning anyone down," one of the board members told CNBC.

Persons: Scott Olson, Matthew Shay, Courtney Reagan, CNBC Steve Dennis, Neiman, Sears, Dennis, Shein, John Furner, Bob Eddy, Mike George, Brian Cornell, Tony Spring, wasn't, Wang Ying, Ashley Sanchez, Joscelin Flores, Allen J, They've, Temu, it's Organizations: Getty, National Retail Federation, CNBC, Neiman Marcus, New York Stock Exchange, Shay, Walmart U.S, BJ's Wholesale, Qurate, QVC, Federation, Brands, Publicis Groupe, Coresight, Xinhua News Agency, Forum, World Retail, Los Angeles Times, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Whitestown , Indiana, New York City, America, U.S, New York, United States, Hamburg, Germany, Los Angeles, Paris, Davos, Switzerland, Las Vegas, Shoptalk, Fontana, Ontario Mills, Ontario

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ Exclusive: NielsenIQ's GfK deal set for conditional EU antitrust approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) - Advent-owned NielsenIQ is set to secure EU antitrust clearance for its proposed acquisition of German market research firm GfK on the condition GfK sells its consumer panel business, people familiar with the matter said. U.S. consumer market research company NielsenIQ, which is present in more than 90 markets covering more than 90% of the world's population, announced the deal a year ago. GfK's consumer panel business covers 122,500 households and 1,800 retailers, with its data showing patterns, trends and predictions. The European Commission, which is scheduled to complete its preliminary review of the deal by July 4, declined to comment. The list includes French peer Ipsos, the UK's Kantar, YouGov, Dynata, Circana, Omnicon Group, Publicis Group, Cision and private equity firms such as H.I.G.

Persons: Ipsos, Foo Yun Chee, Jan Harvey, Barbara Lewis Organizations: European Commission, EU, Omnicon, Publicis, Equity, Bregal, Oakley, Symphony Technology, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, TowerBrook, Equistone

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.

☆ 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%.

☆ 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.

☆ 6 Black-owned influencer management firms and talent agencies helping creators of color earn more money
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Influencer-management firms can help creators boost their income, including by landing brand deals. Some managers and agents have started their own firms after seeing that BIPOC creators have made less money than white creators. Here are six Black-owned influencer-management firms and talent agencies that work with creators. These firms help creators decide between different business opportunities, connect with other people in the industry, and earn a steady income. Here are four other Black-led influencer-management firms and talent agencies:

☆ 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.

☆ Wall Street says Europe's a better bet than the U.S. right now — and names its top stock picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

European stocks are are having a good year so far. While the underperformance has been marginal, the outlook for U.S. stocks is decidedly more muted — Wall Street is still wary of a recession. European stocks are therefore worth a look in the near term, according to Bernstein, which expects more upside for them. Stock picks One of Bernstein's top plays is low leverage stocks, which the bank defines as stocks with a low net debt to equity ratio. Bank of America has a number of European picks with exposure to higher Chinese consumer spending and improving overall demand in light of China's reopening.

☆ Apple is looking for a top sales executive to spearhead a giant advertising push in sports and streaming. Here are 16 execs who could score the job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Netflix also conducted a search before hiring two Snap executives, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, to lead its new ads business. XandrLesser, a longtime digital ad executive, has extensive experience working on issues around the future of digital marketing. McDonald has a ton of other digital ad sales and publishing experience. She helped launch Modi Media, ad buying giant GroupM's addressable TV business, before joining TV adtech startup Cadent. UnivisionValentino runs Disney's digital ad business as EVP, client and brand solutions.

☆ Walmart, Citi, Disney, McDonald’s and others pledge to abolish stigma of cancer at work
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

He still needed to undergo radiation and chemotherapy, and explained to them what that would mean for his work schedule. Instead, they took vacation days for treatments or scheduled very early morning procedures so they could work the same day, Sadoun told CNN. Some even hid their children’s cancer treatments from their boss, he added. Joel Saget/AFP/Getty ImagesThat mission is to create a worldwide campaign to encourage employers to eradicate the stigma and anxiety of having cancer at work. They include Bank of America, Citi, Disney, Google, L’Oréal, Marriott, McDonald’s, Meta, Microsoft, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Toyota, Unilever and Walmart.

☆ 6 Black-led influencer management firms and talent agencies helping BIPOC creators earn more money
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some managers and agents have started their own firms after seeing that BIPOC creators have made less money than white creators. Here are six Black-owned influencer-management firms and talent agencies that work with creators. Many creators have built their brands with the help of influencer management and talent agencies. These firms help creators decide between different business opportunities, connect with other people in the industry, and earn a steady income. Here are four other Black-led influencer-management firms and talent agencies:

☆ 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.

☆ Most advertisers likely to return to Twitter, says global ad guru
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | 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 EmailMost advertisers likely to return to Twitter, says global ad guruMaurice Levy, chairman of the supervisory board of Publicis Group, says that most advertising company's are likely to return to Elon Musk's Twitter if they can be assured of its content moderation policies.

☆ Advertisers will return to Twitter if a few core conditions are met, ad guru says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Twitter logo is seen on an iPhone mobile device in this illustration photo on 12 October, 2022. Ad guru Maurice Levy said Friday that the majority of advertisers are likely to return to Elon Musk's overhauled Twitter — on the proviso that a few fundamental conditions are met. Describing the platform as being at a crossroads of "complete freedom" — which could result either in chaos or better oversight — Levy told CNBC that most advertisers are currently in "wait and see" mode to determine Musk's ultimate position. "It is an area of complete freedom, which can lead to chaos. Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late October following a drawn out legal battle with the company, and has since sought to radically overhaul the platform, including its content moderation policies.

☆ Criteo has bet big that e-commerce ads will contribute to $1 billion in revenue by 2025. But a new crop of startups are also coming for those dollars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Adtech firm Criteo is battling for retailers' ad businesses with new competitors like CitrusAd. E-commerce advertising is driving much of Criteo's growth, with the firm hoping to hit $1 billion in revenue from retail media by 2025. Criteo's technology has moved beyond search ads to include display ads and ads that appear off the retailer's site. Not all retailers outsource their ad businesses, creating more competition with CriteoCriteo also faces competition from retailers themselves. Some retailers don't want Criteo or CitrusAd managing their ad businesses and license technology to build ad businesses that they manage themselves.

☆ Complexity for Marketers Has Meant Opportunity for Ad Agencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Their performance is striking compared with ad agencies’ plight five years ago: Facebook and Google had established direct relationships with marketers and were winning growing portions of their ad budgets before agencies could even offer their services. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. PREVIEWSome major owners of ad agencies watched their growth slow or flatten in 2017 and 2018. Agency companies have responded by building practices to help marketers on platforms like TikTok and Amazon. Marketers navigate outside partnersSome major marketers still want to keep a close handle on some of their data efforts.

☆ Marketers’ Continued Spending Makes WPP Latest Ad Giant to Boost Guidance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

PREVIEWLike-for-like revenue less pass-through costs compares net sales at constant currencies and excludes acquisitions, disposals and costs such as expenses billed to clients. The company saw like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs increase 3.8% in the third quarter, compared with the period a year earlier. WPP Chief Executive Mark Read said the company’s clients’ appear to be continuing their spending in the fourth quarter. “We’re not expecting a slowdown in the fourth quarter,” Mr. Read said. In September, Interpublic Group of Cos.’s Magna unit clipped its U.S. advertising growth forecast for 2023, saying a weaker economic environment is likely to cut into spending.

☆ IPG Joins Ad Holding Companies in Raising 2022 Organic-Growth Forecast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Organic revenue growth, which removes the effects of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals, was at 5.6%. Mr. Krakowsky told investors that the media planning-and-buying group IPG Mediabrands had seen double-digit organic growth. IPG’s more traditional advertising business, which includes its healthcare marketing agency IPG Health, fared better with organic growth of 6.7%. Its communications and experiential businesses, including agencies Weber Shandwick and Golin, posted organic growth of 7.8%. IPG’s organic growth was the weakest in the U.S., the company’s largest market, where it reached 4.4%.

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