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☆ Toys R Us is the first brand to use OpenAI’s Sora in a promo
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Toys “R” Us is proving artificial intelligence could have a future in film. The retail toy brand premiered a short promo film at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival in France this week that was created almost entirely by using OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool. Toys “R” Us said it believes it is the first brand to debut a film using the technology. A spokesperson for the creative agency told CNN that Toys “R” Us has not yet made a decision if the promo will become a TV ad. OpenAI has not yet announced an official release date for Sora but rumors indicate it could launch later this summer.

Persons: Charles Lazarus, Geoffrey the, “ Charles Lazarus, OpenAI, – Organizations: CNN, Cannes Lions Festival Locations: France

☆ Insider Today: CEOs in Training
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But first: On the ground at Cannes Lions, aka summer camp for the ad industry. The promenade at the Cannes Lions festival in 2023. Tristan FewingsThis week's dispatchThe biggest names in marketing made for the south of France last week for the annual Cannes Lions festival. Meet Business Insider's most innovative CMOs of 2024. The program places MBAs in leadership positions at companies within just a few weeks, and promises to turn them into CEOs in a few years.

Persons: —, Goldman Sachs, Tristan Fewings, Lara O'Reilly, Julia Hood, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, I'm, Jason, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Simpson, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, It's, Brian Ach, Tyler Le, Andy Sieg, Merrill Wealth, Sieg, Jeff Bezos, Paul Souders, Devon Price Organizations: Service, Business, Cannes Lions, Yahoo, Spotify, Sport, BI, Amazon Locations: France, Sport Beach, Seattle , Washington

Musk’s mission to CannesAs advertising moguls traveled to southern France this week for the Cannes Lions festival — an annual rosé-filled celebration of their industry — the biggest guest was someone who had crudely told many of them to get lost. Elon Musk and his top lieutenant, Linda Yaccarino, were on hand to persuade brands to return to X in a bid to bolster their beleaguered ad business. A reminder: At the DealBook Summit, he lashed out at advertisers who had pulled back from X after he had endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory. of the ad giant WPP, asked Musk about the incident onstage on Wednesday, the X owner responded that he wasn’t referring to all advertisers. “Advertisers have a right to appear next to content that they find compatible with their brands,” Musk said.

Persons: Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Mark Read, ” Musk Organizations: Cannes, Cannes Lions, WPP Locations: France

☆ Advertising is now a 'meritocracy' in the wake of social media, Resy co-founder Gary Vaynerchuk says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Social media algorithms have led to a more meritocratic advertising landscape that the industry has been slow to catch up with, according to VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk. "The social media I grew up with... it was more like email marketing," the agency executive told CNBC's Tania Bryer at the Cannes Lions festival, a major fixture in the advertising world's calendar. Vaynerchuk co-founded restaurant booking platform Resy and was an early investor in the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. "Now we live in a world of social media over the last two, three years, five years, where the AI algorithms that give you the For You page, the content is finding the audience." "For You" is a feature of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok which serves a scrollable stream of videos based on trending content and on users' past usage of the app.

Persons: Gary Vaynerchuk, CNBC's Tania Bryer, Vaynerchuk Organizations: Cannes Lions

☆ Former adtech unicorn MediaMath nearly saved itself from bankruptcy. Then its last hope vanished.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The adtech company held panel sessions and meetings at the "MediaMath Penthouse." But behind the scenes, MediaMath CEO Neil Nguyen had barely been sleeping, according to three people familiar with the matter. "We collectively believed as a company, board, and advisors that we had a deal in hand," the statement continued. When advertisers or agencies buy ads through a platform like MediaMath, the adtech company must pay publishers immediately for their ad space. But the adtech company must wait — often 90 days or more — to be paid by the advertiser or agency.

Persons: MediaMath, Goldman Sachs, MediaMath execs, Neil Nguyen, Nguyen, Olivier Anrigo, Xandr, Joe Zawadzki, Ernest Hemingway, Searchlight wasn't, Neil, Houlihan Lokey, Zeta, Viant, Chris Vanderhook, Tim Vanderhook, Frederick M, Brown, MGI, Lionel Hahn, Remco Westermann, Gary Hershorn, MGI's, Westermann, they'll, Zawadzki, he'd Organizations: Cannes Lions, Cannes, Goldman, Searchlight Capital, Carlton Hotel, Google, IBM, Bain Capital —, Aperiam, Searchlight, Silicon, Zeta Global, Media, Games Invest, Verve, MGI's Verve Group, Getty, Verve Group, Trade, World Trade, Trade Center Locations: France, Cannes, hobnobbing, Delaware, Japan, Manhattan, New York City, MediaMath, AperiamVentures

☆ Meta vs. Alphabet: Wall Street favors one over the other. Our view is not so black and white
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Wall Street analysts continued to favor Meta Platforms (META) over Alphabet (GOOGL), sending shares of META up more than 3% and GOOGL shares just slightly higher Tuesday. Analysts at both firms expressed concern over how the implementation of generative AI might hurt search-related ad revenues and boost expenses. That said, Bernstein and UBS both also acknowledge that longer-term generative AI may very well prove a tailwind for Alphabet. META YTD mountain Meta Platforms YTD performance Meta Platforms, meanwhile, has been getting better reviews. Bottom line Both Meta and Alphabet are likely to benefit from generative AI in the long-term — even if Meta has more clearcut benefits in the near term.

Persons: Bernstein, Bard, MAUs, Instagram, chatbots, Meta, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Beata Zawrzel Organizations: Street, UBS, Citi, Google, Meta, Cannes Lions, Creativity, Instagram, CNBC, Nurphoto, Getty Locations: —

☆ 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

☆ Apple's nascent ad business faces more competition than ever, and it's set to launch a major charm offensive to get big advertisers to buy in
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple usually plays it so low-key at big industry events, you wouldn't even know the company had attended. It has rented a space at the top of the iconic Carlton hotel, situated on the busy Croisette promenade, according to multiple advertising industry sources. It's also planning a week of programming, with panel topics expected to include sports on Apple TV+, Apple News, apps, and the broadening Apple advertising offering, those sources said. All of which were "not necessarily a strong-point with Apple advertising in the past," Auzins said. Today, Apple's ad business largely consists of search ads sold within the App Store, which Insider Intelligence forecasts will generate $8.7 billion this year.

☆ Vice Media's bankruptcy has 'killed the ad pipeline' for the company, sources say, as questions about its future roil staffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 15, leaving current and laid-off staffers anxious over what's next. One advertising source told Insider, "The bankruptcy has killed the ad pipeline." Employees who were laid off in recent weeks are demanding answers about how the company's bankruptcy will affect the terms of their departure. One of the former execs told Insider they were just keeping their fingers crossed that payments come through. A person close to the company said Vice Media intends to pay severance and COBRA, subject to court approval.

☆ 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.

☆ Apple is searching for a head of ad sales as its streaming TV and sports ambitions grow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has a recruitment firm searching for a top TV and streaming executive to head up its ad sales. The search suggests the company may be considering an ad-supported tier for Apple TV+. Recruiters are quietly working on a search for a head of ad sales, according to a person familiar with conversations. This new executive search indicates that Apple has plans to create an ad tier for Apple TV+. An ad executive familiar with plans said Apple was negotiating a major beachfront presence this year.

☆ Amazon Prime Video's former marketing chief outlines 'Thursday Night Football' plans and how the company 'listens to culture' to connect with customers
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-08 | by ( Erica Berenstein | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon Prime Video will make a huge marketing push behind marquee series "Rings of Power." Former marketing chief Ukonwa Ojo told Insider about how the company uses data connect with audiences. Amazon does deep analysis of user comments, she said, for clues about what viewers care about — Prime Video's marketing team also factors in the cultural mood. You need data that moves at the pace of culture. They're going to need to be transported to a completely different world — so world-building shows — and they're also going to need some joy and some levity and some laughter.

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