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☆ Dell's longtime CMO Allison Dew is set to exit the company
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewDell Technologies Chief Marketing Officer Allison Dew is set to exit the company, Business Insider has learned. A Dell spokesperson confirmed the news and said the company thanked Dew for all she accomplished in her time there. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. AdvertisementA longtime Dell executive, Dew became the company's chief marketing officer in 2018. Prior to joining Dell, she held marketing leadership roles at Microsoft and previously had worked at advertising agencies.

Persons: —, Allison Dew, Dew, Dell, Geraldine Tunnell Organizations: Service, Dell Technologies, Business, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, WPP, VMLY, McLaren, PGA

☆ WPP slashes outlook again as China slowdown adds to tech woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Branding signage for WPP, the largest global advertising and public relations agency at their offices in London, Britain, July 17, 2019. "But I do think in the long run that will correct itself and those companies will become drivers of growth." Read said it was also a tougher quarter in China, where consumer spending had not returned as expected. Analysts at Citi said it was striking that the step down was "not necessarily caused by an intensification of the pressures in the second quarter but by a broadening of pressure". WPP said this month it would merge Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R to create the industry's largest creative agency.

Persons: Toby Melville, Mark Read, Read, Wunderman Thompson, Paul Sandle, William James, Jason Neely Organizations: WPP, REUTERS, Tech, Technology, Citi, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, China, GroupM, United States

☆ 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

☆ WPP Merging VMLY&R With Wunderman Thompson
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wpp-merging-vmly-r-with-wunderman-thompson-37ec147b

Persons: Dow Jones Organizations: wpp

Brands fearful of right-wing backlash are discussing scaling back their Pride Month activities. Right-wing media personalities have declared a "war on woke," with The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh recently rallying his Twitter followers to "make 'pride' toxic for brands." This month, the LGBTQ+ dating app Taimi initiated an ad campaign that included billboards in states including Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and others. Those billboards were largely on privately-owned farmland and most of the landowners rejected Taimi's ad campaign, many requesting "no nudity" in the images. The North Face, which debuted its "Summer of Pride" ad campaign starring drag queen Pattie Gonia late last month, is holding firm.

Persons: Bud Light, Matt Walsh, Ross Martin, Martin, Bud Light's, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Hannah Lewman, Pattie Gonia, rightwing firebrands, Amy Luca, Media.Monks, Brian Stout, It's, We've, Dean Crutchfield, Crutchfield, Mark Borkowski, I've, Mekanism's, There's, Benjamin Cohen Organizations: Target, Daily, Brands, Partners, Gay and Lesbian Alliance, Defamation, Pink Locations: Florida , Oklahoma , Texas, Taimi's

☆ Generative AI has a Digital Blackface problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ryan Joe | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advertisers using generative AI to depict BIPOC human models are raising alarm bells among critics who say this use case is Digital Blackface. There are cost-savings from using generative AI, not just for not hiring models but also to replace sets and backgrounds. "It's not like AI models are only created by white folks who then are using this digital blackface, digital yellowface, et cetera. There are people of color who have created generative AI models." Despite the need for caution, some advertisers want to train generative AI engines to be more representative of diverse experiences.

Persons: Levi's, Renee Miller, It's, Michael Mente, Revolve's, Theory's Miller, Miller, Gram, Slack, Brian Yamada, Yamada, Alex Coles, Coles, Megan Thee, Cheyanne Moore Organizations: Apparel Locations: Instagram

☆ WPP Says Growth Target on Track Despite Softness From Some Tech Clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The WPP headquarters in New York. Chief Executive Mark Read said the company has seen some slight softness from some of its technology clients following several years of increasing budgets. Photo: WPPAdvertising holding company WPP PLC says it is on track to hit its organic growth target this year as other parts of its business help offset lower spending from some technology clients. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. The measure strips out currency fluctuations, acquisitions, disposals and costs such as expenses billed to clients.

☆ UK's WPP buys Obviously to expand social influencer marketing business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - British advertising group WPP (WPP.L) said on Monday it has acquired Obviously, a New York-based social influencer marketing agency, for an undisclosed sum. The deal comes less than a week after WPP agreed to buy Goat, an influencer marketing specialist, which focusses on marketing campaigns that aim to improve customer engagement for brands including Dell, Tesco, Uber and Natura. Obviously's team of nearly 100 people will join WPP subsidiary VMLY&R, a marketing agency with over 13,000 employees, WPP said. WPP said Obviously's proprietary "next-generation" tech platform helps the agency service large-scale complex campaigns for enterprise clients including Google, Ford, Ulta Beauty and Amazon. Obviously was founded by Mae Karwowski and Maxime Domain in 2014 and has operations in San Francisco and Paris.

☆ 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%.

☆ 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.

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