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☆ Looking for value stocks? Citi lists over 10 European names — for risk-takers and the cautious
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

European value stocks are doing better than growth stocks right now, according to Citi analysts. Citi defined "quality" value stocks as those in the top fifth and fourth quintiles for three characteristics: value, low risk and quality. Citi said investors "have not been particularly risk-averse," as risky value stocks are up 8.6%, while quality value stocks are down 0.3% in the year to date. Nevertheless, the bank noted that investors appear to have been more cautious since the start of August, as quality value stocks are up 4.6%, while risky value stocks are down 0.6%. 'Risky value' stocks For this screen, Citi looked for stocks that scored in the seventh or above decile for value and those in the fifth or below decile for "value low risk" and quality.

Persons: TotalEnergies, Moller Maersk, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Citi, HSBC Holdings, Zurich Insurance Group, ABN AMRO, Imperial Brands, Nokia, BNP, BMW, Bayer, Life, WPP PLC Locations: European, China, Dutch, Danish

☆ 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.

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Private equity firm KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) has agreed to buy a significant stake in FGS Global in a deal that values the financial communications group at about $1.4 billion. As part of the deal, KKR will buy up a 30% stake from senior employees at FGS Global and its largest investors, including London-based advertising giant WPP Plc (WPP.L). WPP, which was founded by Martin Sorrell, will retain a majority stake in FGS Global. Existing investor Golden Gate Capital is selling its entire stake to KKR, which is investing in FGS Global through its $8-billion European Fund VI. FGS Global currently employs more than 1,200 people across 27 offices globally.

☆ 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%.

☆ The 2023 Super Bowl Ads Will Feature Booze, Betting and Jesus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Megan Graham | Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

The Super Bowl ads on Sunday are poised to promote an unusual mix of alcohol brands, gambling and Jesus. The Super Bowl still regularly draws an audience of around 100 million people, making it TV’s biggest event of the year and advertising’s biggest night. Planters’ Super Bowl ad features comedians mocking Mr. Peanut. The ads are likely to strike a lighter tone than the occasionally somber messages of Super Bowl ads in recent, highly politicized years or the early pandemic, said Anjali S. Bal, an associate professor of marketing at Babson College. Many Super Bowl advertisers have again released their ads well before Super Bowl Sunday to increase their chances of being seen.

☆ How to Craft Successful Sustainability Programs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Sustainability executives shared insights on how to execute sustainability programs that work at panels hosted by WSJ Pro Sustainable Business on Thursday. Now, Scandinavian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen AS A is looking to develop a new type of wind-powered ship. “We could be coming full circle here,” said Roger Strevens, vice president of global sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen. “What we typically think about in terms of mentoring is the senior executive mentoring the next level employee,” Ms. Evans said. The unnamed executive said she would include lessons from the mentoring program in her future meetings, Ms. Evans said.

☆ 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.

☆ Per Pedersen Aimed to Change the Face of Advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Per Pedersen spent most of his career at Grey, an advertising unit of WPP, before launching his by The Network ad cooperative. Per Pedersen ‘s death on Jan. 4, of cancer at age 58, cut short his leadership of an experiment aimed at changing the face of advertising. Mr. Pedersen, a Dane who spent most of his career at Grey, an advertising unit of the global WPP PLC, believed that giant companies were stifling creativity and failing to attract or retain free spirits with fresh ideas. In 2020, he founded a cooperative—known as by The Network—to help small independently owned agencies around the world collaborate. It serves 34 agencies, employing a total of about 750 people, in more than 30 countries.

☆ Ad Firms Predict Slower Advertising Growth for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Major advertising forecasting firms say global advertising growth in 2023 will be slower than previously predicted. Automotive advertising could grow again after a period of moderate decline as the industry gradually emerges from the supply-chain crisis, the firm added. A separate forecast from media and data giant GroupM, part of WPP PLC, predicted that global advertising revenue will grow 5.9% next year, a downgrade from its 6.4% estimate in June. GroupM said global advertising revenue this year will grow 6.5%, excluding political advertising, down from its June forecast of 8.4%. Growth in China will be less than expected because of that country’s pandemic-related lockdowns, the firm said.

“There’s no such thing as a set forecast right now,” said Sophie Kelly, senior vice president of whiskies at Diageo North America, speaking at the same event. The firm, a unit of Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Mediabrands, cut its growth forecast for next year to 4.8% from an earlier prediction of 5.8% in June. Organic revenue growth is a metric that removes the effects of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals. Airbnb Inc. slashed its advertising spending and invested in brand marketing, lessening its reliance on search-engine marketing. “We knew that people are changing their behavior,” said William White, Walmart’s chief marketing officer.

☆ 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.

☆ Unilever Goes Back to the Drawing Board With Accessible Deodorant Design
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

It has been more than 17 months since Unilever PLC-owned deodorant brand Degree said it had created a concept for what it called the “world’s first inclusive” deodorant for people with disabilities. The original design for Degree Inclusive featured a hook for hanging and magnetic closures. An ad for Unilever’s Degree Inclusive deodorant. Unilever introduced Degree Inclusive in April 2021 as a “concept deodorant” designed to make application easier for people with limited mobility. “Inclusive design and industrial design are both quite complex in and of themselves, and when you weave those together…it’s something that doesn’t happen at the snap of the finger,” he said.

, said in a statement that Drizly is one of the few places where her company can run multimedia ad campaigns. The database allows the company to charge above-market rates for ad placements, according to Mr. Patel. The company also hired Gina Hardy as its first chief customer officer to oversee all marketing operations. Mr. Patel declined to comment on specific growth goals for Drizly, but said the company sees significant potential in its advertising platform, which is independent of its parent company’s Uber Eats ad business. Drizly sales grew 517% from September 2019 to September 2021, according to market-research firm Bloomberg Second Measure.

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