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☆ The digital-ad industry is spending the 4th of July holiday scrambling to recover funds lost from MediaMath's shocking bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Ryan Joe | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

One adtech executive believes MediaMath's bankruptcy is a sign of more pain to come. MediaMath's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has sent shock waves throughout the digital-ad industry. Now MediaMath's creditors, who are cumulatively owed more than $100 million, are scrambling to figure out their next moves. It's likely that the unsecured creditors owed money by MediaMath would receive just pennies on the dollar once the bankruptcy proceedings are resolved. Bannister said Raptive was in the process of seeing how much money MediaMath owed it.

Persons: MediaMath, SSPs, Goldman Sachs, PubMatic, Ana Milicevic, Milicevic, It's, Paul Bannister, Bannister, Raptive, Scott Messer, he's, they're, Brian O'Kelley Organizations: MediaMath's, MediaMath, Fuel, Sparrow Advisers, Messer Media, YouTube, ANA Locations: MediaMath, there's

☆ I watched a dead composer perform at an augmented-reality concert. It shows how Apple could transform the entertainment business if it can take AR mainstream.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Or at least, I saw Sakamoto's digital avatar perform in a darkened room with a Magic Leap 2 headset clamped to my face. Some technical issues aside, the experience showed me the potential that AR has to transform the entertainment industry. As the lights dimmed, the audience became ghostly silhouettes, and Sakamoto's avatar appeared center stage. KAGAMI still showed a lot of promise for the future of AR entertainment. The tech company that builds the best AR hardware and software has a shot at controlling the next generation of entertainment.

Persons: Ryuichi Sakamoto, KAGAMI, it's, Sakamoto, they're, Elton John, Bob Iger, Apple Organizations: Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Disney, Artists Locations: Japanese, New York City

☆ Read the 20-page pitch deck that startup Anzu used to raise $48 million to help place ads in video games
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Anzu helps brands place their ads in video games. The company raised $48 million to build out its executive suite and hire staff. Inserting ads into video games — like as a billboard in a car-racing game — is increasingly enticing to advertisers hoping to message hard-to-find Gen Zers. The company raised a $20 million round last year, bringing its total to $85 million. "After proving the model with mobile games and casual games, we're moving into AAA games," Benedy said.

Persons: Zers, Axel Springer, Itamar Benedy, Anzu, Benedy, we'll Organizations: Emmis Corp, Simon Equity Partners, PayPal, Bandai Namco, AAA, Ubisoft, VR, Apple, Apple Vision Locations: Anzu

☆ Check out the 24-page pitch deck that the startup SuperScale used to raise $5.4 million to help video game companies monetize their library
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup SuperScale raised a $5.4 million Series A.SuperScale sells a platform that helps video game companies monetize their libraries. Check out the pitch deck that reveals how SuperScale raised its latest round. Video game companies often have vast gaming libraries, but not enough resources to monetize them through ads or downloadable content. SuperScale is trying to take advantage of the fact that today, the video game industry tends to update existing video games rather than develop new ones. "Rather than launching a sequel, you update the core game," Trancik said.

Persons: SuperScale, Ivan Trancik, Trancik Organizations: Venture, Future Fund, Private Investments, EA, Zynga

☆ EA's CMO reveals how he'll keep the video game giant's soccer franchise rolling without FIFA branding
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

EA's "FIFA" series is a big revenue driver, but its next soccer video game won't have that branding. CMO David Tinson reveals his plan to drive fans to EA's new soccer franchise EA Sports FC. Electronic Art's marketing muscle is going to have to do some heavy lifting this year to build a new powerhouse brand around its soccer video game series. In 2022, EA and FIFA ended a licensing partnership that lasted nearly three decades and helped make the "FIFA" video game series the most popular sports franchise of all time. This is a key component to making sure fans of the "FIFA" franchise glom onto the new one.

Persons: David Tinson, Andrew Wilson, Tinson, we've, hadn't Organizations: FIFA, EA Sports FC, EA, FC Barcelona's Camp, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Nike Locations: FC Barcelona's Camp Nou, Real Madrid

☆ Perspectives, ideas, community
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The role of chief marketing officer has never been more complex than it is today. Digital transformation, economic upheaval, societal change, and a fragmented media landscape are just some of the intricacies marketing leaders are confronting. CMO Insider convenes case studies, research, and personal perspectives, to inspire and inform CMOs and their teams as they build and grow their brands. Most Innovative CMOs 2023Our annual list of "Most Innovative CMOs" presents 25 top marketers who are confronting the industry's most complex challenges. Credits:Series Editors : Julia Hood, Ryan JoeReporters : Lauren Johnson, Lara O'Reilly, Michael KaminerDesign and Development : Alyssa Powell, Chay Thawaranont, Kazi Awal, Will Varner

Persons: Julia Hood, Ryan Joe Reporters, Lauren Johnson, Lara O'Reilly, Michael Kaminer, Alyssa Powell, Chay Thawaranont, Kazi Awal, Will Varner

Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer, AutodeskDara Treseder, the chief marketing officer at Autodesk. Autodesk is a software company that makes products architects and engineers often use, but its name isn't well-known beyond the professionals that rely on its tools. Within 30 days of joining the company, Treseder worked with Ryan Reynolds' agency, Maximum Effort, to launch the company's first TV ad in over ten years. The company's next TV-related success was the "Otto Desć" campaign during the 2023 Oscars, which got over 25 million views. Treseder worked with the French government to launch a campaign on the Autodesk website to make sure consumers knew of Autodesk's contribution.

Persons: Dara Treseder, Autodesk Dara Treseder, —, Treseder, she's, Ryan Reynolds, Otto Desć, influencers Organizations: Autodesk, Autodesk —, Notre Dame Cathedral

☆ Salesforce has quietly unloaded the CMO Club, which is merging with a marketing group called Brand Innovators
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The organization will be renamed Club CMO and will merge with the marketing group Brand Innovators. Salesforce quietly discontinued the CMO Club in April, a marketing organization it acquired in 2020. Now, CMO Club, which has about 900 top marketers as members, will change its name to Club CMO because Salesforce still has rights to the original name, and merge with a similar industry group called Brand Innovators. "The CMO Club was where we could have those private and personal conversations without the press and sales people," said Club CMO board member Carol Kruse. In her decades-long career as a marketer, she's used advice from her peers at Club CMO roughly 50 times, she estimated.

Persons: Salesforce, Carol Kruse, Kruse, she's, Pete Krainik, Marc Sternberg, Sternberg Organizations: CMO, Brand Innovators, Club, Brand, Salesforce, SEC Locations: Europe, Japan, Australia, Singapore

☆ Some advertisers are requiring their agencies to disclose when they use generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some big advertisers want to know exactly when their agencies are using generative AI. And in its current form, generative AI can create derivative content. And WPP ad agency Ogilvy is advocating for advertisers and social media platforms to disclose the use generative AI in influencer campaigns, The Financial Times reported. "You need to sit down with your agency and ask how they are using generative AI." He said he's in active conversations with the heads of all the agencies the alcohol giant works with about how they are experimenting with generative AI tools.

Persons: Reed Smith, Ruben Schreurs, Schreurs, — Andrew Robertson, —, Ogilvy, Keri Bruce, Bruce, L'Oréal, we've, Asmita Dubey, Edward Pilkington, Lesley Klein Organizations: BBDO, Ad, WPP, Financial Times, of National, Diageo, Diageo North Locations: Diageo North America

☆ A year ago, I sold my ad agency to a new type of agency holding company. Here are the things I wish I knew before.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

One year ago, the ad agency Mekanism was bought by PE-backed holding company Plus Company. The ad agency Mekanism sold one year ago to the Canadian holding company Plus Company, which is backed by the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. But as far as bosses go, not only is Plus Company CEO Brett Marchand really smart, I like him as a person. There are also holding companies that use a new model, like S4 and DEPT, where you become part of one big group. Due diligence was like "getting a couple of colonoscopies a week"I looked into CVC, the private-equity company that funds Plus Company.

Persons: Mekanism, Jason Harris, I've, Brett Marchand, hasn't, we'd, it's, They'd, We're, haven't, Brett, They're Organizations: PE, Plus Company, Capital Partners, Plus, Publicis, WPP, CVC, Company Locations: colonoscopies

☆ Data giant Snowflake is building a marketplace for retail media data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Data giant Snowflake is building a marketplace for retail media data. Data giant Snowflake is building a marketplace for retail media data as it tries to grab a bigger piece of the $80 billion retail media market. Investing in retail media is a top priority for Snowflake, said Rosemary DeAragon, the company's global head of retail and CPG. There's sharp competition in the ad industry to grab as much retail media share as possible, while the market is still relatively nascent. While tech giants like Amazon and Google have their own clean room offerings, they don't field a retail media data marketplace.

Persons: Snowflake, Chase cardmembers, Rosemary DeAragon, Myles Younger, Damian Garbaccio, who've, haven't, Morgan Stanley, Criteo, Shiv Gupta Organizations: Affinity Solutions, Affinity, IRI, Nielsen, Walmart, Google, Amazon Locations: Snowflake

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

☆ Another exec bites the dust on Twitter's safety team as the head of brand safety reportedly departs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Madeline Berg | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brown, Twitter's head of brand safety and ad quality, has left the company, The Wall Street Journal reported. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, Brown faced an advertiser exodus on the platform. Twitter's trust and safety team is down another executive — its second one in as many days. Brown, the platform's head of brand safety and ad quality, has left the company, The Wall Street Journal reported. His departure follows that of Ella Irwin, Twitter's head of trust and safety, who said she'd resigned from the company on Thursday.

Persons: Brown, Ella Irwin, Elon Musk, A.J . Brown, He'd, Twitter's, she'd, Yoel Roth, Musk, Linda Yaccarino Organizations: Street Journal, Twitter, Elon, Revenue, Intelligence

☆ 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

☆ Google just revealed what its new generative AI ads will look like as it races to keep up with Microsoft and Amazon in the AI gold rush
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google is introducing generative AI to its adtech products as it races against Amazon and Microsoft. Revenues from generative AI software will surge to $81 billion by 2027, per a TD Cowen report. The value of generative AI software is primed to explode, and a recent TD Cowen report projected that generative AI software revenues will surge to $81 billion by 2027, from under $1 billion in 2022. Google's generative AI can automatically create image variants GoogleGoogle had previously said at its I/O conference that there would be new search formats from generative AI. Dischler said the move to bring generative AI, which automatically creates content, to Google's ad products was the natural next step of Google's AI evolution.

☆ YouTube's subscription business is already a third the size of Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube's subscription revenue is a third the size of Netflix's, according to asset management firm AllianceBernstein. Asset management firm AlliacneBernstein did the math and noticed that YouTube's last four quarters of ad revenue was $29 billion, which puts its subscriptions revenue at $11 billion. YouTube's ad revenue had declined for three consecutive quarters, dipping 2.6% to $6.7 billion in the last quarter. "We really want to be a platform for all things video," Mohan said. Bolstering the creator aspect around NFL Sunday Ticket will also help YouTube's ad business, Mohan said.

☆ YouTube's top exec Neal Mohan revealed its total revenues were $40 billion last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube's revenue last year was $40 billion mostly from ads, its chief Neal Mohan said at a recent conference. Newly appointed YouTube chief Neal Mohan said the company's revenue was $40 billion in revenue over the last twelve months. He declined to split out YouTube's revenue between ads and subscription products, like YouTube TV, Premium, and Music. YouTube's ad revenue had declined for three consecutive quarters, dipping 2.6% to $6.7 billion in the last quarter. Bolstering the creator aspect around NFL Sunday Ticket will also help YouTube's ad business, Mohan said.

Meta's ad business has been rebuilt since Apple's ATT update threatened its ability to make money. Many of Meta's top execs left and are now building ad platforms for companies like Reddit and Snap. Below are some prominent former Meta ad execs who recently left, and where they've ended up. This time last year, Meta's ad business was on the brink. But today, Meta's ad business is back on the upswing, as the company has delved into AI to replace the consumer data that powered its lucrative ad targeting and measurement capabilities.

☆ A new PR tech company just launched that uses OpenAI to write press releases and lets companies distribute them at very low cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

EZ Newswire hopes to disrupt press release distribution, dominated by PR Newswire and Business Wire. The company uses OpenAI and its own algorithm to automatically write press releases. ChatGPT alone isn't good enough to write press releases in its own yet, said Klein. At launch, EZ Newswire hosts the press releases on its own site, and has a partnership with the Associated Press to distribute them. In making press release generation and distribution accessible to both big and small businesses, EZ Newswire hopes to blow wide the market around press release distribution.

☆ A new PR tech company just launched that uses ChatGPT to write press releases and lets companies distribute them at very low cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company uses ChatGPT and its own algorithm to automatically write press releases. PR tech startup EZ Newswire launched in beta on Wednesday to remove these challenges and give smaller businesses the ability to cheaply write and distribute press releases. ChatGPT alone isn't good enough to write press releases in its own yet, said Klein. At launch, EZ Newswire hosts the press releases on its own site, and has a partnership with the Associated Press to distribute them. In making press release generation and distribution accessible to both big and small businesses, EZ Newswire hopes to blow wide the market around press release distribution.

Besides YouTube's 2.6% first quarter ad revenue decline, Google is facing multiple challenges to its advertising business. While Google's search revenue was up about 2%, Microsoft is in the early stages of a big play to go after it. Matthew Bailey, principal analyst at research firm Omdia anticipates Google will post digital ad revenue growth at around 5% in 2023 and in 2024. Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend.

Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But neither pose the threat to Google's search dominance that ChatGPT-powered Bing does today, according to an agency source. But ChatGPT-Bing has a bigger opportunity to grab budgets earmarked for Google search because it will change the entire way consumers search for information. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend. Morgan Stanley recently estimated that adtech firms are poised to win $26 billion out of a $130 billion retail media market by 2025.

☆ Seeking nominations for the most innovative CMOs in 2023 — submit by April 28
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

We're seeking nominations for Insider's eighth annual list of the most innovative CMOs. They're confronting economic volatility, the rise of AI, and finding new ways to reach consumers. Loading Something is loading. Insider is seeking nominations for our eighth-annual list of the most innovative CMOs in the world. Marketers are facing a raft of challenges, from economic volatility, brand safety concerns, and continued difficulties in targeting ads and measuring their effectiveness.

The group represents a range of roles at adtech companies, publishers, retailers, and advertisers. They are helping the ad industry grab new opportunities, like retail media and streaming TV ads. Adtech companies are jockeying against each other to capture market share in streaming TV advertising, servicing the needs of content owners like Netflix, Warner Bros. They're also trying to strike gold in retail media, a relatively new category that could represent a $26 billion market for adtech companies, according to Morgan Stanley. We considered nearly 90 people from adtech companies, publishers, and advertisers.

☆ Inside the creation of Revolve's first-ever AI-generated billboards
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Revolve's co-CEO said generative AI might lead to budgets shifting for future ad campaigns. What made these particular billboards different from other out-of-home creative is that they were developed using generative AI tools. Thanks to the generative AI explosion, anyone can create a piece of art just by typing in a prompt. Using generative AI to create high-quality images for ads, especially scaled to billboard size, is a huge challenge because it's difficult to control the final result. AI-generated billboard art RevolveThere are time and cost savings when using generative AI tools, Foiret said.

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