TransUnion Nabs Signal; Havas Media Joins PreBid

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State Of The TransUnion

Credit bureau and consumer data provider TransUnion acquired cross-channel marketing company Signal on Monday (not to be confused with TruSignal, the predictive analytics and data firm TransUnion acquired in May of last year). TransUnion didn’t share a deal price. The purpose of the merger is to help solidify TransUnion’s position as a provider of compliant and accurate consumer data and identity info for marketers, said Matt Spiegel, EVP of marketing solutions and head of the media vertical at TransUnion. “We’re focused on marketing solutions that are people-based because it’s the future of marketing effectiveness and delivers value to the customer,” Spiegel told MarTech Series. Read more. Keep your eyes peeled for more consolidation in the identity space in light of Chrome’s coming third-party cookie removal and Apple’s IDFA restrictions in iOS 14.

Prebid Goes Buy-Side

Havas Media is the first agency to join Prebid, a coalition of mostly sell-side ad tech companies and publishers that set standards for programmatic monetization, Adweek reports. Prebid has been gaining traction lately, with The Trade Desk as the first DSP to join the group in November. Because brands control advertising spend, Prebid could benefit from more buy side input, said Tom Kershaw, Prebid chair and CTO at Magnite. Havas is joining Prebid to help set standards for transparency and identity in programmatic, said Andrew Goode, EVP and head of biddable media at Havas Media North America. “How do we make sure that there is a clear tunnel,” Goode said, “or a clear view from advertiser to publisher?” Havas will remain agnostic when it comes to directing client spend through Prebid’s wrapper.

Agency Hot Spots

Want to work at an agency? Consider a role in healthcare or precision marketing. Those are the top growth areas in an industry that’s cut thousands of jobs since March, Business Insider reports. Holding companies are staffing up in these areas because they’re relatively insulated from the pandemic. Healthcare was the only division that grew at Omnicom in Q2, even as the company cut 6,100 employees. Now, Omnicom Health Group is seeking a group strategy director to the tune of $250,000 per year. Publicis, WPP and IPG are also on the hunt for senior executives at their healthcare agencies, and Dentsu is hiring across multiple performance marketing roles for its media agencies. Demand for chief diversity officers is also spiking as agencies reckon with their less-than-impressive past on the minority representation front.

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