Ad Supply And Demand All Out Of Whack; Big Agencies May Skip Rescheduled Cannes

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How To Finnish The Job

In Finland, social media influencers join jobs like doctors, bus drivers and grocery store workers as “critical operators” who continue working during a crisis. It seems like a strange designation (especially in the United States, where some influencers have set a poor example during the public health crisis). But the Finnish government has about 1,500 influencers in an emergency information network that it considers critical to inform younger citizens, who aren’t reachable by TV, print or radio, Politico reports. “Some people trust social media influencers more than the media,” said Tero Koskinen, the head of preparedness for the media section of the Finnish national emergency supply organization.

Topsy-Turvy

The natural equilibrium of content consumption and advertising demand has been knocked extremely out of whack by the coronavirus outbreak. “For the first time in history, you’re probably going to have the highest point of media usage in the history of the United States and the lowest point of advertising in the US,” ad industry vet Tim Armstrong, CEO of the DTC investment firm dtx, told The Information. What’s most at risk? Well, for one, the OOH category will see wholesale ad spend pullbacks, Armstrong said. “Anything that is not trackable and ROI centric is going to get hit. The further you get away from the ability to track results, you are going to have more people pull back from [it] more quickly.”

Cannes We Sit This One Out?

Agency holding companies may pull out of Cannes Lions this year. IPG CEO Michael Roth sent a memo saying to stop award submissions until September. WPP said it would halt all non-discretionary spending “including travel, hotels and the costs of award shows.” At Omnicom, there are “rumblings” of a pullback on awards shows in 2020, and Dentsu Aegis Network called for “an alternative awards approach.” Cannes will have a different look and feel in the future, if agencies rethink what they spend on the event. The big question remains: Will brands go? “The danger of staying away from Cannes is that … your client could be left sipping Negronis with your competitor while you’re staying your distance,” R3 principal analyst Greg Paull told Ad Age.

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