Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Publicis Groupe’s Q1 Report
The merger of equals with Omnicom is underway but moving more slowly than anticipated, according to Publicis Chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy. On Thursday, Publicis reported earnings and an organic growth rate of 3.3% for 2014’s first quarter. Stats showed revenues increased by 2.2% from 2013. Lévy mused, “Added to the double-digit growth in digital activities and the marked improvement in healthcare, these are good reasons that allow us to feel confident about 2014.” Meeting its growth objective of over 4% for the full year, the company said it was on track to reach growth and profitability targets for Publicis’ strategic road map for 2018. Read the press release.
Nielsen Ratings For Mobile
On Thursday, Nielsen launched the final technical trial of Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings’ expansion to mobile. Over the past 18 months, BrightRoll and TubeMogul have fully integrated the measurement suite. The Online Campaign Ratings for mobile will use a similar approach to the company’s computer and tablet browser measurement. Megan Clarken, Nielsen’s EVP, said that cross-platform measurement across content and advertising will help publishers unlock “the true value of their inventory, and advertisers will know the real extent of their campaign release.” Press release.
Beckon Raises $8M
Startup Beckon raised $8 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced Thursday. Beckon helps marketers track ad spend using data analytics, and already works with clients such as StubHub, Converse and Nokia. Of market competition, Beckon’s CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Zeszut, said, “The big enterprise players (SAP, IBM, SAS, etc.) have deep data integration and analytical capabilities, no doubt. But they offer classically terrible user experiences and rely heavily on services to deliver, so they have very long timelines (usually measured in years) and very big price tags.” Read more via TechCrunch.
Ads On Your Toaster
According to a recent survey conducted by Voxburner, 67% of 16-to-24-year-olds cite data security as their No. 1 concern when purchasing an Internet-connected product. Voxburner’s findings showed that only 6% of pollees understood the Internet of Things. Head of insights Luke Mitchell said, “We’re seeing young people becoming more worried about their data and control of personal information. Respondents can see that the Internet of Things potentially means more of their life is exposed digitally.” The Drum has the story.
Quarterly Board Meeting
True[X] (was Social Vibe) has a few new board members. The New York Times reports that Jonathan Miller, the former CEO of AOL, and Mich Mathews, the former CMO of Microsoft, have joined, along with co-COO of News Corp. James Murdoch. Read it. Now, there’s a board meeting! Related: Read our January story on True[X].
But Wait. There’s More!
- Do Consumers Really Want Targeted Ads? – WSJ
- Retailer Uses FB Custom Audiences To Drive INSANE ROI – Inside Facebook
- Marketing Budgets In UK Rise At Record Rate (subscription) – The FT
- VoltDB Raises $8M To Drive Sales, Boost ‘Smart’ Tech Development – BostInno
- In Run-Up to IPO, Yodle Makes Its Bet On Local Marketing Automation – Street Fight
- Earnings and Sales From Google Disappoint – NYT
- Enplug Drags Digital Signage Into The Social Era, Raises $2.5M – PandoDaily
- What M&A Means For Programmatic Marketers – MediaPost
