Agencies

  The holding company MDC Partners was already struggling before COVID-19 decimated the US economy. But a proposed merger by Stagwell Group, first reported by AdAge late Thursday, demonstrates how the pandemic likely accelerated the end of MDC’s run as an independent public company. MDC Partners and Stagwell Group did not respond to requests for […]

  The ad market will pay for the United States government’s late lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to GroupM’s midyear global ad spend forecast. The US advertising market will shrink 9.9% this year to $207.3 billion, excluding political ad spend, which will buoy the market by $15 billion in 2020, according to […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Searching For Something? Breaking into the search engine category is hard, borderline impossible. But one familiar name is taking a new approach. Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s former SVP of ads and commerce, co-founded a search engine called Neeva that doesn’t collect user data or sell […]

At long last, Google released its sellers.json file. And the world was 5% grateful, in line with the level of completeness of Google’s file. This week on The Big Story, the AdExchanger team welcomes Jounce Media founder Chris Kane to talk about what’s missing in Google’s seller.json file. And senior editor Sarah Sluis, who spoke […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Rémi Lemonnier, co-founder at Scibids. Intelligence, success and even survival are often determined by one’s ability to adapt to change. The current crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written about the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Amanda Martin, vice president of enterprise partnerships at Goodway Group. In the media, where there are eyeballs – time spent – there are dollar signs, and where there are dollars, there is fraud. A […]

Unlike the 2008-2009 recession which had a similar impact across all businesses, the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic has been more hit-or-miss – and it has mostly missed digital advertising. While some businesses like brick-and-mortar retail dwindled, others adapted and grew as ecommerce surged. In media, sheltering-in-place created skyrocketing consumption on digital video and […]

  Subscribe to AdExchanger Talks on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts.  When Merkle launched as a direct and database marketing agency 30 years ago, it had no idea how relevant these skill sets would be to digital marketing in the future. Fast-forward to today, and Merkle’s expertise handling first-party data, building CRM databases and […]

Brand safety is not a static concept. COVID-19 has surfaced how using brand safety as a blunt instrument can de-monetize news publishers during times when information is needed most. And as the pandemic accelerates the adoption of connected TV, digital out of home (DOOH), digital audio and gaming, brands must have a nuanced approach to […]

Ninety-five percent of marketers have changed their 2020 marketing plans since March, according to a Dentsu Aegis Network survey, reflecting just how acutely the pandemic has heightened the need for flexibility. “It’s either been an optimization, a budget cut, a budget increase or shifting money throughout the year to better match new consumer behaviors,” said […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Social Media Vs. Trump Snapchat is the latest social media network to enforce policies that restrain President Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric. The company said it will no longer promote Trump’s account on the Snapchat Discover feed due to comments he made that could incite violence […]

  The US agency sector will lay off about 52,000 jobs over the next two years as media spend declines 23%, Forrester predicts. Agencies are projected to cut 35,167 jobs in 2020 and 16,578 in 2021. The global picture is even starker, with the big six agency holding companies poised to eliminate an additional 49,695 […]

TripleLift is trying to encourage brands to buy ads next to news content, and has curated a group of 1,600 news publishers into a private marketplace. Those buying within the Help Journalism PMP also won’t have to pay TripleLift’s ad tech fee for the rest of Q2. GroupM has signed more than a dozen of its […]

For better or for worse, the country is starting to reopen. But that doesn’t mean advertisers are simply flipping their media plans back on. As advertisers return to the market, they’re thinking critically about how consumer media and shopping habits have changed, and how strategies that worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the […]

Forrester’s Media Agency Wave, released Tuesday, gave the highest ratings to the agencies that used data platforms to improve both media execution and ad creatives and created a more centralized, integrated experience for their clients. IPG media agency UM led the 10 media agencies evaluated for the report. To qualify, each agency needed $10 billion […]

MightyHive, the programmatic and data arm under S4 Capital, said Tuesday it has merged with data and analytics firm Digodat in Latin America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Digodat has more than 40 employees and offices in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia. The firm expands MightyHive’s Latin American presence beyond Brazil, where it […]

The remote work experiment caused by COVID-19 will transform agencies. Automation will become even more integral to agency workflows as consumer media habits shift, changing the nature of talent and services. Highly office-driven cultures will shift to a more remote, distributed workforce, as companies reduce their real estate holdings to drive efficiencies during the economic […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. On Again, Office Again Agencies are starting to plan for office returns. Omnicom is developing a three-phase return strategy based on local government guidelines, Campaign reports. Phase one involves returning offices to 25% occupancy with social distancing rules in place, such as wearing masks, […]

Acxiom and Matterkind (née Cadreon) are tightening their partnership with a new addressable media solution for Acxiom clients released Thursday. For the first time, brands will be able to work with Acxiom for addressable media buying through the Addressable Advertising service. The media buys will be powered by Matterkind. More than 2,000 brands already work […]

The departure of long-time television investment executives at two of the world’s largest media agency groups, Omnicom Media Group and GroupM, underscores the changing television marketplace, accelerated by the pandemic. At GroupM, changes to the investment team began in 2016, when longtime chief investment officer Rino Scanzoni left. He was replaced by another investment vet, […]

Kieley Taylor will speak about commerce and video opportunities on Instagram at AdExchanger’s Programmatic IO Innovation Labs, taking place virtually May 18-21. Of all the trends accelerating due to COVID-19, the uptick in ecommerce is the one most likely to stick – and Instagram is well suited to benefit, says Kieley Taylor, global VP of social […]

  While advertisers can find bargain-basement pricing for quality reach on social and programmatic display, it’s a different story for premium video formats such as CTV, according to a report aggregating pricing trends across Omnicom Media Group’s client base. The report, published by Mark Oster, director of trading operations at Omnicom Media Group, found that […]

Subscribe to AdExchanger Talks on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts. There is a mix shift underway caused by COVID-19 that will affect channels differently, according to Angela Steele, CEO of Carat USA. The best positioned media sellers can provide a clear line of sight into TV and video […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Bruno Gralpois, co-founder and principal at Agency Mania Solutions. In times of crisis, traditional playbooks go out the window. Under pressure, with mounting concerns and increased tension, the risks of mishandling […]

  The art of the pitch has changed since the pandemic, with employees having to let go of body language, physical cues and handshakes as they reorient around video conferencing. While pitches got delayed thanks to the lockdown, now they’re back in full force. So not much has changed in terms of volume, but meetings […]

Horizon Media said Thursday it has partnered with TransUnion to provide the people-based identity layer for its data platform, Blu. TransUnion’s deterministic identity graph covers all US adult individuals with privacy compliant, PII-based data spanning names, addresses, emails, mobile IDs and home IP addresses. Clients can append first- and third-party data sets to TransUnion’s identity […]

CEO and founder Lara Vandenberg had been planning to launch her new venture, Publicist, in mid-March. Then COVID-19 happened. But the idea behind the startup, an online platform that connects freelance marketing talent with brands and agencies, is doubly relevant in a rocky economic environment. Publicist launched on Tuesday. Vandenberg had been testing the platform […]

IPG CEO Michael Roth believes that post-pandemic, aspects of work-from-home life will definitely stick at agencies, and business travel policies will be dramatically changed. “Working from home has turned out to be fairly attractive,” he said. “It’s amazing how the world and commerce go on.” Overall, the tone from IPG clients is pretty erratic. Travel, […]

Publicis Groupe released an outcomes-based solution on Thursday aimed at midsize companies (MSBs) that provides a money-back guarantee. “If the desired KPI isn’t met, we’ll refund 100% of the client’s entire investment,” said Bryan Kennedy, CEO of Epsilon, which is powering the solution, called The Pact, for its new parent company. There are around 200,000 […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Primed For TV  Amazon beefed up its ad-supported OTT ranks with the hire of Maggie Zhang, former EVP of video research and insights at Dentsu Aegis Network. At Amazon, Zhang will develop reach and measurement products for Prime Video advertisers in a role that […]