Agencies

Vista Equity Partners’ plan to buy a majority stake in Integral Ad Science – valuing the company at $820 million, according to AdExchanger sources, or up to $850 million, according to Axios – underscores the ongoing importance of ad verification and the pressure these vendors face to grow their product offering to remain competitive. “There’s […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Playing Nice As he throws his energy into a new marketing investment vehicle, Martin Sorrell has no plans to undermine WPP Group, where he remains the eighth largest investor, Reuters reports. Reuters spoke with another big WPP stakeholder, Jupiter Asset Management fund manager Alastair […]

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem…

Deloitte Digital is a fast-growing consultant-owned agency making waves in the industry. Deloitte’s agency subsidiary has more than 10,000 global employees from acquisitions such as creative shop Heat, creative agency Acne, Polish agency Digital One, design agency Flow and consultancy Daemon Quest, and grew 31% year-over-year in 2017. With $4 billion in 2017 revenue, Ad […]

As many expected, former WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell isn’t quitting without a fight after being boxed out of his company in April. Sky News reported late Tuesday that the longtime CEO and industry legend had acquired Derriston Capital, a so-called “cash shell” listed on the London Stock Exchange, with plans to turn it into […]

Varick Media Management said Wednesday that former Xaxis executive Paul Dolan will join the company as its first-ever CEO. Varick, launched in 2008 as one of the first agency trading desks, has always had a president reporting into to senior leadership at parent company MDC Partners. Now with its first CEO, Varick is establishing a […]

Dentsu Aegis Network said Tuesday it has added Index Exchange as a tech partner for its people-based marketing initiative, M1. M1 typically targets precise audiences. The Index Exchange wrapper will find more of those needles in the haystack. Publishers already using the Index Exchange wrapper must sign a contract with Dentsu Aegis Network before tapping […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Jay Friedman, COO at Goodway Group. In the past two weeks, I’ve been to two supply-side platform (SSP) summits and spoken in depth to more than a dozen publishers. I’ve learned a lot. In short, […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Cleaning The Nest Twitter debuted a set of political advertising policies it will have in place for the 2018 US midterm elections. Read the blog post. Political advertisers will have to verify their identities and that they are based in the US, either by […]

It wasn’t a surprise to most in the industry when Accenture Interactive said Wednesday it would formally launch a programmatic services unit as part of its offer to clients. The Accenture subsidiary has been steadily wading into agency territory for years by acquiring creative and design shops. While it hasn’t made any major acquisitions in […]

More brands are bringing the strategic functions of programmatic buying in-house, relegating their agencies to specialized roles. Sixty-five percent of brands are either completely or partially buying programmatic media in-house, according to a white paper released Tuesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Data Center of Excellence. The white paper surveyed marketers at 119 US […]

IPG Mediabrands is the latest agency network to bust silos to offer clients integrated solutions. The company said Wednesday it folded mobile agency Ansible and social agency Society into search agency Reprise. The combined agencies unified under the Reprise brand because it had the broadest footprint, with 60 offices in 40-plus markets, said Tim Ringel […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Sorrell Speaks Martin Sorrell had plenty on his mind as he took the stage at Luma Partners’ DMS conference on Tuesday, so much so that moderator Terry Kawaja could hardly get a word in. Sorrell’s most surprising comments were on Amazon’s ad business. He […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Turmoil At The Top More drama at the top of WPP, as shareholders rally against Chairman Roberto Quarta’s reelection after his handling of CEO Martin Sorrell’s exit last month. The concern was sparked by a report from advisory firm Glass Lewis, which said it […]

When Marla Kaplowitz took the helm of the 101-year-old American Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4As) just over a year ago, a scathing report about agency rebates had just dropped from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). “There was an erosion of trust when that happened,” Kaplowitz said. “Everyone was guilty without any sort of […]

As holding companies slump, Accenture Interactive grows. The digital experience agency, a subsidiary of the consulting firm Accenture, grew 35% in 2017 to hit $6.5 billion in revenue, making it the biggest digital agency in the world. It’s acquired 20 digital and design agencies since its launch in 2009 to build up its offering. As […]

Martin Sorrell may be out as CEO of WPP, but he’s not done as an entrepreneur yet. “I’m going to start again,” he said at the Techonomy conference in New York City on Tuesday.  “I’m not going to go into voluntary, or involuntary, retirement.” So what’s the next act? Sorrell didn’t say, but he noted […]

GroupM’s State of Digital report, released Thursday, predicts a year of CPM inflation and ecommerce growth as the duopoly maintains its stronghold over the digital economy. Marketers in 2017 spent 44% of their digital budgets programmatically, according to the report. That’s up from 31% in 2016, and GroupM predicts it will rise to 47% in […]

WPP reported Q1 earnings on Monday for the first time without its founder and long-tenured CEO Martin Sorrell. Since Sorrell’s abrupt exit from the company earlier this month, former Wunderman CEO Mark Read and former European COO Andrew Scott have taken leadership of the company as co-COOs. Chairman Roberto Quarta has stepped in as CEO […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. FTC OK Go The Federal Trade Commission is finally at full power. More than a year into Trump’s presidency, the Senate voted Thursday to confirm a full new slate of commissioners: three Republicans and two Democrats. It was in the nick of time. Acting […]

After applying zero-based budgeting, CPGs are coming back, said IPG CEO Michael Roth during his company’s Q1 2018 earnings call Friday. Roth said CPGs are among the leading spenders for the quarter, with spend up by 10% across IPG. The growth was in part reflective of new business wins. “I’ll put it out there that […]

Dentsu Aegis-owned 360i said Wednesday that former president Jared Belsky will become CEO. Belsky was promoted to the new role after former 360i chairman Bryan Wiener left the agency to become CEO of measurement firm comScore on Monday. Sarah Hoffstetter, 360i’s previous CEO, is now chairman of the agency. “This was [a] very well-planned succession,” […]

“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 Jay Friedman, chief operating officer at Goodway Group. As the attention on Mark Zuckerberg’s recent testimonies dies down, the conversation is shifting instead to what should have been addressed. From an […]

The blockchain-based advertising marketplace NYIAX on Friday announced new leadership appointments and a partnership with Rebel AI, another blockchain ad tech startup, as it looks to scale. Bill Wise, the CEO of Mediaocean, has gone from a NYIAX adviser to executive chairman of the board and Richard Bush, formerly the company product chief, is being […]

Despite consumer outrage aimed at Facebook, Publicis Groupe’s sentiment about the platform is status quo. “The impact is not material on our business in the short or medium term,” said Steve King, CEO of Publicis Media, on the holding company’s Q1 2018 earnings call Thursday. “Facebook is a very important partner to us. They have […]

No other holding company has had its CEO as ingrained as WPP. Now WPP must keep its massive organization, with so many disparate agencies and pieces, together without Sorrell. “He was important not only as the voice, look and feel of WPP, but he was very much involved in the day-to-day operations,” said Rebecca Lieb, […]

Longtime WPP CEO Martin Sorrell’s abrupt departure Saturday shocked the industry. Sorrell, 73, is the advertising giant’s founding CEO and the only person to hold the title since 1986. But despite his age, WPP’s board never named a possible successor for the company. There are many options to choose from, said Brian Wieser, senior research […]

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell stepped down Saturday from the massive agency holding company he founded in 1985 and where he had served as CEO since 1987. WPP chairman Robert Quarta will be executive chairman until the new CEO is appointed. Mark Read, CEO of Wunderman, and Andrew Scott, WPP’s corporate development director and Europe COO, […]