As a staff reporter at AdExchanger, Alison covers advertising agencies and the digital audio landscape. Previously a copywriter at MarketSmiths, she has written digital marketing copy and produced campaigns across multiple verticals. Prior to that Alison worked in editorial at award-winning travel journalism site Fathom. She has a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Michigan.
As holding companies distribute programmatic knowledge to their operating agencies, trading desks are repositioning to stay relevant to clients. Xaxis, GroupM’s trading desk that pioneered the model of selling media to clients at a mark-up on a guaranteed CPM, will now buy for clients on guaranteed metrics that impact business performance, such as viewability and […]
When Snap reported disappointing earnings on Tuesday, it said revenue was constrained by its shift from a direct sales model to a programmatic, auction-based model. Snap’s excuse mimics one that publishers used in the early days of programmatic to explain their revenue shortfalls, and it doesn’t fully take into account immaturities and nuances in Snap’s […]
When eBay launched 22 years ago as an auction platform where buyers bid on used items, it disrupted online shopping. But as consumer shopping habits evolved and ecommerce became table stakes, eBay’s brand and marketing strategy needed a refresh to compete with new entrants. Despite tough competition and a slow pivot to ecommerce, eBay’s revenues […]
Snap said during its Q3 earnings call Tuesday that pricing pressure caused its CPMs to sink 60% year-over-year and 20% sequentially, as more advertisers switched from direct buys to using its self-serve programmatic platform. “The auction transition continued to impact Snap ad pricing during the quarter,” said chief financial officer Drew Vollero. “Most of [the […]
Gaps in Pandora’s ad tech stack slowed growth in the last quarter, CEO Roger Lynch said Thursday in his first earnings call since taking the helm. “One consistent theme I’ve heard from advertisers is that we don’t have all of the features they need to easily transact with us,” he said. “This is starting to have material impact on our revenue.” Revenue […]
Device manufacturer Lenovo wants its advertising to start contextually relevant conversations with its consumers, rather than blast them with one-way messages about its brand. “Sometimes, brands go wrong [by] looking at digital media in very a traditional way, like spending TV media online or taking ads and looking for display space,” said David Roman, chief […]
WPP, which reduced its full-year forecast Tuesday following a disappointing Q3, said it had invested mre than $7 billion on Google and Facebook this year as the No. 1 and No. 3 destinations for its clients’ media spend. NewsCorp., Twenty-First Century Fox, Sky and Foxtel all tied as the second-largest destinations for client spend. By […]
As media buying becomes more fragmented across media channels and buying platforms, agencies and clients need to stop treating it like a cost play, said Jeff Nicholson, chief media officer at VaynerMedia. “Most people are looking for operational profitability,” he said. “People are taking a simple approach to [media buying] because there’s no one calling […]
As the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers gear up for game three of the World Series on Friday, T-Mobile will be eagerly awaiting the game – and watching its Twitter feed. The wireless carrier is using Major League Baseball’s postseason to promote its home runs for hurricane relief (#HR4HR) campaign, through which it pledges […]
Brands, agencies, publishers and vendors agree that while the industry is rife with ad quality issues, programmatic isn’t the culprit. “Programmatic is not the problem,” said Shaune Kolber, programmatic creative and ad fraud manager at Dell, at AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O conference in New York City on Thursday. “It’s a way of buying. It’s not supposed […]
One of the many pressures facing holding companies is increased competition from management and IT consultancies like Accenture, Deloitte, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers. While consulting firms may not be their biggest threat today, tomorrow could be another story. Holding companies tend to work from the bottom up, focusing on marketing initiatives like creative or media strategy […]
IPG took a hit in revenue last quarter as cost-cutting clients opted to forego agency-of-record (AOR) relationships in favor of working project by project. Unfortunately for IPG, that business model doesn’t provide a consistent revenue stream, as it gives clients the ability to stop their projects. “During the third quarter, several of our largest clients […]
Publicis is still clearing up confusion among its employees, clients and investors about its offering and value prop since it acquired Sapient in early 2015. “We are currently making sure our model is clear for everyone,” CEO Arthur Sadoun said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday. “We have to start with our people so […]
Omnicom’s trading desk Accuen shrank $9 million, or 0.2% year over year, in the US this quarter because clients continue to favor fully disclosed programmatic buys, the company said Tuesday. In other markets, where nondisclosed buys have generally been more accepted by marketers, Accuen was almost flat, growing by just $2 million in the quarter. […]
UK-based Digital Audio Exchange (DAX) has acquired AudioHQ, a US-based digital audio sales rep firm that works with media clients like Major League Baseball, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Slacker. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. DAX is a programmatic audio exchange owned by UK broadcast giant Global and consisting mostly of UK-based media supply. By […]
Publicis Groupe on Wednesday launched Publicis Spine, a technology and data platform that gives its agencies access to a universal ID and a centralized team of engineers, analysts and strategists. Led by former Starcom Global Brand President Lisa Donohue, Spine is the backbone of Publicis’ goal to make business transformation a core service for clients. […]
KFC had lost its way. While the fast-food chain was growing internationally, by 2013, it had faced seven straight years of quarterly store traffic declines in the US, causing it to lose 40% of its business. Fueling the struggle was an out-of-touch brand, said CMO Kevin Hochman at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference in […]
When The Clorox Company made its first big investment in programmatic a few years ago, it helped the CPG double its market share in the cleaning category in just a few months. But a heavy focus on bottom-funnel, promotional ads caused its brand to deteriorate, said Eric Reynolds, CMO of Clorox at the ANA Masters […]
Despite a year marred by brand safety blunders, measurement errors and targeting missteps, marketers are mending ties with Facebook and Google as they place blame for the industry’s many issues on its ad tech underbelly. “Just 25% of CMOs’ digital media investment reaches target audiences,” said ANA CEO Bob Liodice during his opening remarks at […]
Ecommerce site Rue La La, which offers deals on designer fashion and goods, wants its members to have a great experience so they keep coming back. “How do we stay top of mind for our best members and encourage them to come back over long periods of time?” said Jeff Steeves, VP of marketing at […]
Pinterest wants to own the moment when consumers have an idea of what they want, but haven’t committed to a specific product or brand. “People use Pinterest to plan their lives, from the everyday, like what am I going to cook tonight or wear to a party on Saturday, to milestones like weddings, kids’ birthday […]
Since its founding in 2000, Legendary Entertainment’s slate of 50 films has certainly lived up to its name, with a lineup that includes “The Dark Knight,” “The Hangover” trilogy and “Jurassic World.” While these releases seem incredibly different, they all have something in common: hundreds of millions in marketing dollars, often spent within a six-week […]
Triad Retail Media promoted its chief customer officer, Sherry Smith, to the CEO position on Tuesday. Roger Berdusco, Triad’s former CEO, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Triad manages ad sales on major retailers’ ecom sites including Walmart, Sam’s Club, eBay, Stubhub, Staples, Toys R Us, and most recently, Barnes & Noble. But […]
IHeartRadio, the streaming app by media and radio giant iHeartMedia, puts app store reviews at the center of its customer retention strategy and product road map. “We give our users a little taste of what [the app] could be and then let them help design the road map for features and functionality,” said Rob Rowe, SVP of […]
Megan Pagliuca, former boss of Omnicom-owned Accuen, has become the first-ever chief data officer of Hearts & Science, where she will lead the agency’s charge toward identity-based media buying. Pagliuca will oversee Hearts & Science’s tools and strategy that will put individual identities at the center of not just media execution, but brand strategy and […]
Adobe said Thursday it had integrated Adobe Analytics into its Audience Manager data management platform (DMP). The integration makes it easier for marketers to combine first- and third-party data sets to deliver consistent messaging, and marketers can pull execution data back into their reporting tools for a better view of their customers. “Over the last […]
ViralGains, a video advertising platform, raised $13.5 million in a Series B funding round, the company said Thursday. The funding includes $10 million in equity investment from First Analysis and Origin Ventures and $3.5 million in debt funding from Square 1 Bank. ViralGains, which serves sequential video ads to consumers, will invest the funds into […]
Women’s fashion brand Johnny Was wanted to do influencer marketing, but paying an Instagram star or blogger to wear its clothes didn’t feel right for the brand. “What we’re looking for is authenticity,” said Rob Trauber, CEO of Johnny Was. “There are very few people we would pay to influence our products because it’s not […]
Volkswagen wanted to be a more efficient and data-driven advertiser, but felt it lacked an objective partner to help it optimize media investments. “Our management was a little bit uncomfortable with our media agency managing metrics that would tell them we needed more TV, radio or whatever,” said David Galbraith, GM of brand management and […]
Facebook’s decision to disable segments around self-reported user information, including employers, won’t significantly change the amount of spend the platform gets from B2B marketers, according to numerous agency sources. Facebook disabled targeting around self-reported segments after ProPublica revealed Thursday that advertisers can target users with anti-Semitic and derogatory terms. The ban includes employer and education […]
