The transparency train is making its next stop in Latin America. On Tuesday, a company called Exiber came out of stealth with a raison d’être centered on what it calls “uncomplicated and transparent programmatic marketing.” Based in Miami, Brazil and Mexico, Exiber bills itself as a data-driven agency for LatAm and US multicultural customers looking for […]
For the big six holding companies, 2016 was a year of acquisitions, restructures, reviews and leadership shakeups, centering expertise around data and digital. But they also engaged in strategies at odds with best practices and client interests. Faced with shrinking margins and rising technology costs, holding companies found new ways to eke revenue – methods […]
Agencies live in a dog-eat-dog world, fighting for diminishing brand budgets. How can a new agency compete against giants with huge war chests and tons of employees? For Gale Partners, a two-and-a-half-year-old digital agency that began as a systems integrator, the trick is to frame its data and strategy capabilities in a way that solves a specific […]
Agencies are developing skills and business models around advanced TV buying, just as they once did for programmatic buying. GroupM has a dedicated department in Modi Media. IPG Mediabrands’ Cadreon, Dentsu Aegis’ Amplifi, Omnicom and Publicis Groupe also have added expertise. Even independent agencies like Horizon Media are building out advanced TV centers. “Advanced TV” […]
A few weeks ago, WPP initiated [m]Platform, a unit designed to consolidate data and tech expertise throughout the GroupM media agency families. Most of [m]Platforms’ executive leadership came from Xaxis. But where does that leave Xaxis? With global CEO Brian Gleason leaving to oversee [m]Platform, EMEA CEO Nicolas Bidon became Xaxis’ top dog – as […]
Not all network agencies are beholden to their holding company trading desks. Dentsu-owned 360i, for one, “has never spent a dime with Amnet,” said Chairman Bryan Wiener. Rather, it buys all media – roughly $1.5 billion worth – in-house. And programmatic, he said, should be integrated into 360i’s “overall offering.” 360i originally focused on search […]
Both WPP’s GroupM and IPG’s Magna pinpoint 2017 as the year digital ad spend finally surpasses linear TV, according to forecasts each media-buying unit released Monday. Magna noted that digital grew 17% globally this year to $178 billion, contributing $23 billion to the total $26 billion growth in ad spend this year. GroupM predicts that digital will […]
WPP-owned GroupM said Tuesday it will centralize its tech and data expertise worldwide into a unit called [m]Platform. The division will be helmed by Xaxis CEO Brian Gleason with key executives drawn from Xaxis and across GroupM. “The collective mission of [m]Platform revolves around technology, data and expertise,” Gleason told AdExchanger. “The mission is how […]
Programmatic ad spend will grow faster globally than all other buying methods in 2017, according to Zenith’s Programmatic Marketing Forecast, released Monday. Zenith also reported that premium buying models like private marketplaces (PMPs) are taking off as RTB tapers off. Globally, programmatic will account for 64% of digital display spend by 2018, or $64.1 billion. “We […]
Agencies often select a few “preferred partners” instead of dealing with numerous demand-side platforms (DSPs). While agencies, barring a client preference, should choose a DSP that can access the best inventory at the best rates for a given campaign, many buying platforms offer volume-based discounts. And because agencies feel the squeeze on margins, they might […]
Has performance-based pay finally arrived for agencies? Traditionally, marketing services firms were paid on a set scope of billable hours worked by each employee on an account. But a growing number of advertisers are pushing for more tangible, ROI-based remuneration. The biggest recent example is McDonald’s. The quick-serve advertiser’s RFP process specified that agency compensation […]
This is the fifth installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with Nazanin Jazayeri, Andrew Klein, Ella Chinitz and Freddie Liversidge. Before Shamsa Jafri joined Los Angeles-based agency Innocean in February, its data and analytics practice was lacking, restricted to activities like report polling and data […]
Publicis Groupe has merged digital agencies SapientNitro and Razorfish, it announced Thursday. The combined agency, SapientRazorfish, will sit under the Publicis.Sapient umbrella, which houses the holding company’s digital and technology assets. SapientNitro CEO Alan Wexler will become CEO of SapientRazorfish and co-CEO of Publicis.Sapient as current CEO Alan Herrick moves to a chairman role. Chip […]
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) appointed Jonathan Steuer as its chief research officer in May because the worlds of data-driven advertising and traditional TV buying were quickly coming together. Steuer, who spent five years previously at TiVo, clearly understands both worlds. As such, OMG’s syndicated and investment research teams both report to him. “Historically, there’s research […]
GroupM is refocusing investments around addressable and data-driven media. WPP’s media investment management arm will be split into two pillars, Media Investment and Platform Solutions, the company said Monday. The Media Investment arm will refocus GroupM’s investment strategies around data and platforms, while the new Platform Solutions division will centralize and scale GroupM technology used […]
360i – the digital agency recently recognized by the Forrester Wave – prides itself on its ability to adapt to rapid changes in technology. “Marketers need agencies that are adaptable, but still retain the fundamentals,” CEO Sarah Hofstetter said. Forrester singled out 360i’s strong data chops, its ability to facilitate collaboration rather than competition between […]
This is the fourth installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with Nazanin Jazayeri, Andrew Klein and Ella Chinitz. When Freddie Liversidge joined Essence in 2013, the agency’s programmatic practice he was tasked with building out had just three people. Now it has […]
When Publicis Groupe shed its trading desk model, the holding company had to train employees across its media and digital agencies to execute programmatic campaigns. The transition was led by Carol Sinko, VP of global learning strategy at Publicis Media, and Rick Ransome, associate director of global learning strategy. On Wednesday, they told attendees at […]
After a six-month sabbatical, Chief Revenue Officer Laura Desmond will leave Publicis Groupe due to a family health emergency, the company announced Thursday. (Press release) Desmond’s term with the organization will end on Dec. 31. Rishad Tobaccowala, the holding company’s chief strategy and growth officer who performed Desmond’s responsibilities during the sabbatical, will continue executing […]
IPG plans to boost investments in data analytics and coordinate its database across all its agencies, CEO Michael Roth said Friday during the holding company’s Q3 earnings call. Read the release. “That will be a key focus for us in 2017 – to make sure all the agencies at IPG have a consistent offering in […]
Publicis Groupe’s organic growth rate was stagnant in the third quarter (up only 0.2%, a decrease from 0.7% growth in the same period last year), due to economic uncertainties related to the US election, Brexit and the surge of media reviews in 2015. Revenue for Q3 was 2.32 billion euros (or about $2.5 billion), down […]
Less than a year old, Hearts & Science, Omnicom Group’s data-driven, integrated agency, has grabbed major accounts from rival holding companies. With Procter & Gamble and AT&T, the agency gained the two largest media accounts in the world within the first four months of its existence. Now Hearts & Science is starting to expand internationally, with […]
Ever since Publicis Groupe disaggregated its trading desk, VivaKi, programmatic has been searching for a new home within the holding company. DigitasLBi is taking an integrated approach by embedding programmatic experts into account teams. “I’m not looking to create a long-term programmatic team silo,” said Carol Chung, who became head of programmatic, North America, at […]
As WPP’s direct marketing agency, Wunderman began collecting data about individual consumers before it was the currency of the digital world. “Data was the lifeline of this place to begin with,” said Wunderman’s New York president, Jamie Gallo. “It was very pedestrian and primal data, but it was what the agency was built on.” As […]
Aside from some fiery rhetoric in the immediate aftermath of the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) transparency report, the overall response of agencies to the trade group’s findings has been fairly muted. But independent agencies Mediasmith and Empower MediaMarketing have taken a stand by ending their memberships with the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) […]
The ANA’s recent media transparency probe alleged certain opaque practices and pricing models among holding company trading desks that didn’t always align with the best interest of clients. Programmatic Mechanics thinks it’s in a good position to change some of those perceptions, given its independent status. “We don’t have to be concerned about hitting corporate sales targets […]
Since Merkle began in the ’70s as a database marketing agency, its purview has expanded to include creative services, CRM and search and programmatic ad buying. It’s been an active year for the agency, which has 3,400 people across 21 offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Formerly one of the biggest independent agencies in […]
Carat has a leg up on holding companies scrambling to integrate siloed teams. As part of Dentsu Aegis Network, the media agency operates on a shared profit-and-loss (P&L) statement by country across the network. That allows it to pull in specialist media capabilities to better serve its clients, without those teams competing financially. “This idea […]
MDC Partners’ trading desk Varick Media has witnessed an exodus of numerous senior executives on the road to a new organizational hierarchy, first laid out in 2014. Many have recently left the trading desk – or transferred to sister agencies – as the holding company centralized Varick’s operations (and moves to offices housing the agency Assembly by the […]
By Kelly Liyakasa and Alison Weissbrot Agencies are becoming more consultative. Consultants are buying creative agencies. And systems integrators are dabbling in client strategy. “Everyone talks about online vs. offline media or creative vs. media, but when a marketer wants to change the consumer journey, we’re talking new operating models and governance,” said Glen Hartman, […]
