Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
A Win Is A Win?
Blue-chip accounts are coveted on Madison Ave, but it’s impossible to tell which clients are really the key wins for the agencies involved.
Winning the McDonald’s or Coca-Cola account comes with cachet and solid earned media, but the shiniest brands insist upon the toughest terms – and having the most people on their teams. So those accounts aren’t necessarily highly profitable.
Aside from its contact with the brand, the agency’s margin can shift quite a bit depending on the media mix. Two companies with similar brand recognition and business lines could also have very different procurement standards.
This comes up because IPG Mediabrands had a recent round of layoffs, Digiday reports, particularly stemming from a few rough client losses.
“BMW was one of the most profitable accounts for UM, because distribution of spend was digital-heavy,” says one source. “They were willing to spend and didn’t have procurement getting heavily involved.”
Ouch
US District Court Judge James Donato – an Obama appointee, it should be noted – is presiding over the antitrust suit between Epic Games (the maker of Fortnite) and Google. And he went off at Google this week for deleting and suppressing relevant materials to the case – mainly internal communications.
He accuses Google of intentionally deleting material evidence, routinely deleting certain internal chats and encouraging employees to label potentially incriminating evidence as privileged and confidential in messages. Product execs would also mark routine business notes as privileged – something typically reserved for attorney-client relationships, Donato says.
He called the obfuscation “the most disturbing” he’s seen in a decade on the bench and an “egregious” breach, reports Law360.
The judge’s exhortations happened outside the presence of the jury, according to Law360. But Donato agreed to Epic’s request to include a line to the jury regarding Google’s deliberate destruction of relevant evidence. Which is not the last thing you want the jury to hear when they file out.
Donato also vowed to identify who inside Google and/or its outside counsel team is responsible for the suppressed evidence.
“That day is coming,” he says.
MediaMath’s Second Act
Infillion plans to resuscitate MediaMath by year’s end, Business Insider reports.
Infillion acquired MediaMath’s bankrupt DSP and DMP business for $22 million in September. It’s since rehired 40 former MediaMath employees, including its SVP of client operations, VP of engineering and VP of product management.
CEO Rob Emrich believes Infillion – which also owns a mix of ad tech, martech and location data solutions – can turn MediaMath’s assets into a $100 million business within four years.
To do so, Infillion must win back wary and dubious MediaMath clients and vendor partners. Many SSPs in particular suffered, since they had to claw back unpaid ad revenue to publishers.
Infillion has portrayed the revival as a fresh start – despite the fact that it counts former MediaMath CEO Joe Zawadzki as an advisor. But some partners have been unwilling to sign contracts with the name “MediaMath” in them.
However, there are signs that the resurrection might take. Infillion says two agency holdcos and multiple Fortune 100 brands are on board to test its version of MediaMath, and it’s working to rekindle relationships with old SSP partners.
But Wait, There’s More!
Podcast companies are beginning to advertise like Hollywood studios. [WSJ]
Make no mistake – AI is owned by Big Tech. [MIT Tech Review]
The church of recurring revenue. [The Rebooting]
News sites hesitate to commit to Threads next year despite growing engagement. [Digiday]
How Jessica Lessing’s The Information has survived a decade of media tumult. [Vanity Fair]
You’re Hired!
Dentsu hires Shenda Loughnane as global brand president of Dentsu X, its media and comms division. [Adweek]
Mediavine announces Jamie Lieberman as chief legal officer. [release]
Claritas appoints Rex Briggs as its chief AI officer. [release]
