agency

Omnicom is acquiring IPG. We unpack the proposed deal with ad agency expert Brian Wieser, founder of the constancy Madison and Wall.

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” ~Julia Child Digital transformation isn’t “one size fits all.” It requires a custom mix of company culture, centralization and collaboration. Digital transformation is the process of using technology to create new business processes. One component includes programmatic […]

Industry Preview is a special, limited-run audio series, featuring interviews with key leaders in marketing, media and technology who share their predictions and key priorities for 2021. This podcast is sponsored by IBM Watson Advertising. With almost a year of the pandemic under our belt (ugh), brands have figured out a way forward. In many cases, […]

“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 Chris Ross, VP analyst at Gartner. There have been plenty of splashy headlines in recent years about big brands launching or expanding in-house agencies with the aim of reducing agency […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. No Reservations Donald Trump’s reelection campaign spent big money to book prime real estate on YouTube by grabbing the masthead in the days leading up to Nov. 3. But now that sort of real estate domination will no longer be an option. Google said […]

  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 […]

The Big Story is a breezy new podcast featuring a roundtable of AdExchanger editors talking about the biggest stories from the past week. It is available wherever you subscribe to podcasts. The temperature is cooling, the leaves are falling and the skies are turning the color of slate. It’s a time for mystery. This week […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Slow Death What happened to the cable bundle? While the reason people are dropping their cable subscriptions is obvious (they’re expensive, relative to streaming options), what’s less obvious is how the cord-cutting trend started, Bloomberg reports. Many blame Netflix, because talent and shareholders looking […]

AdExchanger Talks is a podcast focused on data-driven marketing. Subscribe here. This episode of AdExchanger Talks is supported by Tealium. Programmatic may have cut its teeth as a direct response medium, but advertisers are also starting to embrace it for upper-funnel campaigns. However, if branding is your goal, the rules of engagement are different. This week on AdExchanger […]

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

To date, IBM’s internal digital agency Interactive Experience (iX) has flown under the radar, through quiet, organic growth – reaching a global headcount of 10,000 employees. That changed Thursday when IBM iX – not to be confused with IBM’s consulting unit Global Services – revealed its first-ever acquisition: the digital/creative agency Resource/Ammirati, which has 300 […]

Judging from last week’s news, it’s tempting to say GroupM has got the programmatic religion. But that might be selling the holding company short. WPP Group’s media-buying arm, which controls $106 billion in global ad spending, last week promoted Xaxis CEO Brian Lesser to a big new job running its North America business. His elevation […]

Marketers are known for a near obsession with data – metrics, iteration and ROI – but a string of CMOs at this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing conference avoided the firm ground of data and measurement in favor risk-taking and experiential concerns. “Advertising isn’t dead, but it’s craving courage,” said Arby’s CMO Robert Lynch, pointing to […]

Mobile agency Fetch is in serious growth mode. It’s been just shy of a year since Fetch became part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, which reportedly shelled out around $48 million in November 2014 to buy the London-based agency. Although Fetch still maintains its global headquarters in London, CEO and co-founder James Connelly said that […]

“Marketer’s Note” is a regular column informing marketers about the rapidly evolving, digital marketing technology ecosystem. This week it is written by Lizzie Komar, Associate Analyst, AdExchanger Research.   Last week, during an on-stage conversation at AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O event in San Francisco, Omnicom Digital (OMD) chief Jonathan Nelson described the agency’s evolving approach to technology, data, partnerships, […]

Interpublic Group’s (IPG) integrated agency Hill Holliday has launched its own programmatic unit, headed up by EVP and Chief Media Officer Cindy Stockwell. Faithful followers of the agency will recall this isn’t the first time Hill Holliday has offered programmatic-type services. But changing client demands spurred the agency’s decision two months ago to move away […]

When Dewayne Hankins moved from his marketing post at AEG – which owns several professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Kings hockey club – to a new job as VP of marketing and digital for pro basketball’s Portland Trail Blazers, the No. 1 imperative was clear: Think young. Hankins had followed his boss, Blazers CEO […]

Updated 7/2/14, 3:22 p.m. For the second time in less than a year, CRM and database marketing agency Merkle is on the acquisition prowl. This time, it gobbled up RKG, an agency that provides paid search, social marketing and comparison shopping engine services. With the RKG acquisition, Merkle CEO David Williams said the agency is […]

Full-service digital agency Primacy began in 1994 as Acsys Interactive. In 2012, it rebranded to emphasize its presence in digital. Also, prospects weren’t always clear how to pronounce Acsys. (It was “Access”, for the record.) The agency, still independently owned by President Stan Valencis, has traditionally gotten traction via word of mouth. “We get a […]

Both agencies and ad partners draw comparisons between Twitter’s launch on Thursday of retargeting product Tailored Audiences and Facebook Exchange (FBX). Just how technically similar they are remains to be seen, but the industry is buzzing about the ad product’s cross-channel targeting potential. We asked some Tailored Audience partners, media agencies and a beta tester to […]

As analysis of the merger of Publicis and Omnicom Group rages on, one of the critical challenges ahead for the combined entity appears to be “conflict of interest.” AdExchanger’s Zach Rodgers reported yesterday when the merger announcement was made, Omnicom CEO John Wren was non-chalant about potential conflicts: “Shared clients contributed over $6.5 billion in […]

In a recent conversation with San Francisco-based independent agency Mediasmith and its CEO David Smith, AdExchanger discussed the company’s technology practice and how it balances the need to stay ahead of the automation of advertising while servicing the client. For CEO Smith, it begins with what he calls the Mediasmith tech stack. See it. AdExchanger: […]

Last week, media communications agency Starcom USA announced that former Hill-Holliday executive Phil Geyskens has been hired as EVP/analytics & development director. He will join Starcom’s Managing Board and report to CEO Lisa Donohue. According to the press release, Geyskens’ new role is “to find and tell data stories, which includes inventing new interfaces, visualizations, […]

In spite of the automation that technology continues to bring to media, the services layer remains as valuable as ever – maybe more so – as talented people put the technology over the proverbial finish line. For some ad tech companies with complex offerings, a robust service layer has been the natural outcome of selling […]

Mike Cassidy is CEO of Undertone, an advertising technology and services company. Cassidy recently spoke to AdExchanger about his company and industry trends. Click below or scroll for more: Is Undertone An Ad Network? The Agency Client and Blurring Lines Programmatic Buying’s Effect On Building “The Stack” Momentum and Milestones AdExchanger.com: People think of Undertone […]

Miami-based Media 8 is one of a growing number of indie digital shops to dabble in programmatic ad buying. Since mid-2011 the Hispanic and travel-focused agency has brought exchange-traded display media to clients including General Mills and Dish Latino. It has done so courtesy of a relationship with trading desk partner Accordant Media, which provides a […]

Mark Miller is SVP and CRM Practice Lead at Publicis agency Digitas. Miller is also the author of two recent articles: “The Three Tenets Of New CRM” and “Three Steps To Dealing With Data Paralysis.” He recently discussed the world of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its implications for audience buying with AdExchanger. AdExchanger: Does […]

Ronald Paul is CEO of QUISMA, a European performance marketing agency and a subsidiary of WPP Group’s GroupM. AdExchanger: How do you define a performance marketing agency today? RP: Whereas performance marketing was once a single online marketing channel, with brands only paying for leads or sales generated via advertising on third party publishers’ sites, […]

Darryl Gehly is president of Isobar, a digital creative agency. He spoke to AdExchanger.com recently about his agency and industry trends. AdExchanger.com: First, a bit of background on Isobar and how you position your agency? DG: Isobar is part of the Aegis Holding Company. We’re integrated, as in not doing media buying. Therefore, as part […]

Mark Pavia was recently hired as Executive VP, Digital Managing Director at Starcom USA, a Publicis agency. Read a bit more in Ad Age. Pavia discussed his new position and the evolving role of digital specialists within the agency. AdExchanger.com: What attracted you to the EVP role at Starcom? MP: It was a number of […]