COVID-19

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

Publicis Groupe, after years of struggling in North America, was on its way back to positive performance at the beginning of Q2. Then COVID-19 hit, and organic growth declined 6.8% for the quarter and 3.3% for the first half of the year. “We were really off to a good 2020,” CEO Arthur Sadoun said on […]

The direct response advertising that’s proven itself to be a resilient mainstay for other platforms during COVID-19 remains elusive for Twitter. But that’s not for a lack of trying. Twitter completed the long-promised rebuild of its ad server in the second quarter and is making progress on accelerating its performance ads road map, CEO Jack […]

Snap had an all right Q2 but warned that the ongoing pandemic could impact Q3 ad demand. Similar to last quarter, Snap did not provide guidance for Q3, although it did give investors some comfort by sharing its year-over-year revenue growth of 32% through July 19. Snap is “cautiously optimistic” that the trend could sustain […]

Keith Eadie, VP and GM of Adobe Advertising Cloud and head of product for Adobe Analytics, is a man confident enough to cut his own hair. His wife takes care of the back and the sides, and then “it’s my own doing on top,” Keith jokes from his garage (aka home office). “It’s a little […]

Consumers aren’t ready to jet around the world, but they’re getting more comfortable with domestic travel. That’s the verdict from Delta Airline’s earnings this week, which showed “a small but welcome uptick in passenger volume” in Q2, said CEO Ed Bastian on the earnings call. The activity is “being driven almost entirely by domestic leisure […]

As COVID-19 cases spike across America, the joyous reopening is on pause. (Unless you’re Disney World, because apparently the virus has no effect on the land of enchantment and childhood dreams.) But having gone through the initial shutdown in March, brands are more prepared this time around. They’re pulling back on some of the more […]

A firm handshake is an integral part of the B2B sales and marketing cycle … which is kind of tricky in a world where even elbow bumps aren’t recommended. And so with in-person meetings and events off the table, B2B marketers are getting creative with their efforts and turning to digital at an accelerated pace. […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The Cloud Bundle Google is forging major cloud infrastructure deals. In some cases, it’s attracting new business using classic tactics, like rolling out new features for Google Cloud Platform, The Wall Street Journal reports. But one interesting fact about the GCP toolkit: “Pricing varies […]

It never ends. COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns of varying degrees in states such as Texas, Florida, Arizona and California mean advertisers must once again adapt their strategies. After pausing media spend in March and April, advertisers tentatively returned in late May. But the rise of coronavirus cases in more than 30 states means they’re accelerating […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Peacock Shows Its Feathers NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which goes live tomorrow, was supposed to debut around the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – until the coronavirus pandemic ensured there would be no 2020 Olympics. Business Insider details how NBCU rearchitected its Peacock marketing campaign with the Olympics […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Rose-Tinted Glasses CMOs may be overly optimistic about the pandemic’s long-term impact. Seventy-three percent expect the negative effects to be short-lived and hold a positive outlook for performance in the next two years, according to a survey of 430 CMOs by Gartner. With this […]

Measurement is a major selling point for local TV advertisers as the economy starts to (sort of) reopen. Scale, however, has historically been a problem, and there hasn’t been enough data for broadcasters such as TEGNA to properly track user journeys to completion. On Wednesday, Alphonso, TEGNA’s long-time attribution and TV data partner, added TV […]

The increase in time spent with games during the pandemic wasn’t an aberration. People are still gaming, even with the onset of nicer weather and the fitful reopening of the economy. French game studio Gameloft saw a significant uptick in new players throughout March and April, which continued steadily into May with the arrival of […]

“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 Jim Helberg, executive vice president and chief media officer at RPA. The COVID-19 shelter-in-place dynamic has compromised many business categories and nearly toppled others. The world of commerce has been […]

In the immortal words of former House speaker Tip O’Neill: “All politics is local.” And the same can be said for reopening the US economy as states and counties across the country attempt to ease their COVID-19 restrictions. As the largest local broadcast television group in the United States, Nexstar Media Group heavily relies on […]

“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 Philip Smolin, chief strategy officer at Amobee. Society has restarted, and businesses are learning a new normal in real time. They’re adapting to changing public health measures, evolving consumer behaviors […]

AdExchanger’s newest research report, 2020 Industry Outlook: How COVID-19 Reset Digital Marketing, details how exactly the pandemic has impacted technology and data investments among the marketer and agency community. Here’s a snippet: The sky didn’t fall and the ground didn’t crumble — but nearly all segments of the global economy experienced a significant jolt from […]

After months of sheltering at home – and retail sales in the toilet – Americans are ready to shop. Retail sales in the United States were up nearly 18% in May after record lows in March and April, according to the US Census Bureau’s most recent monthly retail trade report, released on Tuesday. And hey, it’s encouraging […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. April Showers, May Flowers Retail sales surged in May, recovering 63% of their losses from March and April. While this is a sign of recovery, Reuters reports, the United States economy isn’t out of the hole, especially since many states have rising COVID-19 infections. […]

“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 Doug Weaver, founder and CEO at Upstream Group. Throughout this pandemic many of us have managed our vision of the future by making it about the past. We talk about […]

Managed service just isn’t worth it for Adobe anymore. Adobe will phase out what CEO Shantanu Narayen called “transaction-driven solutions,” or low-margin, “resource-intensive,” largely IO-based network buys within Adobe Advertising Cloud. “These offerings are no longer core to our overall value proposition of delivering customer experience management, nor are they contributing to our subscription-based bookings […]

America’s reopening is well under way, for better (Yay, economy!) or for worse. (Coronavirus cases are spiking across numerous states.) Given the inconsistency with which the country is reopening – policies differ at the state, regional and even local levels – how should advertisers think about reengaging? Have no doubt – advertisers that went dark […]

Mosaic Group, IAC’s global app division, is probably one of the biggest mobile app developers you’ve never heard of. It owns 40 utility apps, including RoboKiller, the largest spam call blocker in the United States; iTranslate, the translation app with the greatest penetration after Google Translate; and the hugely popular Daily Burn fitness app. Mosaic […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Do The Math MediaMath is pursuing strategic options, including a potential sale, Digiday reports. MediaMath has more than $500 million in debt and investments to recoup, so it’s a tough sell. Retailers such as Walmart and Target might have the balance sheets, but not […]

“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 Bruno Gralpois, co-founder and principal at Agency Mania Solutions. We are all too familiar with the chain reaction produced when one event sets off a series of inevitable events. Today’s economic […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. TV Pullback Television ad revenues will drop 12% this year, according to MoffettNathanson – a loss the research firm WARC pegs at $25.5 billion. Despite a surge in viewership, with people stuck at home, advertisers have slashed budgets by more than 40%. Lowe’s, for […]

For better or for worse, the country is starting to reopen. But that doesn’t mean advertisers are simply flipping their media plans back on. As advertisers return to the market, they’re thinking critically about how consumer media and shopping habits have changed, and how strategies that worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the […]

An IAB report on COVID-19’s impact on ad pricing, released Thursday, found that the impact of sell-side CPM declines vary across media channels and supply sources. On the buy side, advertisers might have paused spend, but it’s not totally turned off, and large companies developing contactless ways of doing business should inspire some optimism within […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. On Again, Office Again Agencies are starting to plan for office returns. Omnicom is developing a three-phase return strategy based on local government guidelines, Campaign reports. Phase one involves returning offices to 25% occupancy with social distancing rules in place, such as wearing masks, […]