Every agency holding company is grappling with similar questions: How to add value at a time when automation puts jobs at risk? How to avoid a race to the bottom with marketer RFPs? And how to mollify shareholders, who look for fatter margins and growing revenue?
For Publicis, the answer has been to acquire retail media and ad tech, like CitrusAd, Profitero, Epsilon and Conversant. But Publicis now finds itself in an interesting pickle: The acquired tech is no longer independent.
Publicis could thus steer its clients toward this tech, and rival agencies have an incentive to steer their clients away from it. These technology arms gather valuable data, which could be used to win pitches or help other clients, raising questions of independence and interdependence.
On this week’s podcast, we discuss the future of the agency holding company with AdExchanger Senior Editor James Hercher, who wrote about Publicis’ strategy last week, after the company posted strong quarterly earnings.
The end of GARM
Then we talk about the shutdown of GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media). X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, sued the brand safety standards organization under antitrust law, alleging the brands in the organization were colluding with each other and violated antitrust laws by developing a common set of principles.
Two days after being sued by X, GARM chose to shut down. Our senior editor, Anthony Vargas, walks us through the lawsuit and its broader context, from the political hearings over GARM to the status of copycat lawsuits. With this lawsuit, you want to pay attention to the replies and retweets (er, reposts, as they are now called).
