Agencies

TV viewership is fragmenting faster than the advertising industry’s ability to adapt to it all. And advertisers bracing for the 2017 upfront season aren’t entirely satisfied with the big measurement companies. Consider Nielsen’s delayed Total Content Ratings product and comScore’s accounting snafu and anticipated delisting. “People are in dispute about what the measurement process should be,” […]

DigitasLBi had started to grow beyond its core purpose: to be the data and insights shop within the Publicis.Sapient family. When global CEO Luke Taylor stepped down two weeks ago, Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis.Sapient in AMEA and APAC, also became global President of DigitasLBi. As president, Vaz will have oversight of DigitasLBi’s brand strategy and positioning, […]

“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 Jay Friedman, chief operating officer at Goodway Group. One thing consistently mentioned at conferences by marketers and agencies is the need for simplicity and standardization – “Just tell us what to […]

On its Q4 and full-year 2016 earnings call on Friday, IPG said it will invest in data and analytics for its global media management unit, Mediabrands, rather than bolting on an acquired solution. “We believe [Mediabrands] will become the data stack and platform that will service all of our clients,” said CEO Michael Roth. Roth […]

Since iCrossing entered the market as a search agency in 1998, digital spend has expanded to social, display and mobile, all of which are table stakes. As a result, iCrossing expanded into a full-service agency, eventually getting acquired by Hearst in 2010. Since then, it’s snagged AOR accounts for clients like Bayer, Church and Dwight and […]

Publicis will write down its digital arm, Publicis.Sapient, by roughly $1.5 billion – almost half of its initial valuation – the company told investors during its earnings call Thursday. Sapient, for which Publicis paid $3.7 billion in 2014 to expand its digital assets, has become a drag on the overall business. While Sapient grew 7% […]

The Association of National Advertisers voted “transparency” as 2016’s marketing word of the year. Although this year is still young, “crap” is shaping up to be 2017’s word. “The reason why so much of digital marketing doesn’t work is because it’s basically crap optimized on crap,” Rishad Tobaccowala, strategy and growth officer at Publicis, said […]

Revenue from Omnicom’s trading desk Accuen grew $33 million in Q4 and $86 million over the full year in 2016, the company said in its Q4 earnings call on Tuesday. Q4 marked the highest incremental growth Accuen saw all year. In the two preceding years, Accuen’s contribution to Omnicom’s overall revenue fluctuated between $20 million and […]

Digital captured 72 cents of every new ad dollar in 2016, compared with TV’s 21 cents, according to GroupM’s Interaction report. In 2017, the report estimated, the ratio will be 77:17. But as digital becomes ubiquitous, so do concerns around data and compliance in a totally connected world. 2016 “was an alarming year for the […]

BBDO isn’t known as a data-driven shop. But the Omnicom-owned creative agency is working hard to change that perception. There’s a certain “muscle memory” among clients who view their creative agency as separate from their digital agency or the people they work with on measurement, said BBDO vet Crystal Rix, who was promoted to chief strategy […]