The US Association of National Advertisers has been looking into production costs and practices – just as it has been with media – and, to no-one’s great surprise, has found that big holding company-owned agencies rig the system to their ...
Read More »The Specialist Works buys Pace Media
Independent media agency The Specialist Works (TSW) has bought specialist TV and video advertising company, Pace Media. TSW, which describes itself as the “only independent global brand performance media agency,” employs 165 people with offices in the UK, USA, China ...
Read More »P&G moves $2.6bn North America media to Omnicom
It would be surprising if Publicis Groupe boss Maurice Levy didn’t know that most of the company’s North American Procter & Gamble media business was lost when he announced the reorganisation into four ‘hubs’ last week, including Publicis Media headed ...
Read More »Another boost for IPG in the global media wars as it lands $2.6bn Johnson & Johnson
Who’d have thought it – the winner so far in the current round of media and (some) creative reviews looks like Interpublic, a few years back firmly ensconced in Wall Street’s sick bay. IPG’s UM, via its dedicated unit J3, ...
Read More »Alex Morse of ID Comms: marketing’s missing metrics are helping agencies but hurting advertisers
Brands have more data than ever but the failure of the research and marketing giants to identify the metrics that matter is leaving advertisers with fewer answers. It goes without saying that marketing has become more complex. Dial up a ...
Read More »Paul Simons: how agency fees work – if you’re good enough and talk the client’s language you get the money
There’s lots of debate about how creative businesses get paid for their work. Those of us who have been around for a while will know this isn’t a new debate. A quick history lesson is helpful. Throughout most of the ...
Read More »WPP’s Sorrell may need to re-examine emerging markets and digital strategies in a low margin world
WPP’s shares took a powder yesterday as analysts digested the unwelcome news that it had not achieved the margins desired (a 0.3 increase against the hoped-for 0.5) although the company increased both revenue and profits. In other words it’s becoming ...
Read More »Harry Davison of Maxus: how can we ensure that ‘media effectiveness’ helps us do the right thing?
“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing”. I am always struck by these words by Peter Drucker, the founding father of management consultancy. They are pertinent because people tend to gravitate towards finessing what they are ...
Read More »Microsoft’s oddly-timed ad review is worrying for IPG’s UM media agency as WPP’s GroupM looms
The timing of Microsoft’s global ad review looks curiouser by the day (the Windows and Xbox giant is in the process of appointing a new CEO to replace Steve Ballmer) which makes the task of pitching even more challenging for ...
Read More »