Publicis merges two agency networks. Major UK agencies after multi-million L’Oreal business. Agencies and clients missing one crucial factor in conversations. India has more fake news than anywhere else in the world. Spotify to invest millions in podcasting. WPP wants its agencies to collect more money as bad debt rises.
Publicis merges two agency networks
Publicis Groupe’s Media division has revealed plans to merge two agency networks, Blue 449 and Spark Foundry.
The two currently serve several high profile clients including Mondelez, Campbell’s, Marriott and Southwest Airlines, and the merger will create a single entity serving clients around the world.
AdWeek has more details, here.
Agencies and clients missing one crucial factor in conversations
While conversations in the advertising industry are focused on issues affecting consumer trust, Direct Line’s marketing director Mark Evans believes agencies and clients are not talking about another crucial element; ad frequency.
He stated that “over-serving of advertising, or ‘bombardment’ to give it a catchy title, is one of the key drivers of mistrust and also creates significant wastage of spend”.
WARC has the full story, here.
Four major UK agencies competing to win L’Oreal’s business
Four major agencies in the United Kingdom are going head-to-head over L’Oreal’s estimated £100million-plus UK and Ireland media-buying account, Campaign has reported. The agencies are WPP, Publicis Groupe, Dentsu Aegis Network and the7stars.
According to the publication, the company is Britain’s “fifth biggest advertiser, spending an estimated £106 million in the 12 months to September 2018, according to a report on UK media expenditure from Group M, the media-buying arm of WPP”.
L’Oreal has used Group M for media planning and buying in the UK since 2014 when Maxus won the business from Publicis Groupe’s Zenith Optimedia. It was then shifted to Wavemaker, the new agency rising out of the merger of Maxus and MEC>
For more, read the story in Campaign here.
WPP wants its money
Still with WPP. The group wants its agencies to improve cash collection from its major clients. Finance director Paul Richardson told investors at WPP’s annual results that too many of its businesses were allowing clients to pay beyond the agreed terms in certain specific markets.
Of specific worry was media-buying arm Group M, which has $45bn in annual billings. Richardson said the company was “really key” for WPP’s cashflow and it has been tasked with improving cash collection.
WPP disclosed in its annual results that bad debt jumped to £55 million globally from £19 million a year earlier.
For more on this story, visit Campaign.
India has more fake news than anywhere else in the world
A survey by Microsoft has found that India has more fake news and online hoaxes than other countries.
The results showed that 64% of Indians had encountered fake news, compared to the global average of just 57%. It should be concerning that the global average is that high in the first place.
The fake news is having murderous consequences for citizens as smartphone-fuelled mob murders are commonplace as lies and untruths are spread over social media and communication platforms.
To see the full story, published by Ary News, click here.
Spotify to invest over $400 million on podcasting
Spotify’s acquisition of podcasting companies Gimlet and Anchor FM highlighted the importance of podcasts as a key channel for music streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora, as companies looked for new opportunities to increase audiences along with subscription and ad-supported revenue, WARC has reported.
Spotify said it intended spending between $400 million to $500 million this year on podcast-related investments, including the two companies.
“You’ll see us double down on investment spending in podcast content, and increasingly you’ll see more of that become exclusive on the platform,” Spotify’s CFO Barry McCarthy told a Morgan Stanley conference.
Read the full story on WARC here.
