Ad kickback scrutiny could embarrass agencies 22 Oct 2015 The trade group for brands like P&G and McDonald’s – responsible for $250 bln a year in media spending – has hired investigators to review ad agency practices, including claims that rebates aren’t passed on to clients. The Mad Men are missing the chance to shape their own story.
Publicis a great advert for media-sector anxieties 22 Oct 2015 The French ad giant’s shares dropped more than 9 pct after cutting full-year guidance on organic growth. Publicis says some clients are reducing ad spend in the U.S. Yet rivals are doing better. With an uncertain media outlook, investors have little tolerance for underperformers.
Silicon Valley disruption reaches illogical limit 21 Sep 2015 The maker of Apple’s top-selling app, ad blocker Peace, yanked it because the software “doesn’t make him feel good.” Upending industries from taxis to newspapers is the point of developing new technology. It’s too late now to have a heart. Google and others will face the music.
Digital ad haters play into Facebook’s hands 16 Sep 2015 Apple’s latest operating system helps iPhone owners dodge Madison Avenue. Blocking software already threatens some $22 bln in global brand spending this year. As web-based publishers wrestle with technology, marketers may move faster into walled systems like Facebook’s.
Focus Media relisting defies China’s market rout 1 Sep 2015 The advertising group is trying to list again in Shenzhen after a previous attempt in June fell through. But despite the stock market slump, Focus Media’s $7.2 bln valuation is unchanged. Other U.S.-listed companies eyeing a return to the mainland may need to be more realistic.
EU’s competition sprawl as worrying as Google’s 15 Apr 2015 Europe has accused the web giant of favoring its own shopping search results and broadened the case to include its Android mobile operating system. Investigations and appeals may take a decade. Brussels’ ambitious lack of focus is similar to what threatens ever-expanding Google.
Market curbing Google faster than EU 8 Apr 2015 After five years’ back-and-forth, European competition authorities may charge the internet search giant with abusing a monopoly. Changing advertising patterns suggest technology is moving ahead of the law in muting Google’s power – an echo of Microsoft’s case last decade.
Review: Choking on digital exhaust 2 Apr 2015 Government and corporate mass surveillance of citizens is an aberration on a par with child labor or environmental pollution, claims security expert Bruce Schneier in “Data and Goliath.” He offers a rousing call for resistance, and hope for change - a few decades hence.
Google’s CFO search should have it feeling lucky 24 Mar 2015 There’s a dearth of executives with the financial, tech and government experience needed to help run a $400 bln company. Even fewer women fit the bill. Silicon Valley and Wall Street just can’t find enough Ruth Porats fast enough. The challenge is to create more like her.
WPP is good value in a pricey sector 9 Mar 2015 The ad giant’s pretax profit increased 12 pct last year. Earnings and dividends are set to rise at a similar clip in 2015. WPP’s markets are improving and its finances are strong. The news is good for CEO Martin Sorrell. The shares are hardly cheap, but momentum is plain to see.
Review: The Mad Men are watching you 23 Jan 2015 A lot happens in a split second online, much of it good for the ad industry but worrying for privacy advocates. Instant auctions to push tailored ads to individuals are growing fast, says “Targeted” author Mike Smith. The ad men will need ever more personal data to fuel them.
Google fans flames of wireless price war 22 Jan 2015 The search giant plans to sell relabeled service from Sprint and T-Mobile US. This virtual carrier is a cheap way to intensify the battle for customers raging between these two, AT&T and Verizon. Consumers should benefit – Google, too, if it can avoid getting burned.
WPP chair should be vertical as well as horizontal 17 Dec 2014 Martin Sorrell says the ad group’s Chairman-designate Roberto Quarta will help its “horizontality.” The word also sums up the partnership aspect of good CEO-chair relations. But given the WPP CEO’s run-ins with investors, Quarta will want to be a degree higher, not on a level.
Publicis better show it has a cure for "hiccup" 23 Oct 2014 The French advertising group says focus on the failed merger with Omnicom explains its weak performance in the last quarter. It also has excuses for different parts of the business. The pressure is on to show at its next strategy update how it intends to shake its growth problem.
Bolloré corners Havas 20 Oct 2014 The French billionaire’s eponymous media group is offering a share swap for the Havas stock it doesn’t own. Havas owners can either take advantage of the small premium, or wait to see whether the advertiser comes into play – a risky bet.
Facebook’s unintentional success speaks for itself 24 Jul 2014 Founder Mark Zuckerberg says he set out on a social mission not to create a company, which may explain his understated response to impressive Q2 results. Some $190 bln of market value later, though, it’s clear the social network’s importance lies squarely in the commercial realm.
Publicis advertises its standalone weakness 22 Jul 2014 The ad giant’s first results since a merger with Omnicom collapsed were unexpectedly poor. Publicis shares tumbled. Claims the deal was about “opportunity, not necessity” ring increasingly hollow. Pressure to find a successor for CEO Chairman Maurice Levy is rising.
Deal failure intensifies Publicis’ succession woes 9 May 2014 The end of the merger between the French advertising company and its U.S. rival Omnicom leaves Publicis without a plan for replacing 72-year-old CEO Maurice Levy. That is a long-standing issue that the board repeatedly failed to address. It has just taken on a new urgency.
Big Ad merger sorely misjudged its audience 9 May 2014 The failed $35 bln tie-up of Publicis and Omnicom was a triumph of financial logic that failed to account for human behaviour. Merging two rivals of near-identical size looked elegant on paper. But that doesn’t mean much if clients, employees and regulators don’t buy the concept.
Deutsche Telekom doubly lucky with online ad sale 21 Nov 2013 The German telco is selling most of its Scout24 unit to Hellman & Friedman. A 2 bln euro enterprise value is a hefty 20 times EBITDA, though the buyer has ways to mitigate this. DT is fortunate that private equity firms are hungry for carve-outs - and property portals so hot.