Advertising Industry Archive

The layoffs of 2 percent of Digitas‘ staff raises the question of whether Publicis paid too much — $1.3 billion — to acquire the digital ad agency network in 2006. Most of the reports have focused, rightly, on the fact that Digitas client General Motors is likely to abandon or downsize the Saab, Pontiac and Saturn brands. But with the online ad economy still growing at a pace...

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Publicis Modem gets EasyJet — Budget airline EasyJet has appointed Publicis Modem to its digital roster. The business is understood to be worth about £1m. [Source: MAD] Management Churn at TBWA Worldwide – TBWA Worldwide today announced that it has appointed Denis Streiff as its Worldwide Chief Financial Officer. Streiff was previously International CFO for TBWA. In addition, TBWA...

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WPP chief Martin Sorrell confirmed there will be layoffs in his agencies soon. Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Sorrell listed all the usual reasons: weakening economy, reduced adspend, and the collapse of the big western car companies. While layoffs are likely to occur at any agency in the U.S. and Europe over 2009, there’s a specific reason why this storm...

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Church & Dwight ran ads for Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste on kids TV even though the product is labeled “keep out of the reach of children.” The company, cited in a decision by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, has promised not to advertise Orajel to kids again. CARU said: The advertising in question features a young child brushing his teeth, while a voiceover discusses...

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GM headed for agency consolidation – GM will focus on only four of its eight brands, according to its plan filed with Congress last week to qualify for proposed federal loans. The client is likely to require fewer agency resources and could consider consolidating its accounts at a single holding company, some auto experts speculated. The company “would do that it in a minute if it...

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Everyone is familiar with Havas boss Vincent Bollore’s “long love affair” with Aegis. He holds about 30 percent of Aegis and has made five failed attempts to win two seats on the board of Aegis. The Aegis people don’t want him on the board because — obviously — it’s a conflict of interest. Now, analysts say, with management turmoil at Aegis, Bollore and...

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NBC hasn’t sold any Super Bowl spots since September. The network is trying to hold the line on a $3 million price tag for a 30-second commercial in the game. Before the economy began its plunge in late September, the network had fewer than 10 left of 67 30-second ad slots for the Feb. 1 broadcast but hasn’t moved any since. Interpublic Group, Omnicom Group Inc and WPP Group are...

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Alloy Marketing & Media generates more revenue from the cash it spends on salaries and general expenses than most other public agency networks, according to a comparison of Q3 earnings. By contrast, direct mail giant Valassis least-efficiently deploys its cash resources. Alloy makes back $1.74 for every dollar it spends on salaries, rent, and office supplies, etc. But Valassis made just...

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Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts spent five days in a luxury Thai resort — priced $615 a night and up — receiving massages every day while his employees’ 401(k)s were decimated and his own agency struggled to collect bills from one bankrupt client. Roberts described his Thai vacation, at Chiva Som, on his blog, KR Connect. The Dec. 5, 2008, post reads: A couple of weeks...

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Grey has tapped Todd Tilford as ECD in its flagship office here. Tilford, 45, reports to Tor Myhren, evp, CCO of Grey New York. He was at Pyro. JWT’s once-vibrant Chicago office now has only four clients, 50 staff. Only five years ago what was once the largest office in the agency’s  network had 800 employees. “Just a couple years ago we had a lot of exposure to [JWT,...

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