Digiday

Hear vital insights from industry leaders at Havas, Horizon Media, Kinesso and more at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit. Make sure to secure your pass while spots remain, learn more here: https://buff.ly/Uxdszrw

Two deals stood out during the Q1 wave of consolidation in the ad tech and martech landscape, with activity from agency holding companies piquing interest: Publicis Groupe bought Lotame, while WPP acquired InfoSum. These deals were notable as they represented holding companies writing big checks for ad tech or martech assets — let’s put the pending Interpublic Group (IPG) (read Acxiom) merger with Omnicom to one side for now — rare occurrences in recent years, compared to similar M&A in the 2010s. In both cases, the Madison Avenue stalwarts bought close bedfellows (see below), in quick succession. As one source, who requested anonymity as they were not cleared to speak with the press, said, “You usually see holdcos [sic] copy holdcos with acquisitions.” In this piece by Ronan Shields, we speak to Ana Milicevic of Sparrow Advisers, Robert Webster of TAU Marketing Solutions, Lauren Wetzel, Joe Root of Permutive, and Shirley Marschall. https://lnkd.in/ejU7CKdM

This is the Digiday+ Research Data Sheet, a new monthly feature that takes an in-depth look at our survey data in relation to major trends in the marketing and media industries. This month, we look at how publishers are approaching subscription pricing and how subscriptions drive other revenue streams for publishers. “We are subscription first and all of our brands are paywalled properties. As business products, they command high subscription prices, and we have great retention. As a result, that’s an important part of our business,” Josh Stinchcomb, evp and chief revenue officer at Dow Jones, told Digiday. “It’s also the source of our value in the advertising space because we have largely logged-in consumption.” Story by Li Lu and Dania Gutierrez-Flores. https://lnkd.in/eYh_H3_4

And like Thanos, with the flick of a finger Google has turned the post-cooke era into a blip. But is Google actually doing the online ad industry much of a favor in keeping the third-party cookie around, or is the damage already done? Tune into the April edition of Digiday’s Bold Call livestream to hear Digiday editors Tim Peterson, Seb Joseph and Ronan Shields discuss Google’s ultimate cookie reversal as well as the recent antitrust ruling against the ad tech giant.

The Possible conference, trade show and kibbitz-fest kicks off on Monday in Miami, its third year of existence. And while it has grown its audience sizably since year one — with an emphasis on attracting more marketers — the content too has widened its aperture, thanks to a cadre of diverse voices serving as its advisory council. Among the high-profile names speaking this year are Martha Stewart, who seems to reinvent herself every decade, tennis legend Stan Smith, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, and college basketball star Flau’jae Johnson — all of whom are rounded out by execs across the intersection of marketing, media, tech and culture that Possible aspires to connect. In this piece by Michael Burgi, we speak to Chaucer Barnes, Lou Paskalis, Krystal Hauserman 💫, and Deirdre McGlashan. https://lnkd.in/e_jf7TUV

When major marketers like Unilever are saying they’re dramatically increasing their ad spending on influencer marketing, the agencies who manage influencer marketing are, naturally, chomping at the bit to get those ad dollars. But when everyone, even more traditional ad agencies, are after brand dollars — in a market where most ad budgets are tightening — what separates the best when it comes to influencer marketing agencies from the rest? How do marketers and creators sort through the ever-expanding list of influencer marketing agencies and figure out who to work with? “I look for a team that’s flexible, collaborative and genuinely invested in helping solve problems as they arise — going beyond just executing tasks to acting as true strategic partners,” said Amy Moussa, manager of social media and digital partnerships for restaurant company Qdoba Mexican Eats - Urban Eats LLC, which works with creator marketing agency Open Influence. In this piece by Antoinette S., we speak to Mike Vannelli, Becky Owen of Billion Dollar Boy, Tina Cartwright, Hunter Vought, Keith Bendes of Linqia, and valentin pechot of Louce . https://lnkd.in/eMrtq8s3

Publishers are deeply frustrated. After years of preparing for the deprecation of third-party cookies, Google’s u-turn this week has landed like a slap. The sense of betrayal is sharp, but so is the sense that they’ve been led on a wild goose chase — an expensive, time-sapping exercise that now feels, in part, like farce. The irony of the announcement, mere days after the DOJ ruled that Google has abused its dominance in the ad tech ecosystem, is lost on no one. And yet, most publishers concede the effort wasn’t a waste. The pressure did force them to get serious about first-party data — tightening up systems, rethinking relationships with audiences, and, in some cases, laying the groundwork for more resilient businesses, according to 10 publishers Digiday spoke to for this article. Still, it’s hard not to feel like they’ve been running in circles while Google kept moving the finish line. In this piece by Jessica Davies and Sara Guaglione, we speak to Amit Grover of Redfin. https://lnkd.in/eUAiFRqy

The digital advertising industry has spent the last five years preparing for a cookieless future. This week, they’re looking for ways to make that feel less like a wasted effort, following Google’s latest policy reversal. Facing legal challenges and industry pushback, Google has opted to retain the cookie in its popular Chrome browser after all, instead allowing users to manage settings through its existing privacy tools. Google’s own Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aimed to enhance privacy while supporting digital advertising, will stick around, at least for now. The decision has prompted a collective eye-roll from media experts. “It’s a little disappointing to be going through this for the last five years, marching toward this post-cookie era and getting to a point where there’s no final decision,” said Kyle Rovinski, associate director of search at full service agency Duncan Channon. Now, marketers face less pressure to adopt alternative identifiers or cookieless approaches. It’s as if the deadline for a major exam has been indefinitely postponed; their motivation to study has disappeared. 📰 Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/exAkTxg9 In this piece by Sam Bradley, we also speak to Mathieu Roche of ID5.io, Matt Wilke of Mediaplus UK, Laura Kell of Havas Media Network, Tim Lathrop of Mediassociates, John Thankamony of dentsu, Martin Wexler of Acxiom, Ryan Eusanio of Omnicom Media Group, and Jonathan D'Souza-Rauto of Kepler.

For travel and hospitality brands, challenges revolve around reaching potential guests and proving that marketing efforts lead to actual bookings. Windstar Cruises could see online interactions, but couldn’t link them directly to bookings. By partnering with Experian and MMGY, Windstar implemented a data-driven strategy that closed the loop between digital interactions and offline bookings, resulting in over 6,500 attributed bookings. Sponsored by Experian. https://lnkd.in/e4rN-MPP

In a shocking development, Google won’t roll out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome, meaning ad tech companies can still use the targeting technology in the world’s most popular web browser. It’s a move that amounts to a U-turn on the Chrome team’s earlier updated approach to deprecating third-party cookies, announced in July last year, with the latest development bound to cause ructions across the ad tech ecosystem. “We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” wrote Anthony Chavez, vp of Privacy Sandbox at Google, in a blog post published earlier today (April 22). “Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.” However, it’s not the end of Privacy Sandbox, according to Google, as certain initiatives incubated within the project are set to continue, such as its IP Protection for Chrome Incognito users, which will be rolled out in Q3. 📰 Read the full story by Ronan Shields here: https://lnkd.in/eUKdgKYT