Agency

We don’t see many Big Ideas any more.  Content may be king, but content is forgettable, millions of tiny ideas in a million different places.  Can anything new be said about a product?  Or an industry, like the advertising industry?  Well, I’m not a creative — more like a dreaded management consultant.  Nevertheless, here’s a cross-industry Big Idea, free for the asking: Ad agencies are just like cruise ships!  Don’t dismiss this out of hand. Read on!

Well, not entirely free. Let me explain. Recently, I had lunch with a procurement manager from a technology company that we’re pitching, and she gave me some insights from the other side on what it feels like to work with an agency.  

Millions of Americans gathered to celebrate LGBTQ Pride last month, which also marked two years since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of nationwide marriage equality.  That historic June 2015 ruling legalized the new definition of family.  In today’s media landscape, brands need to follow suit.  If they want to be successful, companies can no longer ignore the LGBTQ community in their advertising.

The agreement will further extend Ogilvy’s US Hispanic service offering and strengthen MARCA’s current capabilities in digital, social media, and analytics.

About a million immigrants receive U.S. green cards each year, but fewer than half are new arrivals from other countries. The majority already live in the United States on temporary visas, according to recently released U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that show that the two groups have different profiles.

There was, for once, big news at the annual advertising festival in Cannes, France, but it had nothing to do with who won the grand prizes.  Er, um, pardonnez-moi, grand prix.  Ratherm the 2017 event — formally, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — will be remembered for a startling announcement midway through by Arthur Sadoun, the new Chairman and CEO of the giant Publicis Groupe agency company, that he was bidding adieu for the next year to Cannes Lions, along with other awards shows and events such as CES and South by Southwest.

The News Media Alliance – representing almost 2,000 news organizations – called on Congress to allow publishers to negotiate collectively with dominant online platforms. The objective is to permit publishers to have concrete discussions with the two dominant distributors of online news content, Google and Facebook, on business model solutions to secure the long-term availability of local journalism produced by America’s newsrooms.

reVolver Podcasts appointed Joe Uva as non-executive chairman of the board to lead the company’s managers on all governance matters, and to help the company with its strategy and business development.

Every cloud has a silver lining. And when it comes to the current status of the retail industry, which ranges from “bleak to promising,” that silver lining consists of Hispanic millennials. In fact, regardless of the state of retail at large, Hispanic millennials – especially Latinas – are the new now of retail, and their impact on your bottom line may be more than you realize.  By Alberto Navas

After reading the award-winning essays for the Admap Prize 2017 (inspired by Kantar, I should note) my eye was caught by the title Pre-Suasion toward the end of the same issue. Pre-Suasion turns out to be the title of a new book by Professor Robert Cialdini and the review suggests that the central theme fits well with the need to make a lasting impression.  by Nigel Hollis

Days after one influential financial institution issued a “double downgrade” of WPP, another has downgraded the valuations of the entire publicly traded ad sector it covers, including Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP.

Pan-American Life Insurance Group (PALIG) announced that it has acquired Hola Doctor Inc. (HolaDoctor). The acquisition is a significant strategic initiative by PALIG that both expands its presence in the U.S. Hispanic market and strengthens its position as a healthcare leader in Latin America.

According to a recent study, African-Americans and Latinos are grossly under-represented in the financial services industry and the representation of these groups is expected to drastically decline if hiring and retention efforts are not made a priority by banks and other financial institutions.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) announced that Keith Turner, president of Advertising Sales & Marketing, will retire at the end of the year. The Company will announce leadership transition plans in the coming weeks.

America loves beer and in recent years, craft beer.  By Ozzie Godinez / CEO and Co-Founder at PACO Collective

Ahead of 2Q17 earnings we revise our outlook and valuations on each of the four agency holding companies we cover, Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP.

KKR announced the combination of Cardenas Markets and Mi Pueblo, two Hispanic grocery chains in which KKR made significant investments last year, alongside Victory Park Capital.

New research from consulting firm Magid finds that many people are frequently watching live streaming video.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

• There was a time not too long ago when I was an evangelist of memes.
• I’d meet with clients big and small and wax poetic about my firm conviction that the “ad” in its various formats was a dead vehicle.
• Memes are the new thing!
• Poorly produced, hastily designed, impulsively written.
• Advertising that doesn’t look like advertising!
• Fast, fun & forwardable!

Ad agencies and advertisers are victims of the belief that “creativity” is the basis of their current relationships, and that “more creativity” will give them more of what they need.  Ad agencies have promoted “creativity” since the days of Bill Bernbach, more than 50 years ago, when agencies were at the top of their game.  Advertisers, as their clients, continue to hire agencies for their perceived creativity, provided costs are rock bottom.  However, “creativity” is no longer delivering improved brand performance or increasing shareholder value.  The search for more creativity is making victims of agencies and CMOs alike — neither lasts very long in a relationship.  It’s time for a new paradigm.  The “Creative Paradigm” is out of date.  It’s not working.  By Michael Farmer