| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Accenture Tops Global M&A Report | | The consultancy made eight acquisitions in August with a collective value of $671 million, according to R3's monthly global Mergers & Acquisitions Report, according to Ad Age. That put Accenture at the top of the list ahead of media agency holding company WPP, which made 26 deals valued at a collective $602 million. Dentsu was third in August with 18 deals collectively valued at $543 million. It was the first time since the monthly reviews started being released four years ago that Accenture garnered the top spot over the traditional agencies. "Accenture is continuing to show deep pockets in migrating to a true digital consultant," says Greg Paull, principal of R3. "With a headcount of 420,000 and a global footprint, they are already accessing most of the other C-suites. Marketing is surely the next." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The consultancies, like Accenture and Deloitte among others, are continuing to make inroads in the ad business traditionally dominated by ad agencies. Maarten Albarda, US CEO of Flock Associates says having Accenture in the top spot for M&A deals is "the new normal." He adds, "They are no longer challengers or newcomers. They are here with a global suite of potential options for marketers to consider." | A Take: Ad Age
| | | | #2 P&G Wants More Efficient Social Media Ads | | Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard, in a wide-ranging closing keynote at the international tech conference Dmexco, said his company is working with major social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WeChat to create shorter, interesting ads, Adweek reports. He says P&G for too long has used 30-second digital ads treating the internet like television. He says when data shows that the average ad is viewed for just 1.7 seconds online and that only 20% are viewed for two seconds, money needs to be better spent on shorter ads. He believes working with the social media giants, P&G "can make a two-second ad work." Pritchard says P&G is also teaming up with ecommerce players like Amazon and Alibaba to use their consumer ID data to target customers better. He says this has cut ad spending waste by 20% and improved ROI four times. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Pritchard says larger companies with major ad spending are in a position to change the dynamics of the ad marketplace. "That's the transformational power that digital technology has given brands," he says. "The power for all brands to use their voice in advertising as a force for good and a force for growth." | | A Take: Adweek | | | | #3 Brands Cut Out Media Agencies in China | | Big brands in China are increasingly moving their ad budgets from media agency trading desks to the demand side platforms of online commerce and web service companies Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (known at BAT) for more transparency, Digiday reports. In doing so, they are also cutting out the agency as a middleman and saving money on their buys. And as more brands move in this direction, it weakens the buying power of the traditional media agencies. One ad verification company executive says that agency trading desks are losing business because brands consider them a "black box." He says "advertisers trust the BAT more as they own many media properties in China and have solid tech." And most agencies are reluctant to work with BAT because it drains their profits. Working through BAT they get about 5% of the media spend as a fee, while using their own trading desk gets them as much as 50%. Christian Solomon, chief digital officer for MediaCom in China, acknowledges more ad dollars are moving toward the BAT but says his agency participates in many clients' negotiations with publishers, even when they buy directly through BAT. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Much like in China, more brands in the U.S. are taking a larger amount of control over their media spending, whether it be setting up their own in-house agencies or using their own programmatic trading desks. In China, like in the U.S., management consultant giants like Accenture and Deloitte are weaseling in on traditional agency business with clients, and they are also capable of managing trading desks. The situation in China is having an impact on traditional agency holding company bottom lines. WPP CEO Martin Sorrell recently blamed "bumpy growth" in Brazil, Russia and China as one of the reasons why quarterly financial results were disappointing. | | A Take: Digiday | |
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| | 22.2 | | Number in millions of pay TV cord-cutters ages 18 and older in 2017, according to eMarketer estimates. That's up 33.2% from 2016 and significantly higher than the 15.4 million eMarketer previously predicted. That number is expected to rise to 40.1 million by 2021 as more viewers shift to over-the-top or free TV viewing options | Reported by eMarketer
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| | Fox, NBC Split the Win | by Michael Malone
Fox and NBC were top of the heap in Wednesday prime ratings, both scoring a 1.3 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 5 share. Fox's MasterChef tallied 1.3 across two hours, up 8%. On NBC, America's Got Talent dropped 5% to a 2.0, then a double run of Marlon, including the finale, scored a 1.2 and 1.0. Last week's Marlon episodes scored a 1.3 and 1.0. Midnight, Texas rated a flat 0.7 to close out prime for NBC. NBC won a close race on the previous Wednesday. Next was CBS at 0.9/4. Big Brother rated a 1.8 and Salvation a 0.5, before a Criminal Minds repeat. Both new episodes were flat with last week. Telemundo did a 0.7/3 thanks to a robust El Senor de los Cielos at 0.9. ABC did a 0.6/3, with repeated comedies leading into 20/20, down 14% at 0.6. Univision was at 0.5/2. The CW scored a 0.2/1 with repeats of Arrow and Supernatural. | |
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| • JANE GERAGHTY was promoted chief executive officer at WPP's strategic brand and design agency Landor. She has been with the agency since 2011, initially joining as managing director before becoming president of the agency's Europe, Middle East and Africa division. She has also held executive roles at Naked Communications, ITV and Kirshenbaum Bond and Partners. At Landor she succeeds Lois Jacobs.
• AMY INTROCASO-DAVIS was named executive VP of development and production at E! network. She was previously executive VP of programming and development for GSN. Prior to that she served as senor VP of development and production at Bravo and as senior VP of original programming and development at Oxygen. | |
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