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May 16 2023 - Vice, Microsoft & Upfronts

May 16 2023 - Vice, Microsoft & Upfronts

👋Happy Tuesday all. No fuss, let's get into it–

Quick Take

  • Vice officially files for Bankruptcy. From $5.7B to $225M.
  • Microsoft x Activision deal approved by EU regulators
  • Upfronts week kick off in full force
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Top Stories

Vice Media has filed for bankruptcy, marking a significant decline for the once-prominent digital publishing company. Vice's media brands will continue to produce content during the bankruptcy process, and the sale is expected to close within the next two to three months. A group of lenders, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, is set to acquire Vice for $225 million, covering the company's existing loans. The bankruptcy filing marks a fall from grace for Vice, once valued at $5.7 billion, as it struggled to compete with tech giants like Facebook and Google for ad revenue

Microsoft's $69 billion bid to acquire Activision Blizzard has received approval from European Union regulators. The deal, which marks the largest consumer tech deal in two decades, faced objections from American and British regulators on competition grounds. However, Microsoft made concessions to ensure continued access to Activision's titles for rival companies in the online gaming sector, leading to the EU's approval. The decision highlights differences in regulatory approaches between the EU and the US. The fate of the deal now rests on legal processes in the US and the UK.

Verizon's Chief Marketing Officer, Diego Scotti, is stepping down from his position after almost nine years to explore new ventures. During his tenure, Scotti led successful Super Bowl campaigns and won multiple Cannes Lions awards. Rima Qureshi, the Chief Strategy Officer, will temporarily lead Verizon's marketing team. Verizon has recently undergone changes in its marketing and creative teams, and Scotti's departure will lead to organizational changes within the company.

Peacock has secured an exclusive one-year deal with the NFL to broadcast a playoff game during the upcoming season. Valued at around $110 million, this marks the first time a postseason game will be primarily available on a streaming platform rather than traditional television networks. The game will be shown on January 13 and local markets of the competing teams will receive it through a local TV station. This agreement highlights the increasing significance of live sports for streaming services and their efforts to attract younger audiences and cord-cutters.

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Rundown
  • Fox's upfront presentation heavily focused on its unscripted and sports content. The company highlighted its FAST service Tubi, which has experienced significant growth and now has 64 million monthly active users. Fox took shots at rivals like Netflix and Paramount, emphasizing its commitment to upfront week. Due to the ongoing WGA strike, entertainment took a smaller stage presence, and Fox delayed the release of its full fall schedule. Unlike previous years, Fox gave Fox News a prominent spotlight, emphasizing its No. 1 position in cable news and its role in the upcoming 2024 presidential election and Republican primary debate. The presentation concluded with a sports segment highlighting soccer, the upcoming 2023 Women's World Cup, college and pro football, and baseball, featuring appearances by Carli Lloyd, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Rob Gronkowski.
  • Disney plans to incorporate programmatic buying as a core element of its upcoming upfront event. The company aims to leverage programmatic capabilities to accommodate advertisers' flexibility in upfront commitments, allowing them to plan, buy, and measure inventory in real time. Disney's tech and data showcase earlier this year highlighted its programmatic ad capabilities, and the company intends to automate half of its streaming inventory by next year through self-serve platforms.
  • Amazon is planning to incorporate ChatGPT-style product search into its online store, according to recent job postings. The company is seeking software engineers to develop an interactive conversational experience that will help users find answers, compare products, and receive personalized suggestions. The move aims to rival efforts by Microsoft and Google to integrate generative artificial intelligence into their search engines.
  • Apple has been granted a patent for a smart-table designed for use in autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles. The table features a movement actuator that allows it to move in various degrees of freedom (DOF) and includes multiple sensors, such as force sensors. It could also have a display under a glass top, serving as a large display. Apple envisions the table being used not only in vehicles but also as an office or home-office table. The patent provides technical details and illustrations of the table's design and functionality.
  • Google is reducing its contract workforce that supports YouTube operations, ending some business with contracting firms including Cognizant and Accenture. The cuts mainly affect workers based in Austin and are unrelated to recent unionization efforts by Cognizant workers supporting YouTube Music. The move comes after an NLRB ruling categorizing Google as a "joint employer" of Cognizant workers. Google denies that the cuts are related to union efforts and states that they are part of cost-saving measures. Affected workers will be given a period of paid time to receive training and find new job opportunities internally.
  • Dentsu reported a decline in organic revenue and underlying operating profit in Q1. The company experienced a slower start to the year, with a 1.6% decline in organic revenue, but saw stronger-than-expected contributions from recent acquisitions. Dentsu aims to expand its Customer Transformation and Technology (CT&T) business, which it hopes will generate 50% of net revenues. The company saw declines in Japan, the Americas, and APAC (excluding Japan), but EMEA showed positive organic growth. Dentsu forecasts 1-2% organic growth for FY 2023 and is confident in its CT&T strategy, with recent acquisitions like Tag positioning them to deliver integrated solutions for clients.
  • Telly, a startup, is offering free smart TVs to users in exchange for their data and targeted advertising. The TV comes with a second screen dedicated to displaying ads and relevant content. Users must provide information such as their viewing habits, household income, and brand preferences. Telly's business model relies on advertising as a continuous revenue stream, and the company aims to fully subsidize the cost of the TV for consumers through ad support.
  • Google is introducing new features to its image search in an effort to combat the spread of misinformation, particularly with the ease of creating realistic fake images using artificial intelligence tools. The first feature, "About this image," provides additional context and sources for images, helping users identify the original source and any debunking information provided by news organizations. Google will also mark AI-generated images and collaborate with other platforms to ensure proper labeling of AI content in search results.
  • FCB Inferno has undergone a rebranding and changed its name to FCB London. The rebranding is in celebration of FCB's 150th anniversary and aims to establish FCB London as the hub for the network's global clients in the EMEA region. The agency has made significant changes over the past two years, including new leadership appointments and the launch of its creative data and CRM practice. FCB London recently won awards at Cannes Lions for its "Dyslexic thinking" campaign for Virgin Group.
  • Amazon Games has announced a partnership with Embracer Group to develop an MMO game based on The Lord of the Rings. The game will be set in the Third Age of Middle Earth, the same time period as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books. Development will be led by Amazon Games Orange County, the studio behind the existing MMO New World. The game's release date and title have not been revealed, as it is still in early preproduction
  • Google has argued that artificial intelligence should not be considered an "inventor" under U.S. patent law in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO had sought comments on AI technologies and inventorship, including whether AI's contributions would qualify it as a joint inventor. Google believes that patents should be held by individuals for innovations made with the assistance of AI. The company urges the USPTO to exclude AI from the definition of "inventor." Google hopes the USPTO will provide clear guidance on the issue and offer technical training for patent examiners evaluating AI-related inventions. According to Google, AI is currently leveraged as a tool in the invention process, with humans appropriately named as inventors.
  • TikTok is actively pursuing advertisers in the U.S. by offering competitive ad options and positioning itself as the leading platform for Gen Z. It recently unveiled Pulse Premiere, an expansion of its advertising solution, and introduced TikTok World Hub and TikTok Fundamentals to assist brands in optimizing their campaigns. Additionally, TikTok has been promoting its TikTok Creative Exchange (TTCX), a program that connects advertisers with creative agencies to produce TikTok ads. The program offers two packages: basic and standard, with varying levels of creatives and turnaround times. The prices range from $20,000 to $35,000.  The platform claims to have one billion global monthly users and achieves 6 trillion video views per month. It also highlights that users spend more time on TikTok compared to other platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
  • AI controversy in the publishing industry as Sarah J. Maas' novel "House of Earth and Blood" features a cover apparently generated using AI. The image of a wolf on the UK edition matches an AI-generated image from Adobe Stock.
  • Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is leaving the video doorbell company and Amazon, according to an email from new CEO Liz Hamren. Siminoff, who started Ring 10 years ago, will pursue new opportunities. Amazon confirmed Siminoff's departure and praised his contributions.
  • Foxconn, a key Apple contract partner, will invest $500 million to establish manufacturing plants in India's Telangana state. This move is part of Foxconn's expansion in the South Asian market and follows its earlier investments in manufacturing iPhones and AirPods in India. The investment is expected to create 25,000 direct jobs. India's incentives to promote local manufacturing have attracted commitments from Foxconn and other Apple manufacturing partners.
  • Reddit is ramping up its efforts in e-commerce with job postings for senior roles related to ads marketplace and commerce partnerships. The platform plans to launch social commerce testing in Q4 2023, and recent updates include product ads, dynamic ads, product metadata, and catalog sales. Reddit's push into social commerce aligns with its goal of increasing revenue ahead of its IPO. While the platform faces challenges as a tier two platform, its engaged community of over 500 million monthly active users could contribute to its success in e-commerce.
  • Sony Pictures Imageworks is expanding its presence to Montreal, Canada. The new office will be led by Laura Fitzpatrick, who joined the company in 2022. Initially, the Montreal office will have 150 new employees, while Imageworks currently employs over 1,000 employees in their Vancouver and Los Angeles offices. The expansion into Montreal is driven by the growing VFX and animation industry in the city and the talent base available. The new office will be located in the Old Montreal area.
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I'm a day late, but Bill Bernbach wrote this to his creative department at Grey 76 years ago yesterday. Bernbach left Grey 2 years later with with James Edwin Doyle and Maxwell Dane to start DDB.

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Published by:

Joe Nash

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