The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. Facebook's Q1 earnings were out on Wednesday night. Its stock dipped 2% in after-hours trading after it missed analysts' estimates on revenue.
2. But its engagement numbers, particularly on video, were strong. And COO Sheryl Sandberg said something about video ads that will terrify TV executives.
3. Troubled ad-tech company Rocket Fuel announced it is cutting 11% of its workforce. It wants to make annual cost savings of $30 million.
4. WPP, the world's largest advertising agency holding group, reported an 8.3% increase in revenue to £2.8 billion ($4.2 billion) in its first quarter, while net sales rose 6% to £2.4 billion ($3.6 billion.) Profit was "well ahead" of the full-year margin targeted improvement of 0.3 margin points, according to a trading update published Thursday. The UK-based company was boosted by favorable currency swings and strong growth in almost all regions.
5. Toyota is taking on the hydrogen fuel-cell car haters - including Tesla's Elon Musk. In a new ad campaign produced by the agency Droga5 and tagged "Fueled by Everything," Toyota shows how a Mirai can run on bullsh*t, quite literally.
6. Spend on online advertising is rapidly catching up with TV advertising in the US, according to a new report commissioned by trade body the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Internet ad revenues in the US grew 16% year-on-year to $49.5 billion in 2014, while ad spend on broadcast and cable TV combined fell 12% to $65.7 billion in the period.
7. Fantastical "Game of Thrones"-themed objects have been appearing all across Northern Ireland where the hit show is set. It's a marketing stunt from HBO and Tourism Ireland.
8. Gurbaksh Chahal, the ad-tech CEO who was fired from RadiumOne after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges, is now being sued for alleged gender discrimination at his new company Gravity4. The startup's former senior vice president of global marketing Erika Alonso sued Chahal and Gravity4 on Tuesday.
9. Google launched a new wireless service called Project Fi on Wednesday. It has a data plan whereby you only pay for the data you use, which none of the other US major wireless carriers offer.
10. Google also recently moved into another new sector: content recommendation. The Wall Street Journal's CMO Today reports that it plans to take on companies like Taboola and Outbrain with a new free product called "Matched Content," which publishers can build into their websites to encourage readers to stick around for longer.