<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="4838014" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="barry-lowenthal">Barry Lowenthal</keyword> is the CEO of global media buying agency <keyword id="5349243" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media-Kitchen">Media Kitchen</keyword>. </li><li>As businesses shift because of the pandemic, it's time to reconsider traditional top-down organizational structures, he writes in this op-ed.</li><li>We're witnessing a slow and natural shift toward Holacracy, which gives decision-making authority to individual teams and in turn raises the bar on service, benefiting both the <keyword id="6355515" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="business">business</keyword> and its clients.</li><li>Remote work means senior leaders are less visible at companies, so the strongest emotional connections are happening at the team level — and smaller teams have stronger bonds. </li></ul><p>Like every other part of business, the pandemic has transformed the ways agencies manage their operations and nurture their culture. </p><div type="image" title="Barry Lowenthal Headshot" height="499" width="666" msid="78941730" hostid="261"></div><p>The popular organizational structure of top-down decision-making and bottom-up work, with <keyword id="6407546" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ceos">CEOs</keyword> at the top of the pecking order, has been embraced by many agencies for decades. But this traditional hierarchy is facing some real challenges in today's environment, which warrants a fresh look at alternative ways to organize agencies and businesses.</p><h2><strong>One such alternative is Holacracy. </strong></h2><p>Instead of organizing a business around the decisions of senior management and then disseminating those decisions to lower layers of employees to implement, Holacracy gives decision-making authority to individual teams. </p><p>These teams are formed around natural areas of the business, such as individual accounts or business units. And rather than lumping all creative employees together or all sales employees together, team members have complementary skill sets, allowing them to make decisions and execute on tasks autonomously, while still organizing around the business' goals or mission. </p><h2><strong>When we were all working together in an office, CEOs and agency leadership were very visible. </strong></h2><p>Staff could see them working and hear them talking to clients, vendors and each other, and take cues on acceptable conversation and business etiquette. </p><p>In the traditional hierarchical structure, norms, values and even knowledge are shared from leadership to the staff. Staff responds and reacts — and sometimes leadership must course-correct, or staff must be replaced. There is a natural flow up and down the organization.</p><p>But like so many other things, this natural flow has been disrupted by COVID-19. Staff can no longer overhear conversations or witness interactions. There aren't hallway discussions that reinforce values or suggest behavioral shifts. </p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reed-hastings-netflix-business-rules-post-pandemic-2020-9">Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says workplace rules are dead and credits much of the company's success to scrapping strict office policies</a></em></p><h2><strong>Today, while we're all working from home, the people we talk to the most are our teams. </strong></h2><p>They're the people we work with to deliver great client service every single day. Our teams share our deadlines, our data, and our mission to deliver to the client. Teams also reinforce good behavior and punish bad behavior, like missed deadlines that compromise the reputation of the team. CEOs and senior leadership are less visible, and fewer people within the organization have an emotional connection with them. The strongest emotional connections happen at the team level — and smaller teams have stronger bonds. </p><h2><strong>More and more, agency culture starts from the bottom up and is supported, but not dictated, by senior leadership. </strong></h2><p>A CEO, for example, can articulate what's important — in the world, in the industry and within the agency — but he or she becomes more of a figurehead, responsible for resource allocation, while the soul of the agency lives within the teams. </p><p>What we're observing is a slow and natural shift towards Holacracy, which is, in turn, empowering individuals and teams, and raising the bar on service delivery. This not only benefits the business, but also its clients who enjoy more agile and flexible teams that are emboldened and satisfied or find reasons to terminate faster. </p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diversity-inclusion-tips-for-business-from-senior-diversity-coach-2020-9">I'm a diversity and inclusion coach who's helped Amazon and Shell improve their workplaces. Here are 4 concrete strategies to make your business more inclusive.</a></em></p><h2><strong>In the work-from-home environment, the role of the CEO has shifted — from inspiration to quality control.</strong></h2><p>Just as the pandemic has accelerated shifts to streaming and e-commerce, it's also shifting organizational structure and the movement to Holacracy, which will speed up decision-making and service as people are organized into smaller and smaller independent teams. </p><p><em>Barry Lowenthal is in his 14th year as CEO of global media buying agency Media Kitchen. Follow him on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/barrylowenthal?lang=en"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrylowenthal/"><em>LinkedIn</em></a><em>. </em></p>

Move over, CEOs: Small teams are the leadership of the future — here's how to harness the power of bottom-up culture

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12215589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cynthia-lummis" source="Orion">Cynthia Lummis</keyword> and <keyword id="12026652" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pat-toomey" source="Orion">Pat Toomey</keyword> are the only two US <keyword id="12300398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="senators" source="Orion">senators</keyword> invested in <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword>, the Wall Street Journal found.</li><li>Lummis and Toomey are part of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees banks and coinage.</li></ul><p>Cynthia Lummis and Pat Toomey are the only two US senators invested in cryptocurrencies, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. </p><p>Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, and Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, also sit on the Senate Banking Committee, which <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/senate-banking-committee-letter-stablecoin-issuers-tether-circle-sherrod-brown-2021-11">oversees banks and coinage</a> and has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/27/senate-banking-committee-presses-crypto-experts-on-systemic-risk-at-hearing.html">questioned crypto experts</a> on the industry. </p><p>Lummis, known as a crypto evangelist, owns five <keyword id="11893902" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bitcoin" source="Orion">bitcoin</keyword> worth about a quarter of a million dollars, while Toomey has a smaller share in the industry, the Journal reported, citing its own intensive review of financial documents. </p><p>The senators did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. To the Journal, Toomey asked what part of the economy US lawmakers aren't involved in that could be a conflict of interest. Lummis, whose portfolio also includes her family cattle ranches, told the Journal that for people who say she should sell her bitcoin, she responds, "It's a commodity. Should I also sell my cows?"</p><p>Lummis has become <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-supporter-senator-cynthia-lummis-block-powell-brainard-fed-nominations-2021-12">well-known for being a crypto advocate</a> in <keyword id="11893699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="congress" source="Orion">Congress</keyword>. Her campaign accepted bitcoin contributions, and her home state of Wyoming has passed several crypto-friendly laws.</p><p>According to the Journal's report, at least five White House staff and nine members of the US House of Representatives also are invested in cryptocurrencies. Those House members include Florida Republican Michael Waltz, Massachusetts Democrat Jake Auchincloss, Tennessee Republican Mark Green, California Democrat Alan Lowenthal, Texas Republican Michael McCaul, Alabama Republican Barry Moore, Illinois Democrat Marie Newman, Colorado Democrat Ed Perlmutter, and Jeff New Jersey Republican Jeff Van Drew. </p><p>Lawmakers are legally allowed to invest in assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies, though they must publicly disclose trades, according to the rules of the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.</p><p>But a recent Insider investigation found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-penalties-consequences-2021-12">dozens of members of Congress and top Capitol Hill staffers have been late in filing their stock trades</a>this year and last, though.</p><p>Meanwhile, some savvy day traders have begun <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/retail-traders-are-mirroring-investments-by-nancy-pelosis-husband-whose-stock-picks-have-been-strong-performers-over-the-last-2-years/articleshow/86846426.cms">mirroring investing activity</a> of prominent lawmakers and their spouses, like Paul Pelosi, husband to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. </p>

Bitcoin boosters Cynthia Lummis and Pat Toomey are the only two senators invested in crypto: report

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c34c98abd7730209c365500-1000/bird box netflix.jpg" border="0" alt="Bird Box Netflix" data-mce-source="Netflix" /><p class="source"><span>Netflix</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Viewers are flocking to ad-free video services like Netflix and Hulu, and it presents a big, long-term threat to the advertisers trying to reach them.</li><li>Advertisers blame the backlash on years of marketers flagrantly pushing out ads without regard to the user experience.</li><li>It's especially a concern for advertisers trying to reach high-income consumers who can afford to pay to avoid ads.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>As advertisers converge on the Digital Content NewFronts, the annual digital ad marketplace, one elephant in the room is the rise of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tv-advertising-shift-pivotal-wieser-roku-netflix-amazon-cable-2018-12">ad-free entertainment</a> at the expense of traditional, ad-supported TV.</p><p>Netflix is the most notable example, as is Hulu, with its ad-free tier; HBO, not to mention a slew of subscription-heavy services coming from Apple, WarnerMedia, and Disney.</p><p>On top of that, there's an increasing number of ways people are avoiding ads when listening to music or reading the news, whether by paying for services like Spotify Premium, The Athletic, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-informations-jessica-lessin-may-experiment-with-ads-this-year-2019-3">The Information</a>, or using ad blocking software.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/with-apple-and-disney-looming-netflix-says-it-will-share-more-data-2019-4">Netflix is changing its strategy and letting creators peek into its walled garden as Apple and Disney competition looms</a></em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/30-of-all-internet-users-will-ad-block-by-2018-2017-3">EMarketer predicted</a> that by the end of 2018, 30% of internet users in the US would be using an ad blocker, up from 25% two years earlier.</p><h2><keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword> to the wealthy will only get harder</h2><p>Advertising industry execs say the trend is the result of marketers flagrantly shoving ads in front of people for years without regard to the user experience.</p><p>"The fact is, the advertiser has polluted the experience," Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">Media</keyword> Kitchen, told Business Insider. "We have terrible ad loads, web pages are horrible."</p><p>It's especially a concern for advertisers trying to reach high-income consumers who can afford to pay to avoid ads. Over time, that group will become scarcer and more expensive for advertisers to reach.</p><p>Marketers are increasingly finding the upscale consumer to be stronger in advertising avoidance, more fickle in engaging with content, and too time-poor to retain messaging, said Greg Paull, principal at R3, a consulting company to brands.</p><p>In entertainment, it's really just been TV that has been ad-supported, and it's a significant portion of media consumption, said Jay Friedman, president at Goodway Group.</p><p>"Whether it's just the affluent or this becomes the norm for the majority of consumers, marketers need to face the fact that, while media consumption may be increasing, the opportunities we have to advertise to consumers may indeed decline in the next few decades," Friedman said.</p><p>Some like NYU's <a href="https://www.campaignlive.com/article/advertising-tax-poor-people-pay/1381922">Scott Galloway have pointed out</a> that the consumption shift comes with societal implications.</p><p>"If people pay for ad-free, [advertising] becomes something you have to put up with because you're unable to afford an ad-free environment," Joshua Lowcock, global brand safety officer at Universal McCann, told Business Insider. "Then the question mark is: Who are you advertising to, then?"</p><h2>Agencies also stand to lose if they can't adapt</h2><p>Advertisers aren't overly concerned about it now, agencies say. They have more immediate worries, like making sure their ads don't pop up next to controversial or embarrassing content. Others aren't even paying attention.</p><p>"We're constantly surprised by how many super picky advertisers will throw caution to wind when buying YouTube," lamented a luxury media salesperson.</p><p>Lowenthal said he believes advertisers will find a way to survive, but those workarounds might not involve traditional media channels and agencies.</p><p>"As of today, we can reach plenty of rich people in advertising," Lowenthal said. "But one day it'll be, 'Oh my God, I can't.' But at the same time as people want to avoid ads, clients don't need agencies. There's going to be enough clients doing it themselves, and it'll be too late to do anything about it."</p><p><em>Tanya Dua contributed to this story.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fall-into-black-hole-2016-11">Astronomers just captured the first image of a black hole. Here are the horrifying things that would happen if you fell into one.</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/pK5Q5Xku-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

People are flocking to Netflix and Hulu, and it's a growing concern for advertisers needing to market to the rich

<p>Live sports has been carrying the TV industry, and the coronavirus fallout could serve as a reminder of just how vulnerable the some-$70-billion industry really is. </p><p>The spectre of the summer Olympics being canceled or postponed has already put a damper on ad spending, as companies from The New York Times to ad giant Publicis warn that advertisers will tap the breaks this year.</p><p>There's even been speculation by analysts that virus fears sped up Bob Iger's recent passing of the torch at Disney. The day-to-day pressures of the Disney CEO may mount if the coronavirus continues to spread outside of China, and it has already caused Disney to close its Shanghai and Hong Kong parks and resorts.</p><p>And live sports events like the Olympics are one of the brightest spots for TV networks because it's one of the few things that still drive appointment viewing.</p><p>"Live sports is what drives live TV today - [the Olympics] is still the most extraordinary live sports event," said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen. "For that to go away will have a ripple effect across the industry."</p><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5ecc67fee23d0bac662c44-1405/5aaa96463be59f20008b4613.jpeg" alt="bob chapek" /><p>Read more on the Disney situation by Ashley Rodriguez and Travis Clark:</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-ceo-change-could-help-during-coronavirus-outbreak-analyst-2020-2">Disney's surprise CEO change makes sense because of the coronavirus' growing impact on its business, according to a Wall Street analyst</a></p><h2>Ad tech shopping spree</h2><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5edc8cfee23d1671524d64-1200/adtech acquisition targets 4x3.png" alt="adtech acquisition targets 4x3" /><p>Speaking of TV, the shift to online viewing is driving interest in some digital companies that are specializing in trying to facilitate the shift of ad dollars to digital platforms. Lauren Johnson asked experts which are the top companies most likely to get snapped up this year, driven by online viewing and other big shifts in digital advertising. Here's the full story:</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/7-companies-to-watch-digital-advertising-ma-2020-2">Here are 7 digital advertising companies that experts say could be snapped up in 2020</a></strong></p><h2>Here are other highlights from advertising:</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/25-power-players-leading-turnaround-effort-advertising-holding-company-wpp-2020-2">Meet the 25 power players who are trying to turn around WPP, the world's biggest ad holding company</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oliver-us-president-says-in-housing-trend-not-slowing-2020-3">New US president of the company that built Unilever's ad agency explains why in-housing is a greater threat to ad agencies than consultancies</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-is-beta-testing-its-audience-network-with-brands-2020-3">Leaked memo: Snapchat is wooing advertisers to use its Audience Network to extend the reach of their ads beyond its platform</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-focused-startups-like-teikametrics-and-etailz-raise-money-2020-2">Amazon is breeding a new crop of marketing startups, and investors are buying in</a></p><h2>And some great media stories you shouldn't miss:</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/media-streaming-tv-deals-acquisitions-discovery-starz-tubi-mgm-vudu-2020-3">The 9 media companies industry insiders say are the hottest acquisition targets in streaming TV this year</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-pr-agents-publicists-for-influencers-youtube-instagram-creators-2020-2">The top 14 PR pros and publicists for YouTube creators, Instagram influencers, and other digital stars</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-ceo-bob-chapek-defends-profit-core-business-wall-street-2020-2">Disney has a new CEO: Bob Chapek. Wall Street breaks down the former parks boss' strengths and weaknesses.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/movie-ticket-subscription-plans-from-theaters-price-details-2020-2">How movie theaters are approaching subscription plans after the death of MoviePass, and 7 services battling for US market share</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-instagram-nano-influencers-can-make-money-from-sponsored-posts-2020-3">How Instagram 'nano influencers' with only 2,000 followers can make money from sponsored posts</a></p><p>So long till next week. And if someone forwarded this to you, sign up for your own <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/advertising-media-weekly&amp;hash=f4e91136c13f3c40c496d77bc7347502">here.</a> And don't forget to send me tips or feedback at <a href="mailto:lmoses@businessinsider.com">lmoses@businessinsider.com</a>.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/30-big-tech-predictions-for-2020?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=amazon&amp;itm_campaign=30-big-tech-predictions-for-2020"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5e3895ed5bc79c3adb162707" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: 30 Big Tech Predictions for 2020 by Business Insider Intelligence" style="margin: 0 auto !important; width: 100% !important; min-width: 280px !important; max-width: 640px !important" /></a></p>

The coronavirus sends jitters through the advertising industry

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5ee2d8fee23d1b42144ab7-1067/tokyo olympics coronavirus.jpg" alt="tokyo olympics coronavirus.JPG" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>Live TV has been carrying the TV industry, but questions of the Olympics being canceled due to the coronavirus is another reminder of its vulnerability.</li><li>Live sports has been a bright spot in an otherwise declining TV business as people cut the cord and shift to online viewing.</li><li>Longtime Olympics broadcaster NBCUniversal said it was "full steam ahead" for the Olympics.</li><li>A cancellation could dent ratings and the rollout of NBCU's new streaming service, Peacock, though, sources said.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary"><strong>Click here for more BI Prime stories</strong></a><strong>.</strong></li></ul><p>Live events have been propping up the TV industry, but questions of the Olympics being canceled or delayed due to the coronavirus is another big reminder of its vulnerability.</p><p>The International Olympic Committee announced March 3 that the games <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/03/olympics-ioc-preaches-calm-coronavirus-talk-postponement/4938137002/">would go on as planned</a> from July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo, but Japan's Olympics minister also said they could be postponed until later in the year.</p><p>The $70 billion TV advertising business has been in slow decline as people cut the cord and shift to online viewing, and if not for the Olympics and 2020 election, TV advertising <a href="https://www.axios.com/tv-advertising-2020-election-summer-olympics-9142d1ab-c874-4226-952a-9a84a30434bd.html">was expected to decline further in 2020</a>, according to forecaster Magna. Longtime Olympics broadcaster NBCUniversal said it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nbcuniversal-sells-record-125-billion-in-tokyo-olympic-ads-2020-3">sold a record $1.5 billion in ads</a> around the games.</p><p>"Live sports is what drives live TV today - [the Olympics] is still the most extraordinary live sports event," said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen. "For that to go away will have a ripple effect across the industry."</p><p>"The linear television business is perhaps more dependent on reality programming and sports than it has ever been before, and the Olympics is arguably the crown jewel of sports programming," said Tim Hanlon, founder and CEO of Vertere Group, a consultancy that works with media and advertising companies. "If things change with the Olympic scheduling and presentation, that is a huge gaping hole in the NBCUniversal universe."</p><p>Hanlon said attendance at sports events is becoming less important than TV audiences because of the piles of money that advertisers are willing to spend on live sports, where advertisers can count on viewers seeing their ads instead of fast-forwarding through them.</p><p>"Sports is increasingly becoming more of a television-first economic model while attendance and in-game experiences are secondary," Hanlon said. "There is something to be said that television trumps everything - you're talking about millions of viewers versus tens of thousands of in-person fans."</p><h2>Comcast said the virus's impact would be minimal</h2><p>NBCU said the impact on its business would be small. It has insurance to cover its investment. And a lot of clients' Olympics ad packages, which range from $5 million to more than $100 million, would just be shifted to other parts of the NBCU ecosystem if the games are canceled, said a media-buying executive who has several clients advertising in the Olympics and works closely with NBCU. This exec also said the logistical challenges of relocating 15,000 athletes and the number of international sports broadcasting contracts make postponement unlikely.</p><p>"The Olympics are obviously on everybody's mind. What I know is it's full steam ahead," NBCU parent Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said March 3. "There should be no losses should there not be an Olympics. [There] just wouldn't be a profit this year."</p><h2>NBCU is riding on the Olympics to drive interest in Peacock</h2><p>Still, the Olympics getting canceled or postponed would require the network to fill the airtime with new programming, which could leave them with a weaker lineup and dent ratings. </p><p>Further, it could hurt <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nbc-peacock-streaming-service-netflix-rival-details-release-date-2019-9">Peacock, NBC's big bet</a> to win back viewers who are fleeing to streaming services. Its  planned <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-power-players-execs-leading-nbcus-streaming-service-peacock-2020-1">April launch</a> was timed to ride the wave of interest in the Olympics, said Adam Simon, SVP and executive director of strategy at UM's IPG Media Lab.</p><p>The opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics were planned to first be broadcast on Peacock <a href="https://frntofficesport.com/nbcuniversal-peacock-sports/">before being aired to national TV audiences,</a> and after the games end, NBCUniversal was supposed to air other types of live sports coverage like the Ryder Cup and NASCAR content on Peacock. Peacock has secured big launch advertisers like State Farm, Target and Unilever.</p><p>Asked for comment on Peacock, NBCU said there was no impact on its Olympics preparations as of now.</p><p>On the other hand, Vertere Group's Hanlon said NBCU might use an Olympics void to promote Peacock, including airing content slated exclusively for the service on national TV.</p><p>"If Olympic content were delayed or evaporated, it potentially could be a creative opportunity for NBCUniversal to kill the lost time with things that promote Peacock," he said.</p><p>But that's a big "if."</p><p>"While Peacock has its fair share of content, the Olympics were seen as the primary launch tent pole for the service, which might struggle to gain immediate traction without them, as the last in a long line of streaming launches," Simon said. </p>

Coronavirus has threatened to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, and the fallout could be terrible for the TV business

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cf1ac2111e2053c58219b75-2400/jeff four2.jpg" border="0" alt="Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck" data-mce-source="Ben Hider / Stringer" data-mce-caption="Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck" /><p class="source"><span>Ben Hider / Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Foursquare said that it plans to acquire Placed from Snap as it seeks to build a location company giant.</strong></li><li><strong>The two companies plan to incorporate some of their features like measurement tools.</strong></li><li><strong>Marketers hope the acquisition will bring some needed consolidation to location-based <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> but question aspects, such as whether Placed will be independent under Foursquare.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p>Backed by a fresh $150 million in funding from The Raine Group, Foursquare wants to dominate location-based advertising that marketers use to target and measure campaigns.</p><p>On May 31, Foursquare announced that it is acquiring measurement firm Placed from Snap and will combine some of their products for marketers, including tools that measure ad exposure with foot traffic. For example, Placed's attribution product will become Foursquare's flagship measurement tool and will expand to include the 100 million devices in the US that Foursquare reaches through all the apps it powers.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/foursquares-acquisition-of-placed-will-shake-up-location-based-advertising">'It changes the dynamics of the industry': Foursquare wants to own location-based advertising with its acquisition of Snap's Placed and potentially others"</a></em></p><p>"Clients and investors want to see a clear leader and eventually an independent location-tech, public company that can be an alternative in so many areas - not just in marketing and advertising, but in health and real estate and augmented reality and autonomous vehicles," said Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck.</p><h2><strong>Advertisers welcome a bigger location company</strong></h2><p>Tech firms specializing in location help marketers target ads and see which stores people visited after seeing an ad, but their <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/location-based-ads-killed-by-confusing-tech-gdpr-shifting-consumers-2018-9">explosion in recent years</a> has created confusion, agencies say. But location firms use different measurement methods, which makes it complicated to use them, said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen.</p><p>A retailer or a fast-food restaurant might work with several location companies for a single campaign, said Philip Tesoriero, director of planning for Carat US and co-chair of Carat's Mobile Council. Carat's parent agency Dentsu Aegis Network works with up to a dozen, he said.</p><p>"The location targeting and measurement space is immensely crowded," said Jay Friedman, president of programmatic advertising agency Goodway Group. "Combining two different providers helps Foursquare establish a stronger position."</p><h2>Deal raises questions about Placed's independence</h2><p>Dan Elddine, head of data strategy for North America at Essence, said Foursquare's focus on first-party data with the acquisition could alleviate advertisers' privacy concerns.</p><p>"There's this whole nebulous side of background data collected in long-tail apps," he said. "This shines more light on where that data comes from and how users opt into that process."</p><p>But while Foursquare and Placed collectively reach a big audience, Carat's Tesoriero said he wants to understand how the two companies' products and audiences overlap. According to Foursquare, the two companies' opt-in panel of 30 million consumers does not overlap.</p><p>Similar to the challenges under Snap's ownership, Tesoriero also said it's not clear how Placed will remain independent if it ends up measuring the same ads that Foursquare sells.</p><p>"When it comes to foot-traffic attribution, we don't like to have the measurement partner also run media and grade their own homework," he said. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-express-cmo-elizabeth-rutledge-talks-about-importance-of-talent-2019-5">WATCH: The CMO of American Express explains why advertising has come full circle, and why it's so important to hire diverse talent</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/pyz266Eu-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Marketers see Foursquare's acquisition of Snap's Placed as a game-changer for location-based advertising but question how it'll all work

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c8047a8262898555506f50d-1666/gettyimages-962142634.jpg" border="0" alt="Mark Zuckerberg" data-mce-source="Getty" /><p class="source"><span>Getty</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Mark Zuckerberg just announced in a blog post that Facebook would shift its focus from public posts to private, ephemeral communication on its messaging apps.</li><li>The move creates big unknowns for Facebook's gigantic ad business, most of which is now contained in public feeds and content, and for its advertisers, observers said.</li><li>But analysts and ad buyers see opportunity for advertisers that have been early adopters of Stories and chat bots, two tools that are prevalent in Facebook's messenger apps.</li></ul><p>Mark Zuckerberg just announced in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-privacy-focused-vision-for-social-networking/10156700570096634/">blog post</a> that Facebook would shift its focus from public posts to private, ephemeral communication on its messaging apps.</p><p>The 3,200-word post mainly talks about protecting people's privacy when they use Facebook properties, after the company has come under fire for permitting the misuse of users' data. But it also has potential big implications for its lifeblood, <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword>, and the marketers that use the social network to reach its 2 billion users.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-is-losing-time-to-save-facebooks-ad-business-2019-2">Instagram is already running out of room for ads, and that's a threat to Facebook as it looks for new avenues to keep revenue growing</a></em></p><p>The move could have an "enormous" impact on Facebook's advertising business, said Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer. "Facebook so far has not gained much traction with advertising in Messenger, and advertising in WhatsApp still hasn't emerged. That creates huge unknowns about how Facebook will generate significant ad revenue while users are engaged in private communications."</p><h2>Facebook's evolving to keep up with how people are using its products</h2><p>Of particular note to marketers was Zuckerberg saying in the post that "We plan to build this the way we've developed WhatsApp: focus on the most fundamental and private use case - messaging - make it as secure as possible, and then build more ways for people to interact on top of that, including calls, video chats, groups, stories, businesses, payments, commerce, and ultimately a platform for many other kinds of private services."</p><p>Facebook's message shows that it's evolving to keep up with how people are using its products, shifting from the public feed to one-to-one communications, said Nick Cicero, VP of strategy for Conviva, an online video analytics company. He added that marketers should be thinking about how they can tailor their communications strategies accordingly.</p><p>"Right now, marketers can get up messenger bots, and what they should start doing today is think of the touchpoints of personalization that can occur after someone consumes some content on Instagram," he said.</p><p>Cicero said that questions for marketers to ask are: "How can we interact with customers in a more one-to-one or small-group way? How can they make it inspire more conversation instead of just consumption? How do we create content that sparks a dialogue?"</p><h2>Facebook watchers see opportunity in Stories ads and chat bots</h2><p>Two ways marketers have dipped a toe into messaging apps are with utility-based messaging bots and Stories, Facebook's two-year-old ad format that runs across its properties and which Facebook has been pushing hard as its news feed reaches its saturation point with ads.</p><p>"Stories ads have just started to blossom and you'll see more shift to that format. That's going to mean strategies will have to evolve," Cicero said.</p><p>Anita Walsh, VP, social strategy &amp; marketplace buying at Horizon Media, said this is a good time for marketers to double down on Stories and messenger bots, which some brands have mastered for utility-based transactions like doing returns and making reservations.</p><p>"If people are moving to and get more used to using bots, it creates a way to move past utility and more into informational ones," she said. "It's not right for every brand; it costs to create and maintain a bot."</p><p>Walsh also took talk about making commerce and payments part of messenger apps as another positive for advertisers. It means that Facebook is trying to figure out how to make those apps stickier with, and trusted by, users, which in turn will make those apps good places for advertisers to reach potential customers.</p><h2><strong>The shift in focus could also create more data</strong></h2><p>As for whether advertisers should worry about the future of data targeting on Facebook, Facebook watchers weren't concerned. The social network is still spending heavily on features like its Watch video section to keep people using its public social feed, and that usage throws off a lot of user consumption data that advertisers depend on, Walsh said.  </p><p>"Facebook is investing heavily in content partnerships so that level of consumption seems to be also on the roadmap and that will help with any concerns about rich targeting," she said.</p><p>In another possible plus for advertisers, Facebook's move towards encryption could open up new data opportunities for marketers in SMS data, said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mark Zgutowicz. In theory, Facebook wants its messenger apps to integrate with SMS data from phone messages.</p><p>"The benefit of connecting all these messaging devices is more data linkage across devices," Zgutowicz said. "If you're able to connect WhatsApp as well as Messenger communication with somebody who's communicating with them on Instagram, you can potentially link what those two individuals have in common. As you connect more messaging together, you're theoretically creating a bigger data graph with information that you can then sell to advertisers."</p><p>To be sure, there are still plenty of unanswered questions raised by the post, which makes the advertising implications hard to evaluate.</p><p>The Media Kitchen CEO Barry Lowenthal wondered if Facebook would still collect data on people while they're using messaging apps and if that could be used for advertising purposes.</p><p>And as Facebook makes its messenger apps more utility-based, will it open up ways for it to make money from transactions, making advertising less important to its business?</p><p>In any case, it's clear Facebook had to make big changes to its business.</p><p>"They realize Facebook can't keep going down the same path with fake news and trust. Unless they're willing to blow up the business model to solve for that, they'll go away," Lowenthal said.</p><p><em>Lauren Johnson contributed to this story.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-foldable-phone-galaxy-x-f-winner-2018-9">Everything we know about Samsung's foldable phone</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/DoOuwwxI-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Facebook's messaging shift could have an 'enormous' impact on advertisers, and could trigger a shift towards bots and Stories

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d448bba100a2433d159c4d3-826/screen shot 2018-10-30 at 21213 pm.png" border="0" alt="the conners" data-mce-source="ABC" /><p class="source"><span>ABC</span></p><p class="caption">ABC's "The Conners."</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Tech firms are increasingly using data to help advertisers balance their TV and digital ad budgets.</strong></li><li><strong>Data firm Lotame is rolling out a new product that aggregates app, web, and smart TV data that advertisers can use to create and measure audiences for ad targeting purposes.</strong></li><li><div data-qa="message_content"><span data-qa="message-text">Lotame has to compete with marketing clouds like Salesforce and Adobe and a growing number of ad-tech firms that are also helping advertisers with ad targeting.</span></div></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Ad-tech firms are trying to capitalize on the movement of TV dollars to online streaming, and data firm Lotame thinks it can stand out by helping advertisers understand the growing amount of data on what people are watching.</p><p>Lotame already sells advertisers and publishers a data management platform that helps store and manage data, and it's rolling out a new product to help marketers target ads based on what someone watches on TV by collecting data from smart TVs and marketers' first-party data from OTT apps, mobile apps, and websites.</p><p>Horizon <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">Media</keyword>, ABC, and Fox have used the new tool, according to Lotame.</p><h2>Lotame is aiming its pitch at digital buyers</h2><p>Lotame CMO Adam Solomon said Lotame has already been pitching TV buyers data from Automated Content Recognition (commonly known as ACR), which it accesses through a partnership with Vizio's Inscape. The data analyzes what shows and TV commercials <a href="https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/project-oar-addressable-tv-ads-disney-nbcu-turner-cbs-vizio-1203161087/">consumers watch on smart TVs,</a> and Solomon said the company is looking to tap into other sources of ACR.</p><p>But with TV buyers having planned and purchased TV ads the same way for decades, Lotame saw a growing opportunity to pitch digital buyers.</p><p>"We discovered that maybe the industry was not quite ready to use it for that purpose," Solomon said. "However, we found that digital buyers wanted to run ads targeting digital and mobile."</p><h2>Marketers want to understand how TV and digital ads work together</h2><p>For example, Lotame says it can help broadcasters retarget people with digital ads who started watching a show but didn't finish. And a consumer-packaged goods brand could run A/B tests to see how a digital campaign performs with people who also saw the commercial on TV and those who didn't.</p><p>Michael Zacharski, CEO of EMX, the programmatic exchange of the agency Engine, said that he started seeing advertiser demand for TV-fueled ad targeting last year with healthcare and automaker clients. He called Lotame's new tool "incredibly powerful" because of how it uses viewership data to target consumers by interest.</p><p>The company has big competition from both marketing clouds like Salesforce and Adobe and ad-tech companies, though.</p><p>According to a recent study of 400 marketers <a href="https://adexchanger.com/data-exchanges/salesforce-and-adobe-dominate-the-dmp-space-as-oracle-continues-to-slip/">from research firm Advertiser Perceptions,</a> Adobe and Salesforce ranked as advertisers' most-used data management platforms.</p><p>A number of ad-tech firms such as TrueOptik and Peerlogix are also using TV data to target digital ads.</p><p>"It's an emerging space, and everyone wants everything," said Tricia Masturzo, Lotame's director of data and advanced TV solutions.</p><p><keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword> and marketing tech companies also are getting squeezed as agencies whittle down the number of tech firms that they work with.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/agencies-are-cutting-ad-tech-companies-as-firms-consolidate-2019-7">Big ad agencies are slashing the number of ad-tech companies they work with - and tech firms are racing to stay a step ahead</a></em></p><p>Solomon thinks the company can compete by focusing on TV, though. He also acknowledged that some advertisers use marketing clouds to handle their data needs, but argued that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mparticle-wants-to-take-on-salesforce-and-adobe-in-marketing-tech-2019-4">some don't like</a> to get locked into big deals that don't let them work with other tech firms.</p><p>"There's always room for companies that provide very specific challenges - TV is one of those," he said.</p><p>One challenge for ad-tech firms is figuring out which agency buyer handles OTT. In some cases it's the digital buyer, and in others, it's the linear TV buyer.</p><p>Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen, said tech firms should focus on digital buyers with growing budgets.</p><p>"You should just follow the money," he said.<span>  </span>"If most money is spent in digital media, then why wouldn't the vendors want to reach a digital buyer?"</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anheuser-busch-inbev-cmo-pedro-earp-future-of-marketing-2019-7">Anheuser-Busch's CMO on what many companies get wrong when it comes to being purpose-driven</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/Kqz2RwFT-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Data firm Lotame is pitching TV ad targeting to marketers to stay ahead of marketing cloud giants Adobe and Salesforce

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c9a50c4862913708010f5bf-1778/rts1e9wz.jpg" border="0" alt="Roku stock nasdaq" data-mce-source="Reuters / Brendan McDermid" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters / Brendan McDermid</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>One of the biggest challenges for OTT advertisers is targeting a large enough audience within streaming apps that is comparable to TV.</strong></li><li><strong>Adobe's advertisers can now match their first-party data with Roku's data to serve targeted ads, which in theory will cap ad frequency.</strong></li><li><strong>But not all advertisers have good first-party data, so they still lean on third-party data.</strong></li></ul><p>Marketers have a scale problem with over-the-top <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword>.</p><p>Advertisers struggle to find an audience within publishers' OTT apps that's as big as TV audiences. Adobe and Roku - two of the largest ad-tech firms - are trying to fix this.</p><p>A new partnership will let Adobe's big brand clients target ads in Roku using the clients' first-party data such as email lists and sales logs. The data will then be matched up with Roku's own viewer data such as credit card data, email addresses, and viewing habits.</p><p>Advertisers can then use both sets of data to target ads within publishers' Roku apps and Roku's standalone app. Roku and Adobe wouldn't name brands that are beta-testing the new targeting initiative and Roku wouldn't say which publishers' channels that it sells ads in but said that advertisers who buy direct video campaigns run across whole platform. Spectrum TV, Sling TV, and Tubi are a few of Roku's thousands of publisher channels.</p><p>In theory, this initiative should help advertisers reach a bigger audience and better target their ads while capping the ad frequency so viewers don't see the same ad over and over.</p><p>Roku is often <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roku-wants-to-control-the-future-of-tv-ads">regarded as a walled garden</a> for advertisers, and the move marks the first time that it is letting its own viewer data be matched with advertisers' data, according to Roku.</p><p>Both companies claim that first-party data differentiates them from other ad-tech companies in OTT. Similar to display advertising, marketers use third-party data to advertise on publishers' OTT apps, but it's hard for them to reach TV-sized audiences there. Under privacy rules like the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marketers-are-still-getting-nightmares-about-gdpr-europe-consumer-privacy-law-2018-10">European Union's General Data Protection Regulation,</a> marketers are increasingly prioritizing first-party data over third-party data from multiple sources.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-ad-tech-ott-companies-2019-2019-3">Ad-tech companies are moving full speed ahead to chase OTT ad dollars. Here are the 13 companies poised to win the most.</a></em></p><p>Scott Rosenberg, general manager of Roku's platform business, said that the targeting works around scale concerns because Roku has 27 million accounts, with over half of its users identifying as "cord cutters." It also addresses frequency capping issues because targeting is controlled by first-party data, he said.</p><p>"One of the challenges as you get more targeted in any <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword> is that it reduces the universe of people that you can reach," said Rosenberg. "Many of the techniques for finding users and retargeting them suffer significant handicaps."</p><p>One of the snags of Roku and Adobe's pitch is that brands like consumer-packaged goods and automakers don't have direct relationships with customers, said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen.</p><p>"First-party data is always better than third-party data," he said. "Some of my clients though don't have first-party data that they can bring, so we wind up using second and third-party data when we're buying things like OTT."</p><h2>Brands are asking for better measurement in OTT</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marketers-are-critical-of-ott-ad-tech-firms-pitches-2019-3">Metrics like attribution </a>can be difficult to accurately glean but advertisers are seeking better measurement to figure out how to balance their ad budgets between OTT and TV.</p><p>Roku and Adobe's partnership doesn't extend to measurement, but their execs hinted that the companies would work together on upcoming measurement work.</p><p>Jay Friedman, president of Goodway Group, said the bigger question is whether Roku will open its platform to other ad-tech companies.</p><p>"The big lure of Roku is that unlike many other streaming 'boxes' or CTV providers, Roku doesn't pass their device ID in a bid request in an effort to maintain its walled garden," he said. "If this partnership enables that through the Adobe DSP, that is a truly valuable advantage for Adobe."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kareem-abdul-jabbar-ncaa-should-pay-their-athletes-2016-3">NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explains why the NCAA should pay college athletes</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/KY2pjbDf-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Roku has inked a deal with Adobe to solve one of marketers' biggest pain points in OTT advertising

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c86b9b026289849d008d903-2400/gettyimages-960045234.jpg" border="0" alt="New York Media CEO Pam Wasserstein" data-mce-source="Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="New York Media CEO Pam Wasserstein attends the Vulture Festival Opening Night Party at The Top of The Standard at The Standard, High Line on May 18, 2018, in New York City." /><p class="source"><span>Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">New York <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">Media</keyword> CEO Pam Wasserstein attends the Vulture Festival Opening Night Party on May 18, 2018, in New York City.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Vox Media agreed to acquire New York Media in what they said would create a strong media company.</li><li>New York Media lost money most of the past 15 years and has considered cutting its eponymous magazine's frequency to monthly, two knowledgeable sources said.</li><li>But New York's e-commerce site, The Strategist, is a bright spot, on track to make more than $10 million this year, sources said.</li><li>New York's fashion coverage will also help Vox appeal to beauty and luxury advertisers, ad buyers say.</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vox-media-acquires-new-york-magazine-in-all-stock-transaction-2019-9">Vox Media agreed to acquire New York magazine parent New York Media</a>, a move the two companies said would create a strong, independent media company.</p><p>Pam Wasserstein, head of New York Media, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/business/media/vox-buys-nymag.html">told The New York Times</a>, "It's not out of need. It's out of ambition."</p><p>The financial picture suggests other motives, though.</p><p>Started in the 1960s, New York is known for its famous writers and enterprising journalism that has made it one of the most award-winning magazines. It was bought by Bruce Wasserstein in 2004 for $55 million. But knowledgeable sources said it was losing money most of the past 15 years, with one source saying as much as $15 million one year.</p><p>The company started exploring a sale more than a year ago. At one point, Medium's Ev Williams reportedly looked at buying it. New York started talking to Vox Media in June, the Times reported. </p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-hired-a-big-exec-to-grow-its-news-business-2019-9">BuzzFeed, which laid off 15% of its staff earlier this year, has made a big new hire to grow its news business</a></em></p><p>Once-dominant magazines and newspapers have been in decline for decades as print <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> migrates to more measurable digital platforms, while newer, digital-only media companies have struggled to become profitable on online ads alone. Publishers have tried to diversify through events, e-commerce, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-media-launches-paywall-analysis-2018-11">digital subscriptions</a> and the like.  Vox Media made a small profit last year and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vox-media-says-it-will-evaluate-partnerships-next-year-amid-merger-talk-2018-12">has said it would be open to mergers</a> and partnerships with other media companies this year. </p><h2>New York has a $10 million-plus commerce business</h2><p>The newly announced deal could help New York by taking advantage of Vox Media's bigger audience, advertising tech, and other infrastructure. Vox Media reached 77.8 million unique visitors in August, while New York reached 37.5 million, per Comscore. </p><p>For Vox Media's part, the big benefits to acquiring New York are The Strategist, Vulture, and The Cut, which are its e-commerce, culture, and fashion verticals, respectively. Each deepens Vox's presence into a new business area and has revenue attached to it. The Strategist, which grows out of New York's history of trusted product recommendations, is on track to make $10 million-plus this year, said knowledgeable sources.</p><p>While New York magazine will benefit from Vox's bigger footprint, Vox CRO Ryan Pauley said New York Media will help Vox with media, entertainment, luxury, and beauty advertising to complement its existing travel, <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword>, financial, and consumer tech advertising.</p><p>Overall, with the addition of New York Media, he said, "We can credibly have a deep partnership conversation with every marketer in the world. Being able to say that puts us into a different class of media companies."</p><p>"It's going to give New York magazine scale outside of New York and beef up areas like fashion, beauty, that are not endemic to Vox," said John Wagner, group director of published media at the agency PHD. "The Cut is super exciting for Vox. Vox never played in that arena. The Cut actually goes to the fashion shows." </p><p>Both companies have high-quality sites and combining that audience makes them more attractive to advertisers, said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen. "Scale leads to packaging and at the end of the day, packaging leads to better opportunities, whether it's content or better rates."</p><p>At some point, Vox Media could leverage New York's local food content and live events, said Doug Rozen, chief media officer at 360i.</p><p>"It confirms the power of local and where it's getting more hot," he said. "Brands are looking to get more get into the scene as opposed to just buying impressions across media."</p><h2>Insiders expect layoffs in non-editorial parts of New York Media</h2><p>As for the fate of the beloved print edition of New York magazine, Jim Bankoff, CEO and chairman of Vox Media, told the Times that there would be no editorial layoffs and the print magazine wouldn't fold. </p><p>That doesn't rule out the layoffs of people in other parts of the business, though, which is typical in acquisitions. Insiders expect there to be cuts in New York Media sales, tech, product, ad ops, and events staffs, areas where Vox Media already has teams.</p><p>Pam Wasserstein said in an interview that no layoffs were planned, however.</p><p>There's still the open question of New York magazine's print frequency. The magazine already went biweekly from weekly in 2014, and insiders said the company investigated the idea of going monthly but struggled to figure out how to position it editorially. While the family is devoted to the print magazine, under Vox Media, that problem will shift to new leadership. </p><p>"The magazine is an incredible drag on the whole company," a source with knowledge of the numbers said. "It's an expensive product."</p><p>New York and Vox execs insisted they're committed to the current biweekly frequency, though.</p><p>"The business we're in is the building-brands business," Pauley said. "The brands very much resemble the brands we want to build. The weight the magazine holds still stands, and the loyalty remains, and that's one of the mediums the brand needs to exist in."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warnermedia-molly-battin-marketing-exec-on-the-future-industry-2019-9">WarnerMedia exec reveals how the company's marketing strategy has changed to keep up with the audience</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/KPiRdyRD-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

'It puts us into a different class of media companies': Vox Media discusses the benefits of its New York magazine acquisition, including new advertisers and a $10 million-plus e-commerce business

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c4b5fe62bdd7f1ed97970f9-2095/gettyimages-675578390.jpg" border="0" alt="Anna Wintour Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons Met Gala 2017" data-mce-source="Neilson Barnard/Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Neilson Barnard/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Condé Nast plans to put all its titles behind paywalls this year.</li><li>It also plans to start charging advertisers a premium to reach its digital subscribers.</li><li>The glossy publisher argues its subscribers spend as much as nine times more time on its sites than non-subscribers, making them worth more.</li><li>Ad buyers challenge the idea that paying readers are more valuable, though.</li></ul><p>Condé Nast said this week that it would put all its titles behind a paywall by the end of the year and that it would charge marketers a premium to advertise to digital subscribers.</p><p>Ad buyers expressed doubts that the glossy-magazine publisher's paywalled audience is worth paying more for, though.</p><p>Chris Mitchell, chief business officer for Condé Nast's culture division - which includes The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair - said the company planned to start charging a premium probably in the second quarter. That premium would apply across the aggregated digital subscriber audiences of those three titles, which already have paywalls in place that people hit after reading four articles a month.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/glamour-ends-regular-print-publication-as-magazine-business-changes-2018-11">Glamour was selling millions of magazines, but still couldn't make the business work. And it shows the dire state of advertising.</a></em></p><p>Currently, Wired's digital subscribers get an ad-free experience, but that would change. Ars Technica, Condé Nast's specialty tech publication, also could be part of the experiment.</p><h2>Subscribers are more engaged than non-subscribers</h2><p>Making the case for charging a premium, Condé Nast said that The New Yorker subscribers spend on average 7.3 times as much time on the site per month as non-subscribers do.</p><p>On Wired, subscribers spend 8.7 times as much time, and for Vanity Fair, it's nine times as much.</p><p>"We know they're more engaged, they've visited more articles to be behind the paywall, they're visiting more articles than the people who visit through search," Mitchell said. "So they're inherently more valuable."</p><p>Publishers of all kinds have been turning to paywalls and membership programs to prop up their businesses. Monica Ray, Condé Nast's EVP of consumer marketing, said the rest of Condé Nast's titles, including Vogue, GQ, and Bon Appétit would go behind the paywall starting in the third quarter.</p><p>"I think it's going to be a tough sell," said John Wagner, group director of published <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword> at PHD, of the idea to charge a premium for paywalled readers.</p><p>Wagner said Condé Nast will have a hard time selling this way because other paywalled publications don't sell this way. And advertisers could still try to buy around the premium by buying programmatically.</p><p>The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, for example, don't sell their audiences this way.</p><p>Advertisers would also expect to get a discount for the non-paywalled audience if the publisher charges more to reach the paywalled audience, he said.</p><h2>Ad buyers are pushing back</h2><p>Barry Lowenthal, CEO of The Media Kitchen, challenged the idea that people who pay for content are more valuable than freeloaders.</p><p>"I don't think it's any more valuable then free content," he said. "Of course they will try and say that subscribers are more valuable - maybe richer and more engaged - than non-paying readers, but publishers have spent decades telling us that it doesn't matter. People may also assume that if they pay for content, they won't see ads."</p><p>Mitchell pointed out that Condé Nast has always maintained that most of its print copies are paid for - it's just trying to test the notion of applying that same thinking to the digital sphere.</p><p>As for lowering the rates for non-paywalled audiences, he said: "I don't think there's anything wrong with the current CPM; this isn't about lowering the value of the user base, it's about identifying the higher value of people behind the paywall."</p><p>Still to be worked out are things like how much of a premium will be charged, and if the ad experience behind the paywall will be different from the one in front of it. Condé Nast will pay attention to how the ad market responds to the pricing change and how digital subscribers engage with ads compared to non-subscribers, Mitchell said.</p><p><a href="https://digiday.com/media/digital-push-gq-tries-new-social-ads/">Condé Nast has tried before</a> to charge advertisers more to reach audiences based on their path to the sites, based on the idea that people who come from Facebook, for example, stay more on site than people who come from Twitter. The practice hasn't caught on widely, though.</p><h2>Condé Nast will experiment with dynamic paywalls</h2><p>Paywalls can impact traffic and, in turn, <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> revenue. Ray said the paywall approach would vary by title but that the plan is that most people wouldn't hit the paywall, so there would be minimal impact on traffic.</p><p>"For a lot of longform journalism, the meter makes sense," she said. "For brands like Bon Appétit, there's so much engagement around recipes; Architectural Digest, there's so much engagement around its photo archive. We're really going after this longtail audience."</p><p>Ultimately, the company might try other value exchanges for people who hit the paywall but are resistant to subscribing. Once a reader hits the paywall, they might get another free article that's sponsored by an advertiser, or get to read an article after watching an advertiser's video, for example.</p><p>Ray also said the company plans to experiment with so-called dynamic paywalls, as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times use. That would let Condé Nast vary the number of free articles someone is able to see depending on their propensity to subscribe.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-sea-cucumbers-so-expensive-seafood-2019-1">Sea cucumbers are so valuable that people are risking their lives diving for them</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/T30BqHBi-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Conde Nast plans to charge advertisers a premium for its digital subscribers, but ad buyers think the idea will flop

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5225e317eab8ea3163a49b2c-881-660/taco-bell-guy-4.png?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Taco Bell guy" width="480" /><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/othermore/2084706783/">Flickr/othermore</a></p></div></div>Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ad Age named</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><keyword id="131257" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Taco-Bell">Taco Bell</keyword> </strong><a href="http://adage.com/article/special-report-marketer-alist-2013/taco-bell-ad-age-s-marketer-year/243852/">its Marketer of the Year</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. The publication said the company's use of social media and smart rebranding campaigns made the most of the $280 million it spent on measured media last year.</span></p>
<p><strong>GlaxoSmithKline</strong> <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/gsk-consolidates-media-business-wpp-omnicom/243940/">consolidated its global media buying and planning account</a> with WPP's GroupM. The drug manufacturer will keep Omnicom's PHD as its lead media agency for the United States.</p>
<p>Online clothing seller <strong>Karmaloop</strong> <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/brand-flashing-boobs-and-butt-snapchat-152132">is using risque Snapchats</a> to target younger audiences.</p>
<p>The trailer for Ron Howard's documentary on <strong><keyword id="16418" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jay-Z">Jay-Z</keyword>'s </strong>"Made in America" festival <a href="http://www.fastcocreate.com/3016673/jay-z-run-dmc-and-skrillex-bring-the-noise-in-the-trailer-for-ron-howards-made-in-america-co">is pretty awesome</a>. Featuring the Jigga Man, Pearl Jam, and others, the ad for the Showtime documentary plays up the idea that in tough times, the festival is something people can believe in.</p>
<p><strong>Cadillac</strong> <a href="http://adage.com/article/news/cadillac-car-buyers-work-hard-lucky/243935/">embraces a more egalitarian message</a> in its latest ad campaign from new agency Rogue. The new campaign urges consumers to "Work Hard. Be Lucky."</p>
<p><strong>CBS </strong>and Time Warner Cable <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/business/media/cbs-and-time-warner-cable-end-contract-dispute.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss">ended their contract dispute</a>.</p>
<p><strong>People Magazine </strong><a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/people-mag-prepares-new-subscription-model-152113">is preparing a new subscription model</a> to generate higher revenues.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Companies </span><a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/why-companies-need-head-content-strategy-creation-and-distribution-152115">need a head of content, strategy, creation, and distribution</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Media Kitchen</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> president Barry Lowenthal says. </span></p>
<p><strong>McDonald's</strong> <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/08/31/mcdonalds-nfc-racetracks/">is turning some of its tables into wireless-enabled racetracks</a> for children who download an app made by DDB.</p>
<p><strong>Havas</strong> CEO David Jones said the Publicis-Omnicom merger <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/havas-chief-david-jones-chimes-publicis-omnicom-merger/243930/">won't present his firm with a scale issue</a>.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p><strong>Previously on Business Insider <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword>:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/25-nike-ads-that-shaped-the-brands-history-2013-8">25 Nike Ads That Shaped The Brand's History</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/leo-messi-in-new-qatar-airways-ad-2013-8">FC Barcelona's Leo Messi Teaches A Dance Class In The Latest Qatar Airways Ad</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-powerful-women-in-mobile-advertising-2013-8">Who Are The Most Powerful Women In Mobile Advertising?</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-velti-one-of-the-largest-mobile-ad-companies-on-the-planet-lost-130-million-2013-9">How Velti, One Of The Largest Mobile Ad Companies On The Planet, Lost $130 Million</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/human-rights-watch-says-this-thai-dunkin-donuts-ad-is-bizarre-and-racist-2013-8">Human Rights Watch Says This Thai Dunkin Donuts Ad Is "Bizarre And Racist"</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/video-rickie-fowler-plays-a-70s-style-private-investigator-in-a-brilliant-new-ad-campaign-2013-8">Rickie Fowler Plays A '70s-Style Private Investigator In A Brilliant New Ad Campaign</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-finds-rapid-growth-in-ad-blocking-2013-8">REPORT: 100% Of Internet Users Could Have Ad-Blocking Software By 2018</a></p>
</li>
</ul>

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