Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising for April 15. I’m senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here’s what’s going on:
First, a reminder to sign up for our event about the future of digital advertising on April 22 at 2 PM EST/11 PM PST with The Trade Desk, R/GA, The Washington Post, and Mars.
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Toby Melville/Reuters
Agencies consider the office of the future
Going back to the office is on everyone’s minds as vaccination rates rise.
But while agencies and media companies reimagine workspaces with shared desks, expanded meeting space, and touchless services, a sizable portion of people are likely to keep working partially if not entirely at home.
That poses a messy issue for companies that will have to accommodate hybrid workforces to make sure remote people don’t get left out and teams keep working smoothly, to say nothing of addressing burnout, Lindsay Rittenhouse reported.
From her story:
[WPP CEO Mark] Read said 5% to 10% of employees have gone back to most of WPP’s offices and expects more to return this summer, though there is no set date or mandate for reopening. He said WPP is figuring out how to safely reopen its global offices as well as how to “embrace the flexible ways of working we learned in the pandemic.”
Read said the holding company of agencies like Ogilvy, VMLY&R, and Wunderman Thompson would adopt a hybrid model, with offices being reserved for collaborative work and employees handling other solo tasks remotely.
He’s also mindful WPP will have to train managers to ensure all employees have the same opportunities to avoid excluding people who are remote.
Ad agency Crispin Porter Bogusky became famous for its work for marketers like Burger King, but since then, it’s lost its way, losing giant clients like Domino’s and Infiniti.
Now, it’s hoping for a new shot with a new CEO in Marianne Malina, who it poached from Omnicom’s GSD&M.
Malina has a promising track record: Under her stewardship, GSD&M won several big accounts like Capital One, Avocados from Mexico, and Pizza Hut.
The TikTok logo is displayed on a phone in China on March 3, 2020.
Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
TikTok users revealed
Tanya Dua got her hands on recent TikTok decks that reveal new stats on the red-hot video app’s usership and shopping proclivities.
They’re part of a pitch to get advertisers to spend more on the app, using new commerce-style ad formats, as its usage and online shopping have boomed during lockdown.
“TikTok is at a tipping point,” Jon Severson, the vice president and director of paid social at Mediahub, told Tanya. “It’s no longer just a novelty for brands to maybe try but is trying to become something that can drive incremental returns and business outcomes.”
Hi and welcome to this weekly edition of Insider Advertising, where we track the big stories in media and advertising. I’m Lucia Moses, deputy editor here.
Remember you can sign up to get this newsletter daily here.
First, senior reporter Lauren Johnson is hosting a webinar about how advertisers can navigate the death of third-party cookies on April 22 with execs from The Trade Desk, Mars, The Washington Post, and R/GA. Sign up here.
Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Peacock’s big test
Claire Atkinson took the temperature on Comcast’s streaming venture Peacock, which is facing more competition for viewers and advertisers as it enters year two.
Peacock is key to NBCUniversal’s effort to keep TV dollars as viewers shift online – and to Comcast’s plan to grow broadband customers by offering them a freebie.
From Claire’s story:
As Peacock nears its first birthday, NBCUniversal’s streamer is facing fresh challenges – and doubts.
Peacock has delivered in its first year, providing average active user guarantees to launch partners like Target, Capital One, State Farm, and Verizon.
“Peacock has definitely met or exceeded expectations,” Horizon Media’s co-chief investment officer David Campanelli told Insider. “They are outperforming their average active user estimates, which is good to see, and content has been high quality as expected.”
But as NBCUniversal enters one of the most transformational upfront negotiating periods in years, advertisers are ready to cite Peacock’s growing competition to squeeze out better prices, narrower targeting, and more data from the ratings-free black box that is streaming.
Recess got its start making CBD beverages meant to help its buyers relax. Now it’s betting on another calming ingredient, with magnesium-based beverages, Alex Bitter reports.
It’s a way for Recess to grow without waiting for the federal government to rule on CBD – and capitalize on the success of CPG giants like PepsiCo and Danone have had with similar products.
CBD lacks regulation at the federal level, which effectively bans CBD brands from key national retailers.
But while magnesium is recognized as safe, the science connecting it with reducing anxiety is less solid.
Playboy is joining the growing list of media organizations launching non-fungible tokens, in this case to showcase its art and photography archive and to release original works from artists, Kari McMahon reports.
If that doesn’t jibe with your image of Playboy, consider Playboy’s roots. “In the first issue of Playboy magazine, there’s this line, ‘Picasso, jazz, Nietzsche, and sex, those are the four ideal conversation topics for any sophisticated person’,” said Rachel Webber, Playboy’s chief brand officer and president of corporate strategy. “Right in the core of Playboy’s DNA is appreciation for art and for great artists.”
Other things you might not know about the more woke Playboy today: It’s no longer associated with the Hefners. The magazine said in 2019 it would predominantly hire women photographers to shoot Playmates and that it would have intimacy coordinators on set.
