The GroupM Podcast

Throughout the week at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, GroupM's influencer marketing arm Goat interviews brand marketers, GroupM and agency executives, and partners. In the final episode of the week, Arron Shepherd and Harry Hugo speak to Cesar Reclade - GroupM CEO for LATAM, Jennifer Creegan - General Manager, Global Marketing & Operations for Microsoft Advertising, and Kate Scott-Dawkins - President, Global Business Intelligence at GroupM.

Throughout the week at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, GroupM's influencer marketing arm Goat interviews brand marketers, GroupM and agency executives, and partners. In today's episode Arron Shepherd and Harry Hugo speak to Stephanie Lawrence Head of Agency Development, Christine Cook, CRO at Bloomberg Media and Eden Bridgeman, Chairwoman and CEO of EBONY and Jet, and host a panel discussion with Wavemaker's Head of Content Adam Puchalsky, Virginie Bercot, Global Brand Director at AXA, Thai Randolph, CEO of Hartbeat, and GroupM Motion Entertainment's Chet Fenster.

Throughout the week at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, GroupM's influencer marketing arm Goat interviews brand marketers, GroupM and agency executives, and partners. In today's episode Arron Shepherd and Harry Hugo speak to Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly.io, Stacy Malone, Global Head of Business Marketing at Pinterest, BBBS CEO Artis Stevens, and GroupM NA Chief People Officer Serena Anthony.

Throughout the week at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, GroupM's influencer marketing arm Goat interviews brand marketers, GroupM and agency executives, and partners.

Brian says his final goodbye to the podcast with one last read-through of economic conditions and a breakdown of results from the worlds of television, CPG and luxury. And we invite James McDonald, Director of Data Intelligence and Forecasting at WARC, on the show for a wide-ranging discussion that includes a lesson on the importance of studying your history. This Week Next Week will return. Music credit: Joseph McDade

In our 50th episode, we have the latest retail sales data from China, the U.S. & U.K. and earnings reports from Netflix, P&G, Richemont & Discover. Brian and Kate then talk through mass reach versus targeted ad campaigns and the impact either can have on consumers’ buying decisions years after first seeing that ad. And we take a deeper dive into the latest with Netflix, why it’s more important to focus on revenue and revenue drivers over subscriber totals and how the frequency of global hits like 'Wednesday' could accelerate with program marketing. Finally, we talk with Anne-Laure Dreyfus-Coutinho, TV Director, and Katty Roberfroid, Director General, both of EGTA, an international Brussels-based trade body representing TV and radio sales houses, about TV measurement around the globe, the addition of US-based streamers into their membership, and the importance of local language content for the future of TV. Music credit: Joseph McDade

We invite GroupM's Simon Thomas, Global Director of Audiences Research, and Bharad Ramesh, Executive Director of Research and Investment, to discuss the formation of a joint industry committee of major U.S. television players set to focus on advancing measurement across linear and streaming. But first, a look at a less pessimistic global economy as well as strategic (and non-strategic) happenings in the world of streaming video. Relevant Links Warner Bros Discovery explores sale of music library (FT) TV networks create joint industry committee for audience measurement (Axios) Music credit: Joseph McDade

We're back from the new year break with a quick look at some economic figures out of the U.S. and EU, and then we analyze some comments from the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery about the health of the advertising market. We make sense of the $414 million GDPR fine handed down to Meta and explain why there will likely be a greater effort from media owners to secure informed consent. And then we analyze how the concentration of ad revenue is evolving as major U.S.-based media owners continue to gain share. Related Links: Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law (NYT) Music credit: Joseph McDade

In the last episode of 2022, we discuss the latest economic data from inflation to new business formation and November pumpkin sales. Kate, Brian and ChatGPT discuss the key trends of 2022 and what we’re looking forward to in 2023. Then Kate and Brian dig into what we (and everyone else) got right and wrong this year (remember when Brian had to eat his mask?). And, lastly, we want to hear from you: what predictions did you get right or wrong in 2022 and what are some of your predictions for 2023?

In this special episode, we discuss the findings from our This Year Next Year 2022 Global End-Of-Year Forecast, authored by Kate Scott-Dawkins. In the face of rising inflation and fears of economic downturns, the report outlines reasons for cautious optimism as we project positive growth for 2022 and 2023.  Related Links: This Year Next Year: 2022 Global End-Of-Year Forecast (GroupM) Music credit: Joseph McDade

We review the latest economic data trends, highlight key points from investor days hosted by Nestle and P&G and provide a clear take on the "confusing and uncertain times" at AMC and Disney. With a deep dive on some of the key issues impacting global and local television trends, such as the state of the auto market, the challenges of diminishing audience reach and the importance of targeting desired audiences, our guest interview this week is Steve Lanzano, president and CEO of the TVB. Related Links: Disney Proposal to Restructure, on McKinsey’s Advice, Triggered Uproar From Creative Executives (WSJ) Deep cuts at AMC Networks signals turbulent time for media industry (CNN) Music credit: Joseph McDade

We unpack the big television downgrade of Q3 and try to unmask the culprit that’s killing the medium. Hint: digital endemics and tough pandemic comparables are looking suspicious. We look at recent ad-tech earnings figures, and then put all the attention-grabbing headlines around Twitter in context with the platform’s actual share of attention among advertisers. Music credit: Joseph McDade

We sift through yet another week of earnings, this time from big TV players like Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and Canal+. Special guest Tom Narayan, Lead Equity Analyst for European Autos at RBC Capital Markets, joins to discuss the health of the automotive sector — a major contributor to the global advertising economy. Music credit: Joseph McDade

We look at earnings results from some of the world's top sellers of advertising, including Meta, which faced pointed questions from analysts on its results call. Traditional pay TV continues its slow decline, and questions abound as Elon Musk finally takes over Twitter. Music credit: Joseph McDade

We look at earnings from Snap and ask the question: "If a billion ad dollars were to come out of Twitter, where would it go?" Then it's more earnings breakdowns of Netflix and major CPG and luxury advertisers. Creative destruction is in full effect as digital endemics continue to gain share among the top 100 U.S. advertisers, and we dig through some academic literature for a little history lesson about the concept of reach. Related Links: Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce (The Washington Post) Denmark’s producers ‘completely screwed’ as ‘greed, overestimation of demand’ blamed for streamer stand-off (TBI) Music credit: Joseph McDade  

This week, we dive into the state of the economy in the U.S. and other parts of the world: from higher-than-expected new inflation data—but “less bad” than it could’ve been—to new retail sales data. As Q3 earnings reports begin to come in, we go through some key growth numbers from LVMH and PepsiCo. and discuss the impact of Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons for $24.6 billion. And, as we take you through Domino’s Q3 earnings, Brian tells us the importance of the proper water-to-dough ratio in making a "good"* pizza. Nidhi Shah, Business Intelligence Analyst with GroupM, joins the show to take us through the state of new business creation around the world and Kyle Roberts, CEO of AdImpact, joins to talk about current trends in political advertising. *Not actually possible without NYC water. Related Links: https://adimpact.com/ https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/investor-relations/documents/quarterly-earnings/2022/3rd-quarter/c363d5ac-0a3e-483e-88ec-89767a8e266e.pdf https://www.oecd.org/industry/business-stats/ Music credit: Joseph McDade

We gut-check some comments from The Trade Desk's investor day and then look at the e-commerce ambitions of beauty companies. Kim K faced the equivalent of an SEC colonoscopy, while the Musk vs. Twitter saga continues. And we're joined by Phil Smith, director general of ISBA, to discuss advertiser sentiment in the U.K. amid political and economic uncertainty, and the need to push social media giants to ensure child safety and welfare on their platforms. Related Links: Social media firms ‘monetising misery’, says Molly Russell’s father after inquest (The Guardian) GroupM's Responsible Investment Framework Music credit: Joseph McDade

A mixed EU economy facing possible recession is seeing rising inflation yet low unemployment levels. With this backdrop, Italy's Mediaset reported new results and provided limited commentary in the wake of news of an "auction" for France's M6. We look at proposed local ad bans in the U.K. and Netherlands, the growth of e-commerce for big apparel brands, the state of political advertising in the U.S. and the latest on Musk vs. Twitter among many other topics. Related Links: Musk vs. Twitter Court Documents Eurostat Inflation Numbers This Year Next Year: 2022 E-Commerce & Retail Media Forecast (GroupM) Music credit: Joseph McDade

In this special episode, we discuss the findings from our This Year Next Year: 2022 E-Commerce & Retail Media Forecast, authored by Kate Scott-Dawkins. The report tracks the growth of the medium throughout the pandemic and dissects the economic trends impacting growth across the globe. Mudit Jaju, Global Head of E-Commerce for Wavemaker, joins to share his deep insights on the space. Related Links: This Year Next Year: 2022 E-Commerce & Retail Media Forecast (GroupM) Music credit: Joseph McDade

Inflation data from the U.S. and U.K. are stoking recession concerns, but the counterpoint of strong retail sales in China and America suggest there's more nuance to the economic outlook. We ponder the future business model of streaming following chatter around the future of Hulu. And a lesson in media training and data security as Big Tech executives are summoned to Capitol Hill yet again. Related Links: Warner Bros. Discovery Has Bigger Problems Than Its DC Search (Hollywood Reporter) Disney CEO Bob Chapek says he’d like to own all of Hulu ‘tomorrow’ but says chances of an early deal are slim (CNBC) Twitter whistleblower disclosure   FedEx Reports Preliminary First Quarter Financial Results and Provides Update on Outlook  TikTok’s C.E.O. Navigates the Limits of His Power (NYT) How China became big business for Twitter (Reuters) Bouygues: Proposed merger between the TF1 and M6 Groups abandoned Music credit: Joseph McDade