Publicis Groupe's stunning announcement that it had agreed to absorb online and direct marketing shop Digitas for $1.3 billion was largely cheered Thursday, with industry executives saying the move represents the holding company's best hope for remaining competitive. "Publicis did not have strong capabilities in digital. They had to make a big move now," said Cary Savas, president of Omnicom's EVB, who spent about six months last year at Publicis Dialog, where he led interactive accounts for Hewlett-Packard and Sprint. "They were seen as a traditional company that couldn't implement 360-degree campaigns, where digital is integrated at every level." But at the same time, some executives question whether Digitas will be able to keep its identity after the merger goes through. While Chairman-CEO of Digitas, David Kenny, has committed to remain with the company and take responsibility for leading Publicis' overall digital media strategy, it's not clear that he will be able to preserve the shop's culture. Some executives say it's inevitable that Digitas will have to adjust its practices--including matters as how it decides which clients to accept. Still, despite the possible pitfalls, industry insiders said Publicis's decision to acquire the 26-year-old shop made sense. Louis Jones, executive vice president and managing director at Havas-owned digital marketing agency Media Contacts, said that Publicis had few options for growth other than by acquisition. "The space is growing so fast and the business has gotten so complicated, growing organically is really tough," said Jones. And relentless growth is a must for Publicis and its rivals, industry executives say. "The day you pick up account business is the day you start losing it," said Roger Schaffner, CEO of Palisades Media Group. "The Digitas deal doesn't change much; it just reflects the nature of the industry we're in to get as big as you can as fast as you can." Meanwhile, some of the remaining independent shops insist that the Publicis-Digitas deal won't affect them. "It was a competitive industry before this news, and it will continue to be one," said Clark Kokich, president of aQuantive's Avenue A/Razorfish. "This doesn't fundamentally change things for us." Adam Lavelle, vice president of strategy at independent shop iCrossing, and a Digitas alumnus, adds that the deal proves that the ad world is taking online marketing seriously these days. "It's a validation of the fact that digital really matters," he said. At least one rival thinks the deal is good for the overall digital sector, though it may take time before the benefits are clear for Publicis. "From my perspective, the high multiple validates a strong position in digital, and Isobar is smiling about that," says Sarah Fay, president of Aegis Group's Isobar US operations. "As with any acquisition though, the devil will be in the details. I have great respect for both companies - although they are extremely different from each other in culture and business models, which lays out a complex task."
Only six months after launching Shock magazine, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. is closing the title--but plans to maintain the magazine's companion Web site, ShockU.com. "After six months in the marketplace, Shock's performance at newsstands has not produced trends that indicate that we will get the returns that we are looking for," Jack Kliger, president and CEO of Hachette Filipacchi, said in a statement. Eight staffers, including Editor in Chief Mike Hammer, were laid off in connection with the shutdown of Shock. The final issue will be the February publication on newsstands Dec. 26. Unlike the magazine, the audience for ShockU.com has grown during the last six months and receives 41 page-views per session, one of the highest levels for Hachette sites. The company plans to redesign and relaunch the site next spring. A Hachette spokesperson declined to provide traffic figures for ShockU.com. The publisher made a similar move early this year when it shut ELLEgirl, but relaunched the magazine's site in October. Also this year, Time Inc. decided to shutterTeen People in print, but continue the magazine online.
Plum TV, a television network focused on upscale travel destinations, today will unveil new Web sites for three of the resort towns it covers-- Aspen, Vail and Telluride, Colo. The move is part of a broader online expansion, including a new distribution deal on AOL Video, set to roll out in the upcoming months, said Plum TV president and co-founder Chris Glowacki. Plum TV for now covers six towns--in addition to the three Colorado ski areas, the company airs shows in the Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket and is planning to start covering Sun Valley, Idaho, and Miami Beach, Fla. The ad-supported Web sites will carry some video clips from the TV network, but will also have Web-only features--including still photos and possibly, blogs, Glowacki said. The sites also will carry information about weather conditions, upcoming events and other material of interest to people planning trips to the regions. "The new Web sites will really be a resource for and about those destinations," Glowacki said. At launch, the ads on the site will mainly come from the same marketers that buy air time on TV, including Web-based investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. The company also just received a $20 million investment from a consortium of high-profile executives, including former president and CEO of Viacom Tom Freston, entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett and chairman and CEO of Virgin Records U.S. Jason Flom.
Casual game site ProGames this week began offering free, ad-supported game titles from mobile game company Greystripe. With the initiative, users will be able to either download them to their PCs and transfer them to their phones or visit a WAP site and download the games directly to their phones. Under the partnership, ProGames will distribute Greystripe's roughly 350 free ad-supported mobile games--including casino games, shoot-'em-ups, puzzle games, and adventure games--from 40 publishers to their users. The syndication deal is a first for Greystripe, which intends to use it to test future partnerships, said Andy Choi, chief technology officer and co-founder. "We're looking at it as a prototype for what we're going to do in the future," he said. "We can let anyone take our catalogue of mobile games and white label them, and put them on their sites." The mobile games--which usually average in price around $5--are free with Greystripe's service, and are monetized by simple pre- and post-roll ads that appear every time the game is played. The spots are direct call-to-action ads, including click-to-call, click-to-browse, and click-to-survey, said Choi. Greystripe initially launched its ad network in May, with clients including Zagat Survey, Modtones, and GPShopper. New clients include Progressive Insurance and Atlantic Records.
This holiday season, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America has seen a big bump in online donations--which the organization attributes to its new, more user-friendly Web site. The charity, which grants wishes--ranging from trips to Disney World to meetings with celebrities--to sick children, revamped its site on Sept. 1. In the two months following, the average number of online donations referred to the site increased 85%, and the revenue from those visits nearly tripled. The organization also has seen a year-to-year rise in donations during the holiday season--from 1.19% of visitors to 1.45% of visitors, as well as an increase in the amount donated. "Holiday time is always our busiest time of year, but we are significantly higher this season than we have been in previous holiday seasons," says Mike Pressendo, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America's director of brand communications. "The way things are trending, it may end up being our best year ever." He says the previous best year was 2003, through a lump-sum donation from GM and the United Auto Workers union. Last month, the organization racked up 71% more Web-related donations than in November of 2005. This month, donations had increased 32%, as of Tuesday. In addition, the site last month hit an all-time high for unique site visitors--171,805. Interactive shop Digital Pulp handled the redesign. Agency President Ron Fierman said that the site now offers more photos and emphasizes story-telling. "When you see the children--see the wishes being fulfilled--you understand what's going on immediately," he said.
There is an old saying in the media business (at times attributed to David Ogilvy) that your most important assets go down the elevator each night. This is true only when the person in the elevator produces for the company, its clients and its industry in an honorable, personable, and--yes, passionate way. Everyone likes to think that this description fits all of their employees, but everyone knows that it really can only be worn by a precious few. One of the precious few just left Time Warner. One of the few good things I took away from my days (they seemed like eons) playing football at the University of North Carolina was the memory of a poem on the locker room wall called something like "The Indispensable Man." It suggested that you observe a bucket and how calm the water stands in it, and then splash your hand in the water. This splash, said the poem, is your contribution around here. Withdraw your hand and see how quickly the water settles back to still and quiet. That, concluded the poem, is how much you will be missed when you are gone. Each of us who has bled company colors for years on end, only to be stunned when on our departure, the entire enterprise didn't collapse into immediate bankruptcy, knows how true that poem is. We like to think that we made such an important contribution that the company felt real pain when we left. But somehow it managed to struggle on (not even bothering to call us in a panic, asking our advice.) Yet it is not always apparent to a company when a superstar walks out the door. Usually when high-profile people leave under unusual circumstances (think Wal-Mart), there are lots of press stories and even more rumors about "what really happened." But by and large, those are not the real company superstars--they are the self-promoters and grandstanders who care more about their public personas than they do about their employers. The superstars are often too busy filling the coffers and building the company's future with their hard work, their integrity and their sure-handedness. They don't freak out when things go wrong, but quietly figure out a way to solve the problem. They do stuff that the rest of us can't be bothered with, like helping younger people navigate their careers or get new jobs. They really listen to clients, and become not just their business partners, but their personal friends. They show up for weddings and funerals--not because they represent the company, but because they really care for their colleagues and clients. Integrity is at the heart of all superstars. They fight for what is right for clients, and don't cheat on the company or take advantage of their position or power. They don't make up numbers or lie to management and hope to make it up next quarter. They trust those around them to be just as honorable, and often pay a price when they are not. Superstars don't rat out colleague who don't do their jobs; instead, they often extend a hand and say, "Here, let me help you." It is hard to be a superstar because it means making sacrifices. Doing things the right way always takes more time and effort. While you and I have gone to the gym (or the tavern), superstars have stayed behind to make those last important phone calls, with assurances that everything will turn out the way they say it will. Companies survive even when superstars go down that elevator for the very last time. After all, there is no "Indispensable Man," is there? But companies are diminished ever so slightly because the honor and integrity and passion that drove the superstars rubbed off on the company and made clients want to do more business with it. And so, by years' end, there will be a Cleary Simpson-shaped hole in the heart of Time Warner--unfilled perhaps forever.