With a week to go until shareholders are set to vote on the controversial merger plan, Stagwell has submitted revised offer terms in hopes of mollifying unsatisfied shareholders.

The holding company has formed a custom unit to handle the assignment that will be led by Chicago-based performance marketing agency Performics and which will service all digital and traditional media for the new client.

When folks at the Minneapolis commerce agency The Stable finish a long day, now they can crack open a cold one -- that the agency owns.

The activity could be a sign that clients are shaking off any reluctance to review their media accounts now that the world is cautiously returning to normalcy.

In an open letter issued to MDC and Stagwell chief Mark Penn Tuesday, the MDC investor said Stagwell was being "disingenuous" and "misrepresenting the facts" to MDC shareholders.

But MDC major shareholder Indaba Capital rejected Stagwell's proposed modifications as inadequate, according to a representative for the firm.

The use of alien emojis in ad copy jumped 125% in the first half of the year, while references to UFOs jumped 157%, according to Pattern89, which uses AI to analyze data.

The agency's clients include Google, All State, beauty brand P/Y/T, Blue Shield of California Foundation and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The agency tracker is out with its annual "Compitches" report that evaluates pitch competitiveness of 719 media agencies in 46 countries, awarding grades based on several criteria.

With mental health becoming a more public issue over the past year, given the strains of the pandemic, WPP is expanding its mental-health services to employees.