Less BS, More Facts, Some Opinions
“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. TextNow, a free text, voice and video calling app, is on track to hit $100 million in revenue this year, up from $62 million in 2020. The company is profitable. Fun fact, most of that revenue comes from advertising.… Continue reading »
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That’s A Wrapped If you were on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or TikTok last week, you probably saw the Spotify Wrapped feature, an annual breakdown of each user’s most listened to songs and programs for the year. That roundup is then shared on social media, with captions like, “Spotify thinks I need therapy.” Every year, Spotify… Continue reading »
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With its acquisition by UTA for $125 million overnight, the not-easily-defined MediaLink (is it an agency, a consultancy, a media firm, or a matchmaker-on-steroids?) ascended to another level of power and influence that stretches beyond its media and advertising confines.
And while the sale by MediaLink’s current owner Ascential makes MediaLink founder and CEO Michael Kassan even richer and more powerful, the biggest winner is more likely UTA, which now adds a level of expertise and access in media, ad-tech, mar-tech and brand marketing to its talent and sports base.
“This deal really gives [Kassan] a lot more juice,” said the CEO of an independent agency based on the West coast, who declined to speak for attribution. “He’s surrounded by loyalists, but now he’s got access to entertainment and talent at another level.”
But it also gives UTA back-door, through-the-kitchen, table-in-the-front (think the Copacabana scene from Goodfellas) access to brands, media companies, and agencies — along with a strong advisory group that some expect will be headed by a top Kassan lieutenant, Devrie DeMarco, currently managing director and head of client service and growth.
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Digiday has learned that Stagwell Media Network and U.K.-based out-of-home media company Talon Outdoor have cut a strategic partnership deal that boosts Stagwell’s digital OOH offerings for its clients while giving Talon better and deeper access in the U.S. marketplace. Both companies plan to alert their respective clients of the partnership starting immediately.
Principals at both firms talked a lot about OOH’s “renaissance” through its digital expansion into video, as well as the deeper data and insights about OOH audiences that can help to convince a broader array of clients to buy in as part of omnichannel media strategies. Media-spend predictions issued by the major holding companies in the last week or two confirm that OOH is expected to grow double-digit percentages in 2021 and ’22.
According to Barry Cupples, Talon’s global CEO, Talon currently handles about $450 million in media spend in the U.K. and another $150 million in the U.S., so he’s looking to expand both numbers, with an emphasis on U.S. growth. “There’s lots of blue sky ahead,” said Cupples.
As for Stagwell, Jon Schaaf, global chief investment officer at Stagwell Media Network (SMN), said the partnership “pours gas on the fire” of SMN’s OOH media practice, currently a very small portion of its $5 billion in media spend for clients across its agencies that it hopes to double in the next year.
“Our clients are looking for more trackability, scaleability, accountability in their media plans,” said Schaaf. “We always had a core OOH solution, but the depth and technology and analytics and resources Talon brings really help us up-sell and cross-sell these services to our clients.”
Added Anas Ghazi, chief strategy officer for parent company Stagwell Group, and who oversees affiliate and strategic partnerships: “This fulfills a need we have with a partner who’s trusted and has global scale that’s also on the cusp of innovation and technology.”
Talon has worked hard to expand its U.S. reach throughout 2021 via several deals. It formed a strategic partnership Talon-Buntin America with agency The Buntin Group with a focus on local and regional brands, partnered with MadHive for a connected video offering that mashes up OTT and digital OOH, and allied with programmatic firm Hivestack.
“Media has got to be braver in its role moving forward in a world that’s driven by client outcomes and proving that you can be a business partner top-line and bottom-line,” said Cupples. “The way Stagwell has played out to us fits very well with how we go to market. We’ll be very good bedfellows.”
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