Month: July 2023

The news on Monday that Gravity Global is acquiring the rest of 9th Wonder threw a magnifying glass on the growing trend of B2B agencies stretching far past historical business goals and media destinations.

Thanks to a combination of digital transformation breaking down silos that separated business from personal and a pandemic-induced blurring of lines between work and the rest of life — add in a sprinkle of business need brought on by supply chain shortages too — and it’s clear B2B agency is no longer just business as usual. B2B efforts now often spill into out-of-home spectaculars in Times Square or appear as sponsors in major sports events — places where business customers can be influenced on a deeper emotional level than from a lanyard sponsorship at a convention.

Gravity’s closing on the deal (the company declined to reveal the purchase price) to acquire the rest of 9th Wonder it didn’t already own — in spring 2022, Gravity acquired 9th Wonder’s B2B assets — brings a 40% hike to its revenue and a greater U.S. presence. It also ushers in consumer-side skills, notably in data and ad-tech that can influence how the company tries to deliver for its clients — along with expanding its media-side abilities.

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Time is nearly doubling the number of events on its calendar this year — increasing from 10 in 2022 to 18 in 2023 — and is expecting to grow event-based revenue by 55% year over year in the process. 

The event count increase is due to a renewed focus around selling custom activations, which account for all eight of the new events in 2023. Time has four live custom events for brands scheduled to kick off in August this year, and another four are being finalized. While Time dabbled in the past with a few custom events, this year these offerings will be a focus of Time’s events sales strategy, said Time’s executive editor and vp of events, Dan Macsai said. Time did not host any custom events in 2022.

Macsai described this as an evolution of Time’s events business. “This year, we want to double down on what has worked for us in the past. And that is building events that sort of sit on top of our existing editorial franchises… but take it to a new level by finding like-minded brands and partners who share our mission of creating impact,” he said.

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Meta already faces a lot of regulatory pressure in Europe, but the parent company of Facebook and Instagram now has yet another government poking at its privacy practices.

On Monday, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) said it will require Meta to stop behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the country for the next three months unless users give consent. If Meta doesn’t comply with the ruling — which applies to data such as web browsing and location — the company will face daily fines of around $100,000.

Although the ruling was limited to just Norwegian users of Meta’s platforms, privacy experts think it could have broader implications for other countries and companies if it’s adopted by other EU regulators. One attorney also noted Norway’s decision addresses whether companies can use their own first-party data to personalize ads without asking for consent, which in this case is limited to info such as a person’s information listed in their profile.

“This decision would have major impacts on the standard business processes across industries,” said Dan Felz, a partner at the law firm Alston & Bird. “It goes well beyond the decision about ads personalization issued in January by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. The closest thing I have seen is German regulators attempting to move financial services providers towards a consent-first model for customer profiling for advertising purposes.”

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The U.S. climate envoy pleads with Beijing to hurt its economy.

It’s springtime for green eye-shades as new tax rules proliferate.

The center-right Popular Party offers an agenda for growth and a one-nation cultural message.

What happens next isn’t clear but the era of torrid growth is likely over.

Eras used to span millions of years, but today they come and go in a swipe. Amid this culture churn, hot takes about what brands should do go stale almost instantly. There is no time to hypothesize when we’re all too busy trying to catch up on whatever-core. Thanks, relentless scrolling, for eviscerating society’s attention…