|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EY Forms New Unit to Join the Race for CMO Budgets; Once-Libertarian Bitcoin Goes All In on MAGA; Walt Disney Co. to Lay Off Hundreds
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning. Today, Ernst & Young wants a bigger slice of companies’ sales and marketing budgets; crypto’s antigovernment aura is fading fast; and Disney’s latest cuts hit departments including marketing and publicity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EY will make its sales pitch for Studio+ this month at Cannes Lions, the marketing industry’s most prominent annual gathering. PHOTO: MATTHIAS BALK/ZUMA PRESS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ernst & Young on Tuesday announced the formation of EY Studio+, a new business unit that will consolidate its design, sales, marketing and customer-experience services, Katie Deighton reports for CMO Today.
EY has spent more than a decade quietly building up the talent needed to staff the 7,000-person Studio+, buying 37 agencies and firms including the Australian design and product development studio Future Friendly and Stockholm-based design firm Doberman.
Those acquisitions, some of which had kept their own names within EY, will now be rolled up into the new division. It will also be staffed by some consultants from EY’s various sector-specific practices and its AI platform.
Clients right now may not see EY as the “most creative company in the world,” said Laurence Buchanan, the company veteran who was named global leader of Studio+, but they know EY has credentials when it comes to “financials, compliance and making this work overall for the business.”
|
|
|
|
|
Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
|
|
|
Cannes Preview: Mars CMO on How Creativity Propels Growth
|
|
Gülen Bengi, lead global CMO at Mars, shares what’s on her mind ahead of Cannes Lions. As Mars looks to build more engaging relationships, Bengi sees opportunity in AI and consumer co-creation. Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. speak during the Bitcoin Conference, the crypto industry’s flagship event. PHOTO: ROGER KISBY FOR WSJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is the MAGA takeover of cryptocurrency bad for bitcoin’s brand?
Crypto was once the realm of libertarians with little love for government, Kevin T. Dugan, Vicky Ge Huang and Caitlin Ostroff write.
Crowds at last week’s Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, in contrast, turned out for a parade of Trump officials and allies, the chance to pitch policy to JD Vance and merch like Trump hats, bobbleheads and martini glasses.
“The Bitcoin Conference right now is basically a right-wing rally,” said Richard Scotford, a 53-year-old bitcoin owner who lives in Costa Rica. He said being enamored with powerful people is “against the ethos of bitcoin.”
Patrick Murck, who spent years trying to establish crypto’s legitimacy as co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, warned that Trump’s plan to create a national strategic reserve for bitcoin could be counterproductive.
“It’s supposed to be an apolitical, value-neutral network,” Murck said. “If people believe that the U.S. government has a very large stake in its success, I don’t know how people will feel about that in other parts of the world.”
Meanwhile in D.C.: The Federal Trade Commission is investigating around a dozen advertising and advocacy groups over marketers’ pullback from hateful online content. [NYT]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“People are not looking for this content. It’s showing up in their feed.”
|
|
— Dr. Ari Brown, an Austin pediatrician and a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, on the influencers who expose new moms to health misinformation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Disney said its latest layoffs are part of an effort to operate more efficiently. PHOTO: MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Walt Disney Co. is laying off several hundred people globally across divisions including marketing for film and television, TV publicity, casting and development, and corporate financial operations, Katherine Hamilton reports.
In March, Disney laid off 200 employees in its ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks units. It has conducted several other staff reductions in the past few years as it, like many other entertainment companies, looks for ways to save costs.
It had about 233,000 employees at the end of September, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labels representing stars including Taylor Swift want AI startups startups to develop attribution technology to track when and how a song is used. PHOTO: JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Record labels for artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake and Ed Sheeran are negotiating with AI startups to be paid when songs are used to train generative models and produce new music. [WSJ]
Increasingly frugal consumers are cooking at home at the highest levels since early 2020, boosting Campbell’s sales of ingredients for home cooking but hurting the company’s snacks business. [WSJ]
Why refillable candle brand Siblings is diversifying away from Instagram and Facebook. [Modern Retail]
Vogue publisher Condé Nast hired former Gale North America CEO Sophia Zhang as senior VP of revenue marketing. [Ad Age]
German regulators said Amazon’s tools to highlight competitively priced goods and bury overpriced listings might break the law. [WSJ]
TelevisaUnivision is parting ways with Donna Speciale, its well-known president of U.S. advertising sales and marketing, in the middle of upfront talks. [Adweek]
The NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, two-small market teams with a clear favorite to win, could draw record-low ratings. [Front Office Sports]
Can ESPN avoid messing up “Inside the NBA” when it moves from TNT? [WSJ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
