Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Today — 13 January 2025Main stream

DE&I recalibration from the likes of Amazon, Meta, Publicis sparks questions around faltering commitments

13 January 2025 at 21:01

Any flicker of hope that the ad industry would renew its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in 2025 may be getting dimmer just days into the New Year. Recently, Amazon, Meta, Publicis Groupe and McDonald’s joined the growing list of companies to revamp (or roll back, depending on who you ask) their DE&I policies.

Last Friday, it was announced that Amazon was seemingly halting its diversity programs, “winding down outdated programs and materials” as part of its broader business initiatives review process last year, according to a internal memo from Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vp of inclusive experiences and technology, which Amazon provided to Digiday. Similarly, Meta was said to be terminating its major DE&I programs, including those geared toward hiring, training and picking suppliers, according to Axios.

Earlier in the week, Publicis Groupe reportedly cut its DE&I teams, including removing its chief diversity officer Geraldine White from her post of the past four years. Per AdAge’s reporting, White will continue to work with the holding company on a consultant basis as the company is in the process of hiring White’s successor. Meanwhile, McDonald’s is restructuring its approach to diversity by retiring its supplier diversity efforts, rebranding its diversity team as the “Global Inclusion Team” and sunsetting the concept of setting “aspirational representation goals” to instead focus on embedding inclusion practices into everyday operations. (Meta, McDonald’s and Publicis didn’t respond to Digiday’s requests for comment. When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Amazon provided Castleberry’s memo to Digiday.)

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

What the agentic AI era means for ad agencies, with Omnicom’s Jonathan Nelson

13 January 2025 at 21:01

Subscribe: Apple PodcastsSpotify

Omnicom Group’s pending acquisition of Interpublic Group seems especially timely in the hindsight of last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A major talking point among the brand and agency executives in attendance was the onset of the so-called agentic era of artificial intelligence, in which AI tools handle multi-step tasks for people like booking a full travel itinerary — or firing off a client brief. In this era, data will be at even more of a premium than it is today

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Marketing Briefing: What happens to marketers when the cultural ‘cheat code’ of TikTok is gone?

13 January 2025 at 21:01

By this time next week, we’ll likely know (though, anything could happen) whether TikTok has gone dark in the U.S. or if the app will continue to exist. So far, it’s not looking good. The likelihood of a ban has creators uneasy, preparing their audiences to follow them on other platforms and hoping to take brand deals elsewhere. Meanwhile marketers are questioning refunds, readying contingency plans and sorting out where they’ll move ad dollars.

It seems, all things considered, that marketers are prepared for the short-order effects of a TikTok ban should that come to fruition. What remains up in the air, however, are the long-term effects for brands should TikTok be rendered unusable in the U.S. Sure, there are other short-form video alternatives that stand to benefit (YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels) but short-form video wasn’t the only appeal of the platform. TikTok has been a cultural spigot of sorts for marketers in recent years — they’ve looked to the app not only for what’s trending and to tap into those trends but to understand potential audiences and various cultural niches. So what happens when that spigot is shut off?

This is a member-exclusive article from Digiday. Continue reading it on digiday.com and subscribe to continue reading content like this.

As agencies evolve AI tools for influencer vetting, they’re also discovering the tech’s limitations

13 January 2025 at 21:01

Influencer agencies have embraced generative AI applications over the last year, as they seek to cut the time taken to arrange creator involvement in brand campaigns.

The client reaction to those solutions has been mixed. But in recent months, agencies operating in this space have found one area with clear application for AI tools — brand safety.

Creator vetting can consume up to “a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the depth of analysis,” said James Clarke, senior director, digital and social at PepsiCo Foods U.S. AI solutions aim to cut that time down to a matter of minutes.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Digiday+ Research: More than half of publishers reported revenue increases in 2024

13 January 2025 at 21:01

Interested in sharing your perspectives on the media and marketing industries? Join the Digiday research panel.

It’s barely halfway through January, but publishers are already kicking off a busy year as they prepare for the inauguration and what another “Trump bump” might mean for them. But before that, about 50 publisher professionals took some time to reflect on 2024. What they told Digiday+ Research in a fourth-quarter 2024 survey is that revenues were up last year and media companies had a successful 2024 — but that success didn’t extend to the media industry as a whole.

This is a member-exclusive article from Digiday. Continue reading it on digiday.com and subscribe to continue reading content like this.

American workers' job enthusiasm hits 10-year low

13 January 2025 at 21:01
Data: Gallup; Note: Employee engagement is defined as the involvement and enthusiasm employees feel toward their work and workplace; Chart: Axios Visuals

Employee engagement — the involvement and enthusiasm employees feel toward their work and workplace — is at a 10-year low, per a Gallup survey out Tuesday.

Why it matters: Workers had a rough 2024: Many felt stuck in jobs as hiring slowed, while others were forced back to the office full-time or felt a spun out by a lot of internal restructuring.


  • Research shows that "when organizations have people with clear roles, who have people who care about them, who feel connected to the mission or purpose of the company, where their opinions count, they tend to produce more," said Jim Harter, Gallup's chief scientist of workplace management.

Zoom in: Gallup measures engagement by surveying full-time and part-time workers across 12 measures including if they're satisfied with their workplace, know what's expected of them and feel like they have the opportunity to "do what I do best every day."

The measures that saw the biggest drops versus pre-pandemic survey data from March 2020:

  • Fewer employees said they clearly know what is expected of them at work, down 10 points from a high of 56%.
  • Only 39% of workers felt strongly that someone cares about them as a person at work, down from 47%.
  • Only 30% said that someone encourages their development, down from 36%.

Zoom out: The new data follows a separate report late last year, where Gallup identified a "Great Detachment," with more folks saying they're not satisfied at work and want a new job.

The big picture: Engagement had a good run, steadily rising after the 2008 recession as corporate management improved and leaders realized the importance of culture, said Harter.

  • But the pandemic changed everything, and engagement has been falling since 2020 as everyone adjusted to a rapid series of changes in the workplace, from the rise of remote work, to a wave of resignations and hiring, and then a subsequent slowdown.
  • "In the last two years or so, there's just been an overwhelming sort of lack of interest in things like employee engagement," said Massella Dukuly, head of workplace strategy at Charter, a future-of-work media and research company.
  • The attitude seems to be that workers don't have anywhere else to go in this job market, she said.

💭 Emily's thought bubble: It seems more than coincidental that workplaces became more focused on good management and culture at a time when interest rates were very low and they could afford such luxuries as making sure employees feel valued.

  • Perhaps high worker engagement was another ZIRP phenomenon.

Starbucks says you're going to have to buy a drink to sit around at their stores

13 January 2025 at 20:46
A Starbucks store in Hong Kong.
A Starbucks store in Hong Kong.

Sebastian Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

  • Starbucks is reversing its open-door policy, which lets non-paying guests sit around or use its loo.
  • This means you'll have to make a purchase — or accompany someone who does — to use Starbucks facilities.
  • The chain told BI that the change was made to prioritize paying customers.

You'll have to buy a cuppa to sit around at Starbucks or use its loos.

The coffee chain said on Monday that it would be reversing its open-door policy, which allows non-paying guests to use its restrooms or hang around in its stores. It will now reserve its cafés, patios, and restrooms for its customers and staff.

"Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafes or need to use the restroom during their visit," Starbucks' representative, Jaci Anderson, told BI in an emailed statement.

Anderson said the change will go into effect on January 27 in all its North American stores. She clarified that a customer is anyone making a purchase or accompanying someone making a purchase.

She also shared a company memo, which said that signs with the new code of conduct will be displayed in every store, which "makes clear that our spaces, including our cafes, patios, and restrooms, are for use by paying customers and our partners."

Anderson said its staff will be trained to enforce the code of conduct and ask anyone violating it to leave. She said they may also get support from local law enforcement if the situation calls for it.

The change reverses the company's open-door policy, which it implemented in 2018 after a controversy in one of its stores in Philadelphia.

Two Black men who had been sitting at the store were arrested after one of them asked to use the restroom. He had not purchased a drink and was denied entry by the store staff, who called the police.

The reversal of the open-door policy comes after CEO Brian Niccol in September announced his vision for the chain to become a third space for people to hang out in.

"Our stores will be inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design, and a clear distinction between 'to-go' and 'for-here' service," he said in an open letter in September.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Russia's energy giant is planning to cut 40% of its HQ staff as Moscow's war snatches away its Western customers

13 January 2025 at 20:40
Russian leader Vladimir Putin speaks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller as they visit the Lakhta Centre skyscraper, the headquarters of Gazprom.
A letter from a member of Gazprom's board sent a letter to CEO Alexei Miller, pictured on the left, requesting for a 40% cut to staff at the company's St. Petersburg headquarters.

ALEXANDRE ZHOLOBOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

  • Russia's state-owned gas giant is mulling a sweeping cut to its managing staff in St. Petersburg.
  • A letter from Gazprom's board to its CEO suggested layoffs of 40% for its headquarters amid "challenges."
  • The letter said wages among managers had risen to nearly $500 million a year.

Russian energy giant Gazprom is considering a 40% cut to its headquarters staff after posting its first loss in 24 years, according to a letter from one of its board members to the firm's CEO.

The letter, first reported by St. Petersburg-based outlet 47News on Monday, proposed that the central office head count be reduced from 4,100 to 2,500 people. It was dated December 23, 2024.

A Gazprom spokesperson confirmed the letter's authenticity with Agence France Presse and the state media outlet TASS.

In the proposal, Elena Ilyukhina, the board's deputy chairperson, wrote that wages for Gazprom managers had risen several times in the last two decades to about $486.5 million a year.

"The challenges facing the Gazprom group require a reduction in the time required for preparing and taking decisions," she wrote to CEO Alexei Miller.

Ilyukhina added that the company could instead rely on "automation and digitalization" for roles like accounting and planning.

47News wrote that Ilyukhina also estimated a 40% cut would align Gazprom's management-to-employee ratio with that of Rosatom, a state-owned nuclear energy firm.

Gazprom said in June 2024 that it had 498,000 employees for 2023. In comparison, Rosatom's director general told Russian leader Vladimir Putin in October that his company planned to have about 400,000 employees in 2024.

Ilyukhina added that some money saved in the proposed job cuts could be diverted to offering new performance bonuses for remaining employees.

Gazprom Group, which is mostly owned by the Russian state, posted its first annual loss in 24 years in May as wartime Western sanctions pushed its European customers to sever ties with Russian energy.

The company announced a net loss of 629 billion rubles, worth about $6.84 billion at the time, for the year 2023. It last suffered a net loss in 1999.

The gas producer has continued to face headwinds, with its flagship company announcing a $3.2 billion loss for the nine-month period ending in September 2024.

It's unclear if Miller has approved the layoffs suggested by Ilyukhina, and TASS reported that the company declined to comment beyond confirming that the letter is real.

Gazprom's press service did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Russia had for years been a major supplier of natural gas to the European Union until Moscow's invasion of Ukraine prompted most of the region to start weaning itself off Russian energy. The transition has taken years, with the union whittling down Russia's share of gas imports from 40% in 2021 to 8% in 2023.

Much of the gap has been filled by American gas supplies, with US gas imports to the EU jumping from 18.9 billion cubic meters in 2021 to 56.2 billion cubic meters in 2023.

More recently, Kyiv allowed the expiration of a pre-war contract to pipe Russian gas to Western customers such as Austria. Ukraine declined to renew the contract in early January.

Read the original article on Business Insider

❌
❌