Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising for April 15. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:
First, a reminder to sign up for our event about the future of digital advertising on April 22 at 2 PM EST/11 PM PST with The Trade Desk, R/GA, The Washington Post, and Mars.
- How media companies are returning to the office.
- Inside Showtime's strategy.
- Meet IPG's Philippe Krakowsky.
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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@insider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.
Media companies including Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and ViacomCBS detail their return-to-office plans as workers push for flexibility after the pandemic
- Media companies are targeting the summer or early fall for their return to the office, Steven Perlberg reported.
- Bloomberg expects employees to return to their desks once they are fully vaccinated.
- Media unions are pushing for more flexible work arrangements to continue post-pandemic.
Read the story.
Showtime insiders worry it will struggle against big-spending rivals like Netflix if it doesn't broaden its appeal or shake up its strategy
- People close to Showtime questioned whether it can thrive without evolving amid rising competition, Ashley Rodriguez and Travis Clark reported.
- Showtime values its place as the adult alternative to ViacomCBS' Paramount Plus.
- But sources raised concerns about its long-term prospects and "Halo" moving to Paramount Plus.
Read the story.
How a quiet, behind-the-scenes fixer became CEO of the fourth-biggest advertising company — and how he plans to keep its momentum going
- Philippe Krakowsky, the new CEO of the No. 4 ad-holding company, isn't a typical advertising chief.
- In one of his first interviews as CEO, he discussed how IPG outperformed in a pandemic and plans to grow, Patrick Coffee reported.
- But like the rest of the traditional ad industry, IPG faces competition for ad dollars and talent.
Read the story.
More stories we're reading:
- Big Tech has turned to Nicholas Bloom for help navigating their return to the office. Here's what the Stanford economist recommends. (Insider)
- Fresh off its $155 million funding round, shaving company Harry's chief of new brands explains what its looking for in consumer retail upstarts as it hunts for its first acquisition (Insider)
- Amazon sellers say sabotage from other 'black hat' sellers is out of control (Insider)
- Facebook is under investigation in the EU for its massive leak of 533 million people's data — and it could face a fine in the billions (Insider)
- A Twitch streamer ended his 31-day livestream by breaking the record for the most-subscribed-to personality on the platform (Insider)
- How Amazon strong-arms partners using its power across multiple businesses (Wall Street Journal)
Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@insider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.
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