by Herman Manson. Publicis Groupe and Omnicom have announced that they have terminated their proposed merger by mutual agreement, "in view of difficulties in completing the transaction within a reasonable timeframe".
The Ad Contrarian: Omnicom and Publicis
by Bob Hoffman. It looks like the honeymoon between Omnicom and Publicis was in trouble before we even got to the foreplay.
Rob Stokes on selling Quirk to WPP
by Herman Manson. Quirk will retain its operational independence and current management, says agency founder and CEO, Rob Stokes, even after the conclusion of a deal with WPP, which will see the global communications group take a controlling interest in the digital agency. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval.
The Real McCoy: When service delivery becomes a ‘vomit word'
by Sean McCoy. This is not intended to be a political article but rather a brutal assault on the notion of internal branding and the alignment of institutional capacity in the delivery of the expressed promise to market - in this case, the government to the general public.
Digital pioneer sets a new course as 25AM..
by Herman Manson. Acceleration Media, a pioneering South African digital business that lost its way - thanks to brand confusion, a temporary leadership vacuum and shareholders issues - has been given by new shareholder Amorphous a new name (25AM), CEO (Andre Steenekamp) and, hopefully, purpose.
Regular reads:
• Ad of the Week with Oresti Patricios: Rescue me
• Heroes & Zeros with Andy Rice: Nando's & NSPCA - best and worst ads of the week
• Shelf Life with Louise Marsland: Smeg Professional launches in SA
• MagLove with MediaSlut: World Cup magazine covers starting to trend
• #Top40TVratings with SAARF & MarkLives: SAMA 2014 draws big ratings
On the radar:
• OwenKessel Leo Burnett appoints new head of digital
• Pendoring entries for 2014 now open
• Youth survey: DA election ads appeal, ANC ads boring
• Google doodle celebrates SA elections
To be in the know, read www.marklives.com and sign up here for MarkLives' round-up of top ad and media industry news, analysis and opinion in your mailbox every three work days! Follow @marklives on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
