Angst at Cannes, P&G embraces cause marketing, and Gary Vaynerchuk vs. the holding companies

(Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune)

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Welcome to the Advertising and Media Insider newsletter, our weekly roundup of all the big stories we’ve been covering. Send me tips or feedback at lmoses@businessinsider.com.

This week, senior reporter Tanya Dua’s been reporting from the annual advertising gathering in Cannes, France, where ad chiefs wrestle with how to get their messages out to consumers as people shut out ads, the tech giants clamp down on targeting, and privacy regulation gains steam.

Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

Procter & Gamble’s Marc Pritchard said the packaged goods giant is increasing its focus on nontraditional advertising, tying up with personalities like John Legend and Arianna Huffington to sell everything from diapers to toothpaste. And while using celebrities and entertainment to sell products is nothing new, Pritchard said what P&G is doing is different because it’s leaning hard into focusing on causes people care about.

Mark Read, the CEO of WPP, said with ad targeting falling out of favor, advertisers can back off on targeting, but measuring the results remains an issue.

"There’s only a certain amount of targeting you really need to do," he said during a panel. "The challenge comes down to measurement and efficiency. Can we see the results of what we’re investing, and there I think it is more problematic."

Facebook top salesperson Carolyn Everson said the platform is still a good place for brands to advertise even as it becomes more privacy-centric, highlighting its Watch and Stories video ads.

"There’s still a plethora of ways to utilize our platforms," she told Business Insider. "It’s not like targeting is going away — we don’t think relevant ads and privacy are at odds."

Here are other stories we’ve been reporting. (You can read most of the articles here by subscribing to BI Prime; use promo code AD2PRIME2018 for a free month.)

VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk says his bootstrapped digital media company is generating more than $130 million and is coming for WPP and Omnicom — with no ‘meaningful competitor’ in sight
In time for Cannes, the divisive Vaynerchuk boasts in a wide-ranging interview that his company is on a tear and stealing clients from the agency giants by focusing on speed, creative volume, and sales results.

Rumors keep swirling about a Group Nine and Refinery29 merger, but pulling it off would be rough for everyone
Combining could be the best outcome for the many digital media companies that are unprofitable. I talked to M&A experts to dig into why getting these kinds of deals done is so vexing. For starters, there’s no straightforward way to value such businesses.

Former Snap CSO Imran Khan has launched his new e-commerce startup Verishop, which industry experts say can solve for some of Amazon’s key weaknesses
Khan is pitching Verishop as a more trusted and pleasant shopping alternative to Amazon and other online retailers. Still, Amazon is a global giant playing in many lanes, including advertising, and the fact that Verishop won’t monetize itself through ads could be a missed opportunity, observers said.

Sizmek’s contextual-targeting business is one bright spot for the bankrupt ad-tech firm, and a group of industry execs is spinning it out into a new company
Ad-tech firm Sizmek, which has been spinning off parts of its business, has been a poster child for ad tech consolidation. Lauren Johnson reports on how its latest spinoff, Peer39, could be a bright spot by addressing marketers’ growing privacy and regulation challenges.

Facebook’s marketing chief Antonio Lucio talks about how he plans to fix the dented brand, why he’s using agencies for the first time, and what it’s like to work at a founder-led company
Facebook just announced a new ad campaign; its CMO talks about how it’ll use an array of media and agencies to regain user trust after years of scandal and measurement mistakes.

Here are other stories from media, tech, and advertising you should check out:

Even after ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ this year’s box office is down thanks to a bleak summer full of stale sequels

Peloton, the fitness startup with a cultlike following, could go public at an $8 billion valuation. Insiders reveal why its business seems set to explode.

‘The stakes have gotten higher’: MediaMath is trying to block ad fraud before it happens and will offer vetting tools for free to advertisers

Morgan Stanley says Disney will steal Netflix’s streaming throne in the US within 5 years — but will trail globally by a wide margin

Dun & Bradstreet agreed to acquire a data platform to get a bigger piece of marketing budgets and keep ahead of startups and marketing clouds

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