WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell on the State of Advertising
From the WPP Stream in Ojai, California Cheddar's CEO Jon Steinberg speaks with WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell about the future of advertising.
The ad exec says clients want platforms like Snap and Pinterest to succeed. With the duopoly of Google and Facebook dominating the industry, with 75 percent of digital advertising and 30 percent of the entire ad market, his clients want control to be more distributed.
While Sorrell has seen Google as a "frenemy" in the past, he says he now sees the technology giant as a "flexible friend," because it's become more responsive to concerns. One of the reasons for Google's shift, Sorrell says, is the rise of companies like Amazon which provide an existential threat to the search and advertising model.
There's also been a lot of talk about how the rise of artificial intelligence may impact the American workforce. Sorrell says technology could be a net destroyer of jobs, and he expects that to become an increasingly critical political issue.
Last month, WPP cut its growth forecast for the third time this year. In the latest quarterly, revenue grew 0.8 percent to $4.78 billion. Sorrell says, "It's been very tough," and he's looking to see how things pan out next year. On the future of advertising, Sorrell says investment in innovation and branding is critically important.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
