Dow Jones begins agency review for creative, media and more

Dow Jones—owner of editorial brands such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and more—has begun an agency review that will cover creative, production and media. The review encompasses all Dow Jones consumer brands and its business-to-business products, including Factiva and Risk & Compliance. The news comes after Dow Jones hired Sherry Weiss as its chief marketing officer in September. This review is part of a larger “transformation project” for the company to restructure its internal marketing functions to provide more “consistency and efficiency” within its operations, according to a statement by the company. This will include a look at the company’s in-house agency capabilities. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Agency A-List winners here “We are on a mission to connect our customers to the best of Dow Jones — our trusted journalism, data and analysis,” Weiss said in a statement. “To deliver on this mission, we must maximize the effectiveness of our marketing investments. Following significant advancements in strategy, operating model and our audience and marketing technology, now is the right time for the business to conduct a review of Dow Jones’s internal and external services to ensure they are fit-for-purpose for the future.” Weiss previously served as head of marketing transformation and channel delivery for Citi’s personal banking and wealth management group. While Dow Jones didn’t confirm if it had lead agencies in the past, it did confirm that it had worked with The&Partnership and m/SIX and a range of other production and creative agencies since 2014. In March 2022, global media network m/SIX, which is a joint venture between The&Partnership and WPP’s GroupM, rebranded to mSix&Partners. MSix and The &Partnership both declined to comment. Dow Jones will be working with a consultancy called Oystercatchers for the review and overall marketing transformation. News Corp., which owns companies such as Dow Jones, HarperCollins Publishers, The Foxtel Group, the New York Post and more, spent $596 million on advertising and promotional expenses for the fiscal year ended on June 20, according to its latest financial filing, up from $550 million in 2021 and $525 million in 2020. Dow Jones spent $37.7 million in U.S.-measured media in 2022, down from $59.5 million in 2021, according to data from Vivvix. This includes spending on the following brands: Barrons, Dow Jones, Factiva, Financial News, IBD, Marketwatch, Opis and WSJ. For the Dow Jones brand specifically, it spent $3.3 million in measured media last year, according to Vivvix, significantly less than the $9.3 million spent in 2021. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Dow Jones begins agency review for creative, media and more

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