Welcome to Ad Age Datacenter Weekly, our data-obsessed newsletter for marketing and media professionals.

Agencies still predict robust global ad industry growth, despite economic headwinds

“For the second year in a row, GroupM predicts that despite the tumultuous economic and geopolitical situations around the world, the global ad industry will see robust growth this year,” Ad Age’s Tony Hao reports. On Monday, “the WPP agency released its optimistic global mid-year forecast ... anticipating an 8.4% increase in global advertising revenue, excluding U.S. political advertising, in 2022. The projection is down from the agency’s December 2021 forecast, which anticipated 9.7% growth in 2022.”

The next day, Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Magna issued its own forecast, calling for 9.2% growth in global ad revenue this year.

Essential context:  Hao notes that Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence for GroupM, pointed to “a growing disconnect” between the global economy and the ad industry. “Over time, the correlations have weakened between economic activity and advertising,” per Wieser. In other words, a challenging economic climate doesn’t necessarily mean that marketers will automatically slash ad spending. And Vincent Létang, Magna’s global market research executive VP, discussed the media agency’s thoughts on topics including election ad spending and the digital ad boom.

Keep reading here—and here.

Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands.

Metaverse, measurement and data crackdowns

“Watch: Dentsu Media CEO on the metaverse, measurement and data crackdowns,” the latest installment of Ad Age Remotely—a conversation between Dentsu’s Doug Rozen and Ad Age Editor Jeanine Poggi.

Alternative currencies gain momentum at NBCU

“About 40% of NBCUniversal’s upfront deals this year so far have been ‘outside of traditional age and gender guarantees,’ said Laura Molen, president of ad sales and partnerships for NBCUniversal, as the media company reported results of its alternative currency trials with iSpot.tv,” Ad Age’s Jack Neff writes. “That 40% incorporates deals via NBCU’s own Adsmart measurement platform, the OpenAP advanced TV platform backed by NBCU and other networks, and deals done with independent measurement provider iSpot.”

Additional context:  Neff adds that “most of the brands in the NBCU iSpot study turned out to be using a less-than-optimal mix of over-the-top or streaming advertising as opposed to linear, said Kelly Abcarian, the Nielsen veteran who’s now executive VP for measurement and impact at NBCU. Ideally, most brands maximize their results in terms of achieving unduplicated reach and optimal frequency by putting 20% to 40% of their buy into OTT, Abcarian said.”

Keep reading here.

Macroeconomic news and data in a nutshell

• “U.S. weekly jobless claims fall less than expected,” per U.S. News & World Report.

• “Fed hikes its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point, the biggest increase since 1994,” per CNBC.

• “Biden’s new inflation scapegoat: oil giants racking up profits amid record gas prices,” CNN reports.

• “Fox News Poll: More voters put trust in Republicans to handle inflation, crime,” from Fox News.

• “Coinbase lays off 18% of workers as crypto winter worsens,” per Bloomberg News (via Ad Age).

Previously:  “U.S. ad business cut 2,400 jobs in May,” from Ad Age Datacenter.

60%

That’s the percentage of Starbucks orders that are customized to the individual customer, according to Barbara Spiering, VP of marketing technology and quality engineering at Starbucks, as revealed in “The Personalization Strategy Behind Starbucks Relationship Marketing Efforts,” a new report out of Cheetah Digital. Spiering also offers insights on maintaining strong data governance practices and using machine learning at scale.

Nielsen heads to Cannes with Nielsen One cross-platform audience measurement

“Nielsen is adding advanced audience options and outcomes measurements such as return on investment to its next-generation Nielsen One cross-platform audience measurement,” Ad Age’s Jack Neff reports. “Nielsen One Alpha, an early version that the company has given to media agencies to try this year, is expected to launch fully by the end of 2022 with an eye toward availability as deal currency by 2024.”

Essential context:  “Nielsen One Alpha’s early measurement output got a rocky reception from the Video Advertising Bureau, an industry trade group, in March, when the company made its measurement available during the current upfront negotiations as a potential alternative to Nielsen’s own panel-based ratings. ... But Nielsen is forging ahead with the new outcomes options for One Alpha and will be offering demonstrations of the new system’s capabilities at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next week.”

Keep reading here.

See also:  “​​Nielsen rival Innovid’s new ‘future proof’ measurement lines up Dentsu as early endorser,” also from Ad Age’s Jack Neff.

Just briefly

• “US shows decline in tech and data science skills proficiency,” per TechRepublic.

• “COVID-19 hits a US plateau: Why aren’t cases going up or down?,” from The Hill.

• “Warren proposes sweeping ban on location and health data sales,” The Verge reports.

• “Ukraine Has Begun Moving Sensitive Data Outside Its Borders,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

• “New data reveals extraordinary global heating in the Arctic,” per The Guardian.

ICYMI: Ad Age Agency Report 2022

Ad Age’s 78th annual Agency Report shows who’s on top and where the business is growing and going. There’s a lot to Ad Age Agency Report 2022—so the Datacenter team has come up with multiple entry points for you to start your own deep dive. To wit:

• Agency Report 2022: What’s inside
• Agency Report 2022: Biggest companies and networks
• How agency revenue growth soared—and what it means for the industry
• Agency Report 2022: Agency employment
• Agency Report 2022: Agency discipline rankings
• Agency Report 2022: Revenue growth
• An index for the entire Ad Age Agency Report 2022

See also:  “Think you know agency-speak? Take our transformational quiz” 

Plus:  “Ad Age Agency Report 2023 Questionnaire”

The newsletter is brought to you by Ad Age Datacenter, the industry’s most authoritative source of competitive intel and home to the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers, the Ad Age Agency Report: World’s Biggest Agency Companies and other exclusive data-driven reports. Access or subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter at AdAge.com/Datacenter.

Ad Age Datacenter is Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Joy R. Lee.

This week’s newsletter was compiled and written by Simon Dumenco.

Subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter for essential data and insights on all of the most-advertised brands.