1-800-Flowers Taps Home Depot Vet Babcock As First CMO

Just as U.S. consumer price inflation appears to be flattening out following a period of protracted increases, media price inflation paid by advertisers has moved in the opposite direction, according to a new quarterly update from ECI Media Management. The U.S. data estimates ad-supported media prices in the U.S. dropped sharply throughout 2023 -- from +6.6% in the first quarter to -5.1% in the second quarter. The analysis attributes U.S. ad-price deflation mainly to the impact of the Hollywood strikes, which have been settled, but won't impact the ad marketplace until the first quarter of 2024.

The ad industry is urging California Attorney General Rob Bonta to withdraw a recent mandate that companies honor the “Global Privacy Control” -- a universal opt-out tool developed by privacy advocates. That mandate, which was announced earlier this month in a frequently-asked-questions response, “will cause confusion for consumers and businesses, rather than effectuating genuine user choices,” the Association of National Advertisers, Interactive Advertising Bureau, American Association of Advertising Agencies and other groups say in a letter sent Wednesday to Bonta. California's privacy law gives consumers the right to learn what personal information has been collected about them by companies, have that information deleted, and opt out of the sale of that data to third parties.

IPG Mediabrands Magna unit this evening released the latest in a series of quarterly updates on the U.S. ad spending outlook, increasing its 2023 estimate up two-tenths of a point, and its 2024 projection up four-tenths of a point. Magna's 2023 estimate still is down dramatically from its first estimate published in June 2022, but has been climbing steady since it bottomed out at +2.5% in June 2023. Magna's 2024 estimate has climbed steadily since benchmarking it at +7.3% in June 2023.