GroupM Advertising Agency No Longer Views Twitter As High Risk

WPP-owned GroupM, one of the world’s biggest media agencies, has warned customers that Twitter is no longer a “high-risk” platform. This comes only days after Elon Musk named advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino the social network’s new CEO.

Musk said last week that he has hired Yaccarino, the former director of advertising at NBCUniversal, to operate Twitter while he remains chief technical officer as well as executive chair. The move was part of an effort to entice back scores of major advertisers that abandoned the site. 

This was due to Musk’s unconventional style of leadership and looser moderation of content following his $44 billion takeover. The departure wiped out over half of Twitter’s $5 billion in annual revenue.

GroupM labeled Twitter as “high risk” in November because it was concerned about the network. According to three people aware of the matter, the agency withdrew that designation on Monday.

This action is expected to encourage its customers to increase ad expenditure again. According to one individual familiar with the situation, GroupM was waiting for a “return to normalcy” in terms of the volume of dangerous information on the site. 

It had increased following Musk’s acquisition. According to the source, the group had been awaiting Musk to reassemble his top executives while also working with Twitter to improve “brand safety”. 

It is an industry phrase referring to the possibility that ads display alongside harmful content and misinformation.

“While the job remains to be done, there are material improvements,” the individual said. The person added that they were “cautiously optimistic” about Yaccarino’s appointment. 

GroupM did not respond to requests for comment. Other ad firms reported that brands became warmer to the concept of turning to Twitter. 

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of S4 Capital, stated that it was “early days,” but her appointment “will encourage clients to reconsider. Linda will make an impact if allowed the wiggle room,” he added. 

According to Ben Foster, the partner in charge of digital at TKF, some brands’ “hardline approach” of avoiding Twitter is starting to soften. “I believe both Elon and Linda nevertheless have the work set out to completely persuade everyone to place ads on the network at this time,” he continued. 

“We will keep working with experienced media veteran Linda Yaccarino, to ensure the network meets up to the strong client safety requirements that we ask all publishers to have in place,” stated Omnicom Media Group. 

“Our advice to clients is based on verifiable action, not headlines or supposition.” During his first six months as CEO of Twitter, Musk tried to win over advertisers, the platform’s main source of revenue, by guaranteeing that it would not become a “free-for-all hellscape.” 

However, many major corporations, like Mondelez, Carlsberg, and United Airlines, have suspended investment on the site. In several cases, Musk himself called brand CEOs to chastise them for limiting advertising, threatening to publicly “name and shame” those implicated. 

Insiders think Yaccarino is going to be able to mend fences, citing her reputation as a great relationship builder as a Madison Avenue expert. Her selection came as Musk has moved to shore up Twitter’s faltering finances. 

He fired at least 80% of the workers, undertook massive cost-cutting initiatives, and sought new revenue streams. 

According to a person familiar with GroupM’s decision, in addition to Yaccarino’s appointment, Musk reassured the agency by permitting third-party sources to confirm Twitter’s claims that the quantity of harmful material on the network was back to the pre-acquisition stages.

Toxic content impressions were low, and it seldom ran alongside advertising. Despite its efforts to court advertisers, Twitter is still mired in a dispute with Microsoft. 

The social media business accused Microsoft of exploiting Twitter’s data tool for “unauthorized uses and purposes” in a letter delivered to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday, according to the Financial Times.

Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, requested in the letter that Microsoft do a “compliance audit” of its previous usage of Twitter’s software development interface, or API, which provides access to public Twitter data. It follows after Musk recently implemented a costly paywall for API access. 

It caused Microsoft to remove the service from the company’s social media monitoring tool. Microsoft confirmed receiving the letter, which was originally published by the WSJ on Thursday.

The announcement should be very positive for Twitter because the company has been struggling financially. Musk has been looking for ways to address this by decreasing headcount and launching a premium tier dubbed Twitter Blue.

Ad revenue is critical for the profitability of Twitter, as it is for many other websites. Most users are not enrolled in Twitter Blue yet, nevertheless, they use the service, which operates on resources that must be paid for.

While Twitter will continue to seek other methods to monetize the firm, the ad money will be a boon. Following Musk’s acquisition, GroupM branded Twitter to be a “high-risk” advertising platform last year. 

It also raised worries about the platform’s operation. Such as the huge migration of Twitter executives and workers and a rise in imitations of high-profile accounts, according to media sources. Based on GroupM’s website, they work with companies including Ford, Nestle, and Coca-Cola.

Musk stated in November, that Twitter consumes over $4 million each day. He had also burdened it with significant interest repayments on the loan he used, to buy it in the initial place. 

Companies don’t want their messages, carefully designed to be as harmless and appealing to as many individuals as possible, to appear next to obvious racist comments, or conspiracy theories. 

And possibly the worst of everything, a fake-yet-verified variant of the persona posting images of their beloved logo giving individuals the middle finger.

Based on a document seen by Digiday as well as a Slack chat from Twitter’s agency partnerships head seen by Platformer, if Twitter wants to shed its high-risk label, GroupM wants to see certain things. The following are on the list: 

1. The “return to baseline NSFW levels” 
2. “Establishment of internal checks and balances” by new IT Security, Privacy, Trust, and Safety executives. 
3. Transparency regarding plans that would have an impact on the user or brand security, such as revisions to community standards and moderation procedures. 
4. A dedication to content control and the ability to enforce the platform’s regulations.

“Given the most recent senior departure in key operational departments, GroupM has updated Twitter’s brand security guidance to high risk,” the company allegedly warned clients in a private Slack chat in November. 

“While they know that our rules remain in place,” GroupM said, “they believe that Twitter’s ability to handle and manage violations at scale is unclear at this time.”

It was reported in April that Twitter is introducing new features for Blue members. It includes 50% more advertisements in their timeline when compared to unpaid customers and increased search visibility.

Elon Musk had consistently stated that Twitter Blue users will receive a feature that would allow them to see fewer promoted tweets. The functionality, which will be available on the “Following” and “For You” timelines, was implemented by the firm last month. 

“There may be instances in which there are more or less non-promoted Twitter posts between promoted Tweets,” according to Twitter’s feature description.

Proofread, Edited & Published By Naveenika Chauhan