Omnicom-Publicis Merge

The biggest news this week is undoubtedly the merger of the world’s second-largest advertising company, Omnicom, and the third-largest, Publicis, together forming the world’s largest ad-holding company valued at $35 billion.

This move puts the company above London’s WPP, with existing Omnicom CEO John Wren and Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy serving as co-CEOs of the new Publicis Omnicom Group that consists of a combined 130,000 employees and together generated a total of $23 billion last year.

Picture credits: AP

This move brings together renowned agencies such as BBDO, Leo Burnett, Ketchum, Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA and Goodby Silverstein, hoping to deliver “the most comprehensive offering of analog and digital services,” as said by Levy.

This also means advertising rivals such as PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. now share the same firm, shedding light on the possible conflicts of interest that come with a consolidated market. As with other firm mergers, advertisers will have to rely on “Chinese walls” to keep campaign secrets.

Earlier reports that the two firms were in talks to merge were confirmed by a press conference held in Paris at 2 p.m. on Sunday, 28th July, followed by one in New York on Monday 29th July.

**Zayed Humanitarian Day **

In honour of Zayed Humanitarian Day on Sunday, many showed their support for Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan on Twitter, making the hashtag #Zayed the number one trend in UAE for the day.

Sunday, which was the 19th of Ramadan, is now known as the founding father’s death anniversary according to the Hijri calendar. Numerous tweets with pictures were posted by those who remembered (as he was affectionately known) “Baba” Zayed’s best teachings and influences.

**Twitter bomb threats **

Plenty of accusatory fingers currently point at Twitter after bomb and rape threats were made to journalists and an MP in London. It all began when Caroline Criado-Perez, journalist and feminist blogger who successfully campaigned for Jane Austen to become the new face of the £ 10 note, was subjected to a series of rape threats on Twitter.

After Labour MP Stella Creasy expressed outrage about the situation, she too received rape threats from anonymous twitter users. Following this, newest updates of women journalists receiving bomb threats have been reported, launching an investigation into the threats, which constitute arrestable offences.

An online petition calling on Twitter to add an ‘abuse’ button to report such cases has been making its rounds around the social media circuit, gaining over 100,000 signatures. Read more about this petition here.

**Haute on social **

Oscar de la Renta was “haute” on Social Media this week, with a bold move to use popular Instagram to release its fall ad campaign, which typically features on magazines like Vogue and Elle. The images were released on the oscarprgirl Instagram account, run by Erica Bearman, senior VP of Global Communications at Oscar de la Renta.

They have each been liked over 2,100 times and posted on Oscar de la Renta’s other social media accounts. The company also incorporated an e-commerce component, launching online presale for the collection with the Instagram photos.

(PICTURE CREDIT: oscarprgirl @Instagram)

Picture credits: @Official_SEA12

Grumppuccino

Famous internet meme “grumpy cat” will now hit store shelves with a new branded Grumppuccino. While trending memes have been used to p

romote products, there hasn’t been much success with products based on memes. Nothing like a cup of coffee and some empathy from Her Grumpiness to start the day, right? Have a great weekend!