Madison Avenue's digital future: outsourced to Bulgaria

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:00:00 EDT

AvVenta Worldwide does the production work behind digital ads for General Motors, Microsoft and Bank of America and it expects to earn us much as $22 million in revenues this year — all while charging 20 percent to 50 percent less than the competition. How? Outsourcing! AvVenta, founded in 2005, has 415 employees in far-away locales such as Costa Rica, Ukraine, the UK and even South Carolina. As the Wall Street Journal reports: "Outsourcing has hit Madison Avenue." Big agencies are getting in on it, too. Publicis, for example, has created a outsourcing digital-production company called Prodigious Worldwide. Says Publicis CEO Maurice Levy:

We're not there yet in terms of large-scale output production. We believe that not only must we learn now as it's still in its infancy, and above all be ready when we — when the economies of scale kick in.

Muxtape-jamming creative types at the digital agencies in Madison Avenue and San Francisco's financial district need not worry about their jobs yet. The Journal reports these agencies don't trust the ferners with ad copy, pictures, music or anything else that goes into "creative." Well, at least not yet, they don't. (Photo by LYDIA and her SALAD DAYS)

Google and Publicis swap execs, wet kisses

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST

Google is more than just a "frenemy," Publicis CEO Maurice Levy told gathered reporters yesterday, after surprising them with a visit from Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Levy said that the search engine and advertising conglomerate plan to swap executives and work together to develop new products and tools. Know what you call that? Frenemies with benefits. Leading the lovefest will be ad-sales executives Tim Armstong and Penry Price from Google and Digitas CEO David Kenny for Publicis. Hawt.

Gawker: valleywag, maurice levy

Madison Avenue's digital future: outsourced to Bulgaria

Google and Publicis swap execs, wet kisses