Early in the Covid-19 lockdown, a top executive at ad-buying giant GroupM called NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino in a frenzy. Matt Sweeney, GroupM’s chief investment officer in the U.S., was desperately trying to get his advertising clients out of spending commitments, as their businesses endured the strains of the crisis. The company faced a unique problem during the pandemic: advertisers had made spending commitments before the global health crisis and were now demanding the money back. This meant that GroupM still had to manage their clients’ advertising campaigns, despite the lack of available funds. GroupM successfully negotiated with network companies to move clients’ advertising to later dates and extend the airtime of commercials.

Source: Wall Street Journal May 13, 2023 09:34 UTC