—JumpTime: Elizabeth Osder joins as SVP of strategy and business development. Reporting to co-founder and CEO Michele DiLorenzo, Osder will be responsible for business development, marketing, product and client solutions. She’ll also open JumpTime’s New York office early next year. Previously, Osder has consulted with media brands such as FT.com,…

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Orange have long been rivals in mobile phone markets in Europe, but as growth slows down in the region, the two are, at least in part, taking somewhat different paths in their search for fresh revenues: Vodafone is increasingly looking at its investments in emerging markets,…

The trend of agencies look to build up their social media capabilities with specialized marketing services acquisitions has accelerated in recent months, and that is what’s behind the news that Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi is in acquisition talks with social marketer Big Fuel, as AdAge reports, citing unidentified sources.

A day after AOL (NYSE: AOL) held a gala presentation for analysts in New York’s Soho, execs are now descending on France for the week-long Cannes Lions Festival, the annual gathering of ad agency awards shows and networking. In addition to getting in front of agencies in person, AOL hopes…

To Digitas, Razorfish, VivaKi and Publicis Modem, add Rosetta. Publicis, one of the big four global advertising groups, is buying the Princeton, NJ-based interactive marketing consulting firm.

The recent series of catastrophe’s that befell Japan in the past few weeks along with the economic uncertainty raised by the uprisings in the Middle East have dimmed the outlook for global advertising this year a bit, the latest forecast from Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia says. Internet advertising, though, is still…

All the main ad companies regard digital and emerging markets as their two big growth pillars. But, as slides in Razorfish owner Publicis’ 2010 annual report show, it’s really only digital that’s taking a bigger and bigger place in the company’s overall mix…

Publicis Group’s media buying shop ZenithOptimedia, which just published a fairly optimistic ad forecast, is combining its digital and print units. For the past few years, the major ad agencies have been talking about breaking down the “silos” between digital and other media formats, but appears that Zenith means it.…

David Kenny, one of the key architects of Publicis Groupe’s digital strategy, is leaving the company, the WSJ reports, citing unidentified sources. Currently the co-managing parter of the French ad holding company’s digital hub VivaKi, Kenny arrived at Publicis as part of the $1.6 billion acquisition of Digitas in December…

It looks like Publicis Groupe’s three-year digital acquisition binge may be slowing down. It’s not for a lack of desire on the part of the man who kicked off the digital M&A frenzy with the $1.6 billion purchase of Digitas in December 2006. As Publicis CEO Maurice Levy tells the…

Publicis Groupe’s digital unit VivaKi is opening its online video research initiative, The Pool, in China with a long list of marketers and content sites. The Pool launched in the U.S. only in January ‘09 and this makes China the second market to be included in the project, which is…

Maurice Levy’s French advertising group Publicis is laying down €217.5 million to buy back its shares from Japanese advertising agency Dentsu. Announcement. Dentsu blamed its first annual loss since 1978 last year on having to write down €38 billion (now €233 million) from its Publicis investment - so this is…

Big-four advertising group Publicis says a return to revenue growth this Q1 is mainly thanks to its historical investment in digital advertising. Revenue swung back positively by 8.1 percent from last year to €1.16 billion, after adding 15 percent more money from digital ads. Online now makes up 27 percent…

Ad agency holding companies are continuing to look to Brazil as a hot spot to plant their flag. Publicis Groupe, along with WPP Group, has made focusing on the BRIC countries a major part of its acquisitions plans has taken a 5 percent stake in São Paulo-based full service agency…

—Publicis Modem: Jean-Philippe Maheu is been named the CEO of Publicis Modem, the advertising giant’s interactive marketing services division. He was previously chief digital officer for Ogilvy & Mather North America, and had also been CEO of Razorfish, where he led the company through an IPO and eventual sale to…

As the traditional ad agency structure struggles to reorient services to emerging markets and new media, Publicis Groupe’s digital revenues are at least heading in the right direction, albeit slowly. The Paris-based ad holding company saw digital revs rise 7.1 percent in Q4. Digital dollars now account for 22.4 percent…

—O2 cuts: Telefonica-owned O2 aims to cut its marketing team of 220 by 10 percent by the end of the month, according to Marketing Week. —Publicis: Olivier Altmann has been appointed the ad group’s global creative director. He was previously the company’s Paris agency Publicis Conseil. Via Campaign. —Independent News…

With ad buyer Aegis Media’s earnings release on Thursday, the big European ad groups’ Q3 financials are now in. So what do they show? On this evidence, in 2010 they will be smaller businesses with fewer staff and a renewed emphasis on digital and emerging markets…

Many in the media world are still struggling through the slashed budgets and changed business models, but at least for French advertising group Publicis the advertising downturn is over. In its Q309 earnings release (pdf) on Tuesday, the company declared that the ad market reached its lowest point during June,…