The 10 things in advertising you need to know today

Thomson Reuters

Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. Publicis Groupe reported weaker-than-expected results for 2016. Fourth quarter revenue was €2.67 billion ($2.9 billion), a 2.5% drop compared to the year before. The French ad group was also forced to take a (€1.44 billion) $1.5 billion writedown on its digital business

2. GE says it will place 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020. The company wants to achieve a 50:50 representation in all entry-level technical programs and launched an ad to promote its new commitment depicting what it would look like if female scientists were treated like celebrities.

3. Advertisers like Snapchat because they think it's cool and new. The messaging platform's advantage is the high engagement it's seeing from younger audiences that advertisers are looking to reach — but this places huge pressure on Snapchat to remain relevant, especially as competitors can easily copy its features.

4. Flipboard introduced personalized "smart magazines." In its latest update, the app compiles a personalized magazine for each user, instead of showing everybody the same thing.

5. Spinal Tap is suing Vivendi. The four co-creators of the group are seeking $400 million from Vivendi after claiming the media group gave them just $98 in royalties from the comedy movie's soundtrack sales.

6. Time Warner beat earnings expectations thanks to "Fantastic Beasts" and HBO. The company, set to be acquired by AT&T, reported an 11.5% rise in quarterly revenue.

7. Magic Leap is scrambling to produce a working prototype before its board meeting next week. The meeting is viewed as a milestone for the augmented reality company, which needs to prove it can fit the product into a smaller form factor for consumer to use.

8. Trump lashed out at Nordstrom for dropping his daughter's fashion line. The decision was a result of declining sales.

9. Droga5 hired its first intelligence officer. The creative agency hired Amy Avery, previously at JWT, who will oversee all of the agency's data strategists, Adweek reports.

10. Facebook is closing hundreds of its Oculus pop-ups, which sat inside Best Buy. Some of the pop-ups were going days without giving a single demo.

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