Top Stories

  • AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia is withdrawing as a partner in OpenAP, a coalition of networks aimed at offering more comprehensive audience numbers to advertisers by combining data from Nielsen, Comscore and others. A WarnerMedia ad sales rep said in a statement that the company’s “advanced advertising strategy has evolved.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
  • Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has appointed five new independent board members — replacing co-founders Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein, among others — as part of an effort to please activist investors who last month wanted the retailer to replace its entire board and oust Chief Executive Steven Temares. The company’s financials have sputtered in recent years, with sales growth down to 1.1 percent last year compared to 22 percent in 2003, when Temares began as CEO. (Reuters)
  • Samsung Electronics Co. canceled two events in Hong Kong and Shanghai ahead of the release of its new Galaxy Fold smartphone following reports and online reviews detailing malfunction of the device. The South Korean technology giant still plans a Friday release for the phone in the United States. (The Wall Street Journal)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

04/23/2019
Digiday’s Future of TV Summit
Silicon Valleywood
Confab: The Content Strategy Conference
04/24/2019
Digiday’s Future of TV Summit
Confab: The Content Strategy Conference
04/25/2019
Digiday’s Future of TV Summit
MediaPost’s Outfront Forum
Confab: The Content Strategy Conference
04/26/2019
Confab: The Content Strategy Conference
04/28/2019
Search and Performance Insider Summit
04/29/2019
Digiday’s Retail Summit
Programmatic I/O
Search and Performance Insider Summit
Digital Content NewFronts
View full calendar

The Brands That Define American Culture and Commerce

Morning Consult analyzed over 400,000 survey interviews to determine this year’s rankings. See who made the list.

Advertising

How Brands Around the Globe Are Commemorating Earth Day
Diana Pearl, Adweek

Apple, The New York Times and more are honoring Mother Earth.

Apartments.com Launches $100M Effort
Tanya Gazdik, MediaPost

Apartments.com will spend more than $100 million this year across both traditional and digital marketing, according to the apartment listing site.

Audi Teams With Marvel Studios For ‘Avengers: Endgame’
Tanya Gazdik, MediaPost

Captain Marvel is back to help the Avengers battle for the fate of the universe. But first, she’s got to get debriefed in what she missed, from fads to food to tech, including the fully electric Audi e-tron SUV.

Media and Entertainment

Abigail Disney Calls Bob Iger’s $65 Million Compensation ‘Insane’
Meredith Woerner, Variety

Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger’s total compensation for Disney’s fiscal 2018 was a whopping $65.6 million. Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy Disney, calls that sum “insane.”

Beyonce’s Netflix Deal Worth a Whopping $60 Million
Shirley Halperin and Jem Aswad, Variety

The streaming giant has committed to three projects by the performer, say sources.

British Vogue Partnered With L’Oreal and McCann to Publish an 80-Page ‘Non-Issue’ on Aging
Sara Jerde, Adweek

Readers of the May edition of British Vogue might have been surprised to find another issue tucked inside.

In pivoting to paid, publishers run into tech headaches
Max Willens, Digiday

For years, publishers cobbled different tools and services together into a stack that would help them scale their audiences — and make money from advertising — as much as possible.

Social Media and Technology

Tesla gears up for fully self-driving cars amid skepticism
Michael Liedtke and Tom Krisher, The Associated Press

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears poised to transform the company’s electric cars into driverless vehicles in a risky bid to realize a bold vision that he has been floating for years.

Free Speech Puts U.S. on ‘a Collision Course’ With Global Limits on Big Tech
Cecilia Kang, The New York Times

When Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook called for regulating harmful internet content in an opinion column last month, Republicans in Washington expressed outrage that he was calling on the government to regulate speech.

Uber, Lyft IPOs May Lead to Higher Fares
Eliot Brown, The Wall Street Journal

Going public brings pressure to generate profits. ‘These companies have more pricing power than people think.’

PR and Marketing

America’s Biggest Supermarket Company Struggles with Online Grocery Upheaval
Heather Haddon, The Wall Street Journal

Kroger adjusts operations and invests in technology to hang on to customers who avoid stores; ‘we’ve got to get our butts in gear.’

Mom jeans made women love denim again
Abha Bhattarai, The Washington Post

American women are buying more jeans — skinny jeans, “mom jeans” and especially discounted jeans — as retailers stock new cuts, colors and styles.

WeWork is replacing its chief operating officer to focus more on overseas growth
Theodore Schleifer, Recode

A lot is riding on a new London-based COO to help justify the company’s $45 billion valuation.

Silicon Valley Has Invented Shoes
Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

Start-ups like Allbirds and Rothy’s are beating fashion at its own game.

Elizabeth Warren Wants to Make It Easier to Prosecute Executives
Peter J. Henning, The New York Times

Prosecutions of finance executives related to the 2008 financial crisis were few and far between — and that has remained a persistent complaint about the government’s response to the meltdown.

Target caters to shoppers looking for ‘clean’ products with new brand
Lauren Thomas, CNBC

Target is launching a household essentials brand called Everspring for items like laundry detergent, dish soap and paper towels.

Amazon is pulling the plug on hybrid selling
Hilary Milnes, Digiday

Amazon is reorienting its retail strategy, and sellers are starting to feel the effects.

What the future holds for Taco Bell after ex-CEO Brian Niccol defected to Chipotle
Dymond Green and Darren Geeter, CNBC

With more than 6,500 locations across the country, Taco Bell is one of the top fast-food chains in the U.S. A recent Harris Poll anointed it “America’s favorite Mexican restaurant.”

Amazon is now making its delivery drivers take selfies
Shannon Liao, The Verge

Amazon is now making its delivery drivers take selfies, it confirmed to The Verge, in a bid to reduce fraud. Using facial recognition, the company will verify drivers’ identities to make sure they are who they say they are.

The Airbnb Invasion of Barcelona
Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker

In the tourist-clogged city, some locals see the service as a pestilence.

Clorox and Unilever Want the Booming Bacteria Business to Thrive
Caroline Winter, Bloomberg Businessweek

Companies that spent decades building germ-fighting brands are now pouring millions into probiotics and beauty to fight everything from acne to cancer.

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

Look What the Streaming TV Revolution Did to Your Cable Box
David Pierce, The Wall Street Journal

By adopting voice search, mobile apps, even a new kind of TV guide, cable companies are finding ways to compete with their internet-based adversaries.

In defense of Big Business, a scapegoat of our polarized age
Roger Lowenstein, The Washington Post

In opinion surveys, Big Business ranks lower than the presidency or the medical system. It is trusted less than labor unions or (egads) newspapers.

What it’s like to be a female founder in the Instagram era
Carrie Battan, Fast Company

Entrepreneurial women are finding that they have unprecedented influence—whether or not they want it.

Morning Consult