Burnout hits ad agencies

Hello and welcome to Insider Advertising for April 19. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

• Ad agency burnout.
• Netflix cancellations.
• Top social brands.

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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@insider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

Burnout is taking a toll on advertising employees' mental health, and it's causing some to quit

• Some ad agency employees say some clients have been demanding faster responses and shorter turnaround in the pandemic, Lindsay Rittenhouse and Patrick Coffee reported.
• Some reported working up to 75 hours a week to keep up, and others have quit, citing burnout.
• But fear of layoffs and losing clients has made it hard for employees and agencies to push back.

Read the story.

Also read: Advertising confessions: 9 current and former staffers at companies like WPP and Publicis share stories of pandemic burnout

Netflix cancellations fell during the first quarter to their lowest level in 2 years, exclusive web-tracking data suggests

• Netflix made big subscriber gains amid the pandemic, and new data suggests it's retaining customers, Ashley Rodriguez reported.
• Visits to Netflix's cancellation page fell in the first three months of 2021, SimilarWeb found.
• Netflix reports earnings for the first quarter of 2021 on Tuesday.

Read the story.

New data reveals the top 10 brands on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube - from Shein to Epic Games

• New data reveals the most talked about brands on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube in 2020, Sydney Bradley reported.
• Influencer-marketing platform HypeAuditor analyzed 12 million Instagram accounts, 4.5 million YouTube channels, and 5.2 million TikTok accounts throughout 2020.
• Shein, Netflix, and Fashion Nova came out on top.

Read the story.

More stories we're reading:

• About a dozen OAN employees have quit in recent months as some staffers don't believe the stories run on air, report says (Insider)
• Law firms, recruiters, and marketers dish on how they're gearing up for a gold rush from New York's blockbuster move to legalize cannabis (Insider)
• Startup founders, VCs, and lawyers open up about the dark world of dirty term sheets, where shrewd investors screw them over (Insider)
• Snapchat has become an on-demand delivery app for teens to score illegal drugs. Some kids are dying after taking one pill. (Insider)
• Facebook plans to go after Clubhouse - and podcasts - with a suite of new audio products (Vox)
• ABC News scrambles to fill top producer slot at 'Good Morning America' (Variety)
• The Oscars are a week away, but how many will watch? (New York Times)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@insider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.