What you need to know in advertising today
The company has tapped the former Google and Alibaba exec Jane Penner to spearhead investor communications and manage shareholder relationships.
Penner led investor relations for the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba ahead of its $25 billion initial public offering in 2014 - the largest IPO in history. Before that, she was head of investor relations at Google.
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In other news:
Shopify wants to become the 'back office' for direct-to-consumer brands' ad budgets and marketing. While Shopify is best known for e-commerce, it's increasingly moving into marketing and paid advertising to compete with Amazon.
An ad-verification firm just hired a former Yahoo exec to tackle OTT's growing brand safety problem. Integral Ad Science is one of a handful of companies tackling brand safety and ad verification, and it just hired ad veteran Lisa Utzschneider as its new CEO.
Accenture Interactive has acquired ad tech firm Adaptly to bolster its digital ad-buying arm. It's the latest example of the consultancy further encroaching on agencies' turf.
P&G has bought Walker & Co. to expand its offerings to African-Americans, The Wall Street Journal reported. Walker will operate as a separate and wholly owned subsidiary of P&G, continuing to be led by its founder and chief executive Tristan Walker, the companies said Wednesday. The deal price wasn't disclosed.
Just in time for the holidays, KFC is selling a log that smells like fried chicken. The firelog costs $18.99 and can be purchased online while supplies last.