Week in Review: Agencies feel the squeeze, even without the pandemic; Recommerce and local buying trends

Although the pandemic has been the elephant in the (virtual meeting) room since early 2020, it isn't the only hurdle agencies must overcome for continued growth and success.

May 30, 2021 Week in Review: Agencies feel the squeeze, even without the pandemic; Recommerce and local buying trends Although the pandemic has been the elephant in the (virtual meeting) room since early 2020, it isn't the only hurdle agencies must overcome for continued growth and success. Pre-pandemic, Ascend2 asked marketing professionals worldwide about the barriers to success in a client-agency relationship: Roughly half of the respondents cited delivering innovative ideas, 45% noted attributing revenues to marketing, and 35% said delivering on established metrics. Agency professionals also have their own pain points when it comes to managing and growing their business, according to a September 2020 survey by call tracking software provider CallRail. The most common challenge—finding new clients—was cited by 48% of respondents worldwide. Other pain points included increasing revenues per account (42%), finding employees with the "right fit" (33%), lacking time to focus on administrative tasks (31%), and moving on from clients that are a bad fit (22%). Read the full article. [Webinar] Maximize the Potential of Your CDP Audience centers of excellence (COE) need to adapt to help fully utilize the unified customer profiles that customer data platforms (CDPs) promise. Learn best practices around people and processes that support a CDP. Join this live eMarketer Tech-Talk Webinar, with presenting sponsor Adobe. Register Now US TV advertisers will spend nearly $20 billion in this year's upfronts For the 2021–2022 TV season, US upfront ad spending will bounce back to nearly pre-pandemic levels, if not to its 2018–2019 peak, according to our latest estimates. Read the article. Podcast: Around the World with ... Sustainable Shopping—Recommerce and local buying trends On today's episode, we discuss sustainable shopping: the "circular economy" leading to the popularity of recommerce, social media playing a role in secondhand selling, and how smaller retailers can benefit from the pandemic-fueled local shopping trend. Tune in to the discussion as eMarketer principal analyst Bill Fisher hosts principal analyst Karin von Abrams and research director at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels. "Behind the Numbers" is made possible by VTEX. Listen in. China time spent with media 2021 We forecast that this year, adults in China will spend an average of 3 hours, 16 minutes (3:16) per day on smartphone activities, which we define as excluding calls on the cellular network. Up 25 minutes, or 14.6%, from 2020, this total will vault China to first place in the world for that metric. The US will drop to No. 2, with adults there spending 3:10 on smartphones daily. Read the article. Podcast: Uber wants to deliver everything, NBCUniversal's regional sports dilemma, and NewFronts highlights On today's episode, we discuss why Uber is trying to be a one-stop shop and how DoorDash outperformed Uber during the pandemic. We then talk about The New York Times' Q1 subscriber and revenue performance, NBCUniversal's thoughts on regional sports, and what stood out at this year's NewFronts. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom. "Behind the Numbers" is made possible by VTEX. Listen in. WhatsApp: A case study in consumer trust WhatsApp's reputation as a secure messaging platform came crashing down earlier this year, when a new data-sharing policy not only drew the ire of its users, but broke their trust as well. Read the article. Podcast: The real value of privacy, Google's first brick-and-mortar store, and kids shopping online On today's episode, we discuss whether a federal privacy law is still expected this year, some case studies of how companies are building trust in emerging technologies through privacy, and some best practices on how to differentiate on privacy. We then talk about major retailers' Q1 earnings, why Google is opening a brick-and-mortar store, and whether kids being able to shop online by themselves will catch on. Tune in to the discussion with Insider Intelligence senior analyst Sara M. Watson and analyst Daniel Keyes. "Behind the Numbers" is made possible by VTEX. Listen in. How are online and offline transactions becoming more frictionless? For some time now, consumers have been moving toward demanding more frictionless payment methods across online and offline channels. The social distancing and sanitizing practices brought on by the pandemic proved to be the push that encouraged many consumers to try proximity mobile payments (paying for goods using a mobile phone as a physical POS) for the first time. Ecommerce retailers, not to be outdone, are finding ways to improve their transactions as well. Read the article. ©2021 Insider Intelligence Inc. 11 Times Square, New York, NY 10036   eMarketer Week in Review is published by Insider Intelligence Inc. Unsubscribe | Change email address | Advertise Select "Research Submissions" for potential inclusion in the eMarketer Daily. If you cannot view the HTML newsletter, please read it in your browser here.