http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2014/06/23/how-marissa-mayer-fell-asleep-and-kept-ad-executives-waiting-for-hours/
How Marissa Mayer Fell Asleep and Kept Ad Executives Waiting For Hours
- Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo YHOO -1.20%, attends the Cannes Lions 2014, 61st International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France last Tuesday (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
For media companies, the Cannes advertising festival is all about getting face time with top media buyers and advertisers. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer missed a golden opportunity to do just that last week.
Last Tuesday evening, Interpublic Group IPG -0.56% arranged a private dinner at the swanky L’Oasis for Ms. Mayer to meet executives from marketers such asMondelez International MDLZ -0.69%, brewer MillerCoors and Greek yogurt maker Chobani. It was supposed to be a chance for Interpublic and some of its clients to get a first hand update from Ms. Mayer on what Yahoo has to offer.
But Ms. Mayer was nearly two hours late, and several dinner attendees including IPG Chief Executive Michael Roth ended up leaving before she arrived, people familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Mayer told some attendees that she had fallen asleep, some of the people said.
“If it were an investor meeting, a board meeting or a potential acquisition, I am sure she or someone from her team would have woken her up,” said one top executive in attendance. “It is another instance where she demonstrated that she doesn’t understand the value of clients, ad revenue or agencies,” the person added.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment, other than noting “we value our partnership with IPG and all of our advertisers.”
Ms. Mayer’s hopes of improving Yahoo’s performance depends a great deal on improving Yahoo’s relationship with marketers and Madison Avenue. Yahoo has seen its share of the U.S. display advertising market decline over the past few years as marketers have shifted ad dollars to others such as Facebook and Google.
Wooing advertisers became a bigger part of Ms. Mayer’s job after she fired her chief operating officer Henrique de Castro, several months ago. At the time, the company said it would not fill his post and Ms. Mayer said she would focus more of her time on advertisers.
- Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo YHOO -1.20%, attends the Cannes Lions 2014, 61st International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France last Tuesday (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
For media companies, the Cannes advertising festival is all about getting face time with top media buyers and advertisers. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer missed a golden opportunity to do just that last week.
Last Tuesday evening, Interpublic Group IPG -0.56% arranged a private dinner at the swanky L’Oasis for Ms. Mayer to meet executives from marketers such asMondelez International MDLZ -0.69%, brewer MillerCoors and Greek yogurt maker Chobani. It was supposed to be a chance for Interpublic and some of its clients to get a first hand update from Ms. Mayer on what Yahoo has to offer.
But Ms. Mayer was nearly two hours late, and several dinner attendees including IPG Chief Executive Michael Roth ended up leaving before she arrived, people familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Mayer told some attendees that she had fallen asleep, some of the people said.
“If it were an investor meeting, a board meeting or a potential acquisition, I am sure she or someone from her team would have woken her up,” said one top executive in attendance. “It is another instance where she demonstrated that she doesn’t understand the value of clients, ad revenue or agencies,” the person added.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment, other than noting “we value our partnership with IPG and all of our advertisers.”
Ms. Mayer’s hopes of improving Yahoo’s performance depends a great deal on improving Yahoo’s relationship with marketers and Madison Avenue. Yahoo has seen its share of the U.S. display advertising market decline over the past few years as marketers have shifted ad dollars to others such as Facebook and Google.
Wooing advertisers became a bigger part of Ms. Mayer’s job after she fired her chief operating officer Henrique de Castro, several months ago. At the time, the company said it would not fill his post and Ms. Mayer said she would focus more of her time on advertisers.
Business Insider....
Marissa Mayer Overslept For A Big Meeting With Ad Executives In France
Reuters
Her presentation to the advertising community was panned for being too canned and inauthentic.
After we wrote about her presentation, a tipster who attended Cannes emailed us with more on Mayer's performance. This tipster asked to remain anonymous.
Here's what our tipster told us:
First, she bombed at the Palais as she basically read her entire presentation from teleprompter screens. Was stiff, forced and it showed as she tried to pander to the crowd.
Then she went to WPP's Stream conference, where she was grilled by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP. After giving another canned presentation, Sorrell hammered her. First he asked her what it would take for her to return an email. When she responded she returns every email, he stated that she hadn't returned his, that Sheryl Sandberg returns his instantly and should he take it personally that she doesn't. Then he asked her what her relationship with Dan Loeb was. When she responded "very good," Sorrell chimed in, "That's not what Dan tells me." This is front of every key WPP executive and many of her peers.
But she saved the best for last. That night, Yahoo had scheduled a very intimate dinner with the giant ad agency IPG. It included every top exec at IPG and at Yahoo. Mayer insisted the dinner be at 8:30 sharp. Everyone rearranged busy schedules including IPG CEO Michael Roth. Mayer ends up standing the group up and shows 90 minutes late. Roth was leaving as she walked in. Her excuse..."I'm sorry, i fell asleep," to which Roth continued walking.
We've been trying to confirm this story by reaching out to the major ad agencies. We've reached out to Yahoo; we haven't heard back. This is just one source, so treat it with a grain of salt, and be skeptical.
Suzanne Vranica of The Wall Street Journal offers a similar story, which seems to corroborate our source. Vranica reports that Mayer was late for a meeting and told people she had fallen asleep.
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