Latest news with #CotedAzur
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Cannes Lions Gathers Ad Business As WPP Media Report Flags Challenges
Brand marketing and management, branding or rebranding concept. 3d illustration of a magnifying ... More glass over golden and black words. As the ad industry kicks off the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the sunny climate of the Cote d'Azur can't mask the storm clouds that surround many in the business. WPP Media's latest Global Midyear Forecast, This Year Next Year, certainly doesn't provide a completely dour forecast, but does highlight the gravity of challenges confronting marketers, agencies, publishers, and their employees. WPP Media itself has undergone a tumultuous last couple of years, including the recent announcement that Mark Read, CEO of WPP itself, is leaving the company. WPP Media, WPP's media buying arm, is still the world's largest media buyer, but it ditched the familiar GroupM brand name and folded leadership of its agencies, Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom, into one central organization. The reorganized company has announced layoffs and recently lost several significant clients to Publicis. Of course ad industry disruption is hardly limited to WPP Media. No matter the environment, WPP Media's new forecast provides a number of timely insights around the ad business today and its pathway forward, and I spent some time with its author, Kate Scott-Dawkins, Global President of Business Intelligence for WPP Media. The sweep of the midyear forecast, including its global geography, millions of measurable media data points, and perspectives on the latest developments in AI, provides what WPP Media aims to be 'a comprehensive view of advertising [today] The WPP Media midyear forecast projects 6% growth in total 2025 ad revenue. This isn't a bad number in the context of our current global political, cultural, and environmental upheaval. But it is a drop of 22% from WPP Media's predicted growth of 7.7% just six months ago, and the report downgrades its growth expectations going forward not only for 2025 but for the next five years as well. The report notes the 'increasingly opaque economic environment [in which] many marketers have appeared to take a wait-and-see approach.' That's hardly a formula for a robust upfront market for U.S. ad sellers. And traditional TV is hardly fertile ground for any rising tide of advertising, as cable TV network revenue fell nearly 7% between 2023 and 2024, undoubtedly one of the factors driving major ad sellers in the traditional TV world to restructure themselves. One of the aspects of This Year Next Year that has garnered a good deal of attention is the growth in creator-driven ad revenue relative to the traditional video and audio media outlets. Within the world of 'content-driven advertising revenue' (think most everything but search), WPP Media defines 'creator-driven' ad revenue as that appearing on YouTube and social media platforms, and projects that this category will total nearly $185 billion in 2025, for the first time surpassing ad revenue from TV (including streaming), which the report projects to hit roughly $162 billion this year. By 2030 WPP Media projects that this creator-driven ad revenue will top $376 billion globally. Wow - did traditional media need yet another challenging datapoint? The influencer/creator economy is hardly new, but its accelerating scale demonstrates its inextricable integration into the broad ad marketplace. The WPP Media report doesn't provide much light at the end of the tunnel of Big Tech's ad revenue dominance. According to the report, the top 25 global media owners, running from Google through U.S. media companies through China's Xiaomi Global, accounted for 70% of all ad revenues in 2024. And just five companies - Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram and What's App), ByteDance (TikTok's owner), Amazon and Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba - accounted for 54% of all ad revenues by themselves. Amazon alone ($55.9 billion) took in more in ad revenue than the combination of all five of the major U.S. media companies (Comcast, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox). And looking forward, it's not going to get easier as WPP Media projects that the digital advertising share of ad revenues (think anything but traditional video and audio) will rise from 73% in 2025 to over 87% in 2030. There are no conversations about media, advertising or most anything else these days that don't touch on AI, so of course This Year Next Year had to provide insights on developments in that area as well. The challenge, as Scott-Dawkins noted, is 'how are you going to cover this momentous revolution in a way that feels comprehensive and not obsolete as soon as we published?' In search ad revenue, or what WPP Media here calls 'Intelligence Advertising,' the report sees 7.4% growth in 2025. But as the forecast notes this includes not just traditional Google-dominated search but 'answer engines' such as OpenAI, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Grok and Anthropic. The hope that ChatGPT and AI-driven platforms might weaken the Big Tech ad revenue stranglehold may be proving illusory. For better or worse, publishers have long been desperately dependent on traditional Google searches to drive clicks and traffic to their sites. Google's introduction of AI tools such as AI Overviews, obviating the need for consumers to click on Google's blue web links, has combined with increased AI-based searches to bring about declines in publisher site traffic over the last several years as much as 50% or higher. To paraphrase what Sally once told Harry: 'You can't take it back. It's already out there.' At least the Rose will be plentiful at Cannes Lions.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
That's Nice! Informa chiefs swan off on Riviera junket
The entire board of Informa will de-camp to the sun-drenched French Riviera this week for its annual meeting as the publisher becomes the latest London-listed company to deter shareholders from turning up to such events in person. Informa's move means its annual meeting will in effect be online-only for UK-based share owners as they would struggle to find the time – and in some cases the money – to attend. It would cost the best part of £1,000 in flights and accommodation to go to the meeting, held at the five-star Maison Albar hotel in the heart of Nice. Informa joins the likes of drugs giant AstraZeneca, defence contractor BAE Systems and toothpaste-maker Haleon in moving their annual meeting to what amounts to a digital-only format. Campaigners say firms are doing this to stifle scrutiny, debate and dissent in a blow to shareholder democracy. Catherine Howarth, head of small investor lobby group ShareAction, said Informa's migration to the balmy climes of the Cote d'Azur was another example of 'disappearing directors', adding: 'Its decision not to make the board available to shareholders in the usual way this year confirms a growing pattern of disregard for shareholder accountability and access.' She urged the Government and regulators to 'take steps to stop this pattern in its tracks'. Another shareholder described Informa's decision as 'incredible', while a third expressed surprise – not least because last year's in-person event in London was 'jam-packed' and 'one of the best I've ever attended'. The FTSE 100 company has been rocked by shareholder revolts over boardroom pay. Stephen Carter, a former chief adviser to Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, has earned almost £40 million since becoming chief executive in 2013. He could net £7.2 million this year – a fifth more than the £5.9 million he took home in 2024. Carter, who was the founding boss of communications regulator Ofcom before entering Downing Street, has presided over the rapid expansion of Informa into the world's largest business events group, lifting its stock market value to more than £10 billion. It also owns academic publisher Taylor & Francis. Last year Informa snapped up France's Ascential in a £1.2 billion deal that brought a prestigious advertising jamboree called Cannes Lions into its fold. Chairman John Rishton told investors the meeting was being held in nearby Nice 'to enable the board to attend' the festival, which is now Informa's largest single event and also takes place this week. He added: 'We are delighted to welcome shareholders to attend in person in France.' They are more likely to watch online, as one night at the hotel costs £765, breakfast included, while a return flight from Gatwick is at least another £87. Company law is unclear about where and in what form annual meetings should take place, as the legislation was drawn up 20 years ago, before staging virtual events became common. Meetings must be in a physical location but it is not stipulated if it has to be in the UK, if the board must be present or investors must be let in. Ministers are consulting on the issue. Firms argue that face-to-face meetings are costly to stage and can be disrupted by protesters – as happened recently at Drax when environmental activists forced the energy generator's meeting to end early. Some companies have gone back to a 'hybrid' format under pressure from shareholders. They include Marks & Spencer, which was accused of being 'arrogant' and setting 'an appalling precedent' after trying to make its meeting online-only. Informa said it 'would expect to return' to London for next year's AGM.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Paul Pogba set to make financial sacrifices in order to join Monaco
According to a report from Fabrice Hawkins, Paul Pogba (31) is willing to make financial sacrifices regarding his salary demands in order to sign for AS Monaco this summer. The France international midfielder has taken the necessary steps to complete the move to the Principality club. Pogba is a free agent after his contract with Juventus was terminated following the premature end to his drug suspension. Talks are ongoing between Les Monégasques and the representatives of the 31-year-old midfielder. Monaco are said to be cautious in the negotiations, but Pogba has been clear in his desire to make the move happen before the beginning of the new Ligue 1 season. Advertisement The former Manchester United midfielder has already been searching for property on the Côte d'Azur to settle his family in the Principality if the transfer does eventually go through. With the Frenchman willing to reduce his salary demands, Monaco could be willing to make the move happen. GFFN | Liam Wraith
Times
13-06-2025
- Times
The Côte d'Azur has reinvented cool — and it's stylishly affordable
There you'd be, driving past a screen of high hedges and electric gates on the French Riviera, wondering when you'll get another glimpse of the Mediterranean, and the hotel would zip past your window like a misplaced dental clinic from the 1950s. Straight out of Palm Springs, perhaps, or even Las Vegas. Long-slung, flat-topped and ever so modernist, the single-storey street front in the town of St Raphaël, between St Tropez and Cannes, is certainly eye-catching but it doesn't break the wall of overdevelopment that hems in so much of the Côte d'Azur. Nor does it promise anything approaching coastal splendour. A split second later, you'd put your foot down and accelerate off towards the glitzy Cap d'Antibes or the rocky grandeur of the Massif de l'Esterel. But you'd be missing out. Because that austere whitewashed façade hides one of the loveliest seafronts in the south of France — and one of the coolest Côte d'Azur hotels to have opened in the past ten years. Les Roches Rouges has just had an £11 million growth spurt too, expanding into a secret cove along the coast, and last month I was first in to have a look at what's new. The appeal is obvious as soon as you open the hotel's front door. Framed by a glass wall at the far end of its reception yawns a widescreen strip of sea and sky — and as you walk first towards it, then out onto the balcony, you realise you're not on the ground floor but right at the top of the building. Everything else (apart from one of its restaurants) drops away below you, clinging to the side of a cliff. Three floors of bedrooms, a small spa, another restaurant, a sizeable terrace: they're all there, layered up in a brilliant white slab of concrete that butts straight out into the glittering sea. It's so close, the waves seem to break right underneath your feet. 'It was built as a three-star in the 1950s and it was way past its best when we found it,' Billy Skelli-Cohen tells me when I join him for a drink on the terrace shortly after I check in. Skelli-Cohen is chief executive of the boutique hotel brand Beaumier, which rescued Les Roches Rouges from obscurity in 2018. 'Rescued' is the word, because this was not a rebuild. Beaumier's trick is to find dated but distinctive properties in extraordinary places and then work with what's already there — 'respecting the building's DNA', as Skelli-Cohen puts it. Elsewhere that means celebrating the playful, art nouveau architecture of the Grand Hotel Belvedere in Wengen, Switzerland, and preserving the muscular simplicity of a former watermill that is now La Moulin at Lourmarin in Provence. In Les Roches Rouges' case, it's about showing off its mid-century concrete rather than trying to conceal it — and then setting it against richly textured details. The library of hardback art books, the butterfly chairs and the alarmingly moreish cocktails all seem to have more impact when placed amid such architectural rigour. The colours, meanwhile, are muted. Think white walls, terracotta table lamps, ochre rugs and lots of cadmium red in the abstract art. Which is just as it should be when nearly every floor-to-ceiling window is a slab of dazzling blue. Almost all of them look straight out to sea. Add two swimming pools into the mix, as well as Michelin-starred food and room rates, including breakfast, that start from £338 a night (which counts as mid-range in these parts), and it's no wonder Les Roches Rouges quickly found its way on to many top ten Côte d'Azur hotel lists. Now Beaumier has gone a step further and invested in a second phase of expansion. Central to this new project has been an extension of the site westwards to incorporate a snack bar (focaccia sandwiches from £12), a place to launch the hotel's paddleboards and kayaks, a yoga studio and an annexe that adds 25 bedrooms, bringing the total to 67. Not surprisingly, on a coast where property prices can easily top those in Paris, it has cost a small fortune. But the money has been well spent. Les Roches Rouges can now extend its sense of ease and comfort along the whole length of this hidden (and nameless) cove. When half of Europe is jostling for elbow room hereabouts, that seems nothing short of miraculous. Inside, the new bedrooms are as zesty as the red tuna ceviche at the hotel's main Estelo restaurant, which they serve with a sidekick of chilli (mains from £27). Designed by the Parisian architecture studio Atelier St Lazare, the rooms have the same sense of restraint as those in the main building, with polished concrete floors, more books and pops of colourful art. They have the same sense of quiet luxury too, courtesy of their lush bed linen and Grown Alchemist soaps and smells. But here the dazzling intensity of sea and sunlight seems to wash in with even greater force. Leave the floor-to-ceiling windows open at night and you worry you'll wake up with the waves breaking over your feet. • The best European cities for art lovers Meanwhile, there's a new chef cooking up a storm in Récif, the top-floor gastronomic restaurant (six-course menus from £126). Previously, Alexandre Baule was at L'Alpaga, a Beaumier property in Megève in the French Alps, whose restaurant won its first Michelin star in 2023. Now he's brought his love of seasonality to the coast and is playing with the way its flavours arrive at different speeds in your mouth. Never more so than with his jelly of pastis and sea water served with a jasmine emulsion, which starts salty but suddenly turns floral across your tongue. But don't set your heart on any particular dish. Thanks to his collaboration with the sustainable St Raphaël fisherman Olivier Bardoux, Baule's menus change daily. It comes as no surprise to learn that, once they get their electronic-wristband room keys, most guests at Les Roches Rouges don't step beyond the front door until it's time to settle the bill. For the most part they're design-conscious couples from London and America in their late twenties or early thirties, and many are honeymooning. But there are empty nesters sprinkled among them too, relishing their hard-won freedom. Usually, all are stretched out on sunloungers by the two pools, equipped with a cocktail and a little light holiday reading. Every now and again, however, one of them walks to the end of the hotel's jetty and dives into the sea. I don't blame them for not exploring. When you've got front-row seats like this, the Med is mesmerising. All the same, it's a crying shame because half a mile up the coast Mother Nature has her own surprise to share. Up there, at Cap Dramont, the mountains of the Massif de l'Esterel break through the coast road's cordon of villas, bars and marinas to plunge their red-rocked feet straight into the sea. I wander over on my final afternoon and as soon as I leave the main forest track, the world turns raw and wild. Overgrown footpaths weave through thickets of laurel, olive trees and pine. Deep channels of seawater sparkle invitingly between the cliffs and, occasionally, I use hands as well as feet to climb. In other words, it is just like Les Roches Rouges — a wake-up call for anyone who, like me, has ever written off the Riviera as samey and soulless. Suddenly, the only thing I don't like about it is having to Newsom was a guest of Les Roches Rouges, which has B&B doubles from £388 ( Fly to Nice Les Roches Rouges isn't the only hotel in Provence and the Côte d'Azur making a fuss of its 20th-century architecture. In Nice, the 35-room Hotel Gounod has been reborn in a shimmering, boudoir style that's the perfect match for its intricate art deco façade (B&B doubles from £138; Keep it in mind if you're visiting the Matisse Méditerranées show at the city's Matisse Museum this summer (until September 8; The exhibition includes loans from MoMA in New York and the Pompidou in Paris. It's part of Nice's Year of the Sea ( that also includes The Midnight Zone, an immersive installation that explores the deepest parts of the ocean. • More top hotels in Nice Meanwhile, inland from St Raphaël, two 19th-century properties are flying the flag for stylish B&B-keeping. Two years ago, the former coaching inn Le Gabriel put the hilltop village of Claviers on the map with its mix of zesty colours, big windows and playful decoration. Its five arty bedrooms and suites start from £190 a night B&B ( Nearby, in Draguignan, the five-suite Château Pimo opened this year with a more subdued colour scheme, but the same eye for detail as well as its own spa (B&B suites from £230; Both lie within striking distance of the spectacular Gorges du Verdon canyon. Further west, Aix-en-Provence's tight historic streets are always gorgeous and atmospheric. But this year the city is also honouring Cézanne, its most famous son, with a blockbuster exhibition at the Musée Granet (June 28 to October 12; as well as the reopening of the Jas de Bouffan, his parents' surprisingly highfalutin' home. The gardens at the recently refurbished Hôtel Le Pigonnet offer a welcome refuge from the gallery-going (B&B doubles from £233; while the town's thriving restaurant scene is strong with plenty of mid-priced menus. In the centre, Les Galinas has just been awarded one of Michelin's coveted Bib Gourmands for affordable, Provençal gastronomy that includes bourride (fish stew) (mains from £18; The newly opened O'père on the outskirts, has a growing reputation for its deeply flavoured sauces (mains from £20; • Great restaurants in Nice Finally, to the north of Aix lies a corner of Provence that's less touristy but no less delightful. The town of Carpentras is one of its stars, thanks to its sprawling Friday market — the perfect place to scoff the divine local nectarines, as soon as you've bought them. But it's also home to spectacular hiking beneath the limestone crags of the Dentelles de Montmirail, and two top-notch wine areas. Head to the villages of Gigondas and Vacqueyras for succulent, fruity reds, and to the new tasting cellar at the Domaine de Coyeux for sweet and fragrant Muscat de Beaumes de Venise ( Ten miles south of Carpentras, in the riverside town of L'Isle Sur La Sorgue, the L'Isle de Leos is a new, five-star MGallery property in a former watermill, decked out in a rich cinnamon-and-chocolate colour scheme. It opens next month with enticing introductory pricing (B&B doubles from £298;
The Sun
07-06-2025
- The Sun
The underrated French city that has a ‘bit of everything' with picturesque beaches and new cheap hotels
WITH relaxing beaches and super sightseeing – plus just a two-hour flight away – Nice on France's stunning Cote d'Azur makes for an easy sunny getaway. While it may happily soak up the glamorous associations of nearby Cannes and St-Tropez, this spot on the Med needn't break the bank. 4 WHY SHOULD I GO? NICE has a bit of everything. Great food, scenery and swimming. But it never feels like you need to elbow your way through its quaint streets. It is also one of France's brightest cities, with a reported 147 days of sunshine a year making it a great choice if you want to bask in the rays while also getting a top-notch culture fix. STREETS MADE FOR WALKING? ONE of the best things about Nice is just how walkable it is, the piece de resistance being a stroll along the seafront Promenade des Anglais. As you get your steps in alongside the palm trees, look out for the iconic hotel Le Negresco, which hosted Elizabeth Taylor and The Beatles. Pack comfy shoes to walk 30 minutes up to the Colline du Chateau — a park from which you can get the best views of the city. It's smart to hop on a tram (€10, or £8.39, return) outside the airport to get into the centre after landing — it takes just over half an hour. BUCKET LIST ATTRACTIONS? THE cute Old Town comprises a series of winding alleys that have hardly changed from the 1700s and are made for wandering, complete with colourful, shuttered facades. Between the many historic squares and churches, you will find plenty of adorable shops selling handbags, jewellery and other stylish items. Or head to the flea market Les Puces de Nice, a treasure trove of affordable designer clothing. Martin Lewis gives travel advice about checking your passport Need an energy boost? Stop off at the Frisson coffee shop which serves dainty pastries and ice cream. Enjoy art at the Matisse Museum (€10, or £8.39, entry), before a free walk through the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre in the Jardin des Arenes de Cimiez. WHERE SHOULD I EAT? LUNCH on delicious Mediterranean cuisine beneath a chic, striped parasol at the laidback Hotel Amour Plage (part of Hotel Amour Nice) in a prime position on the promenade. Then retreat to the beach club's sunloungers beside the beach. 4 For a dinner you can dress up for, head to Taulissa above the five-star Le Victoria hotel. Dine on mouthwatering Provencal dishes — including plenty of fish and seafood options — with panoramic views of the city. For more of a local feel, try the friendly Rouge wine bar, whose small Mediterranean sharing plates are just as unmissable as the contents of its cellar. I FANCY A DRINK EASE into the evening with a sunset visit to Babel Babel, for a range of natural wines and a sea view. Later, Place du Pin and the adjacent Rue Bonaparte are full of bustling cocktail bars with terraces. 4 WHERE SHOULD I STAY? THE Old Town is arguably best, not only for its charm but for practical reasons too — it's close to all the key sites you'll want to visit. EasyHotel Nice Old Town has had a multi-million pound refurb, and is a stone's throw from all the action. There is an all-you-can-eat continental breakfast buffet (£10.49, per person) — including croissants, of course — and the handy option to store luggage at €5 (£4.20) per item for up to 12 hours before or after your stay.
