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Coty, the owner of a host of household names including Covergirl, Gucci , and Sassoon Professional, has confirmed it is conducting a turnaround operation for Beamly, an ad tech and digital media operation it purchased in 2015, which could involve the effective shuttering of the unit. The developments have come to light following the recent exit of Beamly CEO Jason Forbes, who simultaneously served as Coty’s chief digital and media officer since 2016. A Coty spokesperson confirmed Forbes’ exit, and sent the following statement to Adweek: “After a thorough strategic review, it is now our intention for Beamly to no longer operate in its current form. This is in line with our turnaround plan as we aim for a simpler, optimized structure.”
It remains uncertain if Beamly will continue to operate as a result of a process that will involve splitting the outfit including the potential sunsetting of the Beamly brand. Per LinkedIn, Beamly has a headcount of circa 150 employees who will now work across three units: digital media, product and engineering, and creative services. It’s currently unknown if this transition will involve layoffs, although sources say the process may involve transferring headcount. The Coty statement outlined the move will involve transitioning digital media services to Zenith , Coty’s lead media agency as the company continues to “identify the best way forward for the other groups.”
An eventual timeline, and details in the turnaround plan are also unclear. Coty purchased Beamly for an undisclosed sum with the digital media specialists acting as an in-house resource to help with marketing efforts across its portfolio of dozens of cosmetics brands that span the consumer, luxury, and professional sectors. During the announcement of that deal, Coty executives were keen to point out that it would continue to work with its existing roster of service providers, such as media agencies—even Beamly was required to pitch against third parties when it came to its brands’ digital RFPs. Camello Pane, who resigned as Coty CEO last year, had also said the deal would help advance efforts to engage with millennial audiences and further its ecommerce efforts. After his departure, the working relationship between the ad tech unit and its owner are understood to have deteriorated. Since then, Coty has undergone some senior personnel changes such as the appointment of Fiona Hughes as CMO of its consumer beauty division. This was later followed by a company-wide “ turnaround plan ” in July of this year that includes “simplifying our operations and organization.”
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Cosmetics Giant Coty Confirms Overhaul of Digital Unit Beamly

10 questions with... Amy Kean, VP of strategy & planning at Beamly
By Stephen Lepitak -07 August 2017 06:33am
The Drum seeks out and talks to some of the most interesting people working in the global media and marketing sector in an effort to get to know them better. This week's 10 Questions are put to Amy Kean, the newly appointed vice president of planning and strategy at Beamly, the Coty owned digital marketing firm, who talks about her industry pet hate, Facebook and buzzwords. Who are you and what do you do? My name is Amy Kean and I’m VP, strategy and planning for Beamly. We sit inside the Coty business, so I spend my days working out how to sell brilliant beauty products in interesting and innovative ways, all over the world. What was your first ever job? I was the voice of customer announcements in IKEA Thurrock at the age of 16. This was when I assumed I’d grow up to be a children’s TV presenter, so it felt like good practice. But my first grown-up job was at the IAB in 2004 running events and setting up the PR department. I remember being asked at the time if I thought online marketing would become big. My response was: “Um, no” because back then pop-ups were still the most dominant display format. I later changed my mind. Although based on the state of much mobile advertising these days I might change it back again. Why did you get into this industry? I’m obsessed with people. People are strange and clever and stupid and were made to be bombarded with ads about bouncy hair and self-actualisation. Advertising is the art of manipulation and it never stops being interesting. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Sarah Wood, co-founder and CEO of Unruly , once shared some words of wisdom with me about gender roles in business. She said: “at Unruly we don’t talk about having ‘women on the board’, we just talk about having the right mix of personalities. They may be women, men, whoever’s right for the job - but it’s the personalities that are important.” It’s something I’ve always remembered! Don’t be afraid to be yourself and protect your personality. For women, you don’t need to act like a man to get ahead, and in my view the ‘women on the board’ argument is an absolute red herring; we need to think broader. What is the coolest thing you have seen in the last year in marketing? I’ve just moved back to the UK from Asia where every country has a different kind of cool. In South Korea I saw an entire high street store dedicated to the messaging app Line . That people will walk up and down four storeys buying cuddly toys, shower curtains, phone covers and t-shirts based on an actual messaging app is ridiculous and brilliant. Brands across APAC have had their own Line accounts for years: creating chatbots before chatbots even became a thing. What do you hate most about the industry? We talk too much. Do we really need that many panel sessions? These days I talk about 30% less than I did five years ago. Who is the person you most want to meet? In the universe? Beyonce. But in the industry, I’ve been always been a huge fan of David Puttnam . He champions education, equality, creativity, immigration…he lectures on climate change… I’d love to meet him,thank him and shake his hand, try and give him a hug. If you could go to one marketing event this year which would you choose? Silicon Beach in Bournemouth will blow your mind. The organiser Matt Desmier briefs people to ‘say something interesting’ and the speakers always deliver. In the pastI’ve seen presentations on robots, religion, personalisation and the impact of social media on eating disorders. Bournemouth is a lovely hub for advertising intelligence – I used to lecture at Bournemouth university and was hugely inspired by the creative energy there. What is your favourite social media platform? Facebook. I know I’m uncool and people are always saying it’s dying blah blah blah but Facebook is a beautiful platform and always has been: it’s innovative, entertaining, easy to use and you’d be very naive to think the powerhouses at the top won’t continue to evolve based on what users want. Last week in Facebook Messenger I took a picture of a cat sitting on my head but - the cat was not real, it was a lens! Facebook will never die. I’d put money on it but given my own inevitable mortality I’m not sure when I’d see the pay-out. If you could ban one buzzword or piece of jargon what would it be? I’d ban a lot of people using the term ‘influencer’because it’s become jargon unnecessarily. Influence isn’t just about reach: it refers to authority, conformity and tribal behaviours. Influencer marketing has technically existed for centuries yet is dismissed as a fad. The term may suffer the same fate as ‘gamification’ which is a real psychological theory that got misused; people became bored of it and then turned it into a joke. Concepts like influence and gamification have been studied at length by academics; they flop because marketing people mess it up, not because they’re not powerful ideas. The Drum's weekly 10 Questions With... series of interviews will continue next Monday.

10 questions with... Amy Kean, VP of strategy &amp; planning at Beamly

By Staff Writer -09 December 2016 09:49am
Digital Trading Awards launch
The Drum’s Digital Trading Awards are open for entry , having launched at Programmatic Punch yesterday (8 December). Now in their 4th year, the awards are open to any individuals and companies in the digital media/trading eco-system who can show that they offer a high value service or technology. The awards will highlight the best examples of digital trading in practice and aim to reward those that can actively show that what they do, day in and day out, works for their clients and themselves. Each year the awards focus on a theme topical to the industry and this year it will be ‘Living the Dream - Programmatic Everywhere’. It is reflective of the monumental shift in programmatic adoption, with mobile, TV, outdoor and radio all being bought and sold programmatically. But issues of fraud and bot traffic prevail, as does the challenge of adblocking, and the awards this year will seek out those who are overcoming some of these challenges. Judges this year include Jana Sievers, head of demand partnerships, EMEA at MoPub – Twitter, Mathilde Verron, head of audience and programmatic at TripAdvisor, and Anthony Rhind, chief operating officer at Beamly,
The awards are held in association with headline partner, The Trade Desk, and sponsors Rubicon Project, Sphere Digital Recruitment and Nielsen Marketing Cloud. The deadline for entries is 24 February 2017, ahead of the awards ceremony on 31 May at the Park Plaza Westminster in London. This article is about: World , Digital Trading Awards , Digital , Marketing Services , Media
The Drum Digital Trading Awards
The Drum Digital Trading Awards 2016, in association with The Trade Desk recognise and highlight the best examples of digital trading in practice. We aim to reward those who can actively show that wha...
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Staff Writer
The Drum is all about modern marketing and media. In addition this website and The Drum magazine, the company is also responsible for the Recommended Agency Register - which aims to match the right agencies with the rights clients - and MiNetwork, an organisation which aims to make independently minded agencies more successful.

The Drum’s Digital Trading Awards launch with judges from Twitter, TripAdvisor and Beamly

By Ronan Shields -11 November 2016 07:00am
Coty's portfolio of cosmetics brands has increased considerably following its acquisition spree over the last 18 months
Coty-owned Beamly has signed agency veteran and adtech expert Anthony Rhind as chief operating officer of its operations as the beauty manufacturing giant aims to further its global footprint following last month’s acquisition of over 40 cosmetics brands from Procter & Gamble. Coty’s economic overview
The beauty products manufacturer, which owns a host of tier-one brands including Calvin Klein, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs and Rimmel (to name a few), reported an unexpected annual revenue decline of 3% for the last quarter earlier this week. Company leadership claimed the closure of its $11.6bn purchase of multiple brands from P&G was a “massive distraction” in recent months, a purchase that was later followed by the announcement of its agreement to acquire Good Hair Day (GHD). Purchase trail
Revenues for the quarter ending 30 September totalled $1.08bn , amid a slump in sales figures, with this decline further compounded by integration costs spurred by its purchase trail over the last 15 months. Included in this acquisition trail was Beamly, which it purchased in October last year for its digital content plus analytics capabilities and it was on the company’s subsequent earnings call that its leadership gave an indication how digital media would play a core role in its turnaround strategy. How digital will play a role in Coty's turnaround? Addressing Wall Street investors, Coty’s recently appointed chief executive Camillo Pane noted the outfit, which owns a portfolio of over 70 brands, would further its focus on digital communications, and that this would play a primary role in his next report to the market. “Beamly is already helping us improve the social engagement of our brands through campaign optimization, social listening and deeper brand targeting,” he said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript . “We have significantly increased the proportion of our media spending aimed at digital, and I'm pleased with the results I've seen.”
Rhind to lead Beamly to becoming a ‘new model agency’
Rhind, who was named Digital Personality of the Year, 2015 by The Drum, began his new role as Beamly COO in late September. He is based in London, where he’ll oversee its global operations but will be a frequent visitor to Coty’s global headquarters located in New York City. He serves alongside Beamly chief executive, and Coty chief digital and media officer Jason Forbes (see image above), with Rhind explaining to The Drum that his team was tasked with overseeing the agency’s transition towards becoming a "new model agency. "
Beamly currently handles the bulk of Coty brands’ paid-for digital media buying activity, or “platform media buying” as Rhind phrases it, (although it also works with other brands ), as well as providing content, creative and analytics. “Beamly was acquired by Coty to accelerate its strategies around digitisation of communication, but around the business more broadly,” he explained to The Drum. His view on adtech
Rhind, who joined directly from Danish adtech company AdForm following a career that saw him head up digital for agencies Dentsu Aegis and Havas, made his first public appearance in the new role at last week’s ATS New York , where he took part in a panel on the development of media buying adtech. His input saw him pass comment on the developments he saw as crucial to the development of adtech over the next 12 months, where he said that improvements in the effective tracking of mobile media “would be nice for a change”. Rhind went on to say: “I’d also like to see people to start using dynamic creative for things other than price-optimisation in performance advertising … I’d also like to see less ads on pages, which would help everybody, and some more intelligent data strategies being deployed and strategised, as opposed to being theorised around.”
Should the term ‘programmatic’ go? Talking about the industry buzz phrase of ‘programmatic’, he questioned the legitimacy of the use of the term, as it initially emerged to help ease concerns around the transparency of media buying on ad exchanges. He also went on to articulate his belief that media owners and buyers should continue to work directly with one another, and use software to aid targeting as well as ease work-flow. “We probably have to get rid of the term ‘programmatic’ … good inventory, is good inventory and we can allow data to be utilized to streamline it, as simple as that.”
What do brands want from adtech? Speaking about the rationale of advertisers use of adtech, and some of the frustrations that can arise from working with multiple third parties, he added: “If your outcome [in the employment of adtech] is something other than media buying which obviously is the case with and advertiser – as that’s just a means to an end – then clicks and impressions are just too limited a tapestry of data points. "So really it’s about understanding what can you do with the data attached to consumer exposure [to online ads], and buying, to get better insight.”
Also contributing to the panel, Ari Paparo, chief executive of adtech outfit Beeswax, forecast that further consolidation in the adtech sector would be played out in the space, as well as “a clean up of video”, which he went on to describe as a “cess pool”, given the lack of transparency, i.e. fraud, in the open video market places at present. This article is about: World , Programmatic , Coty , transparency , long reads , People on the Move , luxury , Digital Advertising , Digital , Cosmetics & Beauty , Agency
Ronan Shields
I cover digital media trading and martech for The Drum magazine, plus I write my own opinion pieces, I don't really commission them.

Coty puts digital at centre of growth strategy by tapping Anthony Rhind for Beamly

A Coty Inc. felvásárolta a vezető digitális marketing platformot, a      Beamly-t
Az ügylet fontos előrelépést jelent a Coty digitális      marketingtevékenysége terén
October 20, 2015 05:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--( BUSINESS WIRE )--A Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) ma bejelentette, hogy végleges megállapodást írt      alá az egyik legmodernebb digitális marketingtechnológiával rendelkező,      New Yorkban és Londonban működő marketing cég, a Beamly felvásárlásáról. A Beamly tevékenysége elsősorban a márkás fogyasztási cikkek vásárlói      körének a digitális média eszközeivel való növelésére és a vevők      elkötelezésére, a cégek és ügyfeleik közti kapcsolat elmélyítésére      terjed ki. Bár a Beamly az összes digitális médiumot használja, ideértve      az online videókat is, tevékenysége elsősorban a közösségi médiumokra      koncentrálódik, mely területen már jó ideje folyamatosan      versenytársainál jóval jobb teljesítményt nyújt, és új      kezdeményezéseivel rendszeresen újabb és újabb piaci etalont hoz létre. Az ügylet feltételeit a Coty nem hozta nyilvánosságra. Bár az ügylet lezárását követően a Beamly továbbra is kiterjeszti      kampányait a Coty ügyfélkörén kívüli ügyfelekre, a felvásárlás fontos      előrelépést jelent a Coty ügyfélelkötelezést célzó digitális      tevékenysége szempontjából, ugyanis a Coty és a Coty licenctulajdonosok      számára közvetlenül elérhetővé válnak a Beamly közösségiadat-elemzési,      tartalmak létrehozására és ügyfélelkötelezésre szolgáló eszközei,      amelyeket a továbbiakban szabadon használhatnak a Coty      márkastratégiájának megvalósítása céljából. A Beamly csapata szorosan      együttműködik a Coty saját vállalati marketingszervezetével az összes      fogyasztói szegmensre kiterjedő, az eddigieknél is erőteljesebb      digitális marketingkampányok tervezése és lefolytatása terén. A Beamly-t továbbra is az eddigi vezérigazgató, Jason Forbes vezeti, a      tevékenység felügyelete pedig Camillo Pane, a Coty      kategóriafejlesztésért felelős ügyvezető alelnökének feladata lesz. A      Beamly New York-i csapata a Coty New York-i irodájának kifejezetten erre      a célra kijelölt részébe költözik, míg a londoni csapat a Beamly      jelenlegi székhelyén folytatja munkáját. "A Beamly felvásárlása válasz azokra az igényekre, amelyek a fogyasztók      hagyományos médiumokról egyre inkább a digitális és a közösségi médiumok      valós idejű használatára való átállása nyomán merülnek fel" - magyarázta      Pane úr. "Jason és csapata olyan tudással és saját fejlesztésű,      bizonyítottan hatékony eszközökkel rendelkeznek, amelyek segítségével      sikeresen célozhatók meg és kötelezhetők el az Y generációba tartozó      fogyasztók. Ugyanakkor a Beamly segítségünkre lesz saját e-kereskedelmi      üzletágunk növekedésének felgyorsításában, és hasznos támogatást      biztosít a Coty-nak a szépségápolási ágazatban a kizárólag      szépségápolási termékekre koncentráló, ún. "pure play" vállalatok közti      vezető pozíció elérésében, és újító szerepének megerősítésében. "
"Cégünk többször is sikeresen, az eredeti költségek 9-ed részére      csökkentette ügyfelei számára a vertikális CPC/CPV költségeket (cost per      click [egy kattintásra jutó hirdetési költség]/cost per view [egy      megjelenítésre jutó hirdetési költség])" - mondta el Forbes úr. "A      Coty-val karöltve lehetőségünk nyílik jóval nagyobb kihatású, szélesebb      ügyfélkört célzó termékinnovációs tevékenységre, és a mobileszközöket      elsődleges eszközként használó ügyfélkörünk bővítésére. "
Előremutató állítások
A jelen sajtóközleményben szereplő egyes állítások előremutató      állításnak minősülnek. Ezek az előremutató állítások a Coty-nak a Beamly      felvásárlását célzó ügylet megvalósulásáról alkotott jelenlegi nézeteit      tükrözik. Ezek az előremutató állítások általában az olyan szavakról és      kifejezésekről ismerhetők fel, mint a "lehetőség", "alkalom", tudnánk",      "szándékozunk", "fogunk", "lenne", illetve hasonló szavakról vagy      kifejezésekről. A tényleges eredmények azonban jelentős mértékben      eltérhetnek a prognosztizált eredményektől a feltételezéseink alapjait      érintő különféle kockázatok és bizonytalansági tényezők érvényesülésének      következtében, ideértve az ügylet értékelése során figyelembe vett      feltételezéseink pontatlanságait, a Beamly Coty szervezetébe való      integrálásának nehézségeit, illetve egyéb, a tranzakció várt előnyeinek      kihasználása terén felmerülő nehézségeket. További információk azokról a      kockázatokról és bizonytalansági tényezőkről, amelyek kihatással      lehetnek a Coty üzleti tevékenységére és pénzügyi eredményére a Coty      által a 2015. június 30-án végződő pénzügyi évre vonatkozóan a      Securities and Exchange Commission-höz (az Amerikai Egyesült Államok      Értékpapír- és Tőzsdefelügyelete) a 10-K jelű nyomtatványon benyújtott      Éves jelentés "Risk Factors" (Kockázati tényezők) és "Management's      Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of      Operations" (A pénzügyi helyzet és eredmények vezetői ismertetése és      elemzése) címe alatt, valamint a Coty által a Securities and Exchange      Commission-höz benyújtott, illetve a jövőben benyújtandó egyéb      rendszeres jelentésekben találhatók. A Coty nem vállal kötelezettséget a jelen sajtóközleményben egyéb dokumentumokban szereplő vagy előremutató      állítások frissítésére vagy módosítására. Amit a Coty-ról tudni kell…
A Coty szépségápolási termékeket gyártó és forgalmazó vezető nemzetközi      vállalat, amelynek nettó bevétele a 2015. június 30-án végződő pénzügyi      évben 4,4 milliárd USA dollár volt. Az 1904-ben Párizsban alapított Coty      kizárólag szépségápolási termékekre koncentráló, ún. "pure play"      vállalat, amelynek termékportfoliójában a világ több mint 130 országában      és területén értékesített, jól ismert illatszerek, dekorkozmetikumok és      bőr- és testápolási termékek találhatók. A Coty termékpalettájában olyan      nemzetközi márkák szerepelnek, mint például az Adidas, a Calvin Klein, a      Chloé, a DAVIDOFF, a Marc Jacobs, az OPI, a philosophy, a Playboy, a      Rimmel és a Sally Hansen. További információkért a Coty Inc.-ről kérjük, látogasson el a következő      internetes oldalra: www.coty.com . Amit a Beamly-ről tudni kell…
A Beamly a legmodernebb technológiát alkalmazó, digitális      marketingtevékenységet végző cég, amelynek székhelye New Yorkban és      Londonban található. A közösségi tájékoztatás és ügyfélelkötelezés terén      világelső Beamly saját fejlesztésű, valamennyi marketingtevékenységet      lefedő, átfogó termékpalettájában különféle közösségiadat-elemző,      tartalomtervező, tartalomoptimalizáló és fogyasztói elkötelezést      szolgáló termékek szerepelnek. A Beamly vezetője a korábban a Time      Warner Cable-nél ügyvezetői pozíciót betöltő Jason Forbes. E közlemény hivatalos, mérvadó változata az eredeti forrásnyelven      közzétett szöveg. A fordítás csak az olvasó kényelmét szolgálja, és      összevetendo a forrásnyelven írt szöveggel, amely az egyetlen jogi      érvénnyel bíró változat. Contacts

A Coty Inc. felvásárolta a vezető digitális marketing platformot, a Beamly-t

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Acquired

Beamly is a digital marketing firm that offers an online platform. The company's offering includes a social discovery and engagement platform, a proprietary end-to-end product suite including social data benchmarking, content creation, content optimization and consumer engagement tools.

Date	10/19/2015
Round	Acquired
Amount
Investors	Coty
Valuation	$99M
Revenue	0 FY undefined
Sources	1

First funding	10/19/2015
Last Funding	10/19/2015
Investor	Coty
Rounds	1 Acquired
Board Seats
Type	Corporation
Location	New York

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