Unilever’s Keith Weed To Retire; MediaMath Conducts Layoffs

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CPG OG

Unilever CMO Keith Weed will retire next May, the company said Thursday. Weed has been at Unilever for more than 35 years, and held the top marketing and communications position since 2010. News of Weed’s departure comes shortly after Unilever named Alan Jope, the marketer who currently helms the company’s beauty and personal care division, as the successor to CEO Paul Polman, who is set to retire at the end of the year. “I am moving onto another chapter,” Weed tells The Wall Street Journal. But he’s not closing the book. “The biggest challenge we have is that we need to rebuild trust in advertising,” he said. “These issues are all solvable.” More.

The Ad Tech Diet

Some of the best-known independent ad tech companies are undergoing layoffs amidst a general belt-tightening period. MediaMath trimmed its product and engineering teams this week, Adweek reports. And OpenX recently reduced product headcount and closed its office in Santa Clara, California. These reductions may reflect a more measured approach to growth and an interest in demonstrating profitability. “There’s three things driving M&A in the space: scale, synergies and profitability,” said Jay MacDonald, managing partner of the investment bank Digital Capital Advisors. “We’re at a time in the market when everybody is for sale for the right price and if you’re not profitable you’ll get to a place where investors tell you to go and find a home [by way of a fire-sale].” More.