GroupM no longer considers Twitter 'high risk' after platform appoints new CEO

GroupM, one of the world's top media agencies, has let its clients know that it no longer considers Twitter to be high risk after Elon Musk announced last week that he had appointed Linda Yaccarino as the platform's new CEO, according to a report by The Financial Times. 

The news comes months after GroupM declared that Twitter was high risk in November as the platform, under Musk's leadership, saw massive changes and instability. GroupM's announcement comes at an opportune time as Twitter attempts to bring back advertisers who were abandoning the platform, costing the app 50 per cent of its yearly revenue, according to The Financial Times. 

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Media reports were citing people familiar with the matter who noted that the agency was likely to begin encouraging its clients to increase ad spend once again on Twitter. 

It had since been holding back till the app saw a return to normalcy in terms of harmful content that can be found on the site. 

GroupM reportedly was waiting for Musk to revamp his leadership team and has also been working with the company on improving brand safety. 

GroupM's declaration comes just days after Musk announced that Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s ex-head of global advertising, will take over as Twitter's new CEO from 16 June this year.

Musk made the announcement in a tweet posted to his personal social media page this week where he noted that Yaccarino will focus primarily on business operations. Musk himself will continue to play a pivotal role in the management of the social media platform and will see his role transition such that he focuses more on product design and new technology.

Yaccarino brings to Twitter vast experience in the advertising space having spent just over 11 years at NBCUniversal Media. Before she held the role of chairman of global advertising, Yaccarino worked at Turner, a broadcast media production company that creates content for entertainment, sports and news. Yaccarino held the role of executive vice president of advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions in her just over 19 years there. 

Twitter has, since Musk's takeover, seen significant drops in advertisers. In fact, in January this year, Twitter said that it will be offering free advertisements to brands that advertise on its platform following a massive drop in its ad business. The platform was offering to match advertiser’s ad spending up to US $250,000, according to emails that were seen by The Wall Street Journal where the news was first reported. It was revealed in the emails that the full US$500,000 in advertising must run by February 28.

This initiative came as the social media site saw the loss of many top advertisers that have contributed to the company bleeding over US$4 million a day, according to a tweet by Musk in November last year. Musk was explaining why the company is undergoing massive layoffs globally, the likes of which have already reached Singapore’s shores with deeper cuts, particularly on the company’s trust and safety team handling global content moderation being reported.

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