AOL India starts laying off staff
Ever since TOI last week broke the story about likely layoffs in AOL India following AOL's acquisition of Huffington Post, there have been official statements and internet buzz that confirm what we wrote.
At a conference in the US last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, when asked the question about layoffs, said there would be job changes. "There's no way around it, but we'll do it thoughtfully," he said, pointing out that he was sensitive about layoffs as his father had once been laid off.
But that may be little comfort for AOL India staffers. From all indications, the process has already begun, with some managers telling their teams that their units would be shutting down. Indications increasingly are that the scale of layoffs would be significant, may be even as much as 60-70% of AOL India's strength of about 1,000 employees.
A mail from a reader received by online publication Business Insider, which it found credible enough to publish, said that the AOL tech operations teams in India would be merged with a successful bidder and "work with AOL on a contract-outsourced model". The current bidders for these groups, the mail said, are Infosys, MindTree, TCS and ITC Infotech. The AOL India management is also said to be in talks with other product organizations that have expansion plans in India to see if they can absorbing some groups. None of this could be confirmed.
At a conference in the US last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, when asked the question about layoffs, said there would be job changes. "There's no way around it, but we'll do it thoughtfully," he said, pointing out that he was sensitive about layoffs as his father had once been laid off.
But that may be little comfort for AOL India staffers. From all indications, the process has already begun, with some managers telling their teams that their units would be shutting down. Indications increasingly are that the scale of layoffs would be significant, may be even as much as 60-70% of AOL India's strength of about 1,000 employees.
A mail from a reader received by online publication Business Insider, which it found credible enough to publish, said that the AOL tech operations teams in India would be merged with a successful bidder and "work with AOL on a contract-outsourced model". The current bidders for these groups, the mail said, are Infosys, MindTree, TCS and ITC Infotech. The AOL India management is also said to be in talks with other product organizations that have expansion plans in India to see if they can absorbing some groups. None of this could be confirmed.
AOL sacks 700 employees in India
The recession is over! A hiring spree is going on at all IT companies here in India. But in an unusual case, about 700 AOL employees in India have been served pink slips. April 1st will be the last day for the axed employees, and it's no joke.
Out of the total, about 300 employees are likely to move to outsourcing partners but not on AOL's bankroll.
The technology product teams will move to HP, while finance and advertising services employees will move to MindTree.
AOL has committed to these two companies for a certain number of years, saving jobs for some employees.
One, who wished to remain anonymous, told TechEye: "I don't believe this. A few months back, we were considered to be valuable assets of the company and suddenly, everything changed. We believe that these jobs will be shifted to US."
It all started when AOL CEO Tim Armstrong informed employees in a memo.
AOL issued the following statement to its Indian arm: "Moving forward, our focus in India will be on our core capabilities around building the most compelling consumer facing products primarily for the Indian and other Asian markets. We'll be partnering with Mindtree and HP to round out our business operations."
The fired employees will get three to four months of salary as their severance package.
The employee said, "It's difficult to say how good or bad the severance package is, as it all depends on how fast we manage to get our next job."
The move follows AOL buying out the Huffington Post for $315 million.
The recession is over! A hiring spree is going on at all IT companies here in India. But in an unusual case, about 700 AOL employees in India have been served pink slips. April 1st will be the last day for the axed employees, and it's no joke.
Out of the total, about 300 employees are likely to move to outsourcing partners but not on AOL's bankroll.
The technology product teams will move to HP, while finance and advertising services employees will move to MindTree.
AOL has committed to these two companies for a certain number of years, saving jobs for some employees.
One, who wished to remain anonymous, told TechEye: "I don't believe this. A few months back, we were considered to be valuable assets of the company and suddenly, everything changed. We believe that these jobs will be shifted to US."
It all started when AOL CEO Tim Armstrong informed employees in a memo.
AOL issued the following statement to its Indian arm: "Moving forward, our focus in India will be on our core capabilities around building the most compelling consumer facing products primarily for the Indian and other Asian markets. We'll be partnering with Mindtree and HP to round out our business operations."
The fired employees will get three to four months of salary as their severance package.
The employee said, "It's difficult to say how good or bad the severance package is, as it all depends on how fast we manage to get our next job."
The move follows AOL buying out the Huffington Post for $315 million.
R.R. Donnelley acquires Journalism Online
Chicago—Printing giant R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. announced Thursday it has acquired Journalism Online, the company founded and managed by Steven Brill, founder of The American Lawyer and Court TV, and L. Gordon Crovitz, former Wall Street Journal publisher, to help publishers generate subscription revenue from their websites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
At the center of the deal is Press+, Journalism Online's technology that enables publishers to integrate a paid-content engine, which offers audiences a mix of free and subscription-based content, with their websites.
“We provide solutions across the entire breadth of the publishing supply chain, from content creation and digital asset management through subscription solicitations, processing and renewals,” Thomas J. Quinlan III, president-CEO of Donnelley, said in a statement. “Press+ enhances our offering and opens new avenues for publishers to generate incremental subscription and advertising revenue.”
Crovitz said in a statement: “Our experience demonstrates that publishers using Press+ for metered access to websites and other digital products retain their online ad revenue and readership while adding a valuable revenue stream from online subscriptions.”
Chicago—Printing giant R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. announced Thursday it has acquired Journalism Online, the company founded and managed by Steven Brill, founder of The American Lawyer and Court TV, and L. Gordon Crovitz, former Wall Street Journal publisher, to help publishers generate subscription revenue from their websites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
At the center of the deal is Press+, Journalism Online's technology that enables publishers to integrate a paid-content engine, which offers audiences a mix of free and subscription-based content, with their websites.
“We provide solutions across the entire breadth of the publishing supply chain, from content creation and digital asset management through subscription solicitations, processing and renewals,” Thomas J. Quinlan III, president-CEO of Donnelley, said in a statement. “Press+ enhances our offering and opens new avenues for publishers to generate incremental subscription and advertising revenue.”
Crovitz said in a statement: “Our experience demonstrates that publishers using Press+ for metered access to websites and other digital products retain their online ad revenue and readership while adding a valuable revenue stream from online subscriptions.”
AOL to launch b2b division serving publishers, marketers
New York—AOL is planning to launch an as yet unnamed b2b division that will market the company's ad network and other products and services to online publishers and marketers, the company confirmed. The division was announced internally about two weeks ago and is expected to be officially launched in about three months.
Ned Brody, currently AOL's COO of advertising, media and commerce and president of paid services, is leading the new group. “This allows [these brands] to work much more closely together,” Brody said in an interview with BtoB.
The division will combine a number of AOL properties, including 5MinMedia, Advertising.com, Adtech, GoViral, Pictela, Seed and StudioNow.
'BtoB's' top agencies see strong growth
BtoB's top agency winners, announced this month, say they are once again experiencing growth as the economy bounces back and marketers increase their spending.
“We characterize 2010 as a very strong recovery,” said John Seifert, chairman-CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America, New York, winner of the large agency category in BtoB's Top Agencies special report. “We are now seeing our most valued clients come back and spend pretty ambitiously. The tech businesses got hit pretty hard in the recession, and to see them come back and spend is terrific.”
Ogilvy created award-winning campaigns last year for clients including IBM Corp., SAP and United Parcel Service of America, and it picked up new clients including the American Bar Association, Ikea, Intercontinental Hotel Group and Zurich Financial. Overall, the agency grew its revenue 10%.
BBDO New York was named runner-up in the large agency category, and Wunderman, New York, received honorable mention.
In the midsize agency category, GyroHSR, New York, took top honors, growing its overall revenue by about 7% and picking up new clients including Blue Coat Systems, the Corn Refiners Association, FedEx (for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Heathrow Express.
“I look at 2010 as being the best and most exciting year we've had yet,” said Rick Segal, worldwide president-chief practice officer at GyroHSR. “We added new clients, new capabilities, new people and entered new regions of the world.”
Doremus, New York, was named runner-up in the midsize category, and Bader Rutter, Brookfield, Wis., received honorable mention.
In the small agency category, Stein Rogan+Partners, New York, was named winner. It increased total revenue 22% and picked up new clients including Alvogen, D-Link Systems, PR Newswire and Syncsort.
“We saw significant revenue growth for the company, and we also saw growth in our client base,” said President Tom Stein.
PJA Advertising, Cambridge, Mass., was named runner-up in the small agency category, and RiechesBaird, Irvine, Calif., received honorable mention.
BusinessOnline, San Diego, won the interactive category. The agency grew its revenue 31% and won new clients including Cargill Inc., Emerson Electric Co., Honeywell International, Illumina, Masco Corp. and NetApp.
“C-level execs want marketers to get closer to the customer and they want better customer intelligence,” said Thad Kahlow, CEO of BusinessOnline.
Traction, San Francisco, was named runner-up in the interactive category and Digitas, Boston, received honorable mention.
New York—AOL is planning to launch an as yet unnamed b2b division that will market the company's ad network and other products and services to online publishers and marketers, the company confirmed. The division was announced internally about two weeks ago and is expected to be officially launched in about three months.
Ned Brody, currently AOL's COO of advertising, media and commerce and president of paid services, is leading the new group. “This allows [these brands] to work much more closely together,” Brody said in an interview with BtoB.
The division will combine a number of AOL properties, including 5MinMedia, Advertising.com, Adtech, GoViral, Pictela, Seed and StudioNow.
'BtoB's' top agencies see strong growth
BtoB's top agency winners, announced this month, say they are once again experiencing growth as the economy bounces back and marketers increase their spending.
“We characterize 2010 as a very strong recovery,” said John Seifert, chairman-CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America, New York, winner of the large agency category in BtoB's Top Agencies special report. “We are now seeing our most valued clients come back and spend pretty ambitiously. The tech businesses got hit pretty hard in the recession, and to see them come back and spend is terrific.”
Ogilvy created award-winning campaigns last year for clients including IBM Corp., SAP and United Parcel Service of America, and it picked up new clients including the American Bar Association, Ikea, Intercontinental Hotel Group and Zurich Financial. Overall, the agency grew its revenue 10%.
BBDO New York was named runner-up in the large agency category, and Wunderman, New York, received honorable mention.
In the midsize agency category, GyroHSR, New York, took top honors, growing its overall revenue by about 7% and picking up new clients including Blue Coat Systems, the Corn Refiners Association, FedEx (for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Heathrow Express.
“I look at 2010 as being the best and most exciting year we've had yet,” said Rick Segal, worldwide president-chief practice officer at GyroHSR. “We added new clients, new capabilities, new people and entered new regions of the world.”
Doremus, New York, was named runner-up in the midsize category, and Bader Rutter, Brookfield, Wis., received honorable mention.
In the small agency category, Stein Rogan+Partners, New York, was named winner. It increased total revenue 22% and picked up new clients including Alvogen, D-Link Systems, PR Newswire and Syncsort.
“We saw significant revenue growth for the company, and we also saw growth in our client base,” said President Tom Stein.
PJA Advertising, Cambridge, Mass., was named runner-up in the small agency category, and RiechesBaird, Irvine, Calif., received honorable mention.
BusinessOnline, San Diego, won the interactive category. The agency grew its revenue 31% and won new clients including Cargill Inc., Emerson Electric Co., Honeywell International, Illumina, Masco Corp. and NetApp.
“C-level execs want marketers to get closer to the customer and they want better customer intelligence,” said Thad Kahlow, CEO of BusinessOnline.
Traction, San Francisco, was named runner-up in the interactive category and Digitas, Boston, received honorable mention.
