Average Agency Payment Times Increase; Twitter Seeks Funding

by Mathew Broughton on 19th Dec 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire digest: Average agency payment times increase; Twitter seeks funding at USD$54.20 (£44.63); and Microsoft to roll out "data boundary" for EU customers.

Average agency payment times increase

The standard duration of payment terms to agencies from clients has increased from 30 days to 60 days, according to a survey conducted by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). Furthermore, nearly one quarter of agencies are working on 90-day payment terms, while 10% are operating under payment terms of 120 days or more.

Despite payment terms being ostensibly less favourable for agencies, clients are generally more satisfied with their agency partners compared to the previous studies, conducted in 2011 and 2018, with value perception increasing 19% since the initial study.

In a statement, Laura Forcetti, director of global marketing sourcing services at the WFA, wrote, “Ultimately the chosen remuneration model will dictate the type of relationships clients want to have with their agencies. A focus on outcomes instead of input enables agencies to become integral partners to a client's growth and performance, that’s why it’s great to see that more clients want to reward not just performance but also quality through sustainability, diversity, and talent."

Twitter seeks funding at USD$54.20 (£44.63)

The managing director of Elon Musk's family office is seeking new funding for Twitter at USD$54.20 (£44.63) per share, the same price at which the self-called "Chief Twit" purchased the firm for in October. According to a report first published by Semafor, Jared Birchall approached existing investors in the social media firm over the course of week commencing 12th December 2022 proposing the follow-on equity offering, with the aim of closing the round by the end of the year. The approach has since been confirmed by Ross Gerber, who backed Musk's takeover of Twitter as well as his electric car venture Tesla.

In further Twitter-related news from its billionaire CEO, Musk has posted a poll on his personal Twitter account asking users whether he should step down as head of the company, stating "I will abide by the results of this poll." At the time of writing, nearly 17 million have voted, with 57.5% stating he should relinquish his role at the firm.

Microsoft to roll out "data boundary" for EU customers

Microsoft has stated that its customers will be able to process and store certain types of data within the region via its core cloud services, as of 1st January 2023. The move is widely seen as a response to EU action, led by the European Commission, to ensure clarity on where the storage and processing of data is conducted, in order to ensure compliance with regulations such as GDPR.

In a statement to Reuters, Julie Brill, chief privacy officer at Microsoft, commented, "As we dived deeper into this project, we learned that we needed to be taking a more phased approach[...] We are creating this solution to make our customers feel more confident and to be able to have clear conversations with their regulators on where their data is being processed as well as stored."