The Brief – Wednesday 15 April: Publicis growth, Telegraph sale to Axel Springer approved, media inflation and more

📈 Publicis Groupe reported 6.4% year-on-year organic revenue growth in Q1, including growth in the US (+4.7%), Europe (+3.9%), and Asia-Pacific (+5.9%). The holding group reaffirmed its annual growth guidance of 4-5% for 2026 despite acknowleding “an uncertain global context”. (Publicis Groupe)

💸 Havas reported organic revenue growth of 2.5% in Q1, driven by 7.4% grwoth in the US market. CEO Yannick Bolloré said the performance was in line with guidance, which he confirmed remains unchanged for fiscal year 2026. (Havas)

📰 Axel Springer’s £575m takeover of Telegraph Media Group has been approved by the UK Government. Approval is still needed in Ireland and Austria; the publisher says it expects the acquisition to be completed by the end of June. (Press Gazette)

⚽ Global media price inflation is set to jump 4.4% in 2026, according to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), due in large part to the impact of this year’s Fifa World Cup. Linear TV will see the sharpest increase in ad inflation, at +7.7%. (WFA)

📺 FreeWheel has launched Context Engine, a new AI-driven contextual targeting feature within its Streaming Hub that aims to help advertisers align ads to relevant video content with greater ease. (Comcast)

👥 The Advertising Association has appointed its first vice president. Charlie Rudd, CEO of Publicis UK’s creative practice, will support AA President Andria Vidler in the role of VP. The AA has also appointed OMD EMEA CEO Natalie Bell as the new chair of Front Foot, the trade body’s senior leadership network. (AA)

📝 Paramount has responded to an open letter signed by 1,000 Hollywood figures opposing its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Paramount insisted that the transaction would lead to “more avenues for their work, not fewer” and reiterated its commitment to produce a minimum of 30 “high-quality feature films” annually, with full theatrical releases. (Deadline)

💻 HuffPost UK has partnered with Taboola to integrate a generative AI answer engine directly into its site. DeeperDive exists on publisher websites and pulls from its own content when surfacing responses to queries. The tool is situated as a way for publishers to compete with AI search. (Taboola)

📰 Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), US President Donald Trump’s media corporation, dropped a defamation claim against The Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosectutors were investigating possible money laundering related to $8m in payments received by the company from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin. TMTG dropped its claims without prejudice. (The Guardian)