Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Marissa Mayer Fell Asleep and Kept Ad Executives Waiting For Hours

WSJ reports:
For media companies, the Cannes advertising festival is all about getting face time with top media buyers and advertisers. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer missed a golden opportunity to do just that last week.

Last Tuesday evening, Interpublic Group  arranged a private dinner at the swanky L’Oasis for Ms. Mayer to meet executives from marketers such as Mondelez International, brewer MillerCoors and Greek yogurt maker Chobani. It was supposed to be a chance for Interpublic and some of its clients to get a first hand update from Ms. Mayer on what Yahoo has to offer.

But Ms. Mayer was nearly two hours late, and several dinner attendees including  IPG Chief Executive Michael Roth ended up leaving before she arrived, people familiar with the matter said.

Ms. Mayer told some attendees that she had fallen asleep, some of the people said.

“If it were an investor meeting, a board meeting or a potential acquisition, I am sure she or someone from her team would have woken her up,” said one top executive in attendance.  “It is another instance where she demonstrated that she doesn’t understand the value of clients, ad revenue or agencies,” the person added.
Mayer does like to keep people waiting, she was also late for a speaking engagement last year in San Francisco, at a major Salesforce.com conference.

I give people 15 minutes, if they haven't arrived by then, I am gone. If they are looking for money from me, I give them 10 minutes. I am never late.

-RW

2 comments:

  1. My brother's wife worked for her for a bit. She was hard driving at the time, but that was before she had a child....I wonder what role that is playing in her inability to keep appointments....

    I was very skeptical when I heard she was toting her infant around with her in her office...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who needs ad executives when you've been cozying up to the government?

    ReplyDelete